March 2017: Closer Look: The Music of Teaching
March 2017; Vol. 9, No. 2
The Music of Teaching: Learning to Trust Students’ Natural Development by Barbara Kreader Skalinder By inverting two words—teaching and music—Barbara Kreader Skalinder changes what could have been a fairly mundane title to one that intrigues and gives us pause. But it is her subtitle, Learning to Trust...
March/April 2017: New Music Reviews
March 2017; Vol. 9, No. 2
(S1-4) Signature Solos, Books 1-5, selected and edited by Gayle Kowalchyk. Students and teachers are in for a lively musical journey, with brand-new compositions by favorite Alfred composers, all in one collection! Students will learn pieces by beloved composers including Dennis Alexander, Melody Bober, Martha Mier,...
March/April 2017: CD Reviews
March 2017; Vol. 9, No. 2
Bach: Inventions and SinfoniasZhu Xiao-Mei, pianoAccentus Music ACC 30350[Total Time 45:47]www.accentus.com These inventions and sinfonias serve as a marvelous performance resource for teachers and students. Zhu’s approach is forthright, and, within each of these tightly constructed miniatures, the dialogue between the voices is distinct and...
May/June 2017: Book Review: The Steinway that Wouldn’t Budge
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
The Steinway That Wouldn’t Budge: Confessions of a Piano Tuner, by Peter Tryon. My piano—as far as I know—only contains the standard hammers and such, plus perhaps the occasional penny or pencil. Other people’s pianos…well, let’s allow author and piano technician Peter Tryon do the honors:...
May/June 2017: New Music Reviews
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
(S3) Aurora: 5 Original Solos Inspired by the North, by Naoko Ikeda. Japanese composer Naoko Ikeda composed five lyrical character pieces based upon “the Scandanavian landscapes of [her] own imagination.” Aurora has the potential to motivate intermediate students, especially those who enjoy music with lyrical phrasing and...
May/June 2017: CD/DVD Reviews
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
Les mains nuesMompou • Boulanger • ChaillouMoisès Fernández Via, pianistUrtext Digital Classics JBCC 231[Total Time 60:04]www.urtextonline.com “My hands and I live alone in a small apartment in the rue du Jardinet…” is an arresting phrase from Via’s short story “Bare Hands,” written for this CD....
May/June 2017: Questions and Answers
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
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: This is true and it’s something about which I...
Beyond the Notes: An Interview with Elvina Pearce
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
Elvina Pearce studied piano with Isabelle Vengerova and pedagogy with Frances Clark. For more than six decades, she has presented recitals, workshops, and master classes in more than forty states as well as in Canada, the Republic of China, and Australia. Highlights of her pianistic...
To Judge and be Judged
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
Teachers should always strive to provide positive and successful music experiences for their students. Within the walls of the teaching studio, it is much easier to create these experiences—the environment and people involved are familiar, and the teacher has more control of outcomes. However, this is...
Procedures and Protocols for Hiring an Evaluator
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
In groups as large, active, and diverse as most state and local music teacher organizations, the task of hiring an evaluator is one that circulates among different members. While I’m aware that the terms adjudicator and/or judge are probably used more often than evaluator, they...
Writing a Great Critique
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
The written critique is the single most important responsibility of an MMTA judge.It provides the student with a tangible record of the audition and it may affect and influence the student’s development for years to come. A great critique is nurturing A great critique is...
Practicing with Backing Tracks
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
Most young musicians learn to play their instruments with peers in a student orchestra, concert band, or group class. Student pianists, on the other hand, because they typically practice and perform alone for many years may miss out on learning essential ensemble skills such as:...
Playing Composers’ Slurs: From Mozart to the Nineteenth Century
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
In recent decades, scholars and publishers have reproduced composers’ original notations in so-called Urtext editions. In these scholarly editions and facsimiles of composers’ autographs, pianists will notice two slurring patterns—slurs obviously cutting off a phrase or a melody, or a slur ending before the bar line...
Pianist as Artist: Samuil Feinberg on the Role of the Performer
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
It’s not just historically minded pianists who listen to older records. Music lovers of all sorts do. 2015 marked the first year that ‘catalogue’ albums, defined as any recording made more than eighteen months previous, outsold new music by 4.3 million copies.1 “Records.” That’s what Thomas...
Music Enhances Our Quality of Life
May 2017; Vol. 9, No. 3
I doubt that any musician (and many non-musicians) reading this article would argue that the survival of music and art is critical to our nation’s well-being. The final words in the previous sentence are the title of an article I wrote in 2008 and just rediscovered when...