Ten days before Christmas, my schedule arrived for a conference I was to attend over New Year’s weekend in Charleston.
Nancy M. Williams, Founding Editor
How Martha Argerich uses Chopin and Tempo Rubato
When I returned to the piano after a 25-year hiatus, I struggled with tempo rubato. I could not conceive how to inject my music with these mysterious elongations and compressions in the tempo.
When You Need a Quiet Piano
Ricker Choi is an accomplished amateur pianist from Toronto, Ontario. In the last five years, he has placed in amateur piano competitions from Boston to Berlin.
New Pictures at an Exhibition by Seymour Bernstein Amplified
Twentieth-century classical piano music, such as New Pictures at an Exhibition, for years intimidated Mark Cannon, a dedicated amateur pianist who is a psychiatrist by profession.
Ensembles and Adult Piano Lessons
Alberto De Salas believes that playing in an ensemble is crucial to a pianist’s development.
Book Review – With Your Own Two Hands: Self Discovery Through Music, by Seymour Bernstein
During a performance of the luscious Arietta from Beethoven’s Opus 111 Sonata, the concert pianist Seymour Bernstein made the mistake of opening his eyes. Usually the Arietta transported him to such a degree that he played the music with his eyes closed, his head leaning back.
Why Students of Adult Piano Lessons Should Perform
Matthew Harre believes that performing on the piano is a different art than simply playing the piano. “I think performance is terribly important for adults,” Harre declares.
Burgmüller’s Opus 109 Amplified
In this practice video, I play the first section of The Pearls, Burgmüller Opus 109. Unfortunately, my extended pinky problem made an unwelcome appearance.
Losing Control in Adult Piano Lessons
Matthew Harre, one of the most well-known teachers of adult piano lessons in the Washington DC area, prescribes scales, patience, and practice like many of his music-teaching brethren.
This Sounded So Much Better at Home
This past August, when our music director, Julie, asked me to play during the Offertory, I decided to dust off a Chopin piece in my repertoire, the Nocturne in E-flat Major.
Book Review: What to Listen for in Music, by Aaron Copland
The intelligent listener—not to mention the intelligent student of adult piano lessons—”must hear the melodies, the rhythms, the harmonies, the tone colors in a more conscious fashion. But above all, [s]he must, in order to follow the line of the composer’s thought, know something of the principles of musical form.”
Taking Adult Piano Lessons from Chopin
Today we remember Frédéric Chopin primarily as a composer, yet he also made his livelihood by teaching adult piano lessons. The number of professionals that he taught during his lifetime amounted to no more than 20. The rest were amateurs with a passion for the piano.
A Score Without the Piano in Adult Lessons
During my first year of adult piano lessons, my piano teacher Stephen had the temerity to suggest that I study the score away from the piano.
Body over Mind When Performing
For over a year, while studying Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude in my adult piano lessons, I often stumbled into an A-flat trap. In the expansion of the dreamy, opening melody, I launched off a bass A-flat into nowhere, flummoxed on which notes I should strike next.
Hope for Adult Piano Lessons
An adult piano student considers her music ugly, a holdover from her childhood. Then when looking to buy an antique Steinway, she instead leaves with hope.
No Pedal Please: A New Approach in Adult Piano Lessons
My grandfather, Harold, who lived to 91, could navigate routes through Pittsburgh even after he became legally blind. Harold advocated finesse behind the wheel.
The Case of the Extended Pinky
Last summer, when I clicked through photographs for my website, I noticed something amiss on the shots of my hands at the piano. The pinky of my right hand, rather than cupping over the keys, jutted straight out, flexed with an unnatural tension.
Adult Piano Student Strangles Burgmuller’s Pastorale
I recently experienced, in my study of Burgmuller’s Pastorale, the hazards of excessive practice.
Feeling Is First in the Chopin Nocturne in C-sharp Minor
Around a year ago, when I began studying the Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, I felt awed by how Chopin had packed in the notes a plaintive sadness. In contrast, in my childhood home, although Mom never articulated a rule on the matter, feelings were prohibited.
Press Record to Improve Your Sound
Several years ago, my piano teacher, Stephen Wu, suggested in his low-key manner that I record myself when I practiced. I allowed a lot of time to elapse before I finally worked up the courage to follow his suggestion, despite his occasional, gentle reminders.
How Affirmations Help this Student of Adult Piano Lessons Achieve Her Goals
At least twice a week, I tear myself away from my writing, scoot out of my study, and stride down the sidewalk away from my house. I have a cell phone pressed to my ear, but there is no call.
Anna Shelest’s Pictures at an Exhibition: A Personal Journey for this Student of Adult Piano Lessons
A week ago this past Sunday, inside one of the grand salons of the Ukrainian Institute on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, I watched Anna Shelest strike the opening chords to Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Students of Adult Piano Lessons: Fraidel Leah Kletter, a Profile in Perseverance
I’m pleased to launch the first of my Students of Adult Piano Lessons Profiles, a series which will appear in an ongoing basis in this GRAND PIANO PASSION™ blog.
My Debut of Chopin’s C-sharp Minor Nocturne
When I awoke this past Sunday morning, I could feel a familiar clipped breathing and tight chest from performance anxiety. I was scheduled to play the Chopin Nocturne in C-sharp minor in public for the first time, at a mid-morning service at my church.