Make parents your partners
January 2016; Vol. 8, No. 1
In her book The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed, Jessica Laney writes,”… why do so many teachers cite the challenge of dealing with their students’ parents as their main reason for abandoning the classroom?”...
Beyond the Keyboard
January 2016; Vol. 8, No. 1
Dr. Edwin Gordon was one of the most distinguished and influential music educators of the twentieth century. His work on the measurement of music performance, audiation, and Music Learning Theory had far-reaching implications for a wide variety of musical settings. In November of 2015, Dr....
The Teaching Legacy of Rosina Lhévinne – Part II
January 2016; Vol. 8, No. 1
The year 2016 marks the seventieth anniversary of Rosina Lhévinne’s first masterclass. Although Mme. Lhévinne may have started her masterclasses in Los Angeles feeling uncertain and inexperienced, she quickly became one of the top masterclass teachers in the world. She was able to impart the...
What are the best practices?
January 2016; Vol. 8, No. 1
Editor’s Note: In the November/December 2014 issue, Clavier Companion launched a series of articles addressing the future of piano teaching. The following article is part of that series, which will continue in future issues. “I’ve always done it this way.” “My teacher did it that...
January 2016: Editor’s Page: In Order
January 2016; Vol. 8, No. 1
For most of our daily activities, there is an order to things. This order is usually logical and almost always functional. Taking an “out of order” approach to a routine task may render it impossible, meaningless, or absurd. Putting our shoes on before our socks,...
2015 Clavier Companion Collegiate Writing Contest Runner-Up: Survival of the fittest: A reevaluation of traditional scale and arpeggio fingerings
January 2016; Vol. 8, No. 1
Fingering holds a foundational place in fine piano technique. In the words of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, “More is lost through poor fingering than can be replaced by all conceivable artistry and good taste.”1 For many pianists, traditional fingerings for scales and arpeggios are chiseled in...
NCKP 2019 PEDx9 Preview: Crossing the Divide: Latitude 49 and the Evolution of Chamber Music
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
Blending the finesse of a classical ensemble with the drive and precision of a rock band, members of Latitude 49 come together from across the United States and Canada to bring dynamic performances into venues large and small. Our diversity of experience is our strength: a variety...
NCKP 2019 Pedx9 Preview: Public Music Theory Behind Bars
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
In spring 2016, I saw a news report on a Columbia, South Carolina television affiliate describing a music program at Lee Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Bishopville, South Carolina—an hour’s drive from Columbia. According to the news report, musicians from Decoda, an ensemble in...
NCKP 2019 Pedx9 Preview: Teaching Music in Lebanon Part I
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
As a young musician growing up in Greenville, SC, I never thought I would utter the phrase, “I’m going to the Middle East to teach piano!” And yet this summer will be my fourth visit to Lebanon to teach and learn from some amazing students....
Narrativity of Histoires by Jacques Ibert
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert was born with the fire of Spanish blood in his veins and claimed Manuel de Falla, the famed Spanish composer, as his cousin. The love of music and art that permeated the Ibert household laid the foundation for his acceptance...
“Hidden Figures” in Piano Pedagogy: Leveling Piano Music by Black Composers
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
A Call for Representation In 2016, the movie, Hidden Figures, based on the novel by Margot Lee Shetterly, put a spotlight on African American female mathematicians who worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s. This biographical film exposed the significant...
Teaching Repertoire to Special Learners: Practical Solutions
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
Choosing repertoire for our students is often a matter of subjectivity. A desired scenario is one in which a student and teacher both agree on the pieces and the occasion for which they are to be learned. In the case of a traditional neuro-typical student,...
What I’ve Learned from 150 Podcast Episodes… and Counting
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
“…as I was teaching, if I could find a song that the student brought to me or that the student was interested in, I always felt like that song was going to bump them up a year’s time because they’re going to put love into...
The Beethoven Piano Sonatas: Frequently Asked Questions
Spring 2019; Vol. 11, No. 2
As the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) approaches, it is a good time to get in the celebratory spirit by answering some FAQs. A warning, though: behind every seemingly straightforward answer, there are always more questions! 1. What editions should...
Béla Bartók: Two Romanian Dances, Op. 8a, and the Romanian Folk Influence
Spring 2019; Vol. 11, No. 2
It is no secret that the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók was greatly influenced by traditional folk and dance music of Eastern Europe and surround- ing regions. To explore the direct effects of a specific ethnic demographic of folk music on specific works, however, still holds the...