Piano Study: Does counting out beats have to be robotic? (Videos)

I'm open to a panoply of ideas about teaching piano, and I've often integrated a variety of mentoring approaches based on feedback from colleagues. The latest discussion that caught my attention, centered on "counting beats" in the early learning stages of a new composition. For some the notion of oral "counting" at all in the…

Piano Lessons for children: A triad of cooperation

Embarking upon a musical journey with a child requires more than one boarding passenger. While a student eases onto the piano bench, front and center, parents are truly in the driver's seat. They need to provide necessary support for an undertaking that has lifetime value. Otherwise, registered ambivalence about the role of music in the…

Piano Gym and remedial practice

I put myself out there in the piano gym arena not as a paragon of perfection but as a work in progress. The growth process counts most to me, along with the joy of fine tuning it. That's how I approached a set of warm-up arpeggios that needed remediation as snags arose. http://youtu.be/h7qwt_O5fbk A few…

My Yamaha Arius digital is singing again!

Harry Mello is the hero of this long-winded tale. Poor Yamaha Arius had lost her voice. She was dried out, and un-sustainable. All of her pedals, if not petals had died on the vine. She was speechless. To her dear rescue came the Yamaha Corporation, who dispatched Saint Mello from B Street Music to bring…

Showcasing two of my exquisite instruments (Violin and Piano)

First the violin, a 1799 Horenstainer, Mittenwald that replaced the "cigar box" I was handed as a kid. My precious teacher, Samuel Gardner selected this German original for me in Paris, France. From there, I took it to Merrywood music camp in Lenox, MA where I coached under Eugene Lehner of the Boston Symphony. Oberlin…

Comparone plays Bach on the harpsichord with a palette of emotions

I must admit that I usually experience the "minor" key with poignant intensity, but when I heard Elaine Comparone's most recent performance of J.S.Bach's celebrated D minor concerto, I felt her inner smile radiate through ripples and waves of luscious phrases even as a tragic dimension blanketed the work. Comparone's tapestry of moods, feelings and…

My singing Steinway studio upright is a parting sorrow

It hasn't left Berkeley yet, but I'm sure my second singing nightingale will in time find the right owner. I've down-sized since my recent move--going from 3,000 sq feet, to 1500 to 700. Might as well live in a Pod. Most readers and You Tubers watched me demonstrate for my students on the upright, as…

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.

Domenico Scarlatti with wailing gypsies, flamenco flourishes, and daredevil displays (Sonata in D, K. 492)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knhMGbpg8Fk This Baroque era composer never ceases to amaze me. A forerunner of the virtuoso school of keyboard playing, Domenico Scarlatti offers a potpourri of what seems like incompatible ingredients in one short Sonata serving. (K. 492, L. 14) He starts with a sprightly staccato opening in the MAJOR mode in parallel thirds then continues…

Bach to basics, Bach to nature, and Bach forever! (Videos)

When it comes right down to it, I'm always drawn back to Bach for solace, counsel, wisdom, insight, and more. He was the Father of our Western music in all its infinite forms. In the composer's ingenious 2 volume, Well-Tempered Clavier, Bach explored all keys around the Circle of Fifths in impeccable counterpoint. It's the…