A Guest Post by Frances Wilson: The Pianist’s Solitude

"The loneliness doesn't worry me......I spend most of my life alone, even backstage.......I'm there completely alone. I like the time alone...." - Stephen Hough, concert pianist The pianist’s life is, by necessity, lonely. One of the main reasons pianists spend so much time alone is that we must practice more than other musicians because we…

What pianists can learn from string players

Piano students have a lot to learn from string players who have direct contact with their sound source by strokes of a bow. As pianists, we are physically separated from the strings as hammers must be activated by our key depressions, but by listening to the swells of a violin, cello, or viola, hearing shades…

A tour of my piano room as prelude to the tuner’s arrival

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoLMyIVP0q8 Awaiting Terry Barrett's arrival to tune my Steinway upright, I decided to have some fun panning about the piano studio, sharing favorite mementos on and off the wall. It might be a bit dizzying with numerous shifting camera angles, but the desired homespun, impromptu feel is there. When Terry gets here, I will do…

Pics of the Little Knightingale, me, York, and Caroline

There's York, piana tuna,' joining the crowd at Caroline's. He harbored doubts about Knight pianos until he inspected this one. You can see his time honored lamp with its twisted neck hanging down over the piano. Missing are his Filter Queen moth eradication machine and can of Decon. Read: The Little Knightingale https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/the-little-knightingale/