Category Archives: player piano

Rina, 5, performs at our Spring Recital (after 8 months of piano lessons) Video

Posted on May 5, 2012 by

Rina is moving right along. She can spin a legato phrase with finesse after having practiced her detached-note playing for months. Now she’s working on using featherlight thumbs to craft smoother lines. Notice her supple wrist approach to the piano: … Continue reading →

Posted in end of the year piano recitals, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, piano, piano instruction, piano playing, piano recital, piano recitals with themes, piano repertoire review, piano room, piano scales, piano society, piano teacher, piano teacher nearly falls asleep, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano teaching repertoire, piano technician, pianoworld.com, player piano, POWHOW instruction, POWHOW piano instruction, POWHOW webcam online piano class, private party marketplace of pianos, private party piano sale, producing a singing tone legato at the piano, publishersmarketplace.com, Ravel Piano Concerto for the left hand, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Uncategorized, Weber upright piano, word press, wordpress.com, Yeti microphone, Yevgeny Sudbin, you tube, You Tube Cantata no. 78 performed at the First Moravian Church in New York City, You Tube interview with Lugansky from Israel, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Piano Repertoire: Does making fingering/hand adjustments constitute a “swindle?”

Posted on January 8, 2012 by

Seymour Bernstein, author of With Your Own Two Hands, remarked that “Chopin wrote out an outline for an intended method of teaching piano. And when he died he left it to Charles Alkan who never finished it. Wouldn’t you think … Continue reading →

Posted in Beethoven Sonata Appassionata, Charles Alkan, Chopin, Conversations with Arrau by Joseph Horowitz, Conversations with Arrau by Joseph Horwitz, Faschingsschwank aus Wien by Schumann, fingering and phrasing at the piano, fingering and piano technique, Frederic Chopin, Gershwin Prelude no. 2, Gershwin Prelude no. 2 and fingering changes, Intermezzo Faschingsschwank aus Wien by Schumann, Philip Lorenz, pianist, pianists, piano, piano technique, player piano, Seymour Bernstein, Seymour Bernstein author With Your Own Two Hands, Seymour Bernstein composer, Seymour Bernstein pianist, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, swindle, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

George Gershwin’s Prelude no. 2, and the retirement home circuit (Videos)

Posted on December 31, 2011 by

When I did my retirement home tours, feisty tunes were more well-received than the melancholy Prelude no. 2 in C# minor. Everybody knew Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” and “Rhapsody in Blue,” plus a truckload of Hoagy Carmichael favorites. So, looking … Continue reading →

Posted in George Gershwin, George Gershwin piano rolls, George Gershwin Prelude no. 2, George Gershwin Preludes 1 to 3, George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, Hoagie Carmichael, Hoagy Carmichael, piano, player piano, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, word press, wordpress.com, Yamaha Disklavier, Yeol Eum Son, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Piano Instruction: Part Two Debussy Arabesque, No. 1, Teacher, Shirley Kirsten (Video #2)

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

Part two transitions to A Major. (The composition is in E Major) and has a different character though motifs and ideas from the opening section intersperse this portion of the Arabesque. A very noteworthy change that occurs with the modulation … Continue reading →

Posted in classissima.com, Claude Debussy, Debussy Arabesque No. 1 by Claude Debussy, Haddorff, Haddorff piano, New York City, New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano repertoire, piano studio, piano teacher, piano technique, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, player piano, self-analysis, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, slow piano practicing, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, Theory, uk-piano-forums, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Player Piano Without a Name

Posted on December 15, 2010 by

“Alice,” the owner of an unidentified player, is seen above. On a sultry Friday morning before a long Memorial Day weekend, I stumbled upon a Fresno Bee ad for a brand-less “piano,” sandwiched among “moving sale” items. The seller’s address … Continue reading →

Posted in antique pianos, appraisal piano, cabinet grand, Fresno, humor, memoir, Mr. York, music teachers associationo of California, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, musicology, my space, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, old upright, photos, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano auction, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano maintenance, piano pedagogy, piano purchase, piano repair, piano restoration, piano sale, piano society, Piano Street, piano teacher, piano technician, piano technician's guild, piano tuner, piano tuning, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, player piano, private party piano sale, satire, Schumann, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Teach Street, Terry Barrett, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, used piano, used pianos, word press, wordpress.com, York | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment