Becoming A Pianist: A Worthwhile Journey, Gloria Fast
Do you remember the instant you knew you were a pianist? Perhaps for you it was a gradual realization? The father of a former student of mine sent me this…
Not Harder, Just More Complicated
This semester, I have been tutoring a foreign graduate student. He is struggling with English and with his practice skills. I think that his main problem has been this: He…
PA Shorts: Substitute… Musical Education
My husband sent me a link to an article by Ta-Nehisi Coates entitled, Learning a Foreign Language is Like Learning a Sport: The long road to not sucking at French.…
Some Sage Advice
Often when I am teaching and practicing, I say or do something successful and think, "How did I know that?" Sometimes, I can mentally thank the person who blessed me…
Vintage PA: The Uncertainty Principle
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…
Galumphing With Mr. Hanon
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…
Guest Post: Dennise Ontiveros Rivera
In this post, Dennise describes her journey to music and teaching. When Dennise came to me at EAC, she told me that there were few teachers in the area of…
PA Shorts: Practice, Perfection, & Personality
Lately, cyberspace has been full of posts and articles dealing with practice and perfection. Together, they have all got me thinking hard about both myself and my students. We can…