Category: El Cerrito piano studio

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Phrasing at the piano: Listening to the ends of notes as they flow into others

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I've chosen Burgmuller's "Tender Flower" as the springboard to explore attentive listening and its relationship to phrasing. At the outset, the right moment to begin a piece is a challenge. The player has to experience the whole dimension of silence before a first note is played. That silence is not dead, but alive with cues… Continue reading Phrasing at the piano: Listening to the ends of notes as they flow into others

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From Legato to Staccato: staying connected at the piano (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

The universal chant among my adult students is, “I can’t play those darn staccato scales and arpeggios. They’re impossible!” And the reason for all the moans and groans is, they feel DISCONNECTED, and not safely secure in the keys. It’s in part PSYCHOLOGICAL. If students can pull off a nice, swinging, well-shaped LEGATO, all they… Continue reading From Legato to Staccato: staying connected at the piano (Video)

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Online Piano Lessons by Webcam: Pros and Cons (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I'm not about to pitch web-cam driven piano instruction like a CD package promoter of Piano Playing in a Flash. Learning piano is not in the espresso lane. It takes time, patience, and practice. The question is, can a student gain as much from Online piano study vs. "live" in-person lessons. For decades I was… Continue reading Online Piano Lessons by Webcam: Pros and Cons (Videos)

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Piano Practicing: The hands alone/hands together debate (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

A lively Linked-in discussion is percolating about ways to practice piano and develop technique. Ardent defenders of a Hands Together approach insist that hands alone playing fits only elementary level students. (Deprecation is noted) The Hands Together contingent misses the mark. A solid supporter of ground-up/layered learning, I can draw on my interview with George… Continue reading Piano Practicing: The hands alone/hands together debate (Videos)

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Piano Technique: Focusing on Rotation in arpeggios, and building up a scale (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

These are two supplementary videos that I created for adult students between lessons. As previously mentioned, they clarify and reinforce the content of our class, and map out ways to practice. I. ROTATION at the turnaround of a B minor Arpeggio Exploring the curve at the very top of the figure with an energy boost… Continue reading Piano Technique: Focusing on Rotation in arpeggios, and building up a scale (Videos)

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Kabalevsky’s “A Game” is a delightful way to practice staccato (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Dimitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987) composed a winner for late elementary and early intermediate level students. While playing "A GAME," they learn a bouncy staccato with light interspersed accents on downbeats. How refreshing to weave technique into a musical romp that moves along with a "feeling of one main impulse per bar." According to notes found in… Continue reading Kabalevsky’s “A Game” is a delightful way to practice staccato (Videos)

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Burgmuller’s beautiful “Tendre Fleur” flows in and out of flower portraits (VIDEO)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

On my walk from the El Cerrito Hills to BART Del Norte I snapped these pictures and interspersed them in my reading. Composed in the Romantic era, "Tender Flower" (English Tr.) is a gorgeous miniature that says so much in such a short space of time. A repository of nuance and expressive lines, it rivets… Continue reading Burgmuller’s beautiful “Tendre Fleur” flows in and out of flower portraits (VIDEO)

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Growing piano technique in baby steps: Rina, 5, advances to hands together five-finger positions (adding in 10ths)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Rina may not know the words "pentascales" and "tenths," but she has the intelligence to notice when her fingers move up and down together, playing the same notes an "octave" apart. With a sound knowledge of the music alphabet in both directions, she has good cognitive reinforcement. (She also knows "running notes" or 8ths, "long… Continue reading Growing piano technique in baby steps: Rina, 5, advances to hands together five-finger positions (adding in 10ths)

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Part THREE: Guess what happened on the way to my El Cerrito Piano Studio? (Photos!)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

There was no rooster greeting me for the past two weeks as I wound my way from Bart Del Norte into the El Cerrito Hills. The "cockadoodledoo" had been a welcome embellishment to my time-honored walk and I wondered what happened to the messenger. Once I had ensnared some video through a wood fence opening… Continue reading Part THREE: Guess what happened on the way to my El Cerrito Piano Studio? (Photos!)

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Rina, 5, and a review of her staircase activity: The Playground as Piano Teacher (VIDEOS)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I updated the last blog-embedded video that previewed staircase activity planned for Rina's next lesson. It explored the tricky last line of Reinagle's Minuet which has a mix of rhythms and more complex melodic motion compared to the first three staves of music. What I added to the footage, however, was my plan to insert… Continue reading Rina, 5, and a review of her staircase activity: The Playground as Piano Teacher (VIDEOS)