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What’s the score?
From time to time we musicians struggle with interpreting the symbols on a page of music. It can feel like a mysterious secret language. Which gets me to thinking about the who, what, when, where, and why of musical notation. Much of our music notation system got its start in European monasteries in the 9th…
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2017 Kiwanis Music Festival
We are into the fifth and final week of the Ottawa Kiwanis Music Festival. For the month of April in locations across Ottawa, performers of many different musical disciplines – piano, voice, woodwinds, brass, strings, and more! – have been turning in great performances. The festival is a chance to gain performing experience and receive…
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Congratulations!
Congratulations to my student Tracey Y. who recently won an ORMTA-Ottawa scholarship for her excellent mark in Basic Keyboard Harmony!
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Peter and the Wolf
The Royal Conservatory of Music recently released new theory books for each of their piano levels. They correlate and support the skills students are learning in sight, ear, repertoire, and technique. And now, each level contains guided listening assignments and music history. At a recent group performance class I presented Peter and the Wolf by…
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20/20 Sight Reading
Sight reading is reading an unknown score while performing the music. The skills for sight reading are different than the ones that we use for performing music that we have spent time practising. For amateur musicians sight-reading is the most significant step towards musical independence. They can keep learning and enjoying music-making even after they…
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RCM Teacher Certification
I am pleased to announce that I have received teacher certification from the Royal Conservatory of Music in these categories: Piano – Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced Theory – Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced These designations are based on my education, experience, and my students’ results in the RCM examination system. As part of the RCM Teacher Certification program…
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Ever hear of a one-armed piano player?
In every piano season, I receive at least one phone call from a parent telling me that one of my students has broken their arm. (Last season three students were wearing casts at various times!) Naturally, everyone is wondering what to do about piano. I can reassure everyone that the student should continue to attend…
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RCM Releases New Piano Syllabus
The Royal Conservatory of Music has released a new piano syllabus and edition of their Celebration Series books. My students and I have been previewing the new material all week as we look ahead to next season. There are exciting changes coming. The Repertoire contains more compositions by modern composers. An excellent selection of pieces…
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Playing Around Town
At the beginning of this week I was accompanying several flute and clarinet performances at the Ottawa Kiwanis Music Festival. Kiwanis is a large music competition that runs six days a week for the entire month of April, hosted at various churches in Ottawa. Hundreds of young performers enter in many different categories: piano, woodwinds,…
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Is that how it goes?
My students just performed at a students-only performance class, and are now preparing for our upcoming recital. At recent lessons we have been discussing practice and memorization strategies. I keep threatening to make a video for my students of me practising. And I suspect that we are taxing the ears and patience of our fans…
