Category Archives: singing tone legato

Creating a seamless, singing tone legato through arpeggios and scales

Posted on June 2, 2016 by

My students are often amused by my prompts that frequently include “oohs,” “ahhs,” and “wah’s,” among other spaced out sounds, to prevent consonant sounding notes or hard-liners from interrupting a smooth, “sighing” stepwise descent to the tonic. And from this … Continue reading →

Posted in adult piano instruction, piano, piano blog, piano teaching, singing tone legato | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Piano Technique: A Bouncy Scale workout with forward arm rolls and supple wrist motions–Enjoy the romp! (Videos)

Posted on May 3, 2012 by

Scales can be a great workout routine if you let your arms loose, dip your pliant wrists and go with the flow. And it’s a great cardio. (No treadmill or weights required) Just apply principles of balance and buoyancy. Here … Continue reading →

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Abby Whiteside and playing beyond the fingers as a point of departure (Videos)

Posted on February 26, 2012 by

From WIKI: Abby Whiteside (1881–1956) was an influential American piano teacher. She challenged the finger-centric approach of much classical piano teaching and instead advocated a holistic attitude in which the arm and torso are the conductors of a musical image … Continue reading →

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Teaching Gillock’s delightfully appealing, Later Elementary Level music: “The Glass Slipper” (Video)

Posted on February 4, 2012 by

I have no reservation about the immense teaching value of William Gillock’s music from elementary through advanced levels. And while the titles in the first few volumes appeal to children, the pieces can be universally enjoyed by piano students of … Continue reading →

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Playing through Chopin’s B minor Waltz with its sighing motif (Video commentary)

Posted on February 2, 2012 by

Last night I sat myself down at my imperfectly regulated Steinway M grand and managed to sigh several times through torrents of phrases crafted by design and inspiration to tug at the heartstrings. And in the video below, I journeyed … Continue reading →

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A Lesson in Progress with an adult student: Debussy Arabesque No. 1 (shaping, looping, wrist dips, swinging elbows in and out) VIDEO

Posted on December 23, 2011 by

By all accounts, this hard-working pupil should be the next “Student of the Week” because of his six continuous years of applied practicing that has brought him from playing the Clementi Sonatina in C, Op. 36 for which he suffered … Continue reading →

Posted in Debussy, Debussy Arabesque no. 1, Debussy Arabesque No. 1 by Claude Debussy, mind body connection, music and the breath, musical inspiration, musical phrasing, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano playing and phrasing, piano practicing, piano repertoire, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, singing tone legato, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching piano to adults, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Skyped supplement to piano lessons (Video)

Posted on December 20, 2011 by

Here’s an example of a Bay area student taking a Skyped piano lesson to supplement her regular weekly meetings with me. These work well, particularly if a pupil has to catch up from a vacation period absence, or needs reinforcement … Continue reading →

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