Adult Piano Student Themes and Issues

Thoughts about the adults I so dearly teach...

Piano Workout Plus: Left Hand development tips, and how to produce a “Woodpecker” staccato (Videos)

Any neighbor watching me doing my upper body push-ups using the keyboard as leverage would think I was a bit spacey. But I'm quite down to earth in my daily workout routines at the piano. They include applications of weight transfer into the keys; zoned in left hand practice through scale work (and arpeggios) in…

Revisiting Bach’s Fugue form (BWV 847 in C minor)

Bach's Fugue in C minor, BWV 847 is analyzed and taught

What to do in a 90-minute piano lesson? ( A 9-yr. old meets the challenge) Videos

Fritz is a bundle of energy. He comes to his 45-minute lesson each week before soccer practice and has an additional roster of sports activities that keep him in tip- top shape. Into his third year of piano study, his favorite pieces include: "Bear" by Rebikov, which requires a rotation of the Left Hand to…

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…

My new home in Berkeley, California

My dreams of living in Berkeley have been fulfilled!

Teaching “Clowns” by Kabalevsky from the Op. 39 Children’s Pieces (Video)

Kabalevsky's ebullient miniature teaches technique while it satisfies a student's musical appetite.

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.

Piano Technique: Rotation, Turnaround, and Curve around of scales, with application to repertoire (Videos)

Piano students, by and large, don't relish playing scales. They would rather eat spinach than practice what they view as tedious, finger-trippers. I have a different perspective. For me, scales are my playground and workout space. They keep me in shape, fine tuning my ears to their internal undulations and curvy turnarounds. They translate from…

Piano Warm-ups, Chopin, and the Art of Breathing (Videos)

An adult student and I worked on relaxation techniques that applied to her warm-ups. We practiced preparation for starting notes of broken chords and scales. I recommended a slow and deep ingestion of air before the release of a stream, that has a perfect moment to create an opening sound or tone. Music and the…