Some of my students have a lot of trouble with balance between the hands. I have them play one hand very loudly, and “ghost” the other hand, gradually adding the other hand by tapping the keys, then playing softly, getting gradually louder, but would love some other ideas. This is the same tried-and-true strategy that […]
Teaching
Friday Film Find
A friend of mine shared this recently and it made me smile:
Watch the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
One of my early music inspirations was the CD “World’s Favorite Piano Music” by Van Cliburn. I think because of that and because of the opportunity I had to hear him in person at the 2006 MTNA Conference, he will always have a special place in my heart. The piano competition he began in 1962 […]
Monday Mailbag
One of the fallouts of my computer crash several weeks ago is that I no longer have access to all of my e-mails. In particular, I had over fifty Monday Mailbag questions saved for upcoming postings. So…it looks like we’re going to have to start over from scratch. If you have a questions you’d like […]
Friday Film Find – Triumphant
Jerald Simon, of Music Motivation, has put together an inspiration video dedicated to athletes everywhere. I assume this also includes musicians, who have been dubbed “elite athletes of the small muscles.” 🙂 This would be a great film to show students to give them an idea of one of the many ways that music can […]
40 Interview Questions for Prospective Piano Students
Years ago I started conducting and interview and evaluation/assessment with every prospective piano student and their parents. This is so helpful in getting to know the families, the individual student, and their musical expectations and aptitude. I’ve recently been coming up with some new questions that I’d like to add to the forms I use, […]
