I relish time spent with a student who's baby-stepped a musical journey with patience and self-acceptance. The polishing stage is icing on the cake, a dessert following the main course. In this case, an adult pupil kept to a regimen of scales and arpeggios in A minor, as her tip-toe adventure into a Chopin Waltz… Continue reading The polishing stage of learning can be dessert for a piano teacher and student
Category: Chopin Waltz in A minor no. 19
Into the Hills with the Sound of Music –a Baldwin Acrosonic “acoustic” sings
The video attached to this writing validates the beauty of music-making on a well-maintained, though 1940s vintage era acoustic piano. Baldwin Acrosonics were the Cadillacs of the spinet and console variety pianos. They had a noticeable innovation compared to their sister-size instruments. (A deeper sound chamber, especially noted in the consoles that measured 40" or… Continue reading Into the Hills with the Sound of Music –a Baldwin Acrosonic “acoustic” sings
The piano learning process at all levels of study
In spite of my having studied piano for decades, each learning experience is filled with challenges that I must approach with a glut of patience. A new composition has its own form, architecture, harmonic rhythm, fingering that requires a big reserve of self-acceptance in a deadline-free frame. To the contrary, many of my students, who… Continue reading The piano learning process at all levels of study
Piano Technique: Are arpeggios “boring?” I don’t think so!
Arpeggios don't deserve a bad rap!