Warm-up routines with an adult piano student (Video)

This pupil is into her fourth year of study and plays the Chopin Waltz in A minor, and Beethoven's "Fur Elise." Here is a sample of our weekly warm-up routine using pentascales (five finger positions) in Major and minor, followed by a designated 4 octave scale built up from quarters, to 8ths, to triplets, to…

The Complete Piano Work-out in 3 parts (Videos)

Most of my late intermediate and advanced students know the routine at lessons. The first twenty minutes are spent warming up in the Key they've been assigned the previous week. Once seated at the piano, they're ready for a challenging kinetic whirl around the keyboard as scales and arpeggios dance through the cosmos in various…

Piano Instruction: The Virtues of Slow Motion Practicing and Attentive Listening

It takes patience to approach a piece well behind tempo, tuning in to every nuance and turn of phrase. With ears alert and sensitive, the player tries to create a feeling state where he's submerged in sound to the exclusion of all else. At the pinnacle of concentration, he's "in the zone," attaining Maslow's "peak…