Piano teachers may complain about students who hardly practice, or come to lessons with a truckload of excuses, but the times we savor are when everything seems to click. Tonight, I had a lesson with an adult student who announced immediately before playing a note that her piece "was in the doghouse." What a tension-relieving… Continue reading A Peak teaching and learning experience!
Tag: Classical era music
Celebrating Beethoven’s Birthday!
Albeit a day later, the composer's music is worth our adulation. Since words cannot amply express the beauty of Beethoven's outpourings, I've selected a favorite movement that speaks volumes about his genius: http://youtu.be/jGJ_4CS_c4M
Two musical Eulogies for Newtown’s fallen
Two musical offerings are grief-filled expressions of enduring loss in Newtown, Connecticut.
Mozart is a Challenge in any shape, size or form
Tips on learning a Mozart gem!
Piano Instruction: Suggested ways to practice Mozart Rondo: Allegretto, K. 545 in C Major
Having been through years of practicing and teaching this Mozart Alegretto, I have a few epiphanies that might benefit others. In the attached video, I assert that the opening Rondo motif with its lively thirds should not spill into an emphasized downbeat but rather a lifted one. This applies to the overlapping Left Hand as… Continue reading Piano Instruction: Suggested ways to practice Mozart Rondo: Allegretto, K. 545 in C Major
The Art of Piano Pedaling: Filming Fur Elise down below (Videos)
I decided to take a nose dive with my iMac desk top and place it way down by my feet because today an adult student continued her IN DEPTH study of legato pedaling. She was specifically practicing the C section of Beethoven's "Fur Elise," that I coin, the "stormy" part. (It has the tremolo, and… Continue reading The Art of Piano Pedaling: Filming Fur Elise down below (Videos)
