Category: teaching piano to adults

adult piano instruction, adult piano students, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, teaching piano to adults

My Gold Standard Adult Pupils!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I'm the proud mentor of seven COMMITTED adult piano students, three of whom were TAGGED with body stickers for doing GOOD time at their lessons yesterday. NOTE: None have been coerced by authorities to sign up. (i.e. Parents) Each is a VOLUNTARY admission. (LIVE or in Cyber) Ravi, a thirty-plus chess champion/financial analyst, is one… Continue reading My Gold Standard Adult Pupils!

breathing and piano lessons, classissima, Mozart, Mozart Sonata in Bb K. 281, Mozart Sonata in Bb K. 281 Rondeau, piano, piano addict, piano blog, piano blogs, piano instruction, piano lessons, piano lessons by Skype, piano lessons for adults, piano lessons in Berkeley California, piano lessons in El Cerrito California, piano practicing, piano student, piano technique, playing the piano, playing the piano with a singing tone, practicing difficult piano passages, practicing piano, practicing piano in slow tempo, practicing piano passages with rhythms, practicing piano with relaxation, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, Shirley Smth Kirsten, Skype piano lessons, skyped piano lessons, Steinway piano, Steinway pianos, supple wrist in piano playing, teaching a piano student about melody, teaching an adult student, teaching piano, teaching piano to adult students, teaching piano to adults, the art of piano playing, whole body listening, whole body music listening, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube video, you tube.com, youtube.com

Piano Practicing: Breathing into phrases and blocking out passages (Mozart Sonata, example)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I've picked the first two pages of Mozart's Sonata in Bb Major, K. 281, last movement, Rondeau, Allegro to explore breathing and blocking techniques in the learning process. (These principles can be applied to practicing music from a variety of eras) Starting a composition is often taken for granted. Sometimes students will land on a… Continue reading Piano Practicing: Breathing into phrases and blocking out passages (Mozart Sonata, example)

"Tales of a Musical Journey" by Irina Gorin, Chopin Waltz in A minor no. 19, classissima, classissima.com, Irina Gorin, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano blogs, piano instrruction, piano lessons, piano lessons for adults, Piano Street, piano studio, piano studio in El Cerrito, piano study, piano teacher, piano teaching, piano technique and breathing, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, practicing piano, practicing piano in slow motion, practicing piano in slow tempo, practicing piano with relaxation, relaxed arms in piano playing, scales, scales and arpeggios, separate hand piano practicing, Shirley Kirsten blog, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, Shirley Smth Kirsten, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, teaching Beethoven Fur Elise, teaching Fur Elise, teaching piano scales, teaching piano to adult students, teaching piano to adults, teaching piano to young children, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com

The piano learning process at all levels of study

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

In spite of my having studied piano for decades, each learning experience is filled with challenges that I must approach with a glut of patience. A new composition has its own form, architecture, harmonic rhythm, fingering that requires a big reserve of self-acceptance in a deadline-free frame. To the contrary, many of my students, who… Continue reading The piano learning process at all levels of study

C Major Scale, C major scale at the piano, classissima, classissima.com, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, piano instruction, piano instruction by Skype, piano lessons, piano lessons for adults, piano lessons in Berkeley California, piano lessons in El Cerrito California, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano technique, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, playing staccato at the piano, playing the piano, playing the piano with a singing tone, POWHOW, POWHOW instruction, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, skype piano lesson, Skype piano lessons, skyped piano lessons, Skyping piano lessons, teaching piano online, teaching piano to adults, the breath and phrasing in piano playing, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com

The C Major Scale universe: metric and muscle memory; shaping and tapering

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

The C Major scale is more than meets the "I," if you're the one practicing it!

Aiden Cat, Burgmuller, classissima, classissima.com, Friedrich Burgmuller, Op. 100 Twenty-five Progressive Pieces, piano addict, Piano Street, Piano World, playing piano, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, Shirley Smth Kirsten, teaching piano to adults, teaching piano to young children, teaching Rina piano, teachinig piano to young children, teacing piano to children, the art of piano playing, the breath and phrasing in piano playing, undulating wrist in piano playing, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com

A Purr-fect sedative for a Cat

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

"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.

C# minor Arpeggio for the piano, classissima, classissima.com, piano technique, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, teaching piano to adults, word press, word press.com, wordpress, you tube, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com

Piano Technique: Practicing a C# minor arpeggio, in rolled four-note groupings (Adult student lesson-in-progress)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

We start by blocking out the Right Hand with a good fingering, reinforcing depth into the keys, and follow-through motion. The arpeggio is then unraveled with curves of energy assisted by relaxed arms, fluid wrists. The turnaround at the top comes with a rotation. http://youtu.be/Cx3M2aAMbmM Related: Practicing a C# minor scale http://youtu.be/bXKU2qKdaMw

Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, piano, playing piano, popular repertoire for piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, teaching piano to adults, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com

When a beginning adult piano student wants to learn popular music….(Video samples)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I have no problem indulging the musical appetites of my adult students, as long as they keep up their technical routines, and balance their intake of popular servings with Classical. Same applies to my younger pupils who are up to the task of reading music well enough so they can tackle music in various genres.… Continue reading When a beginning adult piano student wants to learn popular music….(Video samples)

J. C. Bach Prelude in A Minor, J.C. Bach, Major minor and diminished chords, musical phrasing, musical phrasing and breathing, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano learning, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano playing, piano regulation, piano studio, piano studio in El Cerrito, piano study, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano tutorial, Piano World, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing pentascales, playing piano, playing the piano, playing the piano with a singing tone, POWHOW, POWHOW instruction, practicing piano, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace, repertoire for piano students, rolling forward wrist motions in piano playing, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Kirsten on POWHOW, shirley kirsten on POWHOW webcam piano class, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, studying piano, teaching piano, teaching piano to adults, The art of phrasing at the piano, the art of piano pedaling, Theory, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press.com, wordpress, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com

Using piano repertoire as a springboard for a theory lesson: Major, minor and Diminished Chords (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

One of my adult students is working on the gorgeous J.C. Bach Prelude in A minor which has a second page full of "Major," "Minor" and "Diminished" chords. The sonorities progress in sequences, but they also have a secondary dominant relationship to resolving chords. The "harmonic rhythm" moves quickly. While this particular pupil may not… Continue reading Using piano repertoire as a springboard for a theory lesson: Major, minor and Diminished Chords (Videos)

Beethoven, Beethoven "Tempest" in Dminor Op. 31 no.2, Beethoven "Tempest" sonata op. 31 no. 2, classissima, classissima.com, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Ludwig Van Beethoven, pianist, piano, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Kirsten certified piano instructor at POWHOW, Shirley Kirsten on POWHOW, shirley kirsten on POWHOW webcam piano class, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, teaching piano, teaching piano to adult students, teaching piano to adults, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com

Piano Lesson in progress: Beethoven “Tempest” Sonata, Op. 31, No. 2 (shaping the opening phrases) Video

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

An adult student practiced the transition from the opening Largo broken chord, to grouping double 8th-notes in the Allegro, by blocking them, then unraveling the duple figures. The Adagio that followed required phrasing with an ear toward shaping the line in a different temporal universe before a spill of note-pairs in a tension-building crescendo. Video:… Continue reading Piano Lesson in progress: Beethoven “Tempest” Sonata, Op. 31, No. 2 (shaping the opening phrases) Video

Bay area piano instruction, Beethoven, Beethoven "Tempest" in Dminor Op. 31 no.2, Beethoven "Tempest" sonata op. 31 no. 2, Beethoven Tempest Sonata first movement, blogger, blogging, blogging about piano, Classical era, Classical era piano music, classical period piano music, Classical period sonata, classissima, classissima.com, classisssima.com, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano instruction, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Ludwig Van Beethoven, phrasing at the piano, piano, piano addict, piano blog, piano blogging, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano playing, piano playing and breathing, piano playing and phrasing, piano practicing, piano practicing motivators, piano studio in El Cerrito, piano study, piano teacher, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano technique and the singing tone, piano tutorial, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, playing piano with crossed hands, playing piano with expression, playing the piano, practicing difficult piano passages, practicing piano, practicing piano passages with rhythms, practicing piano with relaxation, practicing the left hand at the piano, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace, publishersmarketplace.com, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, shirley kirsten piano teacher in El Cerrito, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, skyped piano lessons, Skyping piano lessons, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, Steinway M, Steinway M grand, talkclassical.com, teaching piano, teaching piano to adult students, teaching piano to adults, teaching piano to children, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video, yout tube

Part Six Piano Instruction, Beethoven’s “Tempest” Sonata No. 17, Op. 31 No. 2 and all FIVE teaching segments preceding

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

In order from Part One to Six: I. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd-lC_JeNS0 II. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9VNsvfyNtE III. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntQ4fJ-Swlg IV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fargqHQiJfk V. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd52itE4aAQ VI. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwQzBpWJWqs LINKS: Part ONE: Beethoven Tempest Sonata in D minor https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/practicing-tips-for-beethovens-tempest-sonata-op-31-no-2-part-one-video/ Part TWO Instruction https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/piano-instuction-part-two-beethovens-tempest-sonata-hand-cross-over-with-tremolo-in-the-middle-voice/ Part THREE Instruction https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/piano-instruction-part-three-beethoven-tempest-sonata-in-d-minor-op-31-no-2/ Part FOUR Instruction https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/piano-instruction-part-four-beethovens-tempest-sonata-in-d-minor-op-31-no-2-measures-55-93/ Part FIVE Instruction https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/piano-instruction-part-five-beethovens-tempest-sonata-op-31-no-2-measures-93-to-158-development-recitative-submerged-pedal/ PART SIX, referenced in You Tube format http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwQzBpWJWqs