Category Archives: Children’s pieces

Stimulating the imagination: choosing piano repertoire that embraces childhood themes (Video)

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

I was awakened this morning to an inspired Facebook post that featured a six-year old captivated by a delightful piece that amounted to a “playground” of light-hearted chords with engaging harmonies. The piano teacher, Irina Gorin played snippets of Samuel … Continue reading →

Posted in "In the Garden" by Samuel Maykapar, Bartok, Bartok pieces for Children, Burgmuller, Children's pieces, Irina Gorin, Kabalevsky, Kabalevsky Op. 39 Children's pieces, Kinderszenen, MTAC, music and heart, music teachers association of california, musical inspiration, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano practicing, piano practicing motivators, piano repertoire, piano teacher, piano teaching, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, Prokofiev, Robert Schumann, Samuel Maykapar, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, studying piano, Tchaikovsky, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching piano to children, Tschaikovsky, Tschaikovsky Album for the Young, William Gillock, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

Posted on August 27, 2011 by

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in "Tales of a Musical Journey", "Tales of a Musical Journey" by Irina Gorin, blog, blogger, blogging, Children's pieces, classissima, classissima.com, creative learning environment, ear training, piano lesson, piano lessons, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching, piano teaching repertoire, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching piano to children, word press, wordpress.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Scouting a Piano Teacher

Posted on March 5, 2011 by

I have to thank “Lisa” for generating this idea for a new blog. Sometimes, the fountain runs dry until a student experience, teacher-related crisis, or musical event renew the supply. Let me think about this whole issue of picking and … Continue reading →

Posted in blog, blogger, blogging, Bluebook of pianos, cdbaby, children's music, Children's pieces, classical music, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Faber Primer Piano Adventures, Facebook, Facebook friend, Fig Garden Village, five finger positions, Fresno, Fresno California, humor, keyboard technique, Manhattan, memoir, mental imagery, Mildred Portney Chase, mind body connection, Mrs. Elston, music, music and heart, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano tutorial, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace.com, scale fingerings, scales, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, suzuki piano teaching, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano scales, teaching piano to teenagers, teaching scales, technique, Theory, traditional piano teaching, video performances, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

What can you do with a Performance-Piano Degree?

Posted on March 2, 2011 by

Face the music! Most new Conservatory grads with fancy Bachelor of Music, Performance-Piano Degrees bound in leather must improvise when catapulted into the competitive job market. With only a tiny space on the world stage reserved for budding soloists, many … Continue reading →

Posted in 6 degrees of separation, authorsden, Baroque music, Bay area, blog, blogger, blogging, children's music, Children's pieces, Circle of Fifths, Classical era, classissima, classissima.com, counterpoint, Creative Fresno, Domenico Scarlatti, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, essercizi, Facebook, five finger positions, five finger warm-ups, Fresno, Fresno California, humor, J.S. Bach, JS Bach, Karl Orff, keyboard technique, Major and minor scales, memoir, mind body connection, MTAC, music, music and heart, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, music therapy, musicology, my space, New York City, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, Orff Schulwerk, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano practicing, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technique, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, publishersmarketplace.com, satire, scale fingerings, scales, Scarlatti, Scarlatti Sonatas, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano scales, technique, uk-piano-forums, video performances, videotaped replay, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Adult piano students say and do the darndest things.

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

I remember Art Linkletter’s show, “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” which made me think of a few adult piano students and their hauntingly memorable words. Yesterday, for example, I was forewarned by a 70-year old pupil, that I should expect … Continue reading →

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Why Play Scales?

Posted on February 8, 2011 by

Scale practicing examples: *** The Backdrop: As a young piano student living in New York City, I remember my reluctance to prepare a mandatory scale each week for my lesson. In fact my first teacher had so many students, she … Continue reading →

Posted in "Just Being At the Piano", "The Inner Game of Tennis", Amsterdam Avenue and 74th Street, arpeggios, athletic coaching, athletic training, authorsden, Bay area, Bronx, California, cd baby, cdbaby, children's music, Children's pieces, Circle of Fifths, Classical era, classical music, Classical period sonata, Classical sonatina, classissima.com, counterpoint, Creative Fresno, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Exposition in piano sonata, Facebook, Fig Garden Village, five finger positions, five finger warm-ups, Fresno, Fresno California, great pianists, gymnastics, humor, Internet, Irwin Freundlich, keyboard technique, Latour, Latour Sonatina, Lillian Freundlich, Major and minor scales, mind body connection, MTAC, music, music and heart, music appreciation classes, music history, music teachers association of california, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, Music Together, musicology, Musictogether.com, my space, New York, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Northwest Bronx, Northwest Fresno, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Old Fig Garden in Fresno, ornaments, pentachords, pentatonic song, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano finding, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano pedagogy, piano practicing, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano tutorial, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, ping pong, ping pong balls, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace.com, satire, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, sonatina, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano to teenagers, technique, Theodore Latour, trills, uk-piano-forums, video performances, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Piano Lessons: The Two-Way Learning Process, Teaching Albertina, and her sister, Ilyana

Posted on January 28, 2011 by

First Lesson: “Flamenco” by Gillock (Early Intermediate Level) Student: Albertina, age 10 This is a teacher/student musical exploration with the use of the second piano at the studio The second piano provides a unique opportunity to share back and forth, … Continue reading →

Posted in 20th Century music, Album for the Young, arpeggios, athletic coaching, athletic training, authorsden, Bastien "Taco Joe", children's music, Children's pieces, Creative Fresno, dream piano, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, Faber Primer Piano Adventures, five finger positions, five finger warm-ups, Fresno, Fresno California, Fresno Famous, Gillock "Flamenco", gymnastics, humor, Jane Bastien, keyboard technique, Major and minor scales, MTAC, music appreciation classes, music teachers association, music teachers association of california, Music Together, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Orff Schulwerk, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano finding, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano pedagogy, piano scales, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld.com, ping pong, ping pong balls, Randall Faber, scales, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, Teach Street, technique, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, video performances, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment