It's been decades since my beloved N.Y.C. piano teacher, Lillian Freundlich bestowed upon me the gift of Domenico Scarlatti Sonatas. And at the time, (while I was a student at the New York City H.S. of Performing Arts) I had no idea that those she had selected were permeated with the basics of technique bonded… Continue reading A Domenico Scarlatti Sonata that enables Finger and Forearm Staccato
Amazing how 90-degree temperatures in the East Bay can wreak havoc over Face Time transmissions. It nearly made Online mentoring come to a grinding halt yesterday! except that a Quick Time saving grace Lesson Preserver came to the rescue! *** In my Scotland travels, I'm accustomed to subbing in the iPhone for the iMac because… Continue reading A “cool” dip into Quicktime for wrist, finger, and forearm staccato practice
Choking up is probably the best description of what often happens to final scale octaves and their turnaround. Students get anxious at the terminus, and tend to crowd notes as if they're racing to the finish line, when in fact, they're only half way through. So psychologically, it's best if the peak octave is viewed… Continue reading Piano Technique: Remediating peak octave scale paralysis (Staccato)
This evening Big Mike, whose hands are impressively large, finessed various types of staccato. He proved that elasticity is more influential than finger length (and related) in producing clearly articulated notes in diverse colors. We started with a B minor (Natural form scale) enlisting a forearm FORTE staccato, then continued to a soft range, still… Continue reading Piano Technique: Practicing 4 varieties of detached notes
Today's romp in F# minor (melodic form) brought new awakenings in the universe of bouncy staccato through scales and arpeggios--(in big Forte projection, followed by a soft, piano range rendering) Within the psychological universe where mental images abound, catchwords like "THINKING UP" through rapid fire 32nds, kept the notes percolating without falling down FLAT with… Continue reading Piano Technique: Psychological and physical approaches to staccato (Video)
I've picked the B Major Scale with 5 sharps distributed through double and triple black note sequence, to demonstrate wrist, forearm, and finger staccato. In these forays through detached notes, I emphasize how to stay "in touch" and not lose a basic connection to threads of notes. Many ingredients contribute to the creation of a… Continue reading Piano Technique: Staying CONNECTED while playing staccato
I find that adding supple wrist dips to staccato within any dynamic range helps to style and shape lines, phrases, etc. Here's it's first executed within a scale framework. A cat cameo appearance is the opener. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKU2qKdaMw Now a sample of shaped staccato in the soft range, played after a nicely contoured legato. (just snip… Continue reading Piano Technique: A styled staccato with a dipping wrist
A good workout at the gym is a great prelim to a power trip at the piano. Take the forearm staccato. A UK piano student in cyber space landed a crisp, definitive set of notes at forte level after a few trial runs. No doubt her fortitude and focus produced a big staccato, and its… Continue reading Piano Technique: Power forearm staccato/e minor scales AND arpeggios
A piano student in Greece uses mental imagery to improve his staccato playing
Ilyana has been studying piano for two years. Currently, she's working on various weight applications for staccato. I found that imaging a basketball being bounced vs. a ping pong ball being tapped, helped the student with her overall physical approach. The short video below illustrates. We ended up playing 8th notes, not being overly ambitious… Continue reading Piano Technique: Teaching a 9-year old Staccato and weight application–Think bouncing a basketball vs. ping pong ball tapping (Videos)
