When music students are performing in a recital or competition, it’s often the parents who suffer the most from nervousness. They know how much and how hard their child has practiced to prepare for the event, and of course want them to do well. It is for this very reason that parents should not be nervous for their child. Although the parent has not done any of the practicing, and therefore does not feel secure with the preparation, the student has done it all, and by this time should feel very secure and ready to perform. So parents, don’t be...
In my many years of teaching piano, I have come across a few students who have a rare gift for learning and playing music. I have seen similarities in their personalities and personal qualities that seem to contribute to their musical talent. Early maturity, both intellectual and emotional is a key factor. I have found that the greater the maturity, the more extraordinary the talent. The process of learning and studying music requires the maturity to comprehend and appreciate complex, grown-up music, on both an intellectual and emotional level. It takes maturity for a child to be organized and disciplined,...
Creating and using effective and correct fingering for piano music, especially complex or advanced classical music is one of the most important steps in learning the music. In more advanced music, there may be various options for fingering certain passages, and knowing which fingerings to choose, and why, is a valuable skill to learn. Many of the printed fingerings are not practical, or even possible for students with small hands, and everyone’s hands are slightly different, so what works well for one person may not work at all for another. Below are some guidelines to follow when choosing fingerings. The...
Do you recognize this scenario? You are playing a piece for your teacher, and you stop or make a mistake. Your teacher asks you to start from a certain place, and you struggle to remember where you are and how to start from there. Students often want to take the easy route and go all the way back to the beginning. Out of context, they can’t seem to find their way to start up at any given point, and keep going. This is a matter of sight-reading. Naturally, it is always easier to start from a familiar place (such as...
My father and his brother and sister performed as the famous Compinsky Trio throughout their lives. My aunt, the pianist, Sara Compinsky was my teacher. When I was nine years old, she asked me to be her page-turner for their concerts, which I did for the rest of their concertizing career. I learned valuable lessons in the process, particularly in the field of sight-reading. Without realizing it at the time, I was developing my sight-reading skills, reading through complex music and fast tempos that I would not have been able to play at that time, but that I could nevertheless...
During my career as a pianist, I have had the opportunity to perform on many different pianos of all kinds. Some were beautiful concert pianos and some were potentially fine instruments, while others were badly in need of repair. They were all, however, in need of regular professional care. When inquiring about the maintenance of these instruments, I have had a similar response from their owners and from many of my own students as well. They tell me it hasn’t been tuned for several years, or not at all since they acquired it. This is a great cause for concern....
Students often find that much of the music in the piano repertoire gets more technically difficult as it approaches the end, especially in late-intermediate to advanced repertoire. An effective practice technique for mastering the difficult spots is to practice backward. Start with the most difficult spot and isolate a very small group of notes and play them going forward. Practice this segment very slowly with separate hands and then with hands together. It may be one measure, or one beat. When that much is comfortably absorbed (mentally and physically), add the next measure or beat before it to make a...
One of the most challenging aspects of reading music is not just figuring out which notes to play, but when to play them – in other words, reading the rhythm. In intermediate to advanced music, there will be many different note and rest values. How to count them correctly? I have developed a system that, when used correctly, always works. After checking and understanding the time signature, analyze the rhythm by first identifying the strong beats. Look for the largest note and rest values first, even if it means starting at the end of the measure and going backwards. You...
Most parents of music students, at some point have difficulty getting their child to practice their instrument. It can become a point of contention between them and a source of frustration. It can even lead to the termination of lessons. Don’t let this happen to you! What parents must understand is that children are not usually self-motivated to do their work – no matter what kind of work it is. Let’s face it, even adults can experience difficulty getting motivated to do work that they know needs to be done, even if it is something they enjoy. Therefore, they cannot...