Teaching J.S. Bach Invention 1 in C (BWV 772)

With World Series updates shadowing last night's lesson, three students checked their cell phones inning by inning, but managed a deep-layer connection to Bach and Beethoven. My newest student introduced himself by reading through Bach's Invention 1 in C. As it played out, the composition is one of my favorites to teach. Its rich contrapuntal…

Building a piano lesson around J.S. Bach Invention 4 (d minor)

The scale of D minor (Harmonic form) feeds nicely into the study of Bach's Invention 4, BWV 775, and within this Baroque inspired universe, Alton, (Life Begins at 77) continued his musical journey. First my play through of the Two-Part Invention http://youtu.be/jZ5jbiLUhHQ A capsulized compositional analysis http://youtu.be/LTtM2DsJsk8 And a Summary of lesson goals for the…

Simone Dinnerstein at Dewing Recital Hall: A Crusade for a better piano

https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/simone-dinnerstein-at-dewing-recital-hall-a-crusade-for-a-better-piano/ Simone Dinnerstein, Pianist Friday, Jan.31, 2014 DEWING RECITAL HALL Mills College Oakland, California *** It's sad that what's most memorable about a concert is a piano not performing satisfactorily for a gifted, invited performer. Simone Dinnerstein, known for her self-funded Goldberg Variations CD that catapulted her into the media spotlight, leading to IMG Artists…

Blog favorite revival time.. THE MORNING AFTER YOU TUBING (with added color)

The day after I post a video is the crucial make or break juncture to delete or not to.... And all too often, an upload bites the dust with a private funeral of sorts, that leaves no remains. But with my new iMac 21 having joined the family, video trashing has gone public. Through paper…

Performing a piece–Getting it right (all the notes) OR really getting it right (the phrasing and nuance) VIDEOS

For many pianos students, playing 100% perfect notes, with no clunkers is goal in itself. They breathe a sigh of relief looking back on a video of a recital, where they managed to "get it right," counting correct notes from beginning to end. One even managed to play note perfect while intermittently eyeing her family…

Tutorial: Shared ideas about practicing J.S. Bach Invention 13 in A minor (BWV 784) Videos

As I observed an 11-year old student work on this Invention at lessons, I came up with some ideas to improve the performance landscape. These included an awareness of the dualism of rolling arpeggiated 16ths and detached 8th notes in the opening. More often than not, the arpeggios can sound too flat if the whole…

Piano Lesson Excerpts: Practicing the Bach Invention 13 in A minor (Videos)

This morning, Claudia, 11, practiced the J.S. Bach A minor Invention behind tempo, (in slow motion) to improve her musical/technical understanding of the composition. She worked on "weaving"/shaping the main idea or subject, which is a broken chord figure. The interaction between hands or voices (there are two them) was a particular focus, as it…

Practicing Bach Inventions 4 and 13 with my 10 year old piano student

We had fun videotaping part of a lesson from a different camera angle. My student and I sat in front of our separate pianos, collaborating on two Bach Inventions. (Number 4 in D minor and number 13 in A minor) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y3CaCycoHE In the first segment, my pupil is playing through the d minor Invention, mostly…