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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  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 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 In the middle of a lesson a few weeks ago, I found myself saying, “Music is like onions.” There was no laugh or questioning look. My student simply sat and stared at the music. “It has layers. You know, ‘Ogres Are Like Onions’- you have seen Shrek haven’t you?”, I responded. My student nodded in . . . → Read More: Ogres Are Like Onions: Listening to Layers This just in from QoTS: the third installment of essential skills that most middle intermediate to advanced transfer students would do well to develop. Memory 101 Use theory to help you to chunk bits of information. For example: there may be more than 20 notes within two measures, however, they may belong to just one . . . → Read More: Essential Skills for the Transferring Developing Pianist: Part 3 I have been dubbed QoTS (OK, you had to be there–alternatively you can read the first post on this subject). Here is the second installment of essential skills that most middle intermediate to advanced transfer students would do well to develop. Fingering Avoid putting down fingers willy-nilly. If you are new to figuring out fingering . . . → Read More: Essential Skills for the Transferring Developing Pianist: Part 2 I am the queen of transfer students. I live in an area where there is a lot of moving in and out and, of course, college students are inherently transfer students. So, I have put together this list of essential skills that most middle intermediate to advanced transfer students would do well to develop. Here . . . → Read More: Essential Skills for the Transferring Developing Pianist Ped * a warning posted to prevent you from running over people crossing the street a sign to press and release the damper (right) pedal a diode that emits light what Moses did for the Israelites a very small sock for ladies a sign to keep your foot on the floor come what may Remember . . . → Read More: Ped *ing TRUE or FALSE? A Slur is a curved line that tells you to connect all the notes grouped underneath it. a) If you said TRUE you are correct. A slur is a curved line and generally, a legato touch is used on notes within a slur. . . . → Read More: Slurs 101  |
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