relaxation and piano playing – Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)

I've heard myself say a thousand times over, that each individual piano student deserves a custom designed plan of study. In essence, there's no instructional METHOD fixed in perpetuity that will fit every musical traveler. In fact, with a diversity of student personalities, backgrounds, and approaches to life/career (where adults, in particular, apply), some pupils… Continue reading Piano Technique: Different Strokes for Different Folks

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Piano Lesson: Working with Rina, age 4, on the supple wrist, singing tone approach to individual notes (Video)

October 20, 2011 arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Today was Rina's 11th piano lesson. To date we've identified and played the seven notes of the musical alphabet using fingers, 2, 3, and 4 of each hand in various registers. Our follow-up practice focused on how to produce a singing tone in non legato (dropping individual notes one finger at a time) without yet… Continue reading Piano Lesson: Working with Rina, age 4, on the supple wrist, singing tone approach to individual notes (Video)

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Piano Playing: How Anticipation can trip you up and what you can do about it. (Video)

July 25, 2011August 28, 2014 arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Anticipation and its adverse influence on piano playing affect nearly every pianist regardless of level. It's a form of mind-wandering where the player's focus shifts from the here and now to musical events that will take place measures, if not phrases or even pages away. As a metaphor, imagine eating lunch but thinking ahead to… Continue reading Piano Playing: How Anticipation can trip you up and what you can do about it. (Video)

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About the physical side of playing piano: What we need to teach at all levels (Videos)

July 6, 2011June 8, 2012 arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I wish I could have waved a magic wand when I was six years old and produced a beginning teacher who would have artfully nursed me through my crawling stage to a graceful, phrase-loving adulthood at the piano. I needed to learn how to produce a singing tone, moving with agility from one note to… Continue reading About the physical side of playing piano: What we need to teach at all levels (Videos)