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

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…

My New York City weekend excerpts: The Marble Hill Projects, Park Terrace Gardens, a reunion with my Sohmer upright, and a nostalgic walk along Riverside Drive

When I arrived in Newark Airport this past Friday evening at 10 p.m. I sped off in a spiffy air train on the arm of my protective brother. (He took a snapshot of me in my newly purchased, Calvin Klein leather coat) Surprisingly, most passengers on my plane, bound for Tel Aviv were flip-flopping around,…

Piano Technique: Practicing a difficult section in Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique, Op. 13, movement 1 (Video)

Some piano teachers prefer to improve a student's technique by selecting difficult passages from the mainstream piano literature rather than assign a load of scales, arpeggios and chords that journey around the Circle of Fifths. I still believe the best foundation upon which to build a solid understanding of the piano repertoire is by studying…

The Art of piano playing is about breathing and phrasing (Videos)

Over the years I've crystallized my thoughts about phrasing and breathing. I know that the pace of the breath and an ability to inhale deeply and relaxingly release air at various phrase intervals create beautiful lines. Music must breathe--notes cannot be crowded even in rapid succession. If the breath is flowing naturally, replenished by a…

Rina, 4, brings a toy piano to her lesson; creates her own rhythm; and learns A and B; (7th week of instruction using Tales of a Musical Journey) 5 videos

Rina surprised me by bringing her precious mini-purple plastic piano that played a salsa rhythm style piece with very fast notes. It was gratifying to watch her spontaneously point to the "big" and "little houses" on her tiny keyboard that comprise "neighborhoods" or "octaves" in Tales of a Musical Journey. This preceded her relaxation movements…

Piano Technique: Producing a beautiful singing tone using jello as an image

The following teaching video produced by Irina Gorin, confirmed my belief that a singing tone springs from the imagination along with a consciousness about the physical means to achieve it. On both accounts, Gorin succeeded in the company of a six-year old piano student. The transformation of his C scale from a vertical, poked out…

What pianists can learn from string players

Piano students have a lot to learn from string players who have direct contact with their sound source by strokes of a bow. As pianists, we are physically separated from the strings as hammers must be activated by our key depressions, but by listening to the swells of a violin, cello, or viola, hearing shades…

Highlights from Rina’s 6th piano lesson: Learning and Tapping F’s to music; serenading Aiden cat with C’s

Rina made a significant leap in progress today, tapping accompaniments to her prerecorded C, D and E pieces. This activity took up the greater part of her lesson and was not videotaped since I'm currently highlighting only new lesson material. For the opening relaxation warm-up, Rina soared around the living room like an eagle as…

Pianists and Injuries

You can't avoid it. Athletics are part of piano playing so if you abuse your hands, arms, wrists, let alone your fingers, you'll end up benched, like an overused relief pitcher. Yesterday, I pushed the envelope, practicing rapid fire repeated notes in Domenico Scarlatti's Toccata in D minor, well into the night. Ample streams of…

Domenico Scarlatti Toccata in D Minor, K. 141: How to play rapid repeated notes, and make hand cross-overs easier (Videos)

I always return to a composition that never quite ripened into a desired tempo when I first learned it, with the intention of devising new strategies to improve my technique the second time around. In this endeavor I'll often study videos of world class performers to ascertain physical movements that might work for me which…