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: *** Here's a sample of Rina's offerings at the May 5th evening recital held at… Continue reading Rina, 5, performs at our Spring Recital (after 8 months of piano lessons) Video
Category: producing a singing tone legato at the piano
Piano Lesson: An adult student continues her Beethoven “Fur Elise” learning process (Video)
These are excerpts from today's lesson where we covered: 1. Broken chord blocking; refreshing inversions of the Tonic as applied to practicing Fur Elise. 2. Voice balancing: fleshing out the treble (soprano) melody, on page 2 (F Major section) Using supple wrist and hand rotation; relaxation of arms. 3. C section--with repeated bass notes, alternating… Continue reading Piano Lesson: An adult student continues her Beethoven “Fur Elise” learning process (Video)
Ethereal piano playing: Another Irina, with an i in the middle, brings heaven to earth
This is the special month of Irina, Irena, and still another Irina. The latest messenger of beauty via You Tube is Irina Morozova. And as fate would have it, one of my readers, owner of a Knight piano treasure, e-mailed me a sample of her Bach-Siloti, which sent me feverishly finger-tapping the search window for… Continue reading Ethereal piano playing: Another Irina, with an i in the middle, brings heaven to earth
Jello and other mental images for pianists
Here comes the jello again. I thought I was the only one swimming around in it until I found the good company of Irina Gorin, piano teacher and author, who served what amounted to a jello substitute at her piano lessons. She had packed away a small tub of colorful putty that she dispensed to… Continue reading Jello and other mental images for pianists
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… Continue reading Piano Lesson: Working with Rina, age 4, on the supple wrist, singing tone approach to individual notes (Video)
Piano Instruction: Going outside the method book track
Method books on the commercial market have a certain lure because they attempt to conveniently package a set of step-by-step lesson goals through approximately six books that are divided into Lesson, Performance and Theory. A teacher can also choose Technique and Artistry to add to the mix. The basic program outlined in brochures includes branch-offs… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Going outside the method book track
Piano Lesson: Playing into “putty” to acquire a singing tone legato–An 8-year old gets deep in the keys (Video)
I decided to explore a variation of Irina Gorin's "jello" image to teach an 8-year old how to produce a deep, resonant singing tone. She'd been studying piano with me for two years and relished the opportunity to plunge her tiny fingers into a wad of putty that I had acquired at the Dollar store.… Continue reading Piano Lesson: Playing into “putty” to acquire a singing tone legato–An 8-year old gets deep in the keys (Video)