These are Five-finger positions pulled from Edna-Mae Burnham's Dozen a Day but expanded to 32nd notes/legato/staccato. They're nice springboard warm-ups to scale playing that follows. I call this lesson segment, PIANO GYM, in part, because of the ENERGY, vitality, and even mental imagery that's needed to make easy, smooth, and proportioned transitions from one rhythmic… Continue reading Adult Piano Instruction: Phase two of Rhythmic Rehab in Pentascale practice
Tag: Arioso7
A relevant sequence of pieces for an Intermediate piano student
One of my adult pupils is deeply embedded in J.C. Bach's Prelude in A minor which is a soulful outpouring of broken chords with patterns and symmetries built into its harmonic fabric. Yet through a sequence of secondary dominants that heightens the composition's beauty, a melodic line is interwoven, and it needs to be fleshed… Continue reading A relevant sequence of pieces for an Intermediate piano student
Elena Cobb urges her classically trained colleagues to teach jazz, too
Elena's pearly words of wisdom "Some say that classically trained teachers cannot teach jazz. I disagree and I'm working tirelessly to promote the idea among my colleagues." Cobb was commissioned to write an article for the Music Teacher magazine UK that has an appetizing text plus a menu of tantalizing musical samples. (The whole spread… Continue reading Elena Cobb urges her classically trained colleagues to teach jazz, too
Adult sneak peek piano technique
These lesson videos-in-progress reinforce practicing approaches to warm-ups, giving a student an additional angle of the teacher's hands. I. Crispy Cracker Staccato (D Major scale) Forearm generated at FORTE level followed by "lighter" finger strokes at "piano" dynamic. Forte=Big Projection, Piano=Soft FLASHBACK video, (A Major scale in Staccato) before my relocation to Berkeley--same student LIVE,… Continue reading Adult sneak peek piano technique
Adult Piano Instruction: Rockin’ and Rollin’ in Rhythmic Rehab
Tonight's piano lesson on Facetime amounted to an impromptu jam session: A syllabic interchange coupled with clapping inspired a collaborating adult student to experience the "feel" of a beat, rising and falling with organic authenticity. The nearly "improvised" exchange between teacher and pupil sprang from a Five-finger Ab Major warm-up that progressed from Quarters, to… Continue reading Adult Piano Instruction: Rockin’ and Rollin’ in Rhythmic Rehab
Pretty piano rooms
Dr-Lubov Laura De Valois "My studio has 4 pianos: Two acoustic grand pianos: “Yamaha C” and “Hamburg Steinway and Son”, (built around 1880), and restored in New York by Steinway. I also have an electric Kawai, "Concert Performer" CP 175, that I use as the recording studio; and a Yamaha Clavinova CVP-109 for my students… Continue reading Pretty piano rooms
Facing the Music on FACETIME
https://youtu.be/hFHhwQPP2Jw Burgmuller's "SORROW" received a BOOST on FACETIME where it was the PITS on SKYPE. The latter sometimes mimics jet landings with a whoosh sound, while an echo chamber effect causes unwanted tremolos. In this "FACE"-beamed environment, a formerly LIVE student who turned VIRTUAL, experienced a musical FACE-lift. With a new media spotlight, where… Continue reading Facing the Music on FACETIME
NY Times: “Is Music the Key to Success?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/is-music-the-key-to-success.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& A good portion of this opinion piece focuses on how music study fueled high-profile careers, (by and large) outside the arts arena. The writer, Joanne Lipman, is author of Strings Attached..., non-fiction that reads like a novel and honors a task master H.S. music teacher who endured a life of hardship. No doubt the… Continue reading NY Times: “Is Music the Key to Success?”
The final word on piano buzzes from Israel Stein, master piano technician
Israel Stein is one of a kind. An award winning, Registered Piano Technician, he's been recognized nationally by the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) and continues to tune, voice, regulate, re-build and consult on pianos that prospective buyers are considering. He's also a creme de la creme PIANO EXAMINER at the Guild and gives classes at… Continue reading The final word on piano buzzes from Israel Stein, master piano technician
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… Continue reading The divine musical comedy of Sid Caesar
Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten) 