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Piano Instruction: Favorite Children’s Pieces (Video)

I've highlighted three favorite children's pieces by Dimitri Kabalevsky and Robert Schumann that are very catchy, colorful and harmonically engaging. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVPK_RDxM8 They fall into the category of programmatic music because the character of the compositions match the titles. Even though Schumann and Kabalevsky dedicated their compositions to a youthful generation, the music is quite sophisticated… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Favorite Children’s Pieces (Video)

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DREAM PIANO: Overview and Acknowledgments

My two-year long romp on the piano finding trail with York as my professional companion and consultant had been worth all the time spent in, around and under pianos. How else would I have acquired knowledge about the piano’s harp, or cast iron plate were it not for his having the bravado to dismantle it… Continue reading DREAM PIANO: Overview and Acknowledgments

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Piano Instruction: Mozart Rondo: Allegretto, 3rd mvt. Sonata in C, K. 545

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6oSo-WC9OM http://youtu.be/Meb-yhioUIo In this instructional video I analyze the form and musical content of Mozart's Sonata in C Major, K. 545, Rondo: Allegretto, Third movement. (I play behind tempo to make the commentary and musical phrases more understandable) The Rondo, more often than not, is the form used in the last movement of a Classical… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Mozart Rondo: Allegretto, 3rd mvt. Sonata in C, K. 545

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Everyone plays the Bach Prelude no. 1 in C (You Tube video embedded)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMwi6agdB1k Is this the latest hit among classically minded You Tubers? How many have flocked to upload Bach Prelude 1 from the Well- Tempered Clavier. Perhaps it's because playing this first one, and singing the "Ave Maria" over it elevate the player to new spiritual heights. Spun out broken chords between the hands lay a… Continue reading Everyone plays the Bach Prelude no. 1 in C (You Tube video embedded)

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Favorite J.S. Bach Two Part Inventions

The J.S. Bach Inventions I posted on You Tube are definitely my favorites. (In the days ahead I will describe the way I teach these to my students) Inventions are dialogs or conversations between the hands that constitute the interweaving of independent voices   (Counterpoint) Counterpoint was the hallmark of the Baroque period (1685-1750) My Favorite… Continue reading Favorite J.S. Bach Two Part Inventions

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Full Blown You Tube Addiction!

My struggle to grapple with You Tube demons and completely eradicate them!

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A Day in El Cerrito and my return to Fresno

To El Cerrito and back, and what happens in between, in greater detail.