Category: mental imagery

adult piano instruction, imagination, mental imagery, piano blog, piano lessons

Imagination and mental imagery in the piano learning environment

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

It shouldn't be the same old five-finger warm-ups and scales without an infusion of emotion/imagination. That's why I decided to experiment and have two adult students communicate a juxtaposed shift of mood between a MAJOR penta-scale (five-finger position) and its companion parallel minor. Neither pupil expected to be asked to raise five step-wise notes to… Continue reading Imagination and mental imagery in the piano learning environment

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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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Irina Morozova’s inspiring words flow through a lesson with an adult student (Beethoven’s Fur Elise-in-progress) Video

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

"From watching great pianists it is obvious that they incorporate quite different movements to achieve the same goals, because people do not play piano with fingers but rather with the mind and the ear. Again, it is the clear image of what kind of sound one wants to achieve, combined with the knowledge of how… Continue reading Irina Morozova’s inspiring words flow through a lesson with an adult student (Beethoven’s Fur Elise-in-progress) Video

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Piano Technique: Enlisting arpeggios to create mood shifts (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

A piano teacher can use the technique portion of a lesson to explore emotions or moods. The student can be instructed to play an arpeggio or scale in a tender way, or with "anger," "happiness," etc. I prefer this type of technique-framed mood exploration to an enlistment of Baroque, Classic or Romantic era repertoire for… Continue reading Piano Technique: Enlisting arpeggios to create mood shifts (Video)

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Jello and other mental images for pianists

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Here comes the jello again. I thought I was the only one swimming around in it until I found the good company of Irina Gorin, piano teacher and author, who served what amounted to a jello substitute at her piano lessons. She had packed away a small tub of colorful putty that she dispensed to… Continue reading Jello and other mental images for pianists

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Piano Lesson: Working with Rina, age 4, on the supple wrist, singing tone approach to individual notes (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Today was Rina's 11th piano lesson. To date we've identified and played the seven notes of the musical alphabet using fingers, 2, 3, and 4 of each hand in various registers. Our follow-up practice focused on how to produce a singing tone in non legato (dropping individual notes one finger at a time) without yet… Continue reading Piano Lesson: Working with Rina, age 4, on the supple wrist, singing tone approach to individual notes (Video)

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Relaxation in piano playing and setting a good example for students (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

By all accounts, the piano instructor should be the model of what she embraces as her teaching philosophy at lessons. For example, as I slip into my weeping willow tension-free state, I keep hammering away at my students to relax. But sometimes they're just too wired from pressures at work or at home to unwind… Continue reading Relaxation in piano playing and setting a good example for students (Videos)

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Skyped Piano Lessons: Using video supplements as reinforcement (Video sent to an 8-year old student)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Today I Skyped a third piano lesson between California and Oregon, and learned that the student I was mentoring was not 10-years old as I had thought all along, but only 8! Dad told me she had 10 months of lessons altogether, wherein I became involved only weeks ago at the father's invitation. But the… Continue reading Skyped Piano Lessons: Using video supplements as reinforcement (Video sent to an 8-year old student)

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Piano Instruction: Debussy Arabesque No. 1 (Video)–and playing through the whole composition

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I first came to know this piece when a fifth grader at P.S. 122 in the Bronx was selected to play it at our student assembly. The ebb and flowing beauty of this work was so poignant, that I stored it away in my memory until I was able to personally experience this composition years… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Debussy Arabesque No. 1 (Video)–and playing through the whole composition

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Piano Instruction: Schumann Arabesque, Op. 18-Using a supple wrist follow through motion, and parceling out voices (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

The Schumann Arabesque is a heartfelt character piece from the Romantic era. It requires the player to have a very supple wrist to realize the lilt of buoyant, legato dotted eighth/16th figures that permeate the music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPqrQJccLQ4 Though the composition is in C Major, it has interludes in the minor, that are somber and impassioned.… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Schumann Arabesque, Op. 18-Using a supple wrist follow through motion, and parceling out voices (Video)