It's easy to assess a student's difficulty with navigating scales in progressive tempo framings from quarters to 8th notes to 16ths, etc. as being the result of shortcomings in rhythmic perception, when a larger cosmos of awareness is lacking. I think immediately of the Eurhythmics course I took at the Oberlin Conservatory, taught by the… Continue reading Piano Technique: Working with the character of rhythms
Tag: Eurhythmics
A 9-year old’s “complete” piano lesson integrates theory and ear training
After 9 months of study, "Liz" whom I've followed at regular recorded intervals since her first lesson in mid-February, has been exposed to multi-tiered music learning that's incorporated a Theory and Ear Training dimension. (Note the choice of Frances Clark's Time to Begin as a 6 month Primer, with my imposed creative modifications that expanded… Continue reading A 9-year old’s “complete” piano lesson integrates theory and ear training
“Counting Correctly, but Playing Un-rhythmically”
“The habit of counting correctly but playing unrhythmically develops easily in the beginning and is too often overlooked.” – Richard Chronister (A Piano Teacher’s Legacy, Ed. Edward Darling) http://www.amazon.com/Teachers-Selected-Writings-Richard-Chronister/dp/0976116308 I love this quote, because many students count out beats quite methodically but without musical meaning. Their metrical repetitions serve little purpose if the goal of… Continue reading “Counting Correctly, but Playing Un-rhythmically”
Dalcroze Eurhythmics on Display at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Dalcroze Eurhythmics was in full bloom in a lively space at the San Francisco Conservatory last Saturday. It was a refreshing morning of music and movement in perfect synthesis. Jessica Schaeffer, Alice Mosley, and Yoriko Richman led a group of educators, pianists, and other instrumentalists through imaginative rhythmic offerings that kept all participants on their… Continue reading Dalcroze Eurhythmics on Display at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Eurhythmics, A Whole Body Listening Experience (Video)
I took a Eurhythmics class at Oberlin taught by a magical, mystical, musically in touch woman named Inda Howland who was a student of Jacques Dalcroze. Barefoot, wearing a native Indian garment–embracing an exotic percussion instrument from Bali as her trademark, she entered our classroom as a spry, sagacious woman in her 60′s. As she… Continue reading Eurhythmics, A Whole Body Listening Experience (Video)
