An adult piano student explores phrase shaping in Chopin’s A minor Waltz, Op. Posth.

I'm always warmed by lovely, contoured phrasing, especially when it's produced by an adult student who's reached a new level of aesthetic consciousness through especially attentive and consistent practicing. This particular player has increased her sensitivity in shaping the Chopin A minor Waltz melody with curves, dips, loops, and tapering, while her left hand that…

Piano Practicing: What to do when you make a mistake

In the universe of playing incorrect notes, I tell students to chill out, and approach a particular glitched passage in an organized manner. (This does NOT include PLAYING the so-called wrong note again ON PURPOSE to eliminate it) When an unintended error is magnified by PLAYING IT again, the brain REGISTERS that action as legitimate.…

Piano Technique: Split-Screen, rolling 4-note arpeggios (C# minor; B minor)

I love to work with students on 4-note arpeggios through inversions, prompting them to ROLL into horizontal, curvaceous groups of notes to avoid up and down finger poking. The elements of visualization ("imagining" motion SHAPES); kinesthetic translation (counterclockwise arm motions) attentive listening, CENTERING, and relaxed, natural breathing, all work in harmony to produce a smooth,…

Adult Piano Instruction: Exploring weight transfer and supple wrist motions for improved phrase shaping

A new adult student is working on Beethoven's Sonatina in F, one of the composer's less played works, but nevertheless quite a musical gem. While the composition has a Mozartean flavor, the abrupt shift in dynamics in the opening theme, for example, offers a glimpse into Beethoven's later development of his larger Sonata form, where…

Adult Piano Instruction: Sight-reading, Solfeggio, and Transposition

I reserve the last 10-15 minutes of my lessons with a few adult students for sight-reading, sight-singing with solfeggio, and transposition activity. While I begin with short pieces in five-finger positions, the requirement to transpose these in a Circle of Fifth progression (playing Major and Relative minors) is a valuable ear-training experience. In the following…

Piano Technique: Contrary motion scales without side-to-side head tracking

Most piano students insist on playing contrary motion scales like they're watching a tennis match: heads rolling to either side of the net with well orchestrated rows of synched sports aficionados. When applied to the piano, however, this capo paced hyperactivity will most likely impede fluidity and encourage note errors. One of my adult students,…

A Day in the Life of a Traveling Piano Teacher (Videos)

I take a once a week journey to Rockridge where I teach a private piano student. The 51B bus that I catch in Downtown Berkeley following my gym workout, travels along College Avenue, crossing into Oakland, California. Destination: a lovely two-story home on a tree-lined block, with a sub-level add-on designed specifically for its chief…

Piano Study: Voice parceled learning takes patience but it’s worth the effort

I always tell my adult students to spot practice where they have troublesome measures, and to take the time to voice pieces in detail. In Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata middle movement, Allegretto, the composer has created a chamber music effect---not an operatic framing--and the very character of his ensemble is one of balanced voices. I hear…

The “Talent” equation in piano playing/learning

Last Wednesday night, Indre Viskontas, opera singer and neuroscientist explored the many facets of Creativity in a City Arts "conversation." And because a roving MIC didn't quite reach my section of the San Francisco Nourse Auditorium during the Q and A, I managed to continue the discourse Online at Indre's blog site. It's a no-brainer…

“Clouds,” “cushions,” and “veils” permeate a Chopin Lesson (Waltz in A minor)

Floating arms, supple wrists, delicate relaxed ornaments and trills, and an oxymoron-driven, perfect parachute landing flowed into a lesson last night with a musically responsive adult student. The keyboard was transformed into a soft cushion receiving fingers energized with bigger channeled energies traveling down buoyant arms through springy wrists. Most of all, imagination fed a…