Yesterday, my Logitech cam was un-clipped from the Big Mac during a lesson to Greece. The pupil, hanging out on the island of Kos, needed a graphic representation of my hands braving a few difficult measures in Bach's Little Fugue in C Major, BWV 952. It's the composition where the composer challenges the player to… Continue reading Bringing the Keyboard closer to the long distance piano student
Tag: playing piano
Hand-switching and Chopin (making a piano duet out of a solo)
I did a double take watching footage of yesterday's lesson in the El Cerrito Hills. Seeing two arms, one half-sleeved, and the other firmly wrapped in olive green, made me wonder if an alien from Mars had landed squarely at the piano. Upon closer inspection, the camera had played tricks on me, creating an optical… Continue reading Hand-switching and Chopin (making a piano duet out of a solo)
Into the Hills with the Sound of Music –a Baldwin Acrosonic “acoustic” sings
The video attached to this writing validates the beauty of music-making on a well-maintained, though 1940s vintage era acoustic piano. Baldwin Acrosonics were the Cadillacs of the spinet and console variety pianos. They had a noticeable innovation compared to their sister-size instruments. (A deeper sound chamber, especially noted in the consoles that measured 40" or… Continue reading Into the Hills with the Sound of Music –a Baldwin Acrosonic “acoustic” sings
The piano learning process at all levels of study
In spite of my having studied piano for decades, each learning experience is filled with challenges that I must approach with a glut of patience. A new composition has its own form, architecture, harmonic rhythm, fingering that requires a big reserve of self-acceptance in a deadline-free frame. To the contrary, many of my students, who… Continue reading The piano learning process at all levels of study
Piano Instruction: Can we over-analyze a Bach fugue?
Little Bach Fugue in C, BWV 952 required insights into its organized structure so I could better teach it. But how much analysis was required and could it be trusted?
A pianist is a COLLABORATOR NOT an “accompanist”
The "A" word is officially banished from my vocabulary, even if its residual usage in books, newspapers, old reviews, can't be controlled. To boot, anyone who's been handed a stack of music by the High School vocal teacher to ready for the mid-year Christmas program and a few others in between Thanksgiving and semester break,… Continue reading A pianist is a COLLABORATOR NOT an “accompanist”
Revisiting an old piano piece learned years earlier
I find my current musical journey down memory lane to be joyful and challenging--especially as I cut and paste the Mozart Rondo: Allegro, K. 311 pages to fit comfortably on the piano rack. (Deja Vu, Haydn C Major Hoboken XVI35--Haydn pinned and unpinned) I wrote to a musician friend during the height of my frustration.… Continue reading Revisiting an old piano piece learned years earlier
Film art and great pianism fuse in a Richter documentary (The Enigma – Bruno Monsaingeon -1998- Parts I and 2)
A tribute to Richter in his own words, interspersed with examples of his great artistry
Two musical Eulogies for Newtown’s fallen
Two musical offerings are grief-filled expressions of enduring loss in Newtown, Connecticut.
A Well-known Haydn Piano Sonata is pinned!
I don't mean to inject pins into this post, but it amply introduces Haydn's vibrant Sonata no. 35 in C Major. Yesterday, as I diligently embarked upon learning this masterpiece, I had to deal with basic housekeeping matters: How to practice the pages-long first movement without breaks in continuity? My short-term solution: http://youtu.be/g7vP3mqg8WM Harpsichordist, *Elaine… Continue reading A Well-known Haydn Piano Sonata is pinned!
