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Aiden Cat, Aiden the Cat, blog, blogger, blogging, word press, wordpress.com

Aiden Cat’s Choice of Musical Instruments (Photos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I've always fantasized about what instruments Aiden might choose if he wasn't swamped with pianos. Let's see: It looks like all he needed was a bow. Love in full bloom with the cello (actually my favorite sounding instrument) Aiden! That's not a cello! Now he's reunited with the right instrument What? A hunting horn?! He'd… Continue reading Aiden Cat’s Choice of Musical Instruments (Photos)

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Piano Technique: Spot Practicing a nagging E Major Arpeggio in Chopin’s Waltz No. 19 in A minor, Measures 21-24 (video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Two of my students are studying this Waltz in A minor No. 19, and both have difficulty navigating the E Major Arpeggio, measures 21-24 with its eventual resolution to the A minor tonic. I don't believe playing this arpeggio smoothly has anything to do with hand size or physical stature of either student. One is… Continue reading Piano Technique: Spot Practicing a nagging E Major Arpeggio in Chopin’s Waltz No. 19 in A minor, Measures 21-24 (video)

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Piano Lesson: Chopin Prelude in B minor, Op. 28 (Video) and playing through

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

This is a very funereal composition, with a sighing if not sobbing right hand motif that permeates the musical mosaic. The left hand has a cello line that provides the solo melodic thread in the course of the Prelude, though a few brief measures in the right hand should be fleshed out. I highlight these… Continue reading Piano Lesson: Chopin Prelude in B minor, Op. 28 (Video) and playing through

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Piano Instruction: Chopin Prelude No. 4 in E minor, Op. 28, Teacher, Shirley Kirsten

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

http://youtu.be/By2h_rr9JSM http://youtu.be/TIWxLbW3Z38 Chopin composed 24 Preludes in Op. 28 exploring 24 different keys (Major and minor) with each Prelude having its own mood and character. In my step-by-step practicing of the E minor Prelude, I start with the Left Hand with its chordal mosaic, and listen attentively for descending chromatic movement between chords. In the… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Chopin Prelude No. 4 in E minor, Op. 28, Teacher, Shirley Kirsten

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A favorite performance on You Tube: Ingrid Fliter, pianist plays Beethoven–Gilmore Artist Award winner

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Ingrid Fliter was born in Buenos Aires and received most of her musical training in Europe. A few years ago she serenaded Fresno audiences as a soloist on our esteemed Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts series. At the time, I was overwhelmed with her musical sensitivity and how she enlisted whole arm, supple wrist energies.… Continue reading A favorite performance on You Tube: Ingrid Fliter, pianist plays Beethoven–Gilmore Artist Award winner

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The view in my living room with an iMac, Tripod, Three Pianos, and Aiden cat

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

This about sums it up. Now that the iMac arrived right after Haddy Haddorff replaced a digital keyboard, Aiden cat found space for himself dwindling, yet he still managed to plop himself right in the middle of the muddle. RELATED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5MLPxKFl2c Aiden cat sits in on a concert...

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Should piano students listen to recorded performances of pieces they are first beginning to learn?

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I was thinking of Palmer's edition of Chopin, an Introduction to His Music, and when I first purchased it years ago there was no inserted CD of recorded selections contained in the album. With subsequent published editions, a CD popped into an envelope, beckoning a player to sample another pianist's interpretation of music he had… Continue reading Should piano students listen to recorded performances of pieces they are first beginning to learn?

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Between California and Oregon: Skyping Chopin with an eight-year old student (Video of lesson in progress)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

At the cue of a SKYPE musical trademark ring, I tapped the green-colored phone icon and brought an eight-year old, her dad, and a grand piano into view. A second virtual lesson beamed between California and Oregon officially began! Featured composition: Chopin's Waltz in A minor, no. 17, Op. Posthumous. This time I aimed my… Continue reading Between California and Oregon: Skyping Chopin with an eight-year old student (Video of lesson in progress)

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Piano Instruction: Common student problems related to playing Clementi Sonatina, Op. 36, No. 3, Spiritoso (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

The student I'm currently teaching by Skype has received a number of supplemental videos from me that target problems universal to those learning Clementi Sonatina, Op. 36, No. 3. In this video, geared for teachers as well as students, I define areas in the first movement, Spiritoso, that need particular focus for improvement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_q_vUSLIDI As… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Common student problems related to playing Clementi Sonatina, Op. 36, No. 3, Spiritoso (Video)

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Piano Instruction: Schumann Arabesque, Op. 18-Using a supple wrist follow through motion, and parceling out voices (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

The Schumann Arabesque is a heartfelt character piece from the Romantic era. It requires the player to have a very supple wrist to realize the lilt of buoyant, legato dotted eighth/16th figures that permeate the music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPqrQJccLQ4 Though the composition is in C Major, it has interludes in the minor, that are somber and impassioned.… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Schumann Arabesque, Op. 18-Using a supple wrist follow through motion, and parceling out voices (Video)