Piano Technique: Teaching a 9-year old Staccato and weight application–Think bouncing a basketball vs. ping pong ball tapping (Videos)

Ilyana has been studying piano for two years. Currently, she's working on various weight applications for staccato. I found that imaging a basketball being bounced vs. a ping pong ball being tapped, helped the student with her overall physical approach. The short video below illustrates. We ended up playing 8th notes, not being overly ambitious…

Rina, 4, brings a toy piano to her lesson; creates her own rhythm; and learns A and B; (7th week of instruction using Tales of a Musical Journey) 5 videos

Rina surprised me by bringing her precious mini-purple plastic piano that played a salsa rhythm style piece with very fast notes. It was gratifying to watch her spontaneously point to the "big" and "little houses" on her tiny keyboard that comprise "neighborhoods" or "octaves" in Tales of a Musical Journey. This preceded her relaxation movements…

A piano student’s milestones and memories in photos and video

Today, September 5th, is Claudia's 11th Birthday! She started lessons with me in 2006 when she had just turned 6 after coming to California from Hawaii. I remember her as a shy but wide-eyed child who had studied piano for a year or so. Students who begin piano lessons at a tender age and stay…

At the piano: Exploring the Chopin Waltz in C# minor, Op. 64 No. 2 (Video)

I finally sat down at "Haddy" (my Haddorff piano that sings like a nightingale) and spun out a few ideas about the Waltz in C# minor. A slow motion journey through the composition underscored the suspensions and harmonic rhythm on the first page, then moved on to the piu mosso, 8ths with their rounded contour,…

Thoughts about teaching a 4-year old with an innovative approach (Tales of a Musical Journey)

I would never have entertained the idea of teaching a 4-year old child. Over the years I had adhered to a rigid age boundary when accepting new piano students. Seven was the magic number. When an opportunity arose to sample a new book created by Irina Gorin that focused on instruction for children in the…

Piano Instruction: singing a melody to help shape it and then translate into physical motion (VIDEO)

In this videotaped example I explore the opening phrases of "Mazurka" by Maria Syzmanowska. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u13hfRsE_2U RELATED: https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/piano-study-and-the-value-of-singing-against-a-cultural-backdrop-of-vocal-inhibition/

Relaxation in piano playing and setting a good example for students (Videos)

By all accounts, the piano instructor should be the model of what she embraces as her teaching philosophy at lessons. For example, as I slip into my weeping willow tension-free state, I keep hammering away at my students to relax. But sometimes they're just too wired from pressures at work or at home to unwind…

Piano Lessons for young children: Once or twice a week?

I’ve slowly but surely come to the conclusion that once per week lessons are insufficient for the very young beginner. Not having taught a fledgling below the age of 7 until 4-year old Rina came along in August, 2011, as my experiment-in-progress, it became crystal clear that short, quality exposures to piano instruction were more…

Piano Lessons: The parent/teacher relationship– striking the right balance (Humor)

A humorous take on a testy set of circumstances

Aiden cat and music in a mixed media blend (Video)

This morning I had an idea to synchronize Aiden's instrumental choice photos with pertinent musical excerpts, so I propped up sheet music selections on Haddy Haddorff's rack and imagined what kitty pics would best fit. Once I had captured all my music with attached video, (I wore a purple sequined jacket for the occasion) I…