Steinway and Sons is sold, and the digitals are probably having a party

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/steinway-sold-to-private-equity-firm-for-438-million/ It was no surprise to read about Steinway selling out to Kohlberg and Company .. Why? because, 1) who has the money to buy a pricey grand 2) Digitals are turning acoustics into dinosaurs. If I were purist and dismissed all my students who had electronics, I'd be catapulted into bankruptcy. In all candor,…

Piano Instruction: Learning a Mozart Minuet is never simple (K. 6 in C Major)

The charming Mozart Minuet in C Major, K. 6, requires a baby-step, layered learning approach. What makes it challenging are the variety of shapes within phrases---groupings of two notes, then longer ones, and a sloping effect in some places, and a tapering in others. To play Mozart with beauty is to sing the separate lines…

Physical fitness routines that aid piano playing

Being physically fit, bottom line, is always helpful to piano playing. That's why I frequent the gym every day. But I've found specific activities that more directly improve my endurance, and increase forearm and upper arm strength. (specifically my tube stretch routines that I demonstrate on video) The Gravitron is also one of my favorite…

Mozart Rondo Alla Turca, K. 331 updated, with instruction

https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/piano-instruction-part-1-w-a-mozart-rondo-alla-turca-allegretto-from-sonata-k-331-video/

Ear Training and Transposing are intrinsic to piano lessons (examples from an Adult lesson in progress)

It's not easy to plan a one hour piano lesson to include ear training, solfege and transposing. (They belong together, bundled with Theory, and enrich the learning environment) At the Oberlin Conservatory, Theory, Keyboard Harmony, and Eurhythmics were taught separately. Our piano teachers (applied study) adhered to their rigid routine, rarely fitting solfege, sight-reading, improvising,…

Spot practicing Chopin’s Waltz in C# minor with an adult student

This pupil demonstrates patient, behind tempo practicing: http://youtu.be/xQzGrSCfBLU My play through (with flexible forward wrist motions to help sculpt phrases) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbzKAmz2r_A LINK: https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/piano-warm-up-routines-with-an-adult-student/

Piano warm-up routines with an adult student

This pupil is working on the Chopin Waltz in C# minor Op. 64 alongside Mozart's K. 545 Sonata in C. (I'll have snatches of her spot practicing in another post) She's made considerable progress because of her conscientious step-by-step, layered approach to learning. (We spend substantial time playing separate hands, under tempo, and we don't…

Piano practicing and blocking techniques

I was originally enlightened about the value of blocking out intricate and tricky passages when I attended a rehearsal of Rudolf Serkin and the New York Philharmonic. He was about to play the Beethoven "Emperor" Concerto No. 5 with its majestic opener of broken chords (arpeggios) and as a warm-up, he silently blocked out a…

Revisiting Beethoven’s “Pathetique” Sonata, Op. 13 GRAVE

It's nostalgia time for me, reconnecting with the Pathetique that I butchered as a teenager before I landed in the good hands of mentor, Lillian Freundlich. The teacher before, lived about 4 blocks away, but was miles off the mark in her teaching. She had me studying the Chopin Scherzo in Bb minor before I…

Piano Technique: No back and forth head bobbing for Contrary Motion scales

Many students have dizzying head movements when faced with the challenge of playing scales (or arpeggios) in contrary motion, (or from opposite directions starting at a keyboard mid-point) To address a growing problem among students young and old, I devised ways to develop fluidity in this au contraire universe without a head trip. Here's the…