Autumn 2023: Book Reviews
My interest in somatic practices1 extends back more than two decades, when I began a regular yoga asana practice. Since then, I have also participated in Feldenkrais and Body Mapping workshops, so I was intrigued to learn of this wide-ranging anthology devoted to the Feldenkrais...
Winter 2023: Book Review
Winter 2023; Vol. 14, No. 4
You may already be familiar with Don Greene from some of his earlier publications, Performance Success or College Prep for Musicians. Dr. Greene coaches elite athletes (e.g., Olympic Gold medalist Greg Louganis) as well as highperforming musicians who win coveted professional orchestral auditions. He brings...
Book Review: Every Good Boy Does Fine by Jeremy Denk
Discovery homeSign up for email updatessubmit a question Book reviews in each issue of the Piano Magazine provide readers with a sneak peek inside the latest publications on piano teaching, performing, and learning. The Autumn 2022 Piano Magazine review of Every Good Boy Does Fine...
Autumn 2022: Book Reviews
Autumn 2022; Vol. 14. No. 3
Every Good Boy Does Fine and The Piano: A History in 100 Pieces I am secretly, or not so secretly, if you ask my husband or any student who has lived through my Piano from Bach to Jazz class, a huge fan of Jeremy Denk....
Autumn 2022: New Music & Materials
Autumn 2022; Vol. 14. No. 3
Catherine Rollin’s newest collection of piano solos, Museum Masterpieces, Books A and B, was inspired by great works of art. Beautiful glossy paper in the center of each book depicts the images in full color, with information about the artist, style period, painting technique, and...
Spring 2020: Book Review: Teaching Piano Pedagogy: A Guidebook for Training Effective Teachers
Spring 2020; Vol. 12, No. 1
In the introduction to his revolutionary Teaching Piano Pedagogy: A Guidebook for Training Effective Teachers, Courtney Crappell states that the “book is not about teaching piano; it is a book about how pedagogy students become teachers.”1 Why revolutionary? Despite the current availability of many other pedagogy...
Spring 2020: New Music & Materials
Spring 2020; Vol. 12, No. 1
Dennis Alexander’s Concertino for the Young is an attractive and engaging solo with piano accompaniment that closely mimics classical concerto style. This work, accessible for a later-elementary piano student, is written in typical concerto form with fast first and third movements and a slow second movement. Traditional...
March 2018: First Looks: New Music Reviews
March 2018; Vol. 10, No. 2
(SE3-4) Fantasia del Tango: 6 Original Piano Solos and 1 Duet, by Eugénie Rocherolle Fantasia del Tango augments The Eugénie Rocherolle Series with a volume of tangos by a perennial favorite pedagogical composer. Dedicated to Kathleen Theisen, the seven pieces in this collection (six solos and one duet) present a solid introduction...
Autumn 2020: Book Reviews: Yoga in the Music Studio
Autumn 2020; Vol. 12, No. 4
As a yoga practitioner for almost two decades, I was thrilled to learn about Yoga in the Music Studio and eager to dive into reading Lesley McAllister’s recent release. McAllister makes an impassioned case for combining yoga study with musical study, clearly conveying how the first enhances the...
Summer 2019: Book Reviews
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
Review by Ann DuHamel Debussy’s Paris: Piano Portraits of the Belle Époque, by Catherine Kautsky. The first time I heard Professor Catherine Kautsky speak at a conference, I was utterly entranced: she gave a captivating, lively, and energetic session that I still remember years later....
Spring 2019: New Music Reviews
Spring 2019; Vol. 11, No. 2
(S1-3) Imaginations Books 1 and 2, by Kevin Olson. Kevin Olson has a knack for creating fresh and original sounds at every teaching level. While incorporating the reading, rhythmic, and technical skills needed to advance the piano student, Imaginations offers a wide variety of appealing pieces. With...
Spring 2019: Book Review
Spring 2019; Vol. 11, No. 2
The Contemporary Piano: A Performer and Composer’s Guide to Techniques and Resources, by Alan Shockley. The introduction to Alan Shockley’s The Contemporary Piano: A Performer and Composer’s Guide to Techniques and Resources indicates that the “book is designed as a resource for composers writing for the...
Autumn 2019: Book Review
Autumn 2019; Vol. 11, No. 4
In Transformational Piano Teaching: Mentoring Students from All Walks of Life, Derek Kealii Polischuk provides an overview of various student populations we might encounter as piano teachers, and offers snapshots of how to work with and engage these seemingly disparate groups. “The book examines the role of mentor, a role that...
Autumn 2021: New Music & Materials
Autumn 2021; Vol. 13, No. 3
(S6) THE ETUDES PROJECT, VOLUME ONE: ICEBERG curated by Jenny Lin Pianist Jenny Lin partnered with ten New York City-based composers to assemble this imaginative and engaging selection of new piano etudes. From the introduction to the score, “The Etudes Project is an ongoing exploration of the tradition and transformation of...
Winter 2020: New Music & Materials Reviews
Winter 2020; Vol. 11, No. 5
(S4) TOCCATA “HYGAGAN,” OPUS 229by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee From the FJH Contemporary Keyboard Sheets, Toccata “Hygagan” by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee is an engaging and virtuosic late-intermediate piano solo. Born in Massachusetts, Rahbee is a first-generation Armenian American. She was a piano major at Juilliard, and a...