A sentimental journey taken with Mozart

Musical memories rekindled

Two musical Eulogies for Newtown’s fallen

Two musical offerings are grief-filled expressions of enduring loss in Newtown, Connecticut.

The Haydn Piano Sonata in C, UNPINNED, and matters of Memorization

Pianists are expected to perform on stage without music. It's a controversial area worth probing.

No Skimming the surface in piano warm-ups and a Chopin exchange with a sixth-grader

Lucy started piano about four years ago in El Cerrito, a short Bart ride from Berkeley, my current residence. A transfer student, she'd been immersed in Bastien primers and hand-outs of various patriotic pieces. Note-reading skills were minimal. Over time, as our musical relationship unfolded, Lucy played scales, arpeggios, and through her patient efforts performed…

From Pop to Bach, A 9-yr old makes it over easy

Fritz, a sparkling kid who loves football, soccer, and video games especially where he's devising offensive field strategies, comes to the piano with bundles of energy. These can be channeled into a piece he's gung ho to learn, like "Hall of Fame" by Sheehan, O'Dononghue, Adams, and Barry. As it played out, Fritz's mom, downloaded…

Two Adult Piano Students explore an undulating wrist motion (Videos)

In the first video, I introduce C Major, 4-note arpeggios rolling through positions or "inversions" in preparation for my lesson with an adult student in El Cerrito, California. C E G C---E G C E---G C E G-- C E G C, and then a turnaround and descent without repeating the highest note. http://youtu.be/TQPXIq6wsNQ Excerpt…

Mozart is a Challenge in any shape, size or form

Tips on learning a Mozart gem!

Respect for Piano Teachers and Business Practices

Piano teachers often deal with nagging, extra-musical issues in managing their studios as independent contractors.

A Skype piano lesson-in-progress bundled with technique and Romantic era phrasing

Despite the imperfection of the media environment, there's intrinsic musical and pedagogical value in web-cam-driven piano lessons.

Ruminations about why some virtuoso pianists book on the continent, leaving the US behind

I couldn't help but obsess over why Grigory Sokolov, for example has no foreseeable concert appearances in the US. Surely I would have flown to NYC, perhaps for a LIVE main course plus a dessert of encores at Carnegie. Horowitz said on camera, circa, 1987, that the 57th Street Hall of musical fame was NOT…