Pedal To The Metal
Ped. Signs Remember the old Bugs and Daffy cartoons where Bugs repeatedly tricks Daffy into saying “Shoot me now, shoot me now” and finally when Daffy realizes the trick he responds,…
Tangled Fingers
After the first couple of weeks of lessons, the theme of our semester is clearly fingering. I went to dig out my handy-dandy handout from 2005 and decided to share…
PA Shorts: What A Mess!
I mostly like surprises. I love it when students come in with their own ways of looking at things and their own ways of working out problems. I'm not so…
Pencil & Paper. Maybe… Maybe Not.
Worksheets and drills are an accepted part of piano lessons. Theory books are available for most methods and then, of course, there are all the stand alone theory series and…
Remix: Earthquakes, Bright and Shiny Objects, One Speed Ponies, & Time Travel
Pieces have been chosen. Dates have been set. Arrangements have been made. Yep, we are working toward spring masterclasses, recitals, and end of the year piano exams all right. In…
Letting Distraction Go
There are times when all of us are easily distracted by bright and shiny objects—diamonds, texts, emails, the slip of a finger, the person sitting in the front row, your…
PA Shorts: A Pianist, A Halfpipe, & A Snowboard
"Amanda," I said, "You have to spot your landings before you get there!" She looked at me for a minute and then said, "" We talked about the fact that…
Interference: No Penalty 2
The universe is conspiring to make me think hard about practicing. Coincidenza? I think not. I’m up to my eyeballs in Lieder and Art Song in preparation for a recital…