Piano Technique: Power forearm staccato/e minor scales AND arpeggios

A good workout at the gym is a great prelim to a power trip at the piano. Take the forearm staccato. A UK piano student in cyber space landed a crisp, definitive set of notes at forte level after a few trial runs. No doubt her fortitude and focus produced a big staccato, and its…

How to win Friends and influence People on LinkedIn

After a major workout at the gym this afternoon, I sat down at my computer, flooded by waves of LinkedIn "endorsements." A new gush of approbations encompassed bird-watching, percussion, band conducting, coin-collecting, baby-sitting and chess-playing. Was I in the midst of a mega makeover? I felt guilty about being showered with praise for my non-existent…

The Gift of Music, An inspiring Evgeny Kissin documentary

The teaser: http://youtu.be/M0U73NRSIkw You Tube can be a gift-giving repository. Documentaries about *Arthur Rubinstein, Lang Lang, Horszowski, *Richter, Kissin, et al, produced and edited with sensitivity and respect for musical art, can light a path of insight like no other. (In this spirit, I eagerly await the film about Seymour Bernstein produced by Ethan Hawke)…

Practicing a Mozart Andante movement, using a “singing pulse”

Murray Perahia clarified the "singing pulse" when he discussed a form of rubato, or flexible time that he believed could apply to Classical era repertoire. In an interview conducted by Sir Dennis Forman in the 1980s, the pianist, known as a formidable musical poet of his generation, discussed the Mozart Concerto No. 21 in C,…

Two sides of the Lang Lang story in and OUT of the heart-wrenching DO OR DIE Documentary

First, here's the documentary that drew my admiration for a Chinese pianist who suffered childhood adversity and abuse, yet triumphed, carving out a career most would never dream of. http://youtu.be/5Ft_xSw9Q54 We learn that Lang Lang's father fostered an "almost lunatic competitive environment," according to the narrator. At the age of 2, the toddler was already…

Piano Instruction, Mozart Sonata in Bb, K. 281 (first movement)

I explore the Exposition, movement 1, Allegro, and ways to practice within a slow tempo frame: http://youtu.be/JVCnRx5aDz4 Play Through: http://youtu.be/Rgx-AG34iW0 LINK: The Most Reviled Scale https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/the-most-reviled-scale-for-piano-players/

Top FIVE Piano Lesson by SKYPE Interruptions! (Videos)

Group web cam lessons on Bow-wow ( Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota) Top Notch Tone Tutorial Class 1) out-take http://youtu.be/fONbHGw8zXM 2) out-take http://youtu.be/Fy-6SkVFqMQ 3) Cat jumps out the window (United Kingdom) http://youtu.be/df7Pfg0Fcnc 4) 5 month-old Baby on lap (Alaska) http://youtu.be/D1HDoNAI75A 5) Earthquake! (Brazil) http://youtu.be/I-dbDgapMmA

Piano Instruction: Mozart Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545, Allegro (updated Video)

http://youtu.be/YF5kiQfLces Play through http://youtu.be/rETIvT6Cr2k

Showcasing two of my exquisite instruments (Violin and Piano)

First the violin, a 1799 Horenstainer, Mittenwald that replaced the "cigar box" I was handed as a kid. My precious teacher, Samuel Gardner selected this German original for me in Paris, France. From there, I took it to Merrywood music camp in Lenox, MA where I coached under Eugene Lehner of the Boston Symphony. Oberlin…

An informative chat with a whimsical piano technician (REGISTERED, of course)

I had a delightful exchange with John Peters, RPT, about pianos, restorations, repairs, machine vs. aural tunings, and all that sprung from his wild imagination. For instance, John communicates an intense passion for tuning.. "I get paid to "meditate," he insists. Then he quickly veers off with a one-liner about fixing squeaky pedals. "I pour…