MTAC, music teachers association of california, New York City, New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, self-analysis, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching piano to children, teaching piano to teenagers, traditional piano teaching, uk-piano-forums, word press, wordpress.com

Piano Lessons and dropout rates: How the initial interview is better than a crystal ball

I've been eyeing the forums lately at Piano World, and a hot topic is why students drop out of lessons, some after only a few months. A related thread had jabber about a circulating statistic that level 2 method books took a significant marketplace nose dive. What could it mean? I looked into my crystal… Continue reading Piano Lessons and dropout rates: How the initial interview is better than a crystal ball

classissima, classissima.com, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Fresno California, keyboard technique, Lillian Freundlich, mind body connection, molto cantabile, muscular memory, music, music and heart, music and the breath, music teachers association of california, musical phrasing, New York City, New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano practicing, Piano Street, piano studio, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway M grand piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, technique, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Piano Instruction: Working on the flexible wrist with a hair band (Videos)

I videotaped Nayelli, age 10, practicing the use of a flexible wrist. I also integrated the hair band (demonstrated by Irina Gorin) into the lesson for the purpose of teaching the dead weight drop into notes with a dipping wrist. All advance the singing tone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmBrKEuk3bo Nayelli plays Faber's "Scarf Dance" (Lesson Book 1, Piano… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Working on the flexible wrist with a hair band (Videos)

"Tales of a Musical Journey", classissima, classissima.com, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Fresno, Fresno California, keyboard technique, Lillian Freundlich, MTAC, muscular memory, music and heart, music and the breath, music teachers association of california, Music Together, musical phrasing, New York City, New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin Conservatory, philosophy of eduction, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano repertoire, Piano Street, piano student, piano studio, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching piano to children, uk-piano-forums, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Piano Instruction: Learning from our colleagues (Videos)

Since we are very isolated as piano teachers, nurturing one-to-one relationships with our students for months and years at a time, we sometimes forget that there are other teaching universes beyond our own with repositories of ideas that may enrich the learning environment. One example, is the cosmos of Irina Gorin's studio in Indiana. I've… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Learning from our colleagues (Videos)

El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Fresno California, Major and minor scales, memorizing piano music, mental imagery, mind body connection, MTAC, muscular memory, music, music and heart, music memorization, music teachers association of california, music theory, music video, musical inspiration, musical phrasing, New York City, New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano practicing, piano scales, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano studio, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano tutorial, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, publishersmarketplace.com, scale fingerings, scales, self-analysis, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, singing tone legato, sonatina, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching piano scales, technique, Theory, uk-piano-forums, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Learning and Memorizing Clementi Sonatina in C, Op. 36, No. 1, Mvt. 1 (Video)

I begin by playing the Sonatina, first movement and then I map out the composition to advance thoughtful learning and memorization. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNuMbp_q9X0 RELATED: https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/memorization-at-the-piano-how-to-improve-your-skills/

creative learning environment, developing sight-reading skills as an aid to memorization, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Fresno California, harmonic analysis, improving sight reading skills, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, keyboard technique, Lillian Freundlich, Major and minor scales, memorizing piano music, mental imagery, Mildred Portney Chase, mind body connection, MTAC, muscular memory, music, music and heart, music and the breath, music memorization, music teachers association of california, musical phrasing, New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, Old Fig Garden in Fresno, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano practicing, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano tutorial, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, publishers marketplace, Rondo form, self-analysis, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway M grand piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching piano scales, teaching scales, technique, Theory, Uncategorized, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com

Memorization at the piano: How to improve your skills

Memorization should be a natural outflow of consistent, thoughtful practicing. Thoughtful is underscored because it's the most important ingredient in the process of playing a studied piece without music. It means having mental assists that relate to mapping out a particular composition without chance reliance on intuition or instinct. So if you suddenly find yourself… Continue reading Memorization at the piano: How to improve your skills

New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin Conservatory, Piano World, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Haddy Haddorff is ear tuned and shows her stuff (from jazz to Classical)-two videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89mKlNyi6_4 Yesterday Haddy underwent a necessary procedure. She was ear tuned by Jeff Wood, (RPT--Registered Piano Technician) who drove in from Kingsburg, a Swedish enclave in the Central Valley. Haddy, however, did not get a cheesy work-over by any means. She was fine tuned and toned by an expert who "beat" the dickens out of… Continue reading Haddy Haddorff is ear tuned and shows her stuff (from jazz to Classical)-two videos

adult piano students, classissima, classissima.com, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Fresno California, Lillian Freundlich, Mildred Portney Chase, mind body connection, MTAC, music and the breath, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lessons, piano practicing, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano studio, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano tutorial, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway and Sons, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching piano scales, Theory, uk-piano-forums, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Piano Instruction: Avoiding a Crash and Burn in Fast Tempo (Video)

One of my adult students asked about how to stay in control when playing fast passages on the piano. She had found herself stumbling in brisk tempos, getting anxious, over-crowding the notes, and finally becoming so tangled up that she had to stop. The music essentially came to a grinding halt. My advice to her,… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Avoiding a Crash and Burn in Fast Tempo (Video)

classissima, classissima.com, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Fresno California, Fur Elise, keyboard technique, MTAC, music appreciation classes, music teachers association of california, music theory, musical phrasing, New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano finding, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano repertoire, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano studio, piano teacher, piano technique, piano tutorial, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, presto agitato from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, self-analysis, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway and Sons, Steinway M grand piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, teaching scales, technique, Theory, uk-piano-forums, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Piano Lesson: An Adult student practices the Presto agitato mvt. Beethoven “Moonlight” Sonata (Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxmwAUIu3eY The Chromatic scale to the end of movement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtquw8qNbXg R.K. wished to remain anonymous because of the nature of his work, but, nevertheless, he's a devoted student of the piano. I met him at the American Cancer Discovery Shop, on Bullard and West in Fresno about 5 years ago when I was a regular… Continue reading Piano Lesson: An Adult student practices the Presto agitato mvt. Beethoven “Moonlight” Sonata (Video)

blog, blogger, blogging, molto cantabile, music teachers association of california, New York City High School of Performing Arts, New York University, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, piano, piano addict, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway M grand piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Piano Instruction: Teaching fluidity of motion, phrasing, and the singing tone, Ilyana, 8, plays “Firefly” (Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv5NVmKEN9w Approach: Plan with the student before the piece is played. Map out the dynamics, articulation, whether staccato, legato or a combination. (For tonality, where does piece come to rest?) Identify the "mood" of the piece. Translate sound images into physical motion. (as in the second page of "Firefly," rolling from Right hand to Left… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Teaching fluidity of motion, phrasing, and the singing tone, Ilyana, 8, plays “Firefly” (Video)

El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Fresno, Fresno California, music, music and heart, music appreciation classes, music teachers association of california, music video, Nayelli, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, piano, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano practicing, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, uk-piano-forums, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Piano Instruction: Phrasing and singing–A 10 year old beginner plays “Russian Sailor Dance,” Faber Bk. 1 (Video)

Singing is the best model for phrasing. In the learning environment, the student and teacher are on an interactive vocal wavelength experiencing the contour and shape of a musical line. Using syllables of various kinds that reflect the inner density and motion of the music is intrinsic to the activity. The video attached gives an… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Phrasing and singing–A 10 year old beginner plays “Russian Sailor Dance,” Faber Bk. 1 (Video)