Husband and wife pianists I have known and their legacy

This week's practicing and You Tubing hearkened back to my student days in New York City. Lillian Lefkofsky Freundlich was my Rosina Lhevinne. She, like her Russian counterpart, was married to a high profile husband, Irwin Freundlich who doubled as her 4-hand piano partner. When Irwin passed away in his late 60s quite suddenly, as…

A beginning adult piano student has an awakening about musical expression

I have to thank Sam, a Berkeley, California transplant to the UK, for imparting pearly words of wisdom via Skype. He shared an epiphany about music-making that got me thinking. As he observed a London chamber music Masterclass, Sam mentioned how the teacher planted a convincing thought that musicians are "actors,"---how they must capture mood…

Piano Lessons: “My kids don’t practice so what can I do about it?”

The latest piano forum quandary surrounds daily practicing. Parents are wringing their hands as teachers impart the latest advice of the week. Even adult students are plagued by "shoulds" and perfect routes to success, planted in their psyche in early childhood. They'll cancel their own lessons if they didn't get to the piano every day.…

Piano Instruction: On the way to Velocity, doing the groundwork (Video)

When faced with a composition in Presto tempo, it's best to practice slowly, preferably separate hands, (at first) to secure a good fingering, understand HARMONIC flow (or progressions) and piece out the phrasing, that encompasses articulation and dynamics. In my own baby-step maiden journey this evening through Tchaikovsky's "Baba Yaga" (The Witch), Op. 39, No.…

Sculpting melodic lines over FACETIME

Is this Orwellian? It's well past 1984, and pianists who've steeped themselves in every URTEXT (authentic music edition) known to civilization, are signing on to SKYPE, meeting their students in Alaska, Uganda, Brazil, or even right around the corner. The NEW neighborhood teacher is zoning out on the big screen with a Logitech mini-cam blowing…

If it sounds like a lark, it must be one (Tchaikovsky’s “Song of the Lark”)

http://youtu.be/Hu43yQUbgcA After I recorded Tchaikovsky's precious tableau from his Op. 39 Children's Album, I discovered a true-to-life rendering by Russian pianist, Igor Galenkov, who delicately imported a bird to embellish his performance. http://youtu.be/sqdVlA7c_bg *** Instruction: The rolling forward wrist motion in Lark http://youtu.be/AXspi9vh3vY ***

Celebrating Beethoven’s Birthday!

Albeit a day later, the composer's music is worth our adulation. Since words cannot amply express the beauty of Beethoven's outpourings, I've selected a favorite movement that speaks volumes about his genius: http://youtu.be/jGJ_4CS_c4M

Piano Technique: Spring forward wrist/bounce motions applied to the piano repertoire (Videos)

I use Edna-Mae Burnham's Dozen a Day exercises with my adult students because of their application to the piano literature. Naturally, pupils transpose these warm-ups to all Major and minor keys around the Circle of Fifths though these short romps are written within the scope of five-finger positions. A particular favorite is "HOPPING" (in staccato)…

A Heart-wrenching blend of Music and Memoir

A one-woman show playing at the Berkeley Rep (adapted and directed by Hershey Felder) is so emotionally riveting that it must reach Broadway and beyond. In The Pianist of Willesden Lane, Mona Golabek weaves a dramatic wartime story in music and words, producing a unique theatrical experience. With the expressive framing of the Grieg Piano…

Delightful Piano Arrangements of Jewish Holiday songs

Robert Schultz has done a Mitzvah, (blessing) in compiling a pleasing group of Jewish Holiday songs for Intermediate level students. For Chanukah, which shares a table setting with Thanksgiving this year, (the menorah sits beside a fully dressed turkey), Schultz has included two particularly engaging selections: "LICHVOD HACHANUKAH" (about baking potato latkes), and "S'VIVON" (Spinning…