Category: music

Chopin Etude, music, music history, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, piano, piano instruction, piano teacher, pianoaddict.com, Shirley Kirsten, Steinway piano, The devil in music, Theory, tritone, Uncategorized, you tube

Chopin Etude op. 10, no. 3 and the devil in music

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Who would believe the Chopin Etude, Op. 10 no. 3, opening with a somber melody that melts the heart away, would venture into the devil's realm with a splash of "tritones." Music historians characterize the interval of a "tritone" (A whole step progression of three notes) as the diabolus in musica. Dating back to medieval times it… Continue reading Chopin Etude op. 10, no. 3 and the devil in music

music, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano teacher, pianoaddict.com, Shirley Kirsten, Steinway piano, Uncategorized, you tube

Butterfly by Edvard Grieg

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

"Butterfly" is one of my favorite pieces from the Romantic era. A charming character piece, it takes flight from the very first measure in a stream of rapid sixteenth notes, weaving through two related keys. The composer, Edvard Grieg, wrote ten sets of these colorful, descriptive miniatures that attached illuminating titles. They form a collection… Continue reading Butterfly by Edvard Grieg

arpeggios, baseball, football, humor, memoir, music, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, performance anxiety, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano teacher, pianoaddict.com, public school 122, scales, Shirley Kirsten, sports, Steinway piano, tennis, Uncategorized, you tube

Sports and Piano Technique: How about chunking–On You Tube

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

It's a no brainer to compare piano study to athletics. Both have been my passions throughout most of my life. At age 6 I competed with my brother for music lessons but lost out. Nearly five years my senior, he got first licks at studying the clarinet, quashing my hopes of holding a shimmering saxophone… Continue reading Sports and Piano Technique: How about chunking–On You Tube

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Scales and Arpeggios with videotaped replay

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji_7tJyJ9JQ I often think of piano technique as in the same league as sports. Why not? I practically grew up in the bleachers at Ebbets Field watching the Brooklyn Bums battle their adversaries. And not to forget that I was a tomboy who copied everything my big brother did. I even tried to break the… Continue reading Scales and Arpeggios with videotaped replay

cat, El Cerrito, music, piano, piano teacher, pianoaddict.com, Shirley Kirsten, Uncategorized

My pedal protector, keyboard bracelet, and other Bay area favorites

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

My El Cerrito piano studio has a treasure trove of precious items, one of which is the infamous pedal protector that was previously mentioned in my blog, "A Piano Teacher's Worst Nightmare." The invention, a rectangular prism of thick cardboard wrapped in masking tape and bolstered in styrofoam was measured precisely by "Fujie," a gifted… Continue reading My pedal protector, keyboard bracelet, and other Bay area favorites

cat, cats, cd baby, feline, felines, music, pianist, piano, piano teacher, pianoaddict.com, Shirley Kirsten, Steinway piano, Uncategorized, you tube

Aiden the Cat Swoons over Chopin’s music (on You Tube)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5MLPxKFl2c I was joined by a surprise visitor while videotaping myself playing the Chopin Waltz in A minor, a composition discovered long after the composer's death. (Cataloged as "Opus Posthumous") I had been tirelessly recording the piece for about 20 times in the sanctity of my piano room, while Aiden had been shuttled off to… Continue reading Aiden the Cat Swoons over Chopin’s music (on You Tube)

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A Piano Teacher’s Worst Nightmare!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

In a routine Yahoo e mail search for a Kawai USA technician I had spoken with a year ago, I stumbled upon a document that I had drafted out of sheer desperation. It related to the decline of my sustain pedal which had been mercilessly pounded by a student who had serious impulse control problems.… Continue reading A Piano Teacher’s Worst Nightmare!

Amazon, cat, cats, cd baby, feline, felines, Liz on Top of the World, music, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, piano, piano teacher, Uncategorized

Aiden, the Cat Rules!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Aiden rules! He steals my attention at the top of each day. At the peep of dawn he scratches the frig door for his scoop of Solid Gold wet food and he meows incessantly until I traipse out of my bedroom to feed him. Aiden prefers his genetically unaltered lamb served 6 seconds out of… Continue reading Aiden, the Cat Rules!

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Teens, popular music then and now, Taylor Swift, throw in Five for Fighting “100 Years”

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Today was by no means a first for me, a long-haired musician raised on Bach, Beethoven and Brahms teaching a teen some pop tunes by John Ondrasik and Taylor Swift while I sailed through the universe of "Liz on Top of the World" with another student. Videotaping portions of piano lessons was the natural result… Continue reading Teens, popular music then and now, Taylor Swift, throw in Five for Fighting “100 Years”

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After the Fall

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

It was easy to predict that I would have violated my own ban on making more you tubes. My cold turkey withdrawal was just an overnight phenomenon eclipsed by my hankering to tweak the tripod, move the camera in all sorts of directions, and get a better angle of the piano for the next posting.… Continue reading After the Fall