What’s Up With This Memory Thing?
“What's up with this memory thing?”, asked one of my new transfer students. We talked about different levels of knowing and understanding and the fact that committing something to memory…
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…
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…
Some Congrats Are Due!
It's so wonderful to have cyber colleagues. Lately some of mine have launched new projects and even a blog or two. I celebrate with them as they add new facets…
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…
Duty or Joy?
A gonga post by John Terrauds of Musical Toronto made me sit up and take notice last week. In it, he wrote about his experiences taking on a group 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…