William Chapman Nyaho: Scholar, Pianist, Advocate
Spring 2024; Vol. 16, No. 1
The contributions of Dr. William Chapman Nyaho to the field of piano performance and pedagogy are numerous and lasting. From the beginning, his life has been filled with music from varied cultures and styles. In turn, he has impacted our musical world with explorations and...
Spring 2024: Editor’s Letter
Spring 2024; Vol. 16, No. 1
Benefits of peer learning in music settings, where students learn with and from each other, are notable and include development of student autonomy, cooperation skills, motivation, increased inclusivity, and deeper learning.1 Peer learning in music is common in informal music contexts (i.e., outside of the...
Winter 2024: Editor’s Letter
Winter 2024; Vol. 15, No. 4
The winter months mark the middle of the academic year for many of us. As the hours of daylight and our energy levels diminish, our willpower and ability to persist in learning may fade, also. Students who began the year full of vitality and optimism,...
Journal of Piano Research: Interview with Pamela Pike and Alejandro Cremaschi
Discovery homeSign up for email updatessubmit a question The Co-Editors-in-Chief of Journal of Piano Research, Dr. Pamela Pike and Dr. Alejandro Cremaschi, recently answered some questions about the new Journal of Piano Research. Find out more about the journal below and go to journalofpianoresearch.org/ to...
Five Things You Should Know About Teaching Adults in Groups
Discovery homeSign up for email updatessubmit a question In her Summer 2021 article “Teaching Adults in Group-Piano Settings: Facilitating the Musical Process,” Pamela Pike gave practical advice about how to teach adults in group settings. Here are five tips for working with adults in groups...
Autumn 2023: Editor’s Letter
Two of our responsibilities in piano teaching include setting students up for success through preparatory activities that form the foundation for their new musical learning and providing feedback while that learning is taking place. Feedback occurs during the lesson when students experience new music or...
TRIBUTES TO Frances Clark Center Lifetime Achievement Honorees Michelle Conda & George Litterst
by Various Authors A Tribute to Michelle Conda: Her Many Contributions to Piano Pedagogy A Passionate Teacher There are moments in your life that, unbeknownst to you at the time, radically transform your future. For me, that moment was during my sophomore year at the...
SUMMER 2023: Using Summer Break to Explore Piano Skills
Pamela D. Pike Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Director Many musicians use the summer break from teaching and performing to learn new music and prepare for the upcoming academic year at a leisurely pace. Our students, who look forward to a vacation from typical learning and...
Spring 2023: Editor’s Letter: Why Piano? Why Now? Rekindling the Joy
By Pamela D. Pike Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Director I spend much of my time thinking about what my students need. For my pre-college students, those essentials vary as they grow and progress, but I aim to help them develop technical and musical skills that...
Winter 2023: Editor’s Letter: Embracing Our Musical Identities and Nurturing Future Generations of Musicians
Winter 2023; Vol. 14, No. 4
By Pamela D. Pike Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Director Musicians who are comfortable with and can easily describe their musical identities experience professional satisfaction.How do you identify as a musician? Are you a professional or amateur? Are you a teacher, performer, collaborative pianist, entrepreneur, studio...
Autumn 2019: Editor’s Letter
Autumn 2019; Vol. 11, No. 4
Indeed, one of my areas of formal research is understanding how musicians maintain careers across an entire lifespan. It is no surprise that professional musicians engage in a variety of activities each week, including solo and collaborative performances (in secular and sacred settings), teaching (in...
Autumn 2022: Editor’s Letter
Autumn 2022; Vol. 14. No. 3
This past summer, I had the privilege of attending the Oberammergau Passion Play. As the Plague raged throughout Europe in the early seventeenth century, the townspeople of the remote mountain village of Oberammergau, Germany, vowed to remember the Passion through performance once each decade if...
Winter 2021: Editor’s Letter: Embracing the Positive as We Emerge from Our Pandemic Cocoons
Winter 2021; Vol. 12, No. 5
After the long, dark winter, springtime represents a time for rebirth and renewal. Yet, as we head into the second year of our new “pandemic” normal, many musicians have grown weary of what they had assumed would be temporary inconveniences—teaching online, physically distant performances, and...
Cultivate the Community: Impressions from the 2022 Gilmore Piano Festival
Summer 2022; Vol. 14, No. 2
The Gilmore 2022: A Pianist’s Perspective Twenty years ago, one of my retired adult piano students took two weeks off from lessons to attend the Gilmore Piano Festival in Michigan. He returned, raving about the exceptional quality of the performing artists and insisting that I...
Summer 2022: Editor’s Letter: The Restorative Power of Rest and Professional Development
Summer 2022; Vol. 14, No. 2
For many, during the summer months we dispense with the daily rituals of teaching, practicing, and performing and, instead, make room for activities for which we do not have time during the academic year. As summer begins, the possibilities for learning new things and restoring...