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Teaching Piano to Young Children, A Creative New Approach

I will be giving LIVE webcam classes for Book I, Tales of a Musical Journey by Irina Gorin. http://www.powhow.com/classes/shirley-kirsten Class Title: Teaching Piano to Young Children (4 to 7 years old) with a Creative New Approach Saturday, May 19, 2012 1:00pm-2:00pm PDT I will lead parents and piano teachers, chapter-by-chapter through Irina Gorin's Tales of… Continue reading Teaching Piano to Young Children, A Creative New Approach

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

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)

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Quality spot-practicing by an adult student: Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” (Video)

Marie, a motivated adult student, revisited piano studies after a decades-long hiatus. When she resumed lessons about 6 years ago, she made "Fur Elise" her goal-setting piece. Following long-term scale and arpeggio exposure accompanied by a detailed focus on minuets, short character works, sonatinas and the Chopin Waltz in A minor No. 19, Op. Posthumous,… Continue reading Quality spot-practicing by an adult student: Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” (Video)

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Piano Technique: Playing beyond the fingers to sculpt beautiful phrases (Debussy Arabesque no. 1)

Many piano students who practice Debussy's Arabesque no. 1 tend to grab and articulate notes, rather than let them flow from energy streaming down relaxed arms into supple wrists. Reliance on fingers-down playing becomes the panacea for accuracy, while it sacrifices poetic musical expression. In the video below, I demonstrate how phrases can be sculpted… Continue reading Piano Technique: Playing beyond the fingers to sculpt beautiful phrases (Debussy Arabesque no. 1)

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Teaching piano to Rina, 5, with a supplementary video for mom that outlines our lesson plan and goals

Rina's mother attends her daughter's lessons, takes notes, and receives a follow-up assignment. Today, I sent her a video that summarized what we had accomplished yesterday along with a goal-setting outline. *** The child has been working on her legato which is a new and enticing musical universe. For the better part of 6 months… Continue reading Teaching piano to Rina, 5, with a supplementary video for mom that outlines our lesson plan and goals

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Piano Instruction, Part THREE Beethoven “Tempest” Sonata in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2

This instruction continues from measure 41 through 57, where agitated pairs of 8th notes return, picking up the opening motif. As expected, I use blocking or clustering to keep the redundant figures resilient and bundled with energy. (a forward moving wrist motion is attenuated in rapid tempo, but more exaggerated in the slow practice phase)… Continue reading Piano Instruction, Part THREE Beethoven “Tempest” Sonata in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2

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Practicing tips for Beethoven’s “Tempest” Sonata, Op. 31 No. 2, Part ONE: (Video)

Because I found myself rambling on and on about the first page, I decided to compartmentalize the instruction to make it easier to absorb. And since I played the "Tempest" years ago, the surest route to my restoring the piece to a respectable performance level, was to practice it from the ground up in slow… Continue reading Practicing tips for Beethoven’s “Tempest” Sonata, Op. 31 No. 2, Part ONE: (Video)

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Piano Technique: Reeling off parallel thirds in staccato (with a trampoline effect)

The playground as music teacher applies: My brood of students and I enjoy the romp through a set of parallel thirds within a five-finger position. In our escapade, we usually dance through the Major and parallel minor tonalities. Interplay, back and forth always helps. It allows the teacher to model physical ingredients of a buoyant… Continue reading Piano Technique: Reeling off parallel thirds in staccato (with a trampoline effect)

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Piano Lesson: Analyzing/playing Bach Invention in D minor, No. 4, BWV 775 in slow tempo (Videos)

In J.S. Bach's Two-part Inventions both voices overlap and imitate each other creating counterpoint. The SUBJECT of no. 4 contains a d-minor Harmonic form scale whose 6th note, B flat does NOT continue in an upward motion to the leading tone, C# or 7th note, but instead, the C# is displaced down to the lower… Continue reading Piano Lesson: Analyzing/playing Bach Invention in D minor, No. 4, BWV 775 in slow tempo (Videos)

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Piano Instruction: How to practice Mozart Sonata in A, K. 331, Variation 1 (Video)

The video attached explores how to analyze and practice Variation 1 of Mozart's Sonata in A, K. 331 which is distinguished by its opening movement in Theme and Variations form. The following link provides provides exploration of the opener: https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/the-most-heavenly-piano-music/ Its lilting theme threads through each of 6 variants, retaining the binary form, and enlisting… Continue reading Piano Instruction: How to practice Mozart Sonata in A, K. 331, Variation 1 (Video)