Category Archives: Technic
… and don’t blame the page-turner
“What is it to be musical? You will not be so, if your eyes are fixed on the notes with anxiety and you play your piece laboriously through; you will not be so if, supposing that someone should turn over … Continue reading
Posted in Music History, Performance, Practice Tips, Quotes, Technic
Tagged classical piano, music quotes, Piano Lessons, piano music, Piano teaching, Schumann
Leave a comment
In the Technique Box – Part 3
In the box marked Advanced: 1. Essential Daily Exercises for Piano (Boris Berlin, pub Alfred). My go-to book for transfer students; a systematic approach to fixing or developing every aspect of technique. Organized in 20 sets (increasing in difficulty) of 14 … Continue reading
In the Technique Box – part 2
Intermediate technique books sitting on my shelf. May or may not ever be used … 1. Technic is Fun, Books One and Two (compiled, edited and arranged by David Hirschberg, pub. Alfred). Classic studies that cover a wide range of … Continue reading
In the Technique Box* (part 1)
There are three boxes of technique books sitting on the shelf, organized according to the level: Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced. These are used books. Stuff that I pull out for students as needed. My beginner and elementary students use the … Continue reading
Posted in Method Books, Piano pedagogy, Practice Tips, Rhythm, Studio News, Technic
Tagged Alfred, Finger exercises, Music, Pianist, Piano, Piano Adventures, piano teachers, Piano teaching, piano technic, Piano Technique
4 Comments
Every truly cultured music student knows…
… You must learn your scales and your arpeggios. And how to make the learning of those scales and arpeggios less of a drudgery? I have a list – first posted in April 2011 – of a few creative ways … Continue reading
Posted in General, Inspirational, Piano pedagogy, Practice Tips, Technic
Tagged arpeggios, piano practice, Piano teaching, Piano Technique, Practice Tips, scales
3 Comments
Chromatic Scale Fingerings
Students love them. The chromatic scales. Once they get that 1-3-1-3 fingering going they can whip up and down the piano playing every single note at an uncontrollable, unstoppable speed. It’s even more fun doing them hands together in contrary … Continue reading
Posted in Piano pedagogy, Practice Tips, Technic
Tagged chromatic fingering, Chromatic scale, fingering, Piano pedagogy, Piano Technique
3 Comments
Small Hands
I’m no expert on this topic. My hands, while not large, are not so small that I can’t get around a lot of stuff (I can reach a 9th comfortably enough). I do somehow end up with a lot of … Continue reading
Jaws and Trills
Friday night, with my daughter, I watched Jaws for the first time in my life. It came out when I was in my teens and simply everybody went to see it – standing in line-ups that went around the block … Continue reading
Posted in Piano pedagogy, Practice Tips, Technic, Theory
Tagged Finger exercises, Mozart, Music Humour, Piano pedagogy, Practice Tips, Rhythm Drills, Theory, trill exercise
2 Comments
The big gun
Week 3 of the summer teaching schedule. Week 3 of the intense “let’s improve your reading” campaign with one of my early advanced students – blogged about here. Two weeks ago, in addition to what I blogged about I sent … Continue reading
Posted in Piano pedagogy, Practice Tips, Sight Reading, Studio News, Technic, Theory
Tagged Howard Ferguson, score-reading, Sight Reading
2 Comments
Burgmuller – Opus 105
Love it when I catch myself making the same mistakes that I bag at my students about! It keeps me grounded, and human, and laughing. Sight-reading my way through the “B”s I played through my collection of Burgmüller today – … Continue reading
Posted in Sight Reading A to Z, Technic
Tagged Burgmuller, Piano Studies, Piano Technique, Sight Reading
Leave a comment
Arpeggio fingering chart
Once students reach the advanced level (grade 9), I get them to try a different arpeggio fingering for those all-white-note arpeggios. The first time I ran across it I thought it was the stupidest thing ever, but as it happens … Continue reading
