Tag Archives: Frederic Chopin

You know your relationship is in trouble when …

Posted on April 12, 2013 by

  ________________________________________________________________ Image: Madame Scherzo. Thank you, David, for your continued contributions to this blog.

Posted in Musings about Chopin, Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The music will not fail

Posted on February 15, 2013 by

  “I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness.” ~Frédéric Chopin ________________________________________________________ Image: Memories*Lowe

Posted in Musings about Chopin, Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“Everything depends on good fingering”

Posted on February 6, 2013 by

Those were Chopin’s words. Chopin played with a simple, natural position of the hands – and used the easiest fingering. Which was sometimes against the rules. We know he played with a beautiful singing legato touch. He used lots of … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings about Chopin, Piano pedagogy, Pianos, Practice Tips | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Strike the head with a hammer.

Posted on January 28, 2013 by

I tell my students to make up a story for the pieces they play. There’s no right.  There’s no wrong. They might need a prompt. Engage the imagination and let them fly with it. No story any student comes up … Continue reading →

Posted in Books about Music, General, Music History, Music Videos, Musings about Chopin, Performance, Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A hidden sense of sorrows

Posted on January 8, 2013 by

“After playing Chopin,  I feel as if I had been weeping over sins that I had never committed, and mourning over tragedies that were not my own. Music always seems to me to produce that effect. “It creates for one … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Inspirational, Musings about Chopin, Quotes | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A different, a terrible, a beautiful domain.

Posted on December 23, 2012 by

Chopin left his Polish homeland at age 20, never to return. He lived most of his adult life in Paris, but his heart remained at home. His music is infused with his heritage. His first scherzo – the genre that … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings about Chopin, Performance, Pianos | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Strangely beautiful heartache

Posted on December 6, 2012 by

“There are … moments in many pieces we love — a fleeting passage, a short series of chords, some unexpected shift in a melodic line — when something occurs that just grabs us. I’m not talking about the obvious ones, … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspirational, Music Reviews, Musings about Chopin, Performance, Quotes | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Chopin:70 Mozart:5

Posted on October 27, 2012 by

75 minutes on the Horowitz Steinway. The actual piano that Vladimir Horowitz owned and toured with. Not 30 minutes, like I was expecting. My insistence on being early pays off sometimes – there was no one there before me so … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Inspirational, Musings about Chopin, Performance, Studio News | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Ex tempore

Posted on October 13, 2012 by

impromptu: adj. & adv. extempore, unrehearsed. (The Concise Oxford Dictionary) extempore: adj. & adv. 1 without preparation. 2 offhand. [ L ex tempore on the spur of the moment... ]  (Oxford) impromptu: [F.] Title for short pieces by… Chopin and others, … Continue reading →

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Learning WAY beyond his level

Posted on September 13, 2012 by

A 14-year-old student brought a copy of Chopin’s Nocturne Opus 9 #2 to the lesson last week and asked if he could learn it. He said he was prepared and willing to take the whole year. You’ll have surmised by … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspirational, Piano pedagogy, Practice Tips | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Musings on Chopin: It’s a Wrap.

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

And there we have it. I’ve sight-read through most of Chopin’s solo piano music – all the Preludes, Etudes, Nocturnes, Waltzes, Ballades, Impromptus, Mazurkas and a few miscellaneous pieces (notably absent – the Polonaises and Sonatas). Definite favourites have emerged … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings about Chopin, Sight Reading | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Musings about Chopin: The Mazurkas

Posted on May 10, 2012 by

Chopin wrote a lot of mazurkas – at least 69, of which 58 have been published. As with the waltzes, he did not intend them for an actual dance, but as stylized piano solos that would be recognized as a … Continue reading →

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