I just sent the following message back East! "Seymour, May this be the best year ever with continued celebration of your wondrous achievements as a pianist, teacher, composer, author, philosopher, and global musical ambassador." While gratitude is expressed far and wide for what Seymour Bernstein has advanced in the musical and interpersonal communication universe, he… Continue reading Happy Birthday, Seymour Bernstein!
I'm very concerned about my Southern USA students' pianos that are subject to warbling unisons, or wavy, beating octaves. A case in point is my Kentucky Online pupil who owns a well-regarded Charles Walter upright that was tuned about 5 months ago. Yet it now has "beating" notes due to extreme vacillations of humidity in… Continue reading Climate control and Pianos: A conversation with Sam Bennett (Piano Works in Duluth, GA)
My latest awakening occurred during a piano lesson last night with a student who loves Bach and nearly dotes upon his compositions exclusively. And that's fine with me who's a companion traveler sharing a comparable love for the composer and his diversity of keyboard works. Invention 1 in C, BWV 772 is one of my… Continue reading Playing a Bach Invention: Say what you mean, and mean what HE said
A musician's understanding of a masterwork is a composite of ideas derived from many sources. In the course of piano study, perceptions change and grow, enlarged by a combined theoretical and musical examination of a composition that invites mentors into the mix. In this tutorial, I realized how I synthesized the contributions of harpsichordist, Elaine… Continue reading J.S. Bach Prelude No. 1 in C, Voicing and Harmonic Rhythm (my ideas and Seymour Bernstein’s)
My blind date sweetheart piano, the Baldwin Hamilton grand 1929, that was a shot in the dark, telephone interviewed instrument, is falling into the hands of my adult student, Julie. That means it's remaining in the family. (Julie lives practically next door) The good news is that I now have ample space for my NEW… Continue reading My Old Baldwin piano passes to a new owner, but keeps family ties
https://youtu.be/u_YG7qNUpkU Baldwin Grand with lid up plays J.S. Bach Prelude in F minor, BWV 881 (WTC Book 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSNOvkbqbKw And J.S. Bach Prelude No. 1 in C, Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 https://youtu.be/TmGa78iBM04 Mozart Sonata in C, K. 545, Allegro https://youtu.be/qWDdJOG318I LINK: MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO ME! https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/my-birthday-present-to-me/
Who would have imagined that a new piano would be my special gift to myself! It was one week since my mother had passed away at 100 and I was devastated, shaken by the loss-- too distressed to be thinking about celebrating my upcoming birthday in any way. Yet when I saw an ad for… Continue reading My Birthday present to me!
Tonight's lesson with Judy had inspiring moments within a phrase sharing interplay. We started out singing the opening measures of the composer's charming masterpiece, emphasizing a singing line supported by harmonies cresting and dipping into resolutions. The vocal lead-in, threaded through the whole lesson, often rippling into supple wrists, relaxed arms --but it deepened in… Continue reading A Phrase loving exchange between Teacher and Student (Mozart Sonata in C, K. 545)
This is not a planned or staged informercial, but one of my students spontaneously reviewed the value of her piano lessons by Face Time, and I snatched her critique on my iPhone. NOTIFICATION: She was not impeded from sharing the down side of her piano learning experience so naturally I was riveted to what would… Continue reading Technology as a valuable piano teaching tool
Did I expect a dental visit to UCSF on Parnassus to blossom into a Landmark expedition through the Embarcadero Business Center?! Why not? I'd caught a glimpse of Seymour an Introduction playing in close proximity to my #6 AC TRANSIT point of departure once I stepped off BART on Market Street in downtown San Francisco.… Continue reading A San Francisco Landmark and musical reunion!
Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten) 