The Formative Years of Piano Study and the basic building-blocks of learning (Videos)

Just as a child needs a wholesome diet from birth through adolescence to insure healthy growth and development, a beginning piano student requires the equivalent in musical nourishment. Cocoa Puff pieces that squeeze out whole grain servings of the classics will not in the long term cut the cake. (And I don't rule out compositions…

When is Superbowl Sunday? I better find out before it’s too late.

Shades of 1988, when I committed the biggest crime of my life. I dared to schedule a student recital on the most SACRED day of the year, Superbowl Sunday! What did I know having been raised on baseball, the Brooklyn Bums and heart-breaker pennants? In Fresno, Bulldog fever was RAGING when I relocated from the…

An amazing fish story from my Yiddishe bubbe’s collection plus an escapade during prohibition

My Paternal Bubbe Bessie I had to stop what I was doing to copy this story as relayed by my mother about a live "carp" that I'd seen in bubbe's bathtub as a child. Was I dreaming? Grandma Bessie lived with my zayde in the South Bronx on Longfellow Avenue along with a fish as…

The value of studying the piano and a second musical instrument

While the study of two musical instruments is time-consuming, it can reap benefits in widening a student's horizons. If a pupil plays only piano for years on end he may deny himself the rich experience of participating in an orchestra or small ensemble. And while it's true that some pianists manage to grab a score…

The Harpsichord has a new lease on life! Elaine Comparone is its biggest advocate!

Elaine Comparone is a champion of the harpsichord like no other. Not only does she play with "red-blooded" passion sweeping it off its mantle of obscurity, but her nonprofit organization Harpsichord Unlimited is dedicated to stimulating interest in the instrument as a living, breathing, contemporary musical communicator. Its museum portrait is a thing of the…

Birds spring to life in these collections for piano!

Here's a case of music composed by a pianist who has an abundance of talent in so many directions that it's dizzying! If I thought LEONARD Bernstein was the renaissance man, with gifts as a conductor, pianist, composer, and mentor, well here comes SEYMOUR Bernstein in a shimmering spotlight of his own! I'm awestruck! Having…

Local Piano Competitions and the judges

I don't like being labeled a sore loser because it indicates an unwillingness to accept a loss gracefully. And I'm not talking about myself as much as piano students who practice arduously in preparation for local competitions and expect to be judged fairly. And then again, what is really "fair" when it comes to assessing…

Piano Technique: Even the Big Boys practice with rhythms–Cziffra demonstrates

I'm a great admirer of the late Gyorgy Cziffra and his towering virtuosity. If anyone was under appreciated during his lifetime it was this wondrous pianist whose every phrase had meaning, intent, and emotion. Cyprien Katsaris, a dazzling performer in his own right, went out of his way to celebrate Cziffra's artistry during an interview…

Aiden Cat crashes the piano bench and messes up a video in progress (Chopin’s C# minor Waltz, Op. 64)

It's one thing to invite Aiden onto the piano bench for a front row seat, but it's quite another when he appears out of nowhere, lands beside me, and ruins a recording in progress. Last night Aiden did just that. After he broke into the Chopin C# minor Waltz, he knew he was the lion…

“Piano Student of the Week,” Claudia S. practices Bach and improves her playing (Video)

Claudia is one of the old-timers around here at age 11. She came to study piano with me when she was just 6 and in those days, I gave her Noona's "The Red Drum," in addition to selections from Book One, Royal Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto: Hook "Minuet," Schein "Allemande," Telemann "Dance" in…