The El Cerrito Hills are alive with the sound of music

In the old days, I commuted by Amtrak from Central CA to the East Bay, chugging along the scenic route with my digital camera pressed against the train window. A few awesome seascapes managed to squeak through the bumpy ride, and these were memorialized by photographic import to my soundtracks, then posted to YOU TUBE.…

Intermediate Level Piano Repertoire: Album for the Young by Robert Schumann

I took a musical journey down memory lane yesterday, rekindling scenes of childhood as I read through a set of "old" Romantic era compositions. These weren't Robert Schumann's illustrious KINDERSZENEN, but colorful character pieces wrapped into the composer's Album for the Young Op. 68. (As I've said time and again, why give students arrangements of…

The Adult Piano Student Rhythmic Quagmire

It's practically a universal problem area for adult students in the beginner to intermediate range. Keeping a steady pulse in scale playing, and then making transitions to double speed, as from 16ths to 32nds is a big challenge for them. Most pupils can handle 32nds alone, and play them evenly. (I set a quarter note…

How to win Friends and influence People on LinkedIn

After a major workout at the gym this afternoon, I sat down at my computer, flooded by waves of LinkedIn "endorsements." A new gush of approbations encompassed bird-watching, percussion, band conducting, coin-collecting, baby-sitting and chess-playing. Was I in the midst of a mega makeover? I felt guilty about being showered with praise for my non-existent…

Should a teacher demonstrate phrasing and interpretation for a student?

I asked a few piano teachers and a harpsichordist if they felt playing passages, phrases for a student was a viable way to teach, and why? Seymour Bernstein, author, With Your Own Two Hands, rendered a riveting opinion: "I have never taken a lesson with a pianist-teacher who didn’t demonstrate musical and technical points under…

Two sides of the Lang Lang story in and OUT of the heart-wrenching DO OR DIE Documentary

First, here's the documentary that drew my admiration for a Chinese pianist who suffered childhood adversity and abuse, yet triumphed, carving out a career most would never dream of. http://youtu.be/5Ft_xSw9Q54 We learn that Lang Lang's father fostered an "almost lunatic competitive environment," according to the narrator. At the age of 2, the toddler was already…

Piano Instruction, Mozart Sonata in Bb, K. 281 (first movement)

I explore the Exposition, movement 1, Allegro, and ways to practice within a slow tempo frame: http://youtu.be/JVCnRx5aDz4 Play Through: http://youtu.be/Rgx-AG34iW0 LINK: The Most Reviled Scale https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/the-most-reviled-scale-for-piano-players/

Top FIVE Piano Lesson by SKYPE Interruptions! (Videos)

Group web cam lessons on Bow-wow ( Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota) Top Notch Tone Tutorial Class 1) out-take http://youtu.be/fONbHGw8zXM 2) out-take http://youtu.be/Fy-6SkVFqMQ 3) Cat jumps out the window (United Kingdom) http://youtu.be/df7Pfg0Fcnc 4) 5 month-old Baby on lap (Alaska) http://youtu.be/D1HDoNAI75A 5) Earthquake! (Brazil) http://youtu.be/I-dbDgapMmA

Piano Technique: Geography, choreography, and muscle memory in practicing scales (Video instruction)

Today's lesson by Skype from Berkeley, CA to the UK focused on refining e minor scales. Of particular interest, was the segment, midway, that explored un-snagging a portion of the Harmonic minor form in STACCATO. A valuable technique applied included spot practicing critical areas of difficulty.. i.e. C to D# to E in every octave.…

Showcasing two of my exquisite instruments (Violin and Piano)

First the violin, a 1799 Horenstainer, Mittenwald that replaced the "cigar box" I was handed as a kid. My precious teacher, Samuel Gardner selected this German original for me in Paris, France. From there, I took it to Merrywood music camp in Lenox, MA where I coached under Eugene Lehner of the Boston Symphony. Oberlin…