Recent Categories
Recent Posts
Post Archive
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
Catogery Tags
4 Star 30 piece challenge accompanying analysis award CNCM covid-19 duet ear training exam festival group class harmony history injury keyboard harmony keyboardist keyboard player Kiwanis Music Festival master class memorization motivation NAC online lessons Ontario Registered Music Teachers' Association ORMTA Ottawa pandemic pedagogy performance piano planning practising program notes RCM recital repertoire Royal Conservatory of Music rudiments scholarship sight reading technique theory University of Ottawa whiteboard
-
Wow! (or how to get good at piano)
A few weeks ago, two different piano parents asked me if I noticed anything different about their child at the most recent lesson. My response was, “Yes! Wow! What happened?!” The parents’ answer was, “I helped my child get to the piano every day this week.” Success in piano is very much dependent on three…
-
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…
-
Oh, that sounds impressive
This year’s teaching theme is technical development. A significant portion of a pianist’s practice time is spent working on scales, triads, chords, and arpeggios so that we have that facility at our fingertips [pun intended!] when we encounter those elements in our repertoire. At our recent group class, my piano students and I were discussing technique.…
-
How Does It All Add Up?
I’ve been meaning to write about some of the things that were going on in the studio near the end of this season. We were so busy finishing the year, that there hasn’t been much time for writing. One thing I did was to run a five-week contest. Students earned points for their scores in…
-
How to Cheat at Piano
There’s been a lot going on in the studio lately. Everyone (including me!) is preparing for something – group performance class, music festival, exams. The music is mostly ready to go, except for: the place where the memory always breaks down the place where the left hand plays the pattern upside down the place where…
-
“Oh, I always have trouble there.”
At last week’s lessons I heard that comment at least once every day. The solution: a pencil. The problems have been little things like the name of a note with several ledger lines or the fingering needed to get through a tricky passage. It only took a few moments at the lesson to figure things out.…
-
31 Days to Better Practising
Now that the piano season, school, and fall sports have launched, I’m hoping you are settling into a good practise routine. When you’re busy you have to be focussed when you practise your instrument. Chris Foley is a pianist, teacher, vocal coach, and the author of The Collaborative Piano Blog. His blog is one of…
-
Who Needs a Teacher Then?
The other day I was out for lunch with a friend at a Chinese food restaurant. When the bill came, there was a fortune cookie for each of us. Not wanting to tempt fate, I reached for the closest one, and opened it with a bit of skepticism. (Seriously, fortune cookies are just for fun,…
