Piano Blog

Posting Schedule

Hi Everyone

From now on I'm going to start keeping a more regular posting schedule with Piano Blog. Between teaching, practicing, composing, blogging, and wine drinking I've got a lot on my plate! So from now on you can expect posts on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Of course today is Tuesday, and I can't help but tell you that I'm off to see a solo recital with Spencer Myer this evening, a phenomenal pianist - I'm very excited!

Just so that you stick around, tomorrow's post (if all goes as planned) will be a very short excerpt from the forthcoming pamphlet on technique for adult piano students. The subject is "The importance of tactile awareness in developing your technique" . . . if you can make heads or tails of that.

Piano Placement and Friendship

My Piano is placed very near my front door. Here's a picture:

 

 

 

 

See? Door, then piano.

I think its fair to say that when you fill a room with pianists and insert a piano, the piano becomes the nexus of almost all social activity. That or wine. Preferably both. 

In any case, since most of my friends are pianists. Typical interaction goes like this:

    Banging on the door ->

    Enter the house ->

    Quick greeting ->

    Start playing the piano

How do normal people function without a piano in the living room? Probably quite normally. Luckily normal is boring. 

 

Adult Piano Technique - I'm not Dead, Just Working

Hi Pianobloggers!

Yes I'm still alive, contrary to rumor, and much to the chagrin of any students who would like to get out of lessons this week. My latest project has taken me away from the blog for a few days, as I've been planning a small pamphlet on piano technique for beginning and intermediate adults. This is in response to common trouble spots many adult piano students, especially those who are self taught or have little formal training.

This will *not* be a course on playing the piano, but rather a short collection of thoughts by yours truly about the fundamentals of piano technique necessary for beginner, intermediate, and perhaps even early advanced piano technique. 

Just to whet your appetite, here are some of the subjects I plan on dealing with:

- Posture and using your body at the piano

- How to continually improve your technique

- The proper role of the arms, wrists, and fingers

- Slow vs. Fast practice

- Economy of Motion

These are only a few key topics, although I'm trying to keep this thing concise! (As my students know, I can go on and on.) My goal is to present the theory behind each concept, while also making it applicable to real life situations a beginner or intermediate piano student might encounter.

For example, I'll be applying some of this theory to basic problems of piano playing such as: correct scales, chords, overcoming technical limitations, developing velocity, chord technique, etc.

I'll keep you updated in the coming days - Including some excerpts to tease you along. The tentative release date is: November 30th!