Piano Lessons: The Raw adult beginner

I use the term "raw" to describe adult piano students who don't read music or play by ear. They often come to their first lesson oozing with enthusiasm, but harboring fears associated with success and failure themes. It's the usual environmental humdrum we all know about that puts the business paradigm squarely at odds with…

Rolling wrist motions, “Circle Dance,” and adult “elementary” students

A few of my adult students who have returned to the piano after a long hiatus, are pleased to re-orient themselves to the instrument via five-finger position pieces. These cannot be dismissed handily as play by finger number journeys. In fact, the larger pedagogical value of selected repertoire is substantial. In "Circle Dance" by Ferdinand…

Tchaikovsky’s “Mama” gives double messages

"Mama" is a lyrically spun out tableau evoking the endearing, universally loving mother, but as many can attest, moms may often send out double messages. In Tchaikovsky's Op. 39, Children's Album, MAMA has number 4 status among 24 beautifully descriptive pieces, and with its remarkable dualism, in parallel tenths between the soprano (top line) and…

Celebrating Beethoven’s Birthday!

Albeit a day later, the composer's music is worth our adulation. Since words cannot amply express the beauty of Beethoven's outpourings, I've selected a favorite movement that speaks volumes about his genius: http://youtu.be/jGJ_4CS_c4M

An adult piano student’s musical journey began in Holland

Marie, a pupil of long-standing, bestowed a heartwarming narrative about her piano study and its European roots. Uncannily, when I'd posted a beautiful rendering of Chopin's Db Nocturne in one of my blogs, she commented that pictures imported through the soundtrack were places she had known as a child, so her memoir flows from these…

A Heart-wrenching blend of Music and Memoir

A one-woman show playing at the Berkeley Rep (adapted and directed by Hershey Felder) is so emotionally riveting that it must reach Broadway and beyond. In The Pianist of Willesden Lane, Mona Golabek weaves a dramatic wartime story in music and words, producing a unique theatrical experience. With the expressive framing of the Grieg Piano…

Piano Technique: balance and bearings on the black notes (Video)

One of my adult students confided that her five-finger warm-up in F# Major made her feel shaky and insecure. "It's like I'm going to slip off the key when I play my 5th finger," (pinky)--C# (Notes in F# Major penta-scale position are F# G# A# B C#) Such a distress call like this one stimulates…

Adult piano instruction: the singing model in playing/practicing Chopin

There's no doubt in my mind that Chopin's music is allied to the opera and the New York Times featured an article on this very subject that resonates in my teaching and playing the composer's works. From Tommasini, Arts editor: "It’s a wonder that Chopin, born in 1810, never tried to write an opera, because…

Piano Instruction: Teaching a good hand position and technical skills to very young children

Teaching wee beginners a natural approach to the piano, that includes a relaxed hand position, flowing arms and supple wrists allows the birth of beautiful music-making while it promotes injury avoidance. Irina Gorin is one of the best teacher models in this universe. A dedicated proponent of early exposure to "weeping willow" arms, and "rainbow"…

The divine musical comedy of Sid Caesar

Most people associate Victor Borge with comedic antics at the piano, but few know of Sid Caesar's artistry at the grand in pantomime. A devotee of TV'sYour Show of Shows, starring Sid, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris, I recently took a journey down memory lane, revisiting three of my favorite musically framed skits…