The Piano on Film: An Interview With Director Peter Rosen
November 2012; Vol. 4, No. 6
Chances are you’ve seen a film by Peter Rosen. From his award-winning documentaries of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition to biographical portraits of legends from Claudio Arrau to Van Cliburn and Leonard Bernstein to Yo-Yo Ma, he has produced a legacy of more than...
9000 Teaching Pieces on YouTube: The University of Iowa Piano Pedagogy Project
November 2012; Vol. 4, No. 6
This century’s technology provides many tools for keyboard teachers, students, and parents. Internet MIDI, Skype, blogs, YouTube, and many other innovations bring new ways of learning music at the keyboard. The University of Iowa Piano Pedagogy Project on YouTube is an ambitious undertaking Dr....
Beethoven Goes to Hollywood (and Takes a Few Friends Along)
November 2012; Vol. 4, No. 6
As a faculty member at the East Carolina University School of Music, I frequently taught our Piano Literature sequence. The last time I led these classes, I decided to add a new component to the second-semester schedule: films about pianist-composers. Hollywood through the years has found...
Winning Essay for 2012 Collegiate Writing Contest: The Problems of Mozart’s Concerti: Helping Students Find Appropriate Cadenzas
November 2012; Vol. 4, No. 6
In the Spring of 2012, Clavier Companion sponsored its fifth annual Collegiate Writing Contest. College students at any level from any country in the world were invited to submit 1,500 word essays on a pedagogical topic of their choice. The grand prize was publication of...
How Do We Honor a Child’s Musical Voice?
September 2012; Vol. 4, No. 5
My eleven-year old student Corey arrived at the year-end recital dusty and sweaty from playing two tournament soccer games. With fifteen minutes to start time and no audience yet present (graduation parties, other soccer and baseball games), Corey sat down at the piano to try...
With This Gigue, I Thee Wed
September 2012; Vol. 4, No. 5
For better or for worse, in sickness and in health…” As I think back to my marriage vows, I wonder how they might have changed if I knew then what I know now: “In forte and piano, in Scriabin and Prokofiev, until you are parted...
A Musical Voice: An Interview With Yuja Wang
September 2012; Vol. 4, No. 5
At age twenty-five, Yuja Wang has already compiled a list of accomplishments that could define a full career. A Gilmore Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Prize, she has released four recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and performed recitals to critical acclaim across the...
In Memoriam: Emilio del Rosario, 1934-2010
July 2012; Vol. 4, No. 4
I begin each day at the piano with a collection of scales, chords, octaves, and arpeggios. Many prefer to simply slide into sections of the music instead; to me, this routine has become akin to brushing my teeth in the morning. During these sessions, a...
What are the Most Important Rhythmic Skills for the Early-Level Student?
July 2012; Vol. 4, No. 4
I remember the first time I heard Elvina Pearce talk about piano teaching. I was a doctoral candidate in piano performance and pedagogy at Northwestern University in the mid-1980s, and a special class of master’s and doctoral students was assembled so that “Mrs. Pearce” could...
July 2012: Questions and Answers
July 2012; Vol. 4, No. 4
Q. This year I have put all of my private students into repertoire classes. I am surprised and delighted with the students’ response and with the difference the classes seem to be making in the students’ enjoyment and motivation. However, I have not yet succeeded...
A Place in the Sun: Recent Editions of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas
March 2012; Vol. 4, No. 2
The central position of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in our musical life remains secure, to judge from the flood of new editions of these pieces to emerge in recent years. Students and teachers of these indispensable works are confronted by choices, but there are no easy...
Playing Indie Pop
March 2012; Vol. 4, No. 2
Indie Pop is a genre of rock music that emerged in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, characterized by upbeat, melodic progressions. This article will take you through the basics of the indie pop style, beginning with simple structures familiar to all piano students. Here...
A Master Class on Three Favorite Beethoven Sonata Movements
March 2012; Vol. 4, No. 2
The thirty-two sonatas of Beethoven are often cited as the pianists’ New Testament, with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier being the Old Testament. These treasured works are a staple in piano teaching studios throughout the world, and are also required repertoire in the most demanding...
How Do You Decipher Rhythms When Transcribing the Recordings of Bill Evans?
March 2012; Vol. 4, No. 2
I have been a devotee of the music of jazz pianist Bill Evans since my early teenage years. I own many of his recordings and have listened to them numerous times over the decades, constantly hearing new things in them. I also was fortunate to hear...
The Trapeziectomy Diaries: Recovering from Arthritis
March 2012; Vol. 4, No. 2
Jill Dew is one of my favorite people. You can’t help but love her charisma and her enthusiasm. She is a superb singer and vocal coach who loves her students. She also loves playing the piano, sometimes in tearful wonder of the instrument and her...