Like so many adults, I thought about lots of different things I would do when I “retired,” among them not setting an alarm, traveling, learning Spanish, spending more time with the grandkids—and, oh yes, returning to the piano.
Inspiration for piano practice
Putting the Piano at the Center of My Life
In my mid-20s, I felt like a failure when I returned to Irvine, California, to live with my parents in my childhood home. I didn’t know what to do with my life.
American Grand, PBS Documentary, Created by Amateur Pianist
The initial idea was to make a short film. A nice little film crammed with beauty shots of the internal organs of a piano. I reckoned it would take about four days to shoot.
Grandpa’s Gift
As a shy 12-year-old girl, I never imagined that I’d one day thank my grandfather, Franklyn Mcafee, concert pianist, organist, and music teacher, for my hurting my feelings.
Your Brain on Adult Music Lessons
Good for your brain—Susan’s words resonated with me. Like so many middle-aged people, I worry about my brain; particularly because my father died of dementia a few years ago.
Bringing Joni Mitchell into a Chopin Nocturne
On a whim, I slipped a Joni Mitchell songbook into my tote bag along with my classical piano scores, before scrambling for my keys and rushing out the door for my session at the new music studio where I’ve been practicing once a week, since I don’t have a piano at home.
Prelude in E Minor, a Poem
Maybe because I was afraid at this first really important concert as a 10-year-old, felt the taste of fear, the piano so huge, it somehow came back—the drowning incident that took place when I was five.
The Minute Waltz, a Poem
The Minute Waltz (Opus 64 No. 1) by Chopin was my first experience of music as more than just pleasant sounds. I was spellbound by the piano playing this piece.
Piano Gone Missing
Almost a quarter century after August Wilson wrote his play The Piano Lesson, CBC News in Ottawa buzzed on May 29 that “Police seek grand piano missing from Kingston-area home”.
Deserting the Piano: A Personal Essay
I am at East Coast Piano, a boxy, windowless warehouse store on New Jersey’s Route 46, because my husband, David, has insisted.
When An Adult Saw a Piano for the First Time
Indusekhar Menon hails from Pune, India, a city known as the Oxford of the East. In his early 30s, after looking upon a grand piano for the first time, he joined the global community of people with a passion for classical piano music.
A Piano Teacher Takes Adult Piano Lessons
In his early 30s, Matthew Harre felt disenchanted with his piano technique. So this graduate of composition from American University and a teacher of adult pianists enrolled himself in adult piano lessons.
Pianists Show Up in the Most Unexpected Places
The neon sign in the dark, second-floor window at the corner of 61st and Lexington simply read “Eyebrows.” Getting my eyebrows done had never failed to lift my spirits, and on that particular rainy Tuesday evening my spirits needed lifting.
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.