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Inspired by Steven Nachmanovich’s book, Freeplay, my friend and mentor, Dr. Lisa Zdechlik talks a lot about galumphing as we learn. (you know- the playing part of playing piano) We galumph when we take a tricky passage and practice it in rhythms, or improvise on it, or create an exercise from it and transpose it . . . → Read More: Galumphing With Mr. Hanon  A gonga post by John Terrauds of Musical Toronto made me sit up and take notice last week. In it, he wrote about his experiences taking on a group of students for a teacher on leave. Working with these students caused him to reflect on lessons as toil, duty, and obligation through rigid adherence to . . . → Read More: Duty or Joy? Last Saturday I had the privilege of judging the piano portion of an arts competition in Northern Arizona. I heard 28 pianists play 48 pieces—everything from Cobb’s Chocolate Soldier to Chopin’s Etudes. But wait there’s more! Not only did I write comments and choose winners (normal parts of adjudicating), I also gave each pianist a . . . → Read More: Body Parts, Chocolate, & Equality Some thoughts for my student as she prepares for a competition… Welcome to the next step of your personal musical journey. You will meet some colleagues who are musically much more mature and experienced than yourself. You will also meet those who are less experienced and mature. You have to be strong enough to be . . . → Read More: Thoughts On An Upcoming Competition Those of you who know me, know that I am totally against, what my friend calls, “drive by arts experiences”. These experiences can encompass a range of genres; the Chopin Waltz, the 12 Bar Blues piece, The “by ear” piece, Sakura… You get the picture. I also believe in respecting a student’s background and finding . . . → Read More: Guest Post: Teaching Students From Different Backgrounds, Neeki Bey Last week: I was shocked when of one of my teen students developed an alarming tendency towards passive aggression. Is she suffering from middleschoolitis? Is she bored? Is she a victim of raging hormones? Last fall her parents expressed the desire for the children to participate in our state evaluation program. We began the theory . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: Student vs. Teacher My Townie came with a Shimano twist gearshift integrated into the right handgrip. This configuration caused my right hand to be supinated at an awkward angle (who thought that was a good idea I ask you?). As our rides lengthened my right thumb began to hurt so badly that I literally couldn’t squeeze the brake . . . → Read More: Bike Shifters and Octaves
Remember my story wherein Teacher 42 became so uncomfortable with musical choices that she finally said, “You mean there’s no right way?” I concluded that I had given that teacher more doubt and uncertainty than she could handle. (PA Shorts: 42) Well, I read an article, Helping Students Deal With Uncertainty In . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: 42 Redux aka The Uncertainty Principle Years ago, we spent a day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park with our family. As we were leaving, we heard a man on the phone (a pay phone mind you) say, “ Well, I don’t know about you but after you have seen over 20 species of antelope they kinda all start lookin’ . . . → Read More: Decisions Decisions How do we learn the rules of the game? Some of us get right in there, roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty. We figure out the rules quite naturally along the way. Others of us are more systematic and require a list of rules and strategies to study before we begin. If . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: Rules In my capacity as QOTS (you had to be there- if not, see my Essential Skills Series) I quite often need to be the instigator of radical change in my students. When interviewing transfer students in my private studio, we discuss both the student’s and my goals for their musical studies. I feel that this . . . → Read More: Change, Change, Change Pieces have been chosen. Dates have been set. Arrangements have been made. Yep, we are working toward the college Spring Recital and pre-college end of the year piano exams and programs all right. Nearly everyone who walked in the door had issues with rhythm in the last couple of weeks. Cosmic unity, sunspots, the after effects . . . → Read More: Bright and Shiny Objects, One Speed Ponies, & Time Travel Recently, David H.Thomas wrote a post on choosing an instrument, tone quality and the importance of ideal tone. He pointed out the importance of monitoring your connection with the instrument daily- not just in sound but in feel. While his article was written for clarinetists, many of the same principles apply to pianos and pianists . . . → Read More: A Feedback Loop for Pianists Our guest blogger is Maria Rainier, a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education and performs research surrounding online degrees. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop. Enjoy! If you’re a piano teacher (or even a piano student), you know that . . . → Read More: Guest Post: Warming Up for Lessons & Practice- Tips for Teachers My Dad taught me to drive. He spent many hours on the road in his job and was a demanding teacher. One day we were practicing on a back road that was full of potholes. I swear there were potholes on top of potholes and, hard as I tried to miss them, I hit every . . . → Read More: Potholes: Chronic Key Signature & Accidental Disorders Over the holidays, my husband and I took a daytrip to Madera Canyon, near Tucson. We had a very warm fall this year and so, at 5000 plus feet, the aspens were just losing the last of their leaves. I was totally re-amazed by the sound of a single leaf falling in the forest. How . . . → Read More: The Sound of One Leaf Falling: Relativity in Music  |
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