A favorite J.S. Bach tutorial (Little Prelude in F, BWV 927)

One of my adult students is excited about learning this treasured miniature, and it just so happened that I stumbled upon one of my you tube posted instructions that will assist both of us in our forthcoming two-way musical exchange. (After I put a piece away it's nice to know I can reference its timely…

Theory embedded in phrasing/musical expression

What am I doing up at 2 a.m.? To put it simply, answering an adult student's inquiry about the theoretical analysis of J.S. Bach Invention 13 in A minor. At our last lesson, I had tweaked her curiosity about the harmonic dimension of the last two pages where modulations abound (especially measures 9-18) Yet as…

Practicing J.S. Bach’s Gigue from French Suite No. 5 in G, BWV 816

My "block-headed" journeys continue. They take me through landscapes of chordal outlines solidifying my learning. In J.S. Bach's A minor Invention 13 I'd recently absorbed organized clusters of notes in my palms as they moved in harmonic rhythm, while featherweight thumbs became little rulers, measuring and spacing out distances between inverted chords. Once unraveled, these…

Playing J.S. Bach: Sing, Shape, and Phrase—it’s not rocket science

Having been submerged for 48 hours in mega-science minded theories of playing the piano, I managed to E-merge as the piano teacher I knew before the deluge--refusing to believe that my fingers are throwing hammers at the strings, or obeying the irrefutable laws of Physics. Notwithstanding what Emanuel Ax, and Cedarville University *ProfessorJohn Mortensen are…

Piano Instruction: Allemande from J.S. Bach French Suite no. 5 in G Major

Andras Schiff, known for playing Bach "purely" without pedal, encourages piano students to indulge J.S. as actors cultivate Shakespeare. It's our daily "bread," he insists. Regardless of his mixed metaphor, I concur that studying the works of Johann Sebastian Bach builds a solid foundation for exploring music of all historical eras. And to pore over…

Piano Instruction: Piecing out and Practicing J.S. Bach Little Prelude in F, BWV 927

One of my colleagues who filmed a tutorial on this gem, called it a "BEGINNER" composition, yet, in truth, it's not in the easy column. It demands a fluent technique and a thoughtful approach to learning that includes harmonic analysis, blocking, understanding counterpoint, making sensible decisions about articulation, and shaping phrases. Therefore, this "LITTLE" Prelude…

Learning J.S. Bach’s B minor Invention No. 15 (BWV 786) in baby steps

Both embedded videos track my step-by-step approach to learning this beautiful composition. In the part one Instruction, I play slowly through the right hand to explore the subject, its articulation, fingering, execution of ornaments, and follow-up strand of 16th notes. Pieces of the subject, or motifs, therein, are identified along with any treatments by inversion.…

Bach to nature: Pairing a Prelude with scenes from Tilden Regional Park (Berkeley CA)

I didn't think twice about getting double mileage from re-playing J.S. Bach's ethereal Prelude in C minor, BWV 847. It turned out to be nature-inspired. On a late afternoon trail trek to Tilden Park, I came equipped with a modest Sony Cyber shot digi-cam that provided a generous supply of photos. These would be imported…

I have to practice to keep up with my piano students

I have one particular adult pupil who's pushed the envelope to its limit. He sends me demanding "new" pieces he wants to learn in short order. Not that I necessarily approve of the rapid turnover of compositions, but I have no choice but to ingest them quickly and THOROUGHLY so I can be of help…

My NYC visit with Seymour Bernstein, pianist, teacher, author and composer

Seymour Bernstein is about to add a movie to his list of artistic conquests. A documentary produced and directed by Ethan Hawke is in progress, and who knows, it might land an Oscar. Seymour is so multi-talented that it's difficult to limit a blog about him to one area of his mega creative expression. That's…