January 2018: Create and Motivate: Scales 101
January 2018; Vol. 10, No. 1
C scale notation above a musical staff with faster and slower notes and a repeat sign. Practicing scales combines technique, muscle memory, and theory in one exercise. Yet when I asked a transfer student if she understood why her assignment included scales, her reply surprised...
Women of Exceptional Accomplishment: Eight Women Composers
January 2018; Vol. 10, No. 1
Editor’s note: Nicholas Phillips wrote a companion piece recommending intermediate repertoire from these eight composers. You can find it here. Recently I participated in a concert featuring works by women composers at the community college where I study piano. I am an amateur pianist but...
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage
January 2018; Vol. 10, No. 1
Suffragists parade down Fifth Avenue, 1917. Advocates march in October 1917, displaying placards containing the signatures of more than one million New York women demanding the vote. The New York Times Photo Archives In March of 2017, I had a delightful experience that I thought...
Learning & Teaching: Improving coordination
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
Piano technique: Improving coordination When we consider what makes a pianist good or even great, we usually think of her mastery of the basic aspects of piano playing: correct attention to the music itself, its dynamics and phrasing, individual expression that hears and can evoke...
On the Value of Art Music Today
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
As a promoter of the arts and arts education, in Alberta, Canada (as founder and director of Alberta Pianofest, a summer festival of concerts and piano master classes), I often have occasion to speak before audiences of music-lovers, arts patrons, and potential supporters. These audiences are...
Piano Teaching Programs Reviewed: Simply Piano
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
OVERVIEW: Three subscription options: 1 Month – $14.99 3 Months – $29.99 1 Year – $89.99 Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Requires iOS 9.0 or later and internet connection Optional: USB midi cable and Apple Camera Connection Kit for use with headphones Website:...
Piano Teaching Programs Reviewed: eNovative Piano
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
Overview: Subscription-based; there are a range of price plans for individual students, individual teachers, and institutions Technology required—Internet- connected computer, phone, tablet, PDF reader, Adobe Flash Website—www.enovativepiano.com Customer support includes online tutorial videos Pros: Excellent pedagogical approach Online curriculum houses hundreds of exercises Helpful instructional...
Summer Piano Study: Ideas and Inspirations
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
While routine can be valid and effective for piano students and teachers, sometimes a break from the usual can be refreshing. After nine months of the school-year schedule, the summer months provide an ideal time for the exploration of new approaches. The benefits of summer...
Appreciation
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
I recently had the pleasure of hosting ten high-school girls from Kenya. This was their first trip to the United States, and the girls have been part of an online music teaching program at The University of Georgia, where I teach. These girls were very...
January/February 2017: Poetry Corner
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
Richard Zimdars, Editor “Opus 28, The Preludes” from Facing the Music by Bruce Berger, Conundrum Press, © 2014. Used by permission of Connundrum Press, a division of Samizdat Publishing Group, LLC. http://conundrum-press.com. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited.
Musical News and Notes: January/February 2017
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
Benjamin Grosvenor awarded new Philharmonic prize Benjamin Grosvenor is the first recipient of the Ronnie and Lawrence Ackman Classical Piano Prize, the newest prize awarded by the New York Philharmonic. In October, a confidential panel of musicians selected Grosvenor, 24, as the inaugural recipient. The award includes a cash prize...
January/February 2017: Recent Research
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
So happy together. An upcoming study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior finds that employees showed higher degrees of cooperation and lower degrees of self-interest when listening to happy music. Study participants took part in a public goods game that involved choices that were either...
First Looks: Apps for Teaching
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
Paper leaves a trail, and usually the trail leads to the trash can. For that reason, I prefer to avoid paper and ink and offer virtual lesson assignment sheets. All my notes for student lessons are written in Pages, a word processor app similar to...
January/February 2017: CD and DVD Reviews
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
Maurice Ravel Carlo Grante, piano Music & Arts CD-1289 [Total Time 58:05] www.musicandarts.com This album offers unique interpretations of several of Ravel’s masterworks on a Bösendorfer Model 290 Imperial. Performed with crisp pedaling and attentive respect for articulation and attack, both Pavane pour une infante...
January/February 2017: New Music Reviews
January 2017; Vol. 9, No. 1
(S3) Preludes to Mastery, Books 1 and 2, by Chrissy Ricker. Chrissy Ricker’s two books of preludes provide a fresh and varied assortment of pieces in Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary styles. There are twenty preludes in the two volumes; each is in a different...