Vintage PA: Yodeling Puff The Magic Dragon
It started with a performance of a method book piece with the word Yodel in the title. “It sounds weird,” said my young student, “and I don’t understand why that…
PA Shorts: Boundaries
"You can’t fill up when you’re holding your breath. And writing is about filling up, filling up when you are empty, letting images and ideas and smells run down like…
Learning Ogi Matsuri
Everyone who teaches should try to learn a completely new skill every few years. It keeps you humble. It keeps you patient and kind to both yourself and to your…
Redux: Yummo! Taste and False Assumptions
This week, I was struck by a fascinating post by John Terauds on the word like and it's meaning in relation to music—specifically classical music. We don’t like every person we meet,…
Artist Portrait: Matthew Odell
I had the great pleasure of doing this latest Artist Portrait interview with pianist Matthew Odell—and face to face too! He is an energetic and down to earth person who…
Middle Parts & Orphans
“I’ve played piano for over 30 years and nobody has ever told me to start in the middle of a measure,” said one of my adult students last week. She…
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…
Artist Portrait: Shai Wosner
It’s good for your health as a musician to be in the company of other good musicians. I don’t think I could really exist as a musician without that. And,…