Tag: piano tutorial

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The iPhone Invades Piano Lessons

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Monday, Jan. 24th, was a first! Esmeralda, a retired attorney, who'd been taking lessons from me for a year, entered my El Cerrito piano studio with a bright red iPhone as a sign of the times. A dangling rectangular prism packed with limitless software had replaced her simple gold cross. This latest "look" included a… Continue reading The iPhone Invades Piano Lessons

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Music Comes from the Heart

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Musical expression arises from the deepest part of ourselves so as we relax into the here and now, focused on the flow and shape of phrases, our arms, wrists and fingers work together as an ensemble to produce an artful outpouring. Mildred Portney Chase, author of Just Being at the Piano describes such an approach… Continue reading Music Comes from the Heart

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More piano teaching favorites: Burgmuller’s 25 Progressive Pieces, op. 100

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncr1BMTtvOQ Burgmuller, a German composer living in France during the Romantic era composed these delightful programmatic pieces in order of "progressive" difficulty; I've chosen 3 favorites to showcase: "Arabesque," "La Chasse" (The Chase) and "L'Harmonie des Anges" (Harmony of the Angels) Arabesque ("beautiful decoration") is a sprightly, fast paced miniature in "A" minor, that basically… Continue reading More piano teaching favorites: Burgmuller’s 25 Progressive Pieces, op. 100

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Practicing a C Major scale in thirds, tenths, and sixths (Video embedded)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I've chosen the C Major scale to demonstrate/practice in thirds, tenths, and sixths. The best preliminary of course, is to review the scale in its root position and it doesn't have to be a parallel motion run through. (i.e. fingers going up and down in the same direction) You can start with a contrary motion… Continue reading Practicing a C Major scale in thirds, tenths, and sixths (Video embedded)

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How to practice a G Major scale as a follow-up to C with an adult student example

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXx3SEW81ps The last instructional video covered the C Major scale in depth, and  identified symmetries between the hands, when practicing beyond the one octave level. https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/how-to-practice-a-parallel-motion-c-major-scale-and-by-example-g-d-a-e/ I pointed to the bridge of the C Major scale as the crossover into the next octave. The fingerings at this junction were mirrors for B, C, an D:… Continue reading How to practice a G Major scale as a follow-up to C with an adult student example

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How to Practice a parallel motion C Major scale and by example, G, D, A, E

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5HVmyDJFic I chose to group the following Major scales together (C, G,D, A,E) because they have parallel internal consistencies, and they stand apart from the black key pattern scales of B, F# and C#Major. (The flat equivalents of these pattern sharp scales are Cb, Gb  and Db)  The last three black key scales mentioned, are… Continue reading How to Practice a parallel motion C Major scale and by example, G, D, A, E

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From Chords to Gym and Back: You Tube Video

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

This video tells all. It was one of my hair brained ideas to embed a trip to Bally's Gym in my piano tutorial on the subject of playing blocks of robust chords using upper body weight transfer -- energy streaming down the arms, through supple wrists into the fingers. Naturally, warming up on the Gravitron… Continue reading From Chords to Gym and Back: You Tube Video

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A Piano Teacher’s Worst Nightmare!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

In a routine Yahoo e mail search for a Kawai USA technician I had spoken with a year ago, I stumbled upon a document that I had drafted out of sheer desperation. It related to the decline of my sustain pedal which had been mercilessly pounded by a student who had serious impulse control problems.… Continue reading A Piano Teacher’s Worst Nightmare!