Shopping for a Digital Piano What kind of digital piano should I buy for my piano lessons? I get asked this question often. It is difficult to answer because there is a maze of different makes and models. To address this question, I will highlight three important features of an acoustic piano. Before making a […]
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Nearly all music has vocal qualities except for some styles of contemporary music. Often when playing a passage on the keyboard we fail to recognize the natural vocal inflections. We become preoccupied with coordinating our fingers and forget what we are doing musically. Finger singing is an exercise to develop a cantabile (singing) style of playing. Chopin […]
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Hungarian pianist Andras Schiff appeared at Koerner Hall in February with a program consisting of the final piano sonatas by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. He played this concert on a Bosendorfer. This is noteworthy as at least locally, the majority of the concerts are played on a Steinway. An audience member made the following statement at intermission. […]
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When learning a new piece, break down the music into manageable components. Problems with rhythm are most effectively dealt with by tapping the time values. This frees us from the need to read and play notes so we can devote our attention to the rhythm. How to Tap Tap the beat with the left-hand and the […]
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A metronome is a valuable tool but like any other, it is only helpful when used properly. This article will focus on two beneficial uses and identify a potential pitfall. First of all, it is helpful in identifying unwanted fluctuations in tempo. A frequent challenge is a tendency for the tempo to shift when we […]
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