5 Things

5 Things You Might Not Know About Career-aged Adult Piano Learners

Written By Pei-Chen Chen

Check out Pei-Chen Chen‘s presentation at NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference, It’s Never Too Late – Lived Experiences of Amateur Adult Piano Learners, on June 11, 2023 from 3:00-3:25PM during our online event. Register now for NCKP 2023!

1. They take lessons to fulfill a long held-dream.

Fulfilling a long-held dream is one of the most common motivations for adult piano students (P. J. Jutras, 2006; Kim, 2015; Parker, 2006; Polischuk, 2019; Uszler et al., 1999). Many career-aged adult piano learners delay piano study for different reasons, and they will often wait patiently until their life is ready. Common factors that affect their decision to learn include finding enough time to practice, having the physical space for a piano, and mental readiness.

2. They are self-motivated.

Adult learners are self-motivated and self-directed in their learning. While many young learners have extrinsic pressure and expectations from their parents and others (Fisher, 2010; Polischuk, 2019; Uszler et al., 1999), adults are more intrinsically motivated. Adult piano learners want to improve their piano playing with different goals in mind. Most of their motivations are internal, including the desire for a better quality of life, greater self-confidence, and self-actualization.

3. They like to make conscious and meaningful decisions in their learning.

Career-aged adult piano learners like to learn at their own pace, preferring an individualized curriculum with repertoire that they want to learn. They learn better when the lesson style is customized to fit their needs (MacKeracher, 2004). This means it is important for teachers and students to discuss method books and repertoire choices to create an engaging learning environment (Coutts, 2018; Mizok-Taylor, 2008).

4. They acknowledge the challenges of being an adult learner.

Career-aged adult piano learners acknowledge their mental and physical difficulties while learning and practicing the piano. Feeling mental frustration and discomfort in practice is a common issue for them. However, they are also able to recognize that frustration comes from their own self-judgment. They often hear their own “inner critic,” feel self-conscious, and have negative self-judgments while learning the piano. (Bissell, 1984; Fisher, 2010).

In addition to mental discomfort, career-aged adult piano learners may also experience physical challenges, including feeling a lack of coordination when playing the piano. Many piano educators also believe adults need more time to transfer theoretical knowledge into physical playing energy (Fisher, 2010; Kim, 2015; Polischuk, 2019; Uszler et al., 1999). Hand-eye coordination and the cognitive process of learning to read music are also common challenges adults may experience (Kim, 2015). This lack of coordination can cause career-aged adult piano learners to feel self-conscious and frustrated. The discomfort for adult piano learners is both mental and physical, and often mental aspects will influence physical aspects and vice versa.

5. They feel joy and make meaningful connections between music and life.

Despite the challenges of learning piano, career-aged adult piano learners enjoy playing music and having music in their lives. They find that being able to play music is meaningful and gives them a sense of joy. Sharing music with others and making social connections can also bring them joy. Many educators believe that music is a leisure activity, and adult students enjoy the social opportunity to interact and share music with others (Fisher, 2010; Kronish, 2005; McQueen, 2013; Polischuk, 2019; Uszler et al., 1999).

SOURCES
Bissell, P. M. (1984). “Group Keyboard and the Adult Market.” American Music Teacher, 34(1), 12–17.

Coutts, L. (2018). “Selecting Motivating Repertoire for Adult Piano Students: A Transformative Pedagogical Approach.” British Journal of Music Education, 35(3), 285–299. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265051718000074.

Fisher, C. (2010). “Group Piano and the Adult Hobby Student.” In Teaching Piano in Groups (pp. 189–211). Oxford University Press.

Jutras, P. (2006). “The Benefits of Adult Piano Study as Self-Reported by Selected Adult Piano Students.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(2), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/002242940605400202

Kim, K. R., Peter Jutras, Seon Joo. (2015). “Adult perspectives of learning musical instruments”— Kathryn Roulston, Peter Jutras, Seon Joo Kim, 2015. International Journal of Music Education, 33(3). http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0255761415584291

Kronish, N. B. (2005). “Social, cultural, and psychological influences on three promising piano students’ decisions to continue taking piano lessons” [Ph.D., McGill University (Canada)]. http://search.proquest.com/docview/305364045/abstract/173826EAF88C45AEPQ/12

MacKeracher, D. (2004). Making Sense of Adult Learning. University of Toronto Press Incorporated.

McQueen, M. V., Susan Hallam, Andrea Creech, Hilary. (2013). “Different ways of experiencing music-making in later life: Creative music sessions for older learners in East London” – Maria Varvarigou, Susan Hallam, Andrea Creech, Hilary McQueen, 2013. Research Studies in Music Education, 35(1). http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1321103X13478863

Mizok-Taylor, R. J. (2008). “Promoting self-directed learning in adult piano instruction” [D.M.A., West Virginia University]. http://search.proquest.com/docview/304448652/abstract/B327D2A3DC5F4856PQ/1

Parker, E. (2006). Piano Pedagogy: A Practical Approach. Longbow Pub

Polischuk, D. K. (2019). “Teaching Adult Pianists.” In Transformational Piano Teaching (pp. 21– 35). Oxford University.
Uszler, M., Gordon, S., & McBride-Smith, S. (1999). “The Adult Student.” In The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher (2nd ed. edition, pp. 147–179). Schirmer.

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How to Teach like Kodály in 5 Easy Steps

Written By Megan Hall
Image of Zoltan Kodaly, piano pedagogy, piano teaching, piano technique, singing, music education, aural skills, piano teaching exercises, learning rhythm at the piano

Don’t miss Megan Rich‘s Lightning Talk at NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference, Singing in the Piano Lesson: Zoltán Kodály’s 333 Elementary Exercises in Solfège Singing, on July 26, 2023 from 4:00-4:50PM during our in-person event. Register now for NCKP 2023!

1. Sing!

Zoltan Kodály said that “To teach a child an instrument without first giving him preparatory training and without developing singing, reading and dictating to the highest level along with the playing is to build upon sand.”1 To develop singing and reading, Kodály wrote a book of sequential solfege exercises titled 333 Elementary Exercises in Solfege Singing.2

2. Use Folk Music

Kodály educator Jean Sinor said that “Content [of music education] should be generated by the music: initially by the folk music of the people and later by the folk music of other peoples and the finest examples of composed music.”3 Folk music is effective because of its familiarity and simplicity, and the use of varied folk music from different regions can greatly enhance piano lessons.

“Children learn effectively from the act of play.”

~ L. S. Vygotsky

3. Speak

Kodály educators use rhythm syllables and chants as a kinesthetic tool to help students internalize a steady beat and rhythm. The Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia published their helpful Rhythm Syllable Chart4 in 2003.

4. Play

Children learn effectively from the act of play.5 Music lessons that incorporate games and music are not only more fun, but often more effective. The following three websites have resources for Kodály-inspired music games:

1.       Kodaly Center – Collection (hnu.edu) https://kodaly.hnu.edu/collection.cfm

2.       Free Resources – Kodály Australia (kodaly.org.au) https://kodaly.org.au/resources/

3.       Action Songs and Games Level 1.pdf (beaconmedia.com.au) https://beaconmedia.com.au/bm/images/docs/Action%20songs%20and%20games%20Level%201.pdf

5. Make beautiful music together!

Provide an opportunity in every lesson for beautiful music-making. Whether playing or singing, students need the opportunity to participate in ensemble music and in music for music’s sake. As Kodály said, “If we ourselves sing often, this provides a deep experience of happiness in music. Through our own musical activities, we learn to know the pulsation, rhythm, and shape of melody. The enjoyment given encourages the study of instruments and the listening to other pieces of music as well.”6

Other resources you might enjoy

SOURCES

  1. Zoltán Kodály, The Selected Writings of Zoltán Kodály (New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1974), 196.
  2. Jean Sinor, “Musical Development of Children and Kodály Pedagogy,” Kodály Envoy 40, no. 3 (March 2014): 17–20. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. 
  3.  Zoltán Kodály, The Selected Writings of Zoltán Kodály (New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1974), 196; Zoltan Kodaly, 333 Reading Exercises (New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 2004), https://www.boosey.com/teaching/sheet-music/Zoltan-Kodaly-Choral-Method-333-Reading-Exercises/2097. 
  4.  Kodaly Music Education Institute of Australia, “Rhythm Syllable Chart,” Kodaly Music Education Institute of Australia, 2003, https://kodaly.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/rhythmguide.pdf.
  5. L. S. Vygotsky, “Play and its role in the mental development of the child,” Journal of Russian and East European Psychology 5, no. 3 (1967): 6-18. 
  6. Zoltan Kodaly, Visszatekintés; összegyüjtött írások, beszédek, nyilatkozatok (Budapest: Zenemükiadó, 1964),  117, Organization of American Kodály Educators records, 0160-SCPA. Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library.
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Five Principles to Help you Prepare and Practice Orchestral Reductions

Written By Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao

Don’t miss Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao‘s presentation at NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference, Piano as Orchestra: Creating Artful Orchestral Reductions, on June 11, 2023 from 2:00-2:50PM during our online event. Register now for NCKP 2023!

1. Listen to a Recording

When you are learning a new orchestral reduction, it is very important to listen to the original orchestral version of the piece. You want your ears to absorb and be familiar with the orchestral sonority and its characters.

2. Play What You Hear, Not What You See

Remember that an orchestral reduction is the composer or arranger’s piano realization of the piece and not a complete reproduction of the original score. This requires a different approach than playing an instrumental sonata! After listening to the recording and studying the full score, try to focus on the bigger musical picture of the piece and play what you hear as the most important musical elements.

3. Keep the Rhythm (Consider Orchestral Timing vs. Pianistic Timing)

An orchestra can create a lot of rhythmic drive and energy. Remember that a pianist also represents the conductor when playing a reduction. No matter how complicated a passage is, it is important to prioritize rhythmic integrity. If you are playing with a fluctuating tempo to accommodate the difficulty of the reduction, you may consider simplifying or rearranging the reduction

4. Interpreting Orchestral Dynamics vs. Piano Dynamics

The dynamics in the reduction are relative to the full score. In order to maintain the sound and character of the orchestra, it is important to consider the orchestration when interpreting dynamics. 

5. Rethink Orchestral Sonority and Clarity on the Piano

The orchestra can have a very rich and resonant sonority when the entire ensemble is playing at a strong dynamic. In order to replicate that kind of sonority on the piano, you may use the sustain pedal to help give resonance or to “moisturize” the sound in addition to playing fuller or stronger. No matter how you are using the pedal, it is important to maintain clarity and good voicing on the piano since each individual instrument has clarity in the orchestra, even when playing at a loud dynamic.

QUICK LINKS FOR NCKP 2023: THE PIANO CONFERENCE
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Five Ways to Improve Your Website

Written By Clinton Pratt

Don’t miss Clinton Pratt’s presentation at NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference, From Solo to School, on July 26, 2023 from 1:30-2:20PM. Register for NCKP 2023 before May 1, 2023 to receive the early bird discount!

1. Have a clear call-to-action.

Don’t confuse prospective clients with too many things to do. Should they call you? Email you? Fill out the form? Book a lesson? Go to your Facebook page? Have one thing you want them to do, make that clear, and put it on every page.

 2. Less is more!

French Designer Antoine de Saint-Exupery said “a designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Don’t overwhelm potential clients with too many things to read and look at. Have only 3-4 pages, with minimal text on each page.

3. Photos of happy students making music.

Photos of pianos and cozy waiting rooms are great, but people want to see other people! They want to know that your students are having a good time, so show smiling faces of happy customers.

4. “About” page: not a lengthy academic bio!

Honestly, most people don’t care about your credentials and lengthy resume. They just want to know that you’ll give them a good experience.

A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

On your about page, instead of a long boring biography, tell a story that people can relate to. Keep it personal, write in first person, and focus on what they will get.

5. Reviews!

Social proof and credibility are important! If people see lots of positive reviews about your studio, they are much more likely to take the next step.

Other resources you might enjoy
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Five Things You Might Not Know About Margaret Bonds

Written By Sarah Rushing

Check out Sarah Rushing’s archived webinar of Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water, where she explores the preparation, practice, and interpretation of this unique piece.

1. Margaret Bonds was raised by four independent, career-oriented women.

At the tender age of four, Bonds’s parents divorced. Instead of growing up in a traditional family structure, Bonds was raised by her mother, two aunts, and maternal grandmother. These strong women supported Bonds in her passion for composing, helping her to see a life beyond the stereotypical roles women were otherwise expected to adopt in the 1920s and 30s. After her divorce, Margaret’s mother chose to readopt her maiden name, Bonds, perhaps later inspiring Margaret to keep her own surname when she married. Bonds continued to defy cultural norms throughout her life, including when she chose to move to Los Angeles alone, without her husband or 21-year-old daughter, in order to pursue new directions in her career.1

2. When Margaret was young, the Bonds family took in several Black artists, including Florence Price.

Margaret’s mother, Estella Bonds, opened the family home to the large community of Black artists in Chicago. As a result, the young Margaret frequently interacted with the likes of Will Marion Cook, Lillian Evanti, Abbie Mitchell, and Langston Hughes. Florence Price became a more permanent visitor, living with the Bonds family for a time. The community Estella created supported Price personally and professionally, often helping with tasks such as copying, extracting, and correcting scores. Soon after, Margaret studied composition with Price.2

The community Estella created supported Price personally and professionally…

3. Bonds was admitted to Northwestern University at the young age of 16.

While at Northwestern, Bonds experienced profound racism. Though she was allowed to study and attend classes, she wasn’t permitted to live on campus or use the facilities. Instead, she frequented the Evanston Public Library, where she first encountered the poetry of Langston Hughes. Hughes would become an important source of friendship and artistic inspiration later in her life, as she later set many of his poems to music.3, 4

4. Bonds was the first Black soloist to appear with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Bonds performed Price’s Piano Concerto at the 1933 World’s Fair held in Chicago. This performance was preceded by another notable achievement for the young composer: winning the Wanamaker Prize in 1932 for her vocal composition, Sea Ghost. These accomplishments helped launch the young musician’s career.5

5. Bonds considered herself a musician and humanitarian, working tirelessly to dispel racial discrimination.

In addition to her activity as a composer, Bonds was passionate about performing and promoting the music of other Black musicians. In 1947, she hired a manager who helped her organize a series of concerts and lectures at Historically Black Colleges and Universities throughout the south. In the 1960s, she embarked on a similar project in New York City.5

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Sources
  1. Peebles, Sarah Louise. “The Use of the Spiritual in the Piano Works of Two African American Women Composers – Florence B. Price and Margaret Bonds.” The University of Mississippi, 2008.
  2. Walker-Hill, Helen. From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
  3. Green, Mildred Denby. Black Women Composers: A Genesis. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1983.
  4. Walker-Hill, Helen. From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
  5. Jackson, Barbara Garvey, and Dominique-René de Lerma. “Bonds [Richardson], Margaret Allison.” Grove Music Online. 30 Sep. 2020; Accessed 6 Jan. 2023. www-oxfordmusiconline-com.databases.wtamu.edu/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-90000318953.
  6. Walker-Hill, Helen. From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
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Five Things You Might Not Know About Claude Debussy

Written By Andy Villemez

Check out Andy Villemez’s video of Debussy: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, L. 177/8 where he explores the preparation, practice, and interpretation of this unique piece.

1.  When referring to his own music, Debussy hated the term “impressionism.”

The life of most composers includes small, or even lengthy battles in how their music is received and understood; Debussy was no exception. Due to his overt association with painters like Claude Monet and poets like Stéphane Mallarmé, a newspaper critic was the first to link the aural qualities of Debussy’s music with the visual qualities of Impressionism. In 1908, Debussy wrote to a publisher expressing his frustration saying, “I’m attempting ‘something different,’ realities in some sense – what imbeciles call impressionism, just about the least appropriate term possible.’1

2. He had an alter ego named “Monsieur Croche.”

Literally meaning “Mr. Eighth Note,” Debussy frequently used this pseudonym as a way to channel his more critical and sometimes unorthodox opinions on music and art. Writing as Monsieur Croche for various journals and newspapers, he commented on topics ranging from the operas of Richard Wagner to the “futility of the symphony since Beethoven.”2

In an essay focused on virtuosos, he wrote, “The attraction of the virtuoso for the public is very much like that of the circus for the crowd. There is always hope that something dangerous will happen.”3

In 1908, Debussy wrote to a publisher expressing his frustration saying, ‘I’m attempting ‘something different,’ realities in some sense – what imbeciles call impressionism, just about the least appropriate term possible.’

3. His favorite piano was an upright Bechstein.

In the early part of the twentieth century, piano brands in Europe were about as abundant as today’s selection of pasta sauce in your local grocery store. While Debussy worked with and showed admiration for many piano makers, he is often quoted praising one company in particular saying, “Piano music should be written only for the Bechstein.”4

Much of the sonority and color we have come to love about Debussy’s music was made possible in part by the tone and resonant qualities of his home piano – an upright Bechstein Model 8.

Edgar Allan Poe

4. He loved the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

In his café nightlife, Debussy relished the opportunity to talk with others about Edgar Allan Poe.5 He even wrote two pieces of theatre based on stories of Poe’s, The Devil in the Belfry and The Fall of the House of Usher. While only fragments of these works remain, we know Debussy sought to replicate the fear and anguish of Poe’s works in a new form of condensed opera.6

5. You can hear him play some of his own works.

Debussy lived in the early years of sound recording technology, and you can hear him play fourteen of his own pieces “recorded” onto six piano rolls. These include “La soirée dans Grenade” from Estampes, the entire set of Children’s Corner, and “La Cathédrale engloutie” from Preludes I. While Debussy was elated with the sound quality of these recordings, his performances are free and eccentric – inviting discussion, and even controversy, about how we interpret his scores.7

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Sources
  1. François Lesure and Roy Howat, “Debussy, (Achille-)Claude,” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 9 Feb. 2023, oxfordmusiconline-com.uc.idm.oclc.org/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000007353.
  2. Claude Debussy, “Monsieur Croche Antidilletante,” in Three Classics in the Aesthetics of Music (New York: Dover Publications, 1962), 8-72.
  3. Ibid, 22.
  4. “1966 Bechstein Model Upright Piano | Debussy’s Favorite Piano,” Cunningham Piano Company, June 6, 2017, https://www.cunninghampiano.com/debussys-favorite-piano/.
  5. François Lesure and Marie Rolf, Claude Debussy (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2019), 79.
  6. Lesure and Howat, “Debussy, (Achille-)Claude.”
  7. Peter Jost, “Debussy in Urtext – Part 3: Debussy’s recordings of his piano music,” G. Henle Verlag (blog), May 21, 2018, https://www.henle.de/blog/en/2018/05/21/debussy-in-urtext-%E2%80%93-part-3-debussy%E2%80%99s-recordings-of-his-piano-music/.
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Five Things You Might Not Know About Filip Lazăr

Written By Danny Milan

Check out Danny Milan’s video of Lazăr: Pièces minuscules pour les enfants, Op.16 where he explores the preparation, practice, and interpretation of this unique piece.

1.  He was a founding member of the Society of Romanian Composers.

Also known as the Romanian Composers’ Society (Societatea Compozitorilor Romani), this organization was founded by Romanian composers George Enescu, Stan Golestan, and several of their contemporaries, including Filip Lazăr. The Society’s goals were oriented towards the publication of new works by Romanian composers and the preservation of Romanian folk material. This led to the creation of the Union of Romanian Composers and Musicologists (Uniunea Compozitorilor și Muzicologilor din România) based in Bucharest, which exists to this day.

2. Lazăr is pronounced “LAH-zur” rather than “luh-ZAR”.

In the Romanian language, the letter “ă” with the upside down cap on top indicates a certain sound and inflection. To most native English speakers, the inclination may be to put the emphasis on the second syllable, especially because of the accented vowel. In Romanian, however, this particular accent on the “ă” typically indicates the opposite and has a more closed sounding vowel. For example, take the village, Bătăr in western Romania. With both capped “ă”s accented, the pronunciation sounds closer to the English word “butter.”

3. The music of Lazăr and other Romanian composers is a largely untapped body of repertoire waiting to be explored.

It may take some searching, but Lazăr’s music can be found. There is much unexplored repertoire just waiting to be further researched and recorded! Exploring the published works is a great start; the major publishers of Lazăr’s music include Durand, Salabert, Max Eschig, Heugel, Vienna Universal Edition, and Editura Muzicală Grafoart.

Pièces minuscules pour les enfants, Op.16
Groupe des Six

4.  Lazăr was among the founders of the Triton Society of Contemporary Music in Paris.

Pierre-Octave Ferroud founded Triton, a chamber music society based in Paris that promoted new music. On its executive committee were composers such as Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger, Martinů, and Prokofiev. It is noteworthy to mention that three of these members were also part of the important group of twentieth-century French composers called Les Six. What is lesser known is that Filip Lazăr was not only a respected contemporary of Les Six and the Triton Society, but also a founding member of the latter. This is in part due to his residency and activity in France from the late 1920s to the end of his life.

5. Outside of composition, Lazăr was a touring concert pianist who performed many contemporary works of the time.

The fact that Filip Lazăr was a concert pianist speaks to the pianism of his compositions. His prolific performances of his contemporaries’ works certainly influenced his own compositions, and particularly those composed during his time in France. Combining Romanian folk influence and later avant garde compositional styles with refined pianism, Lazăr’s works for the piano are idiomatic and imaginative.

Filip Lazăr
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Sources
  1. Blom, Eric, ed. Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (5th ed.). New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1954.
  2. Halbreich, Harry, Roger Nichols (trans). Arthur Honegger. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1999.
  3. Tomescu, Vasile. Filip Lazăr. Bucharest, Romania: Editura Muzicală,1963.
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Five Things You Might Not Know About Cécile Chaminade

Written By Angela Miller-Niles
Cécile Chaminade

Don’t miss Angela Miller-Niles’s Inspiring Artistry contribution about Chaminade’s Aubade, which includes information on how to effectively teach the piece, all the way from preparation to performance.

1.  She was the first woman to receive the Légion d’honneur in 1913.

The Légion d’honneur is the highest French order of merit. At 56, Chaminade was enjoying worldwide popularity at this time. Fellow composer Ambroise Thomas stated, “This is not a woman who composes, but a composer who is a woman.”1 

2. At 44, she married music publisher Louis-Mathieu Carbonel. They never lived together and it was widely considered a marriage of convenience.

Carbonel was twenty years older than Chaminade and was a long-time acquaintance of Chaminade’s mother. It was well-publicized that the two did not live together and Chaminade required a “platonic union.” They never had any children, but Carbonel accompanied her on concert tours, possibly to help her acquire safer lodging options. He died of a lung disease after six years of marriage; Chaminade never remarried.

3. Georges Bizet was a family friend and he encouraged Chaminade’s parents to let her study music. He called her “My Little Mozart.”

Georges Bizet lived close to the Chaminade family and her parents knew him well. He heard Chaminade play some of her own compositions when she was around eight years old, and he encouraged her parents to let her study music formally. Her parents, especially her father, initially disapproved of her music studies as they assumed she would be an ordinary housewife without need of a musical education. 

Georges Bizet

Piano rolls of Chaminade’s works produced by Aeolian

4. Chaminade made piano rolls and gramophone recordings during her lifetime.

Chaminade made several piano rolls and gramophone recordings during her life, many of which are popular with collectors. Several of her recordings were produced into piano rolls between 1901-1914, and Aeolian produced additional piano rolls of her music after World War I. Her six gramophone recordings for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company, which feature her own works, are especially well-known. Several of her recordings were re-issued on compact disc and can be found online today.

Chaminade’s Gramaphone Recordings

5. Chaminade’s tour of the United States in 1908 included several Eastern and Midwestern cities, including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Minneapolis.

Before this tour began, hundreds of Chaminade Clubs already existed throughout the United States. Her tour helped solidify her popularity in the United States and encouraged women to study and perform music. Today, many of these clubs are still active, hosting musical events that highlight female composers and performers.

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Sources
  1. Jerrould, John. “Piano Music of Cécile Chaminade.” American Music Teacher 37, no. 3 (1988): 22–23.
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Five Ideas for Choosing a Spring Recital Theme

Written By Holly Kessis

We encourage you to watch Holly Kessis’ archived webinar here: “Piano Inspires… Innovation in Practice“ with Igor Lipinski, Brianna Matzke, Joy Morin, Melody Ng, Jason Sifford, and Jennifer Snow. This webinar is a celebration of innovation in organizations, teaching practices, and teacher education. 

1.  Less is more.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with ideas, so start by picking one era or genre of piano music to focus on and stick to it. What style of music do your students perform especially well? Have you had success in your studio with music by Russian composers, miniatures from the Romantic period, popular tunes, or movie soundtracks? You could even concentrate on repertoire related to one specific word (some examples: “autumn” or “celebration” or “colors”). Make sure that whatever you pick still has enough variety to encompass a whole recital.

2. Survey your students.

What inspires your students in their music-making? Maybe some of them are learning about music from the 1960s at school and ask about playing by The Beatles or Janis Joplin. Perhaps you have a few students struggling to stay motivated but light up when you mention a tune from their favorite video game. I had one child who gravitated towards quirky Kabalevsky pieces and only wanted to play those at recitals! Following your students’ interests will keep performances exciting and can lead to new possibilities for those students for whom the new genre or composer is new.

3. Go outside of your comfort zone.

Is there an artist or music style that you would love to make more time to discover? In the beginning of 2021, I started searching for music outside of the typical western styles I was used to and eventually created a “Music from Around the World” theme including beginner and intermediate songs from Africa, Asia, and South America. More preparation was involved, but this certainly broadened my horizons as a teacher trained in the classical tradition and exposed my students to appealing tunes they wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise.

4. Think “interdisciplinary”.

Solo piano study doesn’t exist in a vacuum.Are there other art forms that could be combined with your students’ musical performances to add depth? Maybe you have some budding artists in your studio who could create artwork to go along with their pieces. Videos displaying landscapes or abstract animations could add to the mood of your students’ performances. Even collaborating with children taking dance classes or playing different instruments besides piano can pique the interest of the audience.

5. Pick a new place!

Who says your recital has to be at a usual performance space? Reach out to small businesses in your community like a local coffee shop to see if they have the time and space for a small concert. Perhaps a neighboring retirement home or arts council center has an hour set aside in their schedule every week for outside performances. It’s important to get your students used to playing in new and different environments, and the commercial exposure for your studio is a plus.

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Five Things You Might Not Know About Florence Price

Written By Lia Jenson-Abbott
Florence Price

Don’t miss Lia Jenson-Abbott’s Inspiring Artistry contribution about Florence Price’s Down a Southern Lane, which includes information on how to effectively teach the piece, all the way from preparation to performance.

1.  At age 18, Florence Price graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with two degrees:  Teachers Diploma in Piano and Soloists Diploma in Organ.1

It is extremely difficult to earn a single music degree at a major conservatory. Students who pursue double degrees have an even more ambitious workload to undertake, thus, it is rare for students to pursue two degrees simultaneously. That Florence Price achieved two degrees concurrently in three years is nothing short of astonishing and further underscores her work ethic and her abilities.

The Soloists Diploma was the highest attainable certificate awarded by the Conservatory.

Rae Linda Brown2
Price’s Class at New England Conservatory

2. While we know about her classical compositions, many may be surprised to learn that Florence Price also composed popular music for radio commercials and theater under the pen name, “VeeJay.”3

When Florence Price arrived in Chicago, she devoted more time to composition. As a composer, Price was ultimately trying to support her family as well as to write music which would find a larger performing base for her music. Clearly, Price felt the financial need to work in the popular music industry along with the Classical art music realm. While this music has not been given as much scholarly critical consideration to date, it would certainly be interesting to study these works to help complete the history of her amazing compositional output. 

The Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price by Rae Linda Brown

That Price was invited to conduct her Concerto in this star-studded venue for so large an audience is testimony to the high esteem with which she was regarded as a composer by the early 1930s.

Rae Linda Brown4

3. In 1933, Price was invited to conduct the orchestra while her former student, Margaret Bonds, played her Piano Concerto in One Movement at the Century of Progress Exhibition.5

Florence Price was a gifted composer, but also a gifted and dedicated teacher. Her student Margaret Bonds, herself a tremendous musical talent both as a pianist and as a composer, had a close relationship with Price and was instrumental in helping to disseminate Price’s music. 

4. In the spring of 1941, Florence Price moved to the Abraham Lincoln Center, where she taught close to one hundred piano students.6

While Price taught so many students due to economic necessity, the physical and mental energy needed to sustain this kind of teaching underscores a certain aspect of Price’s nature, notably her drive to have a career in music. From this evidence, one can conclude that Price obviously worked tirelessly to serve her students, her family, and her career. Given the obstacles she faced, her achievements become that much more historically exemplary. 

As the most well-trained piano teacher at the center, Price had a huge studio. She taught both beginners and advanced students, numbering at one time close to one hundred.

Rae Linda Brown7

5. In 2021, after learning about Florence Price, the students at Kaufman Music Center in New York City, were inspired to write a children’s book about Florence Price.

Over recent years, Price’s music has finally received the critical reception it has always deserved. For children to be so intrigued and genuinely compassionate about telling the story of an overlooked musical role model might underscore Price’s legacy in the most genuine and most resonant means possible. Price was a lifelong educator, with a great deal of her compositions devoted to teaching music. It is a fitting tribute to this dedicated teacher, composer, and performer, to have a new generation of children become her voice.

The book is called Who is Florence Price? Young Musicians Tell the Story of a Girl and Her Music. It was written and illustrated by the middle school students at Special Music School. It is available for purchase on Amazon.

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Sources
  1. Brown, Rae Linda, Guthrie P. Ramsey, and Carlene J. Brown. The Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price, 53. University of Illinois Press, 2020.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Ibid, 90.
  4. Ibid, 157.
  5. Ibid.
  6. Ibid, 201-202.
  7. Ibid.
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Five Things You Might Not Know About Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee

Written By Leonidas Lagrimas

Don’t miss Leonidas Lagrimas’ Inspiring Artistry contribution about Amy Beach’s Improvisation Op. 148, No. 1, which includes exposition on how to effectively teach the piece, all the way from preparation to performance.

Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee

The piano music of Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee has been steadily gaining popularity over the past several decades, to the point where her work is regularly featured on recital programs, festival lists, at new music conferences, and even on the Royal Conservatory’s Celebration Series. A major reason for her music’s popularity is its seamless combination of sound pedagogical writing, innovative compositional techniques, and her unique yet accessible harmonic language. Plus, much of her music is just plain fun for students and concert artists alike to play!  Read on for more about this fascinating female composer and her music.

1. She is of Armenian descent.

Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee is a first-generation Armenian American, and her father was a survivor of the Armenian genocide of 1915. Much of her work reflects her own multiculturally ethnic background and upbringing, as well as the folk music of her Armenian heritage. Teachers looking to explore a composer who utilizes folk rhythms, melodies, and harmonies in the style of Bartok should investigate Goolkasian Rahbee’s compositions.

Students in Yerevan, Armenia getting autographs from Dianne.

2. She began composing in her 40s.

Goolkasian Rahbee was a Juilliard-trained pianist whose pedagogical lineage traces back through Leschetizky and Paderewski. Proving that it’s never too late (or too soon!) to explore new interests and follow your dreams, Goolkasian Rahbee took up composition in her 40s and was largely self-taught. She started out composing pieces for her own private piano students before finding success in piano pedagogical publications. 

3. Her Preludes feature aleatoric, or chance, music elements for young students.

Teachers seeking opportunities for their youngest performers to explore creativity and chance music on the piano would do well to explore Goolkasian Rahbee’s Preludes. In particular, her Prelude, Op. 138 (“Escape to Innerspace”) is written in a free meter, allowing students to explore a fixed set of pitches and apply whatever rhythms, meters, and phrasings they wish. Students are also free to make decisions involving repeats, fermatas, and pedaling. 

4. Goolkasian Rahbee often “samples” familiar tunes in her original works.

Goolkasian Rahbee’s “Tinkle Winkle” from her Modern Miniatures, Vol. 1 is a bitonal take on the familiar “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” melody. Her arrangement on “Mary Had a Little Lamb” from the same collection gives the familiar nursery rhyme a canonic treatment. Her sampling isn’t limited to children’s music either!  The hauntingly familiar melody from Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor Op. 28 inspired her Prelude, Op. 5 no. 1.

5. She maintains a prolific YouTube presence.

If you are interested in discovering some of Goolkasian Rahbee’s vast output for piano, check out her YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@GoolkasianRahbee/videos. This channel features hundreds of student, amateur, and professional recital performances of her piano works, from beginner through concert artist level. 

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Five Things You Might Not Know About Practicing the Piano

Written By Sheryl Iott

We would like to thank Sheryl Iott for collaboration on this post. We encourage you to watch Sheryl’s archived webinar titled, “Music Cognition: Patterns, Predictions and Practice,” by clicking here. Want to watch, but not yet a subscriber? Subscribe now for only $7.99/mo or $36/year.

1. Practice doesn’t make perfect.

Not even perfect practice! What practice does is establish a series of habits—motions in response to thoughts (or the lack thereof). Mindful practice and observation of the results of intentional effort can create a faster and more secure learning pathway.

2. Practice doesn’t require playing.

In fact, a lot of really effective practice happens using various mental practice/rehearsal strategies. Many might be familiar with mental practice for memorization—mental practice is one of the best ways to learn, check, and reinforce our memory—but mental practice can also be implemented in other ways. For example, in between repetitions of something that you are drilling, you might plan/imagine the passage and your actions, execute, and then observe and evaluate what you did, how it felt, and what its result was. Mental imagery practice actually reinforces many components of learning that contribute to performance security as well as the flexibility required to adapt on the spot to a different instrument, changes in acoustics based on the size or seating of an audience, and subtle differences in interpretation from collaborators during performance.

3. Music reading is important, so you probably shouldn’t teach it at the first lesson.

Unless a student has had experience reading music already, first lessons are better spent doing things like exploring the instrument, learning rote songs, playing call and response rhythms, and honing a relaxed and appropriate physical approach. A solid musical foundation, based in the development of audiation, lays important groundwork for music reading, just like a rich and varied speaking vocabulary helps young people learn to read.

4. The right side of your brain does more than “run” the left side of your body, and vice versa.

Everyone knows that much of the motor signaling to your body comes from the opposite hemisphere of the brain. But both hemispheres of the brain are always active in any activity, no matter what you are doing. There are also various roles played by each hemisphere, such as the left side of the brain’s preference for processing isolated pieces of information, narrow/focused attention, and prioritizing the expected, including quick selection of what seems to be the best solution based on what it already knows, compared with the right side of the brain, which deals better with the sense of the whole (the “Gestalt”), breadth/flexibility of attention, seeing things within their context, embracing of new experiences, and remembering/distinguishing between various things that may be quite closely related.

There are even differences in musical processing, with the left brain more effectively processing basic/metrical rhythms, and focusing on the sequencing of time, whereas the right brain does better with melody/tone/timbre/pitch processing, more complex rhythms, harmony and intonation.

Since we want to involve all of these components in music learning, and add to that the importance of a firm neural network for hands-together playing for pianists, hands-together learning alternating with hands-separate practice is crucial at even the earliest stages of learning new repertoire. We can go about this through careful structuring of various hands-together practice, such as playing one hand while tapping the rhythm of the other; scaffolding practice where we only play the downbeat or strong beats of one hand against the complete other part; or other chunking strategies such as playing blocked chords instead of patterned accompaniments, etc.

5. Musicians can, and do, multitask.

While we are playing, whether we are reading a new piece or playing something familiar, we take in or remember the next chunk of information and send that information to the part of our brain that triggers the physical response. As we are executing that physical response, our brain is processing the next chunk of information, ideally while our sensory inputs are analyzing the result of our physical execution. Since each of these components utilizes a different cognitive “system,” we are, in fact, multitasking. What this means for us in practice is that the larger and more coherent our “chunks” are, and the more reliably our physical responses are programmed in response to those chunks through mindful and observant practice, the better each of those systems will work in coordination with each other.

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Five Things You Might Not Know About Lita Spena

Written By Florencia Zuloaga

We would like to thank Florencia Zuloaga for collaboration on this post. We encourage you to watch Florencia Zuloaga’s archived webinar here: “Compositores Mujeres de latinoamerica y la península ibérica“ in Spanish with Ester Vela and Gabriela Calderon Cornjego.

Lita Spena

1. Lita Spena (1904-1989) was a student of acclaimed Italian piano pedagogue Vicenzo Scaramuzza.

Vincenzo Scaramuzza was a pianist and pedagogue who left his native Naples, Italy and relocated to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the early 1900s. After a successful career as a performer, he established himself as one of the leading pedagogues in Argentina. His pedagogical legacy includes pianists Martha Argerich, Enrique Barenboim, Bruno Gelber, and Sylvia Kersenbaum, among many others. Scaramuzza’s pianistic genealogy is quite prolific as well, branching into younger generations: Daniel Barenboin (son of Enrique), Ingrid Fliter (student of Elizabeth Westercamp), Nelson Goerner (student of Carmen Scalccioni), and Horacio Lavandera (student of Antonio De Raco), among many others.

Vicenzo Scaramuzza
An excerpt from Stravinsky’s Les Noces

2. Spena played at the Argentine premiere of Stravinsky’s Ballet Les Noces (“The Wedding”).

The Argentine premiere was in 1926 at the Teatro Colón, the country’s most renowned opera house. The Neoclassicist influence of Stravinsky’s compositional style is evident in Spena’s own piano works, which showcase the use of unprepared dissonances, contrapuntal practices often regarded as a “return to Bach,” and formal structures and textures reinstating a Classical approach.

3. The closing movement in Spena’s Piano Sonata is titled “Toccata.”

Lita Spena’s Sonata is the first documented piano composition based on the toccata genre written by an Argentine composer. Spena’s toccata features the prototypical use of engine-like motion characteristic of this genre. By using a toccata as the closing movement of a larger work, Spena follows the precedent set by French composers Debussy (Pour le Piano) and Ravel (Le Tombeau de Couperin).

“Toccata” from Lita Spena’s Piano Sonata

4. Spena was a member of the chamber group Trio Argentino, with Celia Torrá on violin and Blanca Cattoi on violoncello.

Furthermore, Spena and Torrá were among the first female composition students at the National Conservatory of Music and Theater, which was founded in 1924. Spena and Torrá both wrote piano sonatas during the 1930s; in both cases, they dedicated their piano sonatas to Athos Palma, who was appointed professor of Harmony at the National Conservatory during that period.

5. Titled “Little water trail,” the closing movement in Spena’s Piano Preludes features fast, undulating figures written in parallel fourths.

This figuration is similar to Czerny’s Op. 140 No. 4 and Clementi’s Gradus ad Parnassum No. 17. Beethoven’s Diabelli Variation No. 23 is another example of composers paying homage to this unmistakable technical figuration. Such undulating figures are a representation of the resplendent, dazzling effects of running water, and the continuous rhythmic pattern continues almost uninterrupted for the duration of the prelude, making it a miniature “tour de force.”  The compositional approach of pairing instrumental virtuosity with programmatic titles that refer to water has great precedent in the piano literature; some examples include Ravel (Jeux d’Eau), Debussy (Jardins sous la pluie), and Liszt (Au bord d’une source, Fountains of the Villa d’Este).

Lita Spena’s Piano Preludes: IV. Caminito de Agua
Sources

Dezillio [et al.], Romina. Lita Spena. Sonata Para Piano. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: EDAMus. Editorial del Departamento de Artes Musicales, 2020. http://assets.una.edu.ar/files/file/artes-musicales/2020/2020-una-ms-edamusromina-dezillio-litaspena-sonatapiano.pdf.

García Muñoz, Carmen. “Spena.” In Diccionario de La Música Española e Hispanoamericana, edited by Emilio (dir) Casares Rodicio, 10:56. Madrid: SGAE, 2002.

Lian, Marcelo G., “The Pedagogical Legacy of Vicente Scaramuzza: The Relationship Between Anatomy of the Hand, Tone Production, and Musical Goals” (2013). Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance – School of Music. 66. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/musicstudent/66

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5 Things You Might Not Know About Zoltán Kodály

Written By Megan Hall

Don’t miss Megan’s Inspiring Artistry contribution about J.S. Bach’s Invention in C Minor, which includes exposition on how to effectively teach the piece, all the way from preparation to performance.

Zoltán Kodály

1. Kodály wrote for piano and organ!

Besides his many successful works for choir, Kodály wrote 7 Pieces for Piano, Op. 11, a Méditation sur un motif de Claude Debussy for solo piano, and several works for the organ such as Organoedia, a complete mass for solo organ. The 7 Pieces for Piano use a variety of scales and time signatures; No. IV is an arrangement of a popular Szekely folk song. The Szekely people are Hungarians who are somewhat isolated by mountain ranges, so it is likely that Kodály learned this song while on his travels with Béla Bartók. Together, these two ethnomusicologists embarked on a mission to learn and record the many folk songs of Hungary.

2. Kodály did not invent solfa hand signs.

Contrary to popular belief, the hand signs used to show degrees of solfège were not invented by Kodály, but by Sarah Ann Glover, an English music teacher in the 1800s, and popularized by John Curwen. These kinesthetic learning tools use a different hand symbol for each degree of solfège, and help students internalize the relationships and distances between pitches.

3. Kodály wrote a book with over three hundred solfege singing exercises in it!

The 333 Elementary Exercises are short, bite-size examples that are ideal for teaching sight-singing. The first examples in the book use only do and re, while the latest examples use extended pentatonic scales. Each section begins with simple rhythms (mostly quarter notes) and then expands into more difficult rhythms such as dotted rhythms. Kodály educators often follow these sequences in their classrooms, starting with simple songs that use only quarter notes and only two different degrees of solfège, slowly building up to pentatonic scales. Because the use of fa and ti involve half-steps, they tend to be the most difficult for children to hear and sing, and are traditionally taught last.

4. Kodály was a Doctor of Philosophy.

He studied at the Liszt Academy as a young man but also earned degrees in Hungarian and German and a doctorate in linguistics, all from the University of Hungary. Now there are many universities across the world that offer degrees in Music Education with a Kodály emphasis! Many colleges and universities in the United States also offer summer Kodály training programs—these programs are geared toward teachers of elementary music but are excellent for teachers and students in all musical areas.

5. Kodály’s statue faces the site of a former children’s playground.

His love of children and passion for music education prompted the city of Pécs, Hungary, to erect a statue facing a childrens’ playground so that he can forever oversee the children playing. This statue shows Kodály in his later years, thin and somewhat frail, but still deeply caring for the children of his country.

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