Appealing Piano Repertoire for the Advanced Beginner

Three selected short pieces offer musical enticement for students who've survived the method book phase and need rejuvenating connections with the masters, albeit via contemporaries of the glittery Classical era giants. In one instance, I discovered a gem dating back to the Elizabethan era. It happens to be a re-do of "Go No More A'Rushing,"…

The funnies of finding the right piano student

Ever heard of takelessons.com or related web links that hook up teachers and students? It's like Match.com when it comes to a mountain of challenges. Here's an On SITE sample where a music teacher BIDS for a job, like a construction worker. (Teacher Quotes are purchased as Credits) The student SPECS A Request From South…

Sustain pedaling by Webcam

Sometimes shuffling three Logitechs can be an art, especially when a cyber piano student needs a particular view to assist practicing. Last night, I lucked out, angling my elevated cam so it captured the sustain pedal and keyboard in perfect visual/auditory harmony. I was subsequently able to RECORD a demonstration on Quicktime MOVIE, which is…

Piano Technique: Picking up Arpeggio Speed with blocked and unblocked note groupings

I uploaded two videos today that focus on practicing strategies for playing brisk paced arpeggio (G Major). The first is an after hours tutorial that I recorded by FACETIME SCREEN RECORD. The screen, framed by Millennium technology art nouveau, features my Arius YDP 141 digital piano as its centerpiece. The second video sample is a…

Piano Lessons by SkYPE: a FUR–st for two furry friends

Two unexpected guests dropped in for a keyboard visit this evening! Another preceded them: Link: Top FIVE PIANO LESSON BY SKYPE INTERRUPTIONS https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/top-five-piano-by-skype-lesson-interruptions-videos/

Honoring my “neighborhood” piano teacher amidst melting degrees of separation

The Back Story: After having spent about 30 years in hometown New York City, I emigrated to the agriculture-rich San Joaquin Valley, California, planting myself and family in Fresno. This seemed to be a God forsaken place with excruciating heat (though dry). With its relentless air pollution; bad water from contaminated wells, and high incidence…

A beginning adult piano student has an awakening about musical expression

I have to thank Sam, a Berkeley, California transplant to the UK, for imparting pearly words of wisdom via Skype. He shared an epiphany about music-making that got me thinking. As he observed a London chamber music Masterclass, Sam mentioned how the teacher planted a convincing thought that musicians are "actors,"---how they must capture mood…

Piano Lessons: “My kids don’t practice so what can I do about it?”

The latest piano forum quandary surrounds daily practicing. Parents are wringing their hands as teachers impart the latest advice of the week. Even adult students are plagued by "shoulds" and perfect routes to success, planted in their psyche in early childhood. They'll cancel their own lessons if they didn't get to the piano every day.…

Sculpting melodic lines over FACETIME

Is this Orwellian? It's well past 1984, and pianists who've steeped themselves in every URTEXT (authentic music edition) known to civilization, are signing on to SKYPE, meeting their students in Alaska, Uganda, Brazil, or even right around the corner. The NEW neighborhood teacher is zoning out on the big screen with a Logitech mini-cam blowing…

Favorite Tchaikovsky piano pieces and their pedagogical value

I made a promise to myself well before the New Year, that I would learn one new Tchaikovsky composition each day from the composer's Op. 39 Children's Album. (24 tableaux) Not that I'm recommending to piano students that they assimilate new music at lightning speed, but for me the challenge was to make a spurt…