Piano Technique Tutorials abound this week!

I often enjoy a splurge of self-produced technique videos to assist my teaching, and to clarify my latest insights. This week I examined Staccato playing, using weight transfer for dynamic variation, as I employed a legato "floating arm" as a model for snipping out a stream of well-connected, scale-wise detached notes. In this undertaking, I'd…

What you Learn by Teaching Piano

I was inspired by the sagacious words of Peter Takacs, Oberlin Conservatory piano faculty member, in response to a query by Zsolt Bognar. (Living the Classical Life interview) Zsolt: "Should a pianist teach?" (I was a bit surprised by a question that sowed doubt about the endeavor of mentoring--as if it proliferated the weak cliche…

No Piece is too easy to teach and play thoughtfully

At this juncture of teaching, I'm savoring diverse repertoire along with my students, the youngest of whom is 10, and the oldest being over 60. What all these pupils share in common, regardless of level, is a journey through repertoire that requires a thoughtful process of learning. Even a Beginner labeled two or three note…

From the Start: Singing through Piano Lessons

On this Mother's Day, I think of the many piano teachers who breathe life into fledgling musical journeys with a gentle prod of the hands and the warm embrace of the human voice. Phrase shaping and the singing tone, originate from the ebb and flow of the breath that fuels energy through relaxed arms and…

The multi-step process of piano learning: but who’s counting?

One of the prevalent concerns of students, especially adults, surrounds the length of time they've invested in learning a particular composition. For some, an internalized goal of technical/musical "mastery" attaches a self-imposed deadline to completion. Boxed into this self-affixed learning time frame, is the end game of neatly shelving a composition as impetus to move…

Music-sharing Par Duo in an “age-less” environment

It was no accident of fate that I spotted a 90 plus, sprightly woman on you tube who registered a wish to find a partner to play "4-hand piano." (It's a musical collaboration between two players at one instrument.) The posting, exciting my interest, had been hyper-linked from the Ashby Village (AV) website that details…

Debussy framed articles and videos enrich our study

It's always a blissful coincidence when a piano teacher discovers a wealth of contemporary commentary about a composer whose music is under study in a partnered learning environment. With a framing introduction about the creator, a mentor and pupil can journey beyond details of notation, fingering, harmony, to absorb context, history, and varying compositional approaches…

The “Best Interview” with Seymour Bernstein

Seymour's fan club encompasses a vast array of e-list recipients who feel the pulse of the pianist's response to a universe of infinite wonders. In a steady stream of emails FROM: see.less (not more--mour), TO: his many cyber-connected admirers, a cascade of attachments might contain a photo display of newborn puppies snuggling with a feline…

Piano Teachers and Pedaling

In the cosmos of pedaling, where the "soul of the piano" is explored, I asked a few teachers about when and how they introduce students to the use of the sustaining or damper pedal. Definition of Terms: https://www.pianocub.com/blog/3-piano-pedal-techniques-you-need-to-know Legato/Syncopated Pedal "In legato pedaling, the sustain pedal is pressed down after a note or chord has…

Jeanne Bamberger, 94, shares a rich and abundant musical life

A former student of legendary pianist, Artur Schnabel, Jeanne Shapiro Bamberger sat comfortably at her piano bench, nestled in her Berkeley Hills home. She meticulously traced her East to West Coast journey that's reached beyond the boundaries of piano performance. Through decades of creative discovery, Bamberger has synthesized elements of music and cognition; form, structure,…