Playing With Wolfgang: Schubert Interrupted
We all know that it is rude to interrupt a person when they are speaking. Most of us learned this early in our lives. Later, we discovered that there are…
Vintage Post: A Romantic Accusation
“You’re a romantic!” said my teacher in a surprised voice, as though this explained everything he found perplexing about me. I had never been accused of being anything but a…
Happy Little Trees
Last Wednesday evening, while my class piano students were working on their improvs for the midterm, I suddenly found myself saying, “You don’t need to apologize! Maybe in your world…
Playing With Wolfgang: Frank “SugarChile” Robinson
In the last few days quite a few people have sent me emails that include a video of a boy playing astounding boogie and the claim that he is a…
Playing With Wolfgang: Ravel in Pi
This Valentine’s morning, as I browsed through my Twitter feed, I was instantly transported back to one spring semester during my undergraduate days. The tweet went like this: A Strauss…
Thoughts On An Upcoming Competition
Some thoughts for my student as she prepares for a Welcome to the next step of your personal musical journey. You will meet some colleagues who are musically much more…
Chestnuts: Becoming A Rubato Geek
OK, I admit it, I was streaming Christmas music again during my commute this week. Alright, alright—a few other times Lots of mid-century renditions of classic holiday songs were in…
A Surge of Holiday Spirit
The past week has consisted of a myriad of small annoyances: a student tried to cover not practicing by saying she couldn't figure out notes she had been reading successfully…