Category: Tchaikovsky

piano, piano blog, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky, Uncategorized

Tchaikovsky’s “Sweet Dream” requires a balanced synthesis of voices

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

At first glance, most piano students will not realize the amount of detailed work and analysis that applies to learning one of Tchaikovsky's most endearing miniatures from his Op. 39 Children's Collection. However, after an initial reading and overview, it becomes crystal clear that each voice must be parceled out and then re-integrated in a… Continue reading Tchaikovsky’s “Sweet Dream” requires a balanced synthesis of voices

Just Being at the Piano, Mildred Portney Chase, Peter Illyich Tchaikovksy, pianist, piano, piano playing, Tchaikovsky

Imagination fuels expressive piano playing

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

As my local and Online piano students gear up for their bi-annual music sharing this coming Saturday over Skype, a commonly expressed concern is how to harness the imagination to feed a musical journey right from the opening measure of a piece to its final cadence. The challenge for everyone embodies a centered period of… Continue reading Imagination fuels expressive piano playing

learning a new piano piece, piano blog, piano blogging, piano instruction, piano learning, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Tchaikovsky

Early stage learning, and ways of knowing a new piano piece

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

One of my adult students has embarked upon studying Tchaikovsky's "German Song," Op. 39, and in her initial baby-step exposure to the composition, she has already explored multiple ways of "knowing" the work. http://youtu.be/ocd8Ci0Ny_E http://youtu.be/iEfP45vQIqs 1) Setting a fingering for each hand, and counting beats through each measure in a sub-divided way (within a slow… Continue reading Early stage learning, and ways of knowing a new piano piece

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Stimulating the imagination: choosing piano repertoire that embraces childhood themes (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I was awakened this morning to an inspired Facebook post that featured a six-year old captivated by a delightful piece that amounted to a "playground" of light-hearted chords with engaging harmonies. The piano teacher, Irina Gorin played snippets of Samuel Maykapar's "In the Garden" that seemed to share character kinship with Kabalevksy's Op. 39, Children's… Continue reading Stimulating the imagination: choosing piano repertoire that embraces childhood themes (Video)

"Tales of a Musical Journey" by Irina Gorin, Irina Gorin, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano playing and relaxation, piano teaching, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, playing piano, Prokofief "March", Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Tchaikovsky, teaching piano to children, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Highlights of Rina’s fourth piano lesson, 8/25/11: Learning about Rhythm and tapping C’s and Ds to Marches (Videos in three parts)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Rina reached a learning landmark last week when she located "little houses" with two black key roofs across the keyboard. Irina Gorin, in her book, "Tales of a Musical Journey" cleverly marks out seven "neighborhoods" (aka "octaves") that encompass small, and big houses (three-black key roofs) Students explore the geography of the piano with the… Continue reading Highlights of Rina’s fourth piano lesson, 8/25/11: Learning about Rhythm and tapping C’s and Ds to Marches (Videos in three parts)