Peter started piano lessons from scratch about 1 and 1/2 years ago, not reading a note of music at the time, but having gads of enthusiasm about his maiden musical journey. Readers will be reminded of his earliest efforts playing Faber Piano Adventure duets with me. (I chose the Primer edition because it moved slower… Continue reading When an adult piano student advances well beyond Primer preliminaries
The UNIVERSE of RECORDING ONLINE LESSONS IN PROGRESS SKYPE CALL RECORDER FACETIME CALL RECORDER *** My Newest Overhead Cam (72 inches high) Still another upgrade: My Piano Room has TWO Overhead webcams in addition to a side view cam that's mounted on a music stand. Overhead side view of Keyboard *** MY PRESENTATION coming up… Continue reading SKYPE CALL RECORDER Playback views for Online Piano Lessons
The flow of harmony in and out of pieces should be a big part of a piano lesson. Yet it's one thing to isolate chords in student a hand-out, but quite another to bring phrases to life with an infusion of harmonic rhythm awareness in the process of playing. In this video sample, a student… Continue reading Weaving Theory and Harmonic Rhythm into a piano lesson
Randall and Nancy Faber came through with flying colors by including J.C. Bach's Prelude in A minor in their Developing Artist Series Album, Early Intermediate Level. It's definitely a winner with ear-catching appeal! *** In a heart-melting opener to a more cognitive analysis of the composition, I play a series of sonorities that provide a… Continue reading A favorite Piano Prelude to play and teach
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!
Deep-layered learning should occur at all levels of piano study because it enriches the music-making experience. Taking shortcuts, and constantly reading through a composition, skimming the surface, deprive the player of being in touch with himself and the composer at the moment of creation. One particular masterwork, that draws so many pupils into its gorgeous… Continue reading Piano Study: Learning in deep layers and loving it
Yesterday, I was greeted by the following riveting e mail: "I'm so excited that I'm beginning to understand scale degrees. "Can't wait to be back at the piano to practice. Return late tonight." The adult student, into her 4th year of formal study with me, had decided to buckle down and integrate her theory knowledge… Continue reading An Adult Piano Student’s Epiphany
One of my adult students is working on the gorgeous J.C. Bach Prelude in A minor which has a second page full of "Major," "Minor" and "Diminished" chords. The sonorities progress in sequences, but they also have a secondary dominant relationship to resolving chords. The "harmonic rhythm" moves quickly. While this particular pupil may not… Continue reading Using piano repertoire as a springboard for a theory lesson: Major, minor and Diminished Chords (Videos)
Johann Christian Bach's Prelude in A minor swims around an exalted space in the East Bay. It can't get any better, except for flowers and a musical feline that enhance the musical tapestry. Bach's composition is a stream of broken chords shared between the hands. Practicing the sonorities as a prelude to playing the composition… Continue reading From El Cerrito with Love: a piano space with shimmering resonance blends the music of J.C. Bach with flowers and more (Video)
