Angela Hewitt, pianist, plays J.S. Bach beautifully on a Fazioli

I must admit that when I journeyed to Piedmont Pianos before it moved out of downtown San Francisco, I wasn't taken by a huge, 10-foot plus Italian piano with extra keys that was the featured attraction. (The Giraffe piano at Peninsula in Palo Alto upstaged it) And the older, re-built Steinways on the S.F. premises…

Bach’s “Little” Prelude in D minor, BWV 926 is by no means diminutive (Videos)

Over Skype, a student in Greece and I gain profound insights about how to phrase Bach's Little Prelude in D minor.

Old World piano playing (1949) with a pronounced wrist break

The supple wrist amounts to a "wrist break" that is discouraged among partisans of the Taubman approach. In the main, they adhere to a forearm-driven piano technique along with rotation, and relaxation . The videos embedded, however, contradict such rigid thinking about the wrist, as demonstrated by the performance of a Polish pianist (1949) A Chopin Mazurka is energized by redundant wrist breaks without incurred injury. As one colleague related in reference to Taubman/Golandsky, "how could decades of Russian teaching so easily be tossed aside."

Launching my new Berkeley Piano Studio! (Video)

Yesterday, a stone's through from Fat Apple's on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, I began my official teaching relationship to Berkeley. It was just weeks after touchdown in the Hopkins neighborhood, a storehouse of delights beckoning me at every corner. I walked myself into the ground with a smile of satisfaction each step of the…

The empty nest: “Haddy” will sing in another home

I will have one less piano in about two weeks. "Haddy" Haddorff, the singing nightingale will nest in a new place starting September 16th. Not to worry, she's on temporary loan to a local piano teacher who will keep her in tune, and vocalizing regularly. I'm Berkeley bound and my new apartment can only accommodate…

Where harmonies shape phrases: Chopin’s Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4

Chopin cloaked one of his most memorable preludes in lush harmonies that reveal the beauty of a simple melody.

A Purr-fect sedative for a Cat

"Harmony of the Angels" has a soporific effect on Aiden cat while it provided a relaxing prelude to Rina's earliest piano lessons. Students, young and old, love its thread of sonorities.

Piano Technique: The Spongy Wrist is a great shock absorber and singing tone supporter

Rina, age 5, and Emily, 13, both learned about the supple wrist and how it nurtures a beautiful singing tone at the piano.

Keeping up with a fast turnover of repertoire and reclaiming an old piece from the Classical era (Videos)

I always make it a point to advise students of all levels, to stay with a piece long enough to feel at one with it--to experience a fluidity of motion that comes from baby-step, layered learning. Despite my admonitions, some pupils choose to remain in the fast lane, whizzing through one selection after another without…

A Supplement to a Skyped lesson (Chopin Waltz in B minor) Video

It's invaluable to send videos to SKYPE students between lessons. 1) It fills in some of the gaps associated with long distance transmission where variations in volume and clarity might temporarily interrupt instruction. 2) It's a summation of what transpired at the lesson along with recommendations to improve practicing and performance. While some students videotape…