Digital Only: How to Teach Creativity in the Music Lesson
September 2018; Vol. 10, No. 5
I have often heard musicians say that creativity can’t be taught – you either have it or you don’t. In other instances, I have heard musicians struggle to define or describe what they think creativity is. Some believe it is practically sacrilegious to even try...
Digital Only: Remembering Seymour Lipkin (1927-2015)
September 2018; Vol. 10, No. 5
Two weeks before the death of eminent pianist and conductor Seymour Lipkin, Patricia Stowell had the opportunity to interview him for Clavier Companion magazine. Lipkin first gained public attention in 1948 after winning first prize at the Rachmaninoff Fund Piano Contest in New York. The...
September/October 2017: Questions and Answers
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
QUESTION: I’ve read that Frances Clark often used classics, literature, and social sciences that don’t seem related to piano teaching in her pedagogy classes. Would you comment on this and, if possible, give some examples? ANSWER (Part III): In the last issue, we explored an essay...
The Art of Practicing: I Really Should Be Practicing Well
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
I do apologize to Gary Graffman for filching his title as blatantly as I have, but let’s face it—although the quality of one’s practice may be just one factor in determining how fast and far one progresses at the piano, it’s a critical one. In the studio...
Practicing Double-Thirds Scales
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
Why study double-thirds scales? Practicing double-thirds scales facilitates the performance of similar double-thirds passages encountered in the piano literature.1 Routinely practicing the double-thirds major scales readies the pianist for major and minor scale fragments, as well as challenging chromatic double-thirds passages.2 Some complete works are structured primarily on double...
Having Fun with Scales
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
Yeah, right! Is it really possible to have fun playing scales? For many students, practicing scales is a chore. In fact,it is a big chore and seems to be boring and confusing while taking too much time away from practicing pieces. “If my piece does not...
The Alexander Technique As A “Means Whereby”
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
In the summer 2015 issue, Clavier Companion published an article that was dedicated to the Feldenkrais method, and in a little box at the end of the article the Alexander Technique was mentioned. Knowing Feldenkrais (1904-1984) was actually a pupil of Alexander (1869-1955), I thought the Alexander Technique...
Developing Triad Chord Fluency
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
Like language students who have memorized vocabulary but are not yet conversant, pianists who have learned to construct chords may not yet be “chord fluent.” So how do we help our students move beyond music theory worksheets to being able to interpret chord symbols and identify...
September 2017: Mind Matters: Stage Fright on My Mind
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
Stage fright is on my mind for various reasons. I have spent my entire life dealing with it since my first memory slip at age six, and it has continued to arise in my career as a performer and subsequently as a psychotherapist. Stage fright is...
The Legacy of Leopold Wolfsohn
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
Leopold Wolfsohn. You may look at this name and wonder why it seems vaguely familiar. If you access Leopold Wolfsohn on Google, it will notify you in 0.27 seconds that you have 18,700 results. Of course, as the search continues it gets further away from its initial...
Bumping into Brahms: A Conversation about the Intermezzo, Op. 118, No. 2
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
JM: Oh! Sorry sir, you startled me! I almost bumped into you. But wait, I know you! Are you not Herr Doktor Brahms? Brahms: Guten Tag? Bitte, kein Doktor. I am amazed that we have somehow encountered one another here. Might it be because I have...
September 2017 Pupil Saver: Jamaican Rumba by Arthur Benjamin
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
Once again, my high school student—who seems to be involved in every activity possible—needed a unique piece. I had in mind what I wanted: The piece needed to be fairly short, patterned for quick and easy learning, impressive, and infrequently played (that last requirement was more for...
Gourmet Care and Feeding of the Pedals: Pedal Uses and Their Regulation
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
aIn my thirty-five years of touring, my relationship with piano technicians has always been a focal point. They are my partners in creating a memorable musical experience. In looking together at the hundreds of pianos that I’ve encountered, in large and small venues, from super high-quality brand concert grands to older, smaller baby...
Hélène Grimaud: Reflections in the Water
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
The January 2016 release of Hélène Grimaud’s recording Water (Deutsche Gramophone) was landmark in many ways,perhaps most significantly as a memento of a concert that took place in Wade Thompson Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory in New York in December 2014. tears become…streams become… was its name....
Yoda Eats Mushroom Pizza
September 2017; Vol. 9, No. 5
It’s the last lesson before the recital. Garrett, age five, is playing “Graduation March,” the final piece in Time to Begin from The Music Tree. The B section is made up entirely of half notes and whole notes. The good news? Garrett’s rhythm is perfect; a huge improvement...