A piano student in Greece uses mental imagery to improve his staccato playing
Category: playing piano
Irina Gorin’s Tales of a Musical Journey is reviewed in the FALL 2012 Statewide MTAC Magazine
Here's the link rather than copy/paste. The article is ONLINE! The you tubes are nicely embedded within the writing. http://www.mtac.org/cmt/CMT2012FallTalesMusicalJourney.pdf Now the icing on the cake: Irina needs to make the rounds to branches around the State to sell her stuff and give "live" presentations. Keep the phone lines open!
The importance of Sight-singing, Ear-Training, and Theory in Piano Study
Theory and Ear-Training are indispensable ingredients of a well-rounded music education.
Bringing home the Yamaha Arius YDP-141, my NO. 1 ranked digital (Video)
Over a year ago I surveyed digital pianos at Guitar Center and Best Buy, and drooled over Yamaha Arius. It was hands down my favorite electronic of the lot. So why was I investing in a plug-in, when I had three acoustics jammed into my living room? Main reason: I'm moving to the Bay area… Continue reading Bringing home the Yamaha Arius YDP-141, my NO. 1 ranked digital (Video)
The empty nest: “Haddy” will sing in another home
I will have one less piano in about two weeks. "Haddy" Haddorff, the singing nightingale will nest in a new place starting September 16th. Not to worry, she's on temporary loan to a local piano teacher who will keep her in tune, and vocalizing regularly. I'm Berkeley bound and my new apartment can only accommodate… Continue reading The empty nest: “Haddy” will sing in another home
The Gooden College Connection is about helping minority kids navigate the tough road to college
Andrew M. Gooden and his wife, Ruth Kleinman join a Board of GCC volunteers to make college access a reality for students who might otherwise be lost in the shuffle.
Technique is creatively woven into the piano learning environment from the very beginning of study
A discussion is intensifying on Facebook's "The Art of Piano Pedagogy" about teaching technique as a separate sphere of learning, versus an inseparable part of the total music-making process. I tend to embrace a style of teaching that fuses all ingredients together. This bias does not rule out quality time I assign students to practice… Continue reading Technique is creatively woven into the piano learning environment from the very beginning of study
A Purr-fect sedative for a Cat
"Harmony of the Angels" has a soporific effect on Aiden cat while it provided a relaxing prelude to Rina's earliest piano lessons. Students, young and old, love its thread of sonorities.
Piano Technique: Turning a door knob helps a 9-year old piano student in her practicing (Videos)
I use various motions extracted from daily life to teach fluidity in piano playing. In this particular example lifted from a lesson-in-progress, Ilyana, 9, applies a door knob-turning gesture to smooth out a passage from William Gillock's "Splashing in the Brook." It's also helpful to enlist mental imagery to capture the mood of a composition.… Continue reading Piano Technique: Turning a door knob helps a 9-year old piano student in her practicing (Videos)
A piano student kicks back over the summer playing a Disney selection while I rekindle old musical memories (Videos)
It's not a big deal when a student forgets her scale, arpeggio, and total assignment, then drifts into a casual reading of "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio. Albertina, 13, had brought a coffee-table size anthology of popular tunes to her last lesson. It was indexed by Movies Themes, Broadway Show hits like… Continue reading A piano student kicks back over the summer playing a Disney selection while I rekindle old musical memories (Videos)
