News

This Month in Piano History – August 2024

Written By Curtis Pavey
Composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Original photo found in the Library of Congress at this link: https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c22324/.

August 8, 1857

French pianist and composer Cécile Chaminade, whose work inspired the creation of numerous women’s musical organizations, was born on this day in Paris. Her initial musical studies were with her mother, but Chaminade also studied privately with members of the Paris Conservatoire faculty after her father prohibited her official enrollment.1 Her career became established and around 1900, her numerous published compositions and rising fame led to the creation of musical organizations across the United States called “Chaminade Clubs.”2 During her subsequent tours to the U.S., she performed extensively for these clubs.3 In 1913, she was the first female composer to be awarded the Légion d’Honneur, a significant recognition for her musical contributions. She passed away on April 13, 1944 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Chaminade was a prolific composer and wrote approximately four-hundred compositions, half of which are for the piano.4 Looking for a Chaminade piano work at the early-advanced level? Check out Chanson bretonne, Op. 76, No. 5 performed here by pianist Lynn Worcester Jones.

Pianist Lynn Worcester Jones performs Cécile Chaminade’s “Chanson bretonne,” Op. 76, No. 5.

August 15, 1875

Also celebrating a birthday in August is British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was born on this day in London. Coleridge-Taylor studied violin and composition at the Royal College of Music.5 He was one of the first recognized Black composers of Western art music, and he inspired many Black composers in the United States with his success. Although he primarily resided in London, he toured the United States in multiple visits to conduct his works with choral societies throughout the country.6 During one of these trips, he met with President Theodore Roosevelt.7 In addition to his work as a conductor and as a musician, he served as Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Trinity College of Music.8 One of Colerige-Taylor’s most famous piano works is his arrangement of the spiritual “Deep River” as part of his Op. 59 set, Twenty-Four Negro Melodies. Enjoy this recording by pianist William Chapman Nyaho.

Pianist William Chapman Nyaho performs Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Deep River” from the Op. 59 set Twenty-Four Negro Melodies.

August 24, 1787

Violinist Michael Barenboim and his father, pianist Daniel Barenboim, perform Mozart’s Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 526.

On this day, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 526. This sonata, his penultimate in the genre, was published in Vienna and contains three movements. The bustling “Molto allegro” movement in 6/8 time is in sonata-allegro form and contains exciting scalar passagework for both the violin and the piano. A highlight from this movement is the development section where imitative gestures between the piano and violin drive the musical energy to the recapitulation. The “Andante” movement follows and features the piano prominently. Despite being in D major, the minor mode is heavily emphasized in this movement beginning within the first eight bars. The “Presto” finale ends the piece with bravura from both instrumentalists. Interested in listening to this sonata? Listen to this recording by pianist Daniel Barenboim and his son, Michael Barenboim.

August 25, 1742

Carlos Seixas, a Portuguese composer primarily known for his keyboard music for the harpsichord and organ, died in Lisbon, Portugal. During his lifetime, Seixas served as an organist at important venues such as the Coimbra Cathedral and the Royal Chapel in Lisbon where he worked alongside Domenico Scarlatti.9 Surviving reports from the time indicate that Seixas was an extremely prolific keyboard composer who wrote over 700 keyboard pieces, but only a fraction survived.10 While the cause of this is unknown, many believe that many works were destroyed in an earthquake that struck Lisbon in 1755.11 Curious to hear Seixas’s music performed on a Portuguese-style harpsichord? Listen to this recording of Seixas’s Sonata No. 50 in G Minor performed by harpsichordist Robert Woolley.

Harpsichordist Robert Woolley performs Carlos Seixas’s Sonata No. 50 in G Minor.
OTHER RESOURCES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Cécile Chaminade’s Album des Enfants: A Treasure Trove of Intermediate-Level Teaching Pieces
Sources
  1. Marcia J. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile,” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 20 July, 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000005388.
  2. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile,” Grove Music Online.
  3. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile,” Grove Music Online.
  4. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile,” Grove Music Online.
  5. Stephen Banfield, Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online, 16 Oct. 2013; Accessed 20 July. 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002248993.
  6. Banfield, Dibble, and Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online.
  7. Banfield, Dibble, and Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online.
  8. Banfield, Dibble, and Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online.
  9. Klaus F. Heimes, “Seixas, (José António) Carlos de,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed 20 July, 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025354.
  10. Heimes, “Seixas, (José António) Carlos de,” Grove Music Online.
  11. Heimes, “Seixas, (José António) Carlos de,” Grove Music Online.

Banfield, Stephen, Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence. “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel.” Grove Music Online. 16 Oct. 2013; Accessed 20 July. 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002248993. 

Citron, Marcia J. “Chaminade, Cécile.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 20 July. 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000005388. 

Heimes, Klaus F. “Seixas, (José António) Carlos de.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 20 July. 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025354. 

Back to Discovery Page

Breaking Out of the House of Corrections

Written By Craig Sale

We would like to thank Craig Sale for this insightful article about preparing students for their practice. To read the full article, click here.

I will always remember Frances Clark stating that our lessons should not be a “house of corrections.” Instead, she felt we should do all we can to ensure a week of successful practice so that the student returns the next week prepared for more growth and learning. I hold fast to this approach to teaching and believe that a teacher’s greatest obligation is to adequately prepare the student for each new discovery, piece, or activity. However, at the next week’s lesson, improvements will need to be made. Reality shows us that, even with our best efforts, students often return to the next week’s lesson with issues that need resolving.

Rather than simply correct the student’s errors, how can a teacher provide helpful, impactful feedback? Frances Clark encouraged “an honest approach to evaluating them and their work.” She added, “If we say, ‘Okay!’, ‘good!’, or ‘great!’, indiscriminately, students never get a clear picture of where they stand. It is important to say clearly how they are improving and why, and what needs improving and how.”1 Even when we heed these words, we run the risk of turning the lesson into a litany of corrections.

Elvina Pearce proposed giving the student an “active role” in evaluation: “I believe that students who are allowed to participate in this kind of…procedure at the lesson will be more apt to implement the resulting practice suggestions at home than they will those offered solely by a ‘talk-and-tell’ teacher who does most of the orchestrating of the lesson happenings without much input from the student.”2 After considering the advice from these great pedagogues, it is clear that honest feedback that involves the student can help us break out of the “house of corrections.”

Feedback on Technique

The teaching of technique, at any level, depends on engaging, informed feedback from the teacher. Technique is often a student’s least favorite part of a lesson. There can be many reasons for this, but one is most likely the fact that the feedback from the teacher tends to be critical rather than positive—an unappealing topic with frequent negative feedback. However, even this challenging area of study can be saved from the “house of corrections.” Involving the student in the evaluation and feedback can go a long way toward making technique study engaging and productive.

This approach can be started even at the beginning of study. At this early level, students can have established goals for how their technical work should sound, feel, and look. When the beginning student is presented with a good model, the feedback on their technique can and should become a collaborative effort. If the student has seen and felt what firm fingertips are (the first joint near the end of the finger), they can be asked to evaluate their own fingers. This is far more meaningful than having the teacher criticize the weak finger joint.

When taking this approach, it is important that the teacher first asks the student how they think they did. For example, if the student has an exercise or repertoire passage that uses staccatos, it is most effective if, before they play, they are asked to listen for these crisp staccatos. The student may not be as critical as desired; they might be too hard on themselves; or their area of focus may not really be relevant to the problem at hand. Regardless of these things, the teacher must first address their response—it must be valued and respected. Then, the teacher can add their thoughts, perhaps throwing new ideas into the mix, but always by having the student try the new things and having them evaluate how the new technique feels.

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Craig Sale’s article “Breaking Out of the House of Corrections.” You can read the entire article by clicking here.

Notes

1 Frances Clark, Questions and Answers; Practical Advice for Piano Teachers (Kingston, NJ: The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy, 1992), 16. 

2 Elvina Pearce, The Success Factor in Piano Teaching: Making Practice Perfect (Kingston, NJ: The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy, 2014), 17. 

MORE ON PREPARATION

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Breaking Out of the House of Corrections
Back to Discovery Page

US Subscriptions

Written By

Print + Digital

$4/month billed annually
($48/year)

Print Delivery of four issues of Piano Magazine
Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events

Never miss an issue. Automatically renew.

Digital

$3/month billed annually
($36/year)

Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events



Never miss new content. Automatically renew.

Monthly

$7.99/month billed monthly
(95.88/year)

Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events



Never miss new content. Automatically renew.

Print + Digital
(One Year)

$4/month billed annually
($48/year)

Print Delivery of four issues of Piano Magazine
Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events

This option will not renew automatically.

Digital
(One Year)

$3/month billed annually
($36/year)

Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events



This option will not renew automatically.

Body Mapping in the Piano Studio

Written By Kay S. Hooper

We would like to thank Kay S. Hooper for this insightful article about body mapping. To read the full article, click here.

On the count of three, point to the place where your upper arm meets your torso. One, two, three!

See Figure 1 below and find the place where you pointed. Most people point to the spot marked A, which they call the shoulder. If you did this, you are in good company.

However, this company is off the mark. The first joint of the arm is at C, the place where the collarbone (clavicle) meets the breastbone (sternum.) This joint is named the sterno-clavicular (S-C) joint because it is the meeting place of these bones. You can see this joint in Figure 2.

To find this joint, place the second finger of your right hand in the hollow at the top of the breastbone. Now move it toward the left in a slightly downward direction. You can feel a bone meeting the breastbone with a joint that may feel like a small crack. Keep your finger on this joint and move your left arm. What movement do you feel under your finger? Now freeze this joint and move your left arm. Does your arm move easily? Does it move at all?

If you’ve never had a Body Mapping experience before, you just had your first lesson. Body Mapping is the process of clarifying structures designed for movement.

If you encountered confusion about the first joint of the arm, the Body Mapping process of exploring joint movements and studying accurate images will help you correct this confusion.

When William Conable was teaching a class in Alexander Technique at The Ohio State University, he helped students find natural coordination through this hands-on process. Unfortunately, when they returned to practicing with their established patterns, they lost the ease of movement they had experienced during class, and he wondered why this was happening. Through keen observation and query, he discovered that they were moving according to misunderstandings about their structures. These misunderstandings are called “mismappings.” When these confusions were corrected, their movements improved.

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Kay S. Hooper’s article on body mapping. You can read the entire article by clicking here.

MORE ON BODY MAPPING

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Body Mapping in the Piano Studio
Back to Discovery Page

The Benefits of NCKP: The Piano Conference and Why You Should Attend

Written By Marvin Blickenstaff

We would like to thank Marvin Blickenstaff for this article about the benefits of The Piano Conference: NCKP. Want to learn more about The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025? Click here to read about next year’s conference and submit a proposal. Want to hear more from Marvin Blickenstaff? Join our book club beginning September 10, 2024! Learn more and register here.

Marvin Blickenstaff at NCKP 2019.

If memory serves me correctly, I have attended every NCKP since its founding by Richard Chronister some 25 years ago. The memories of those conferences remain vivid in my mind, and I am a better piano teacher for having attended those events. The presentations have been informative and inspiring. The performances have been spine-tingling. And the teaching demonstrations have changed my teaching in many ways. I am confident that those who have attended would agree that NCKP is the best of its kind. 

Every piano teacher who can possibly manage to attend this summer’s outstanding program should do so. The variety of sessions offers something for everyone, whether you are a teacher just beginning your career or are a seasoned professional. We all need the stimulation of meeting with like-minded professionals, hearing inspiring performances, learning from the best in our field, and having our horizons widened through outstanding lecture presentations. We often feel isolated in our own studios, and NCKP offers the opportunity to dialogue with teachers from around the country and profit from that professional connection.

I guarantee that you will find your time at NCKP well worth the effort. You will come away from the conference with a new perspective on the importance of your role in the lives of your students. You will approach your teaching with renewed vigor and ideas on how to improve your work with your students. You will be inspired by the performances you hear and the information gleaned from the lecture presentations. You will learn!

A bit of advice: attend each session with equipment for taking notes. There will be so much information shared that you cannot retain it all in your memory. Take notes. You need those notes to remind you of what you have experienced. A Conference Proceedings will be published, but your notes are the most important documentation of what you have experienced.

I look forward to seeing you this summer at NCKP in Chicago. You’ll find me sitting in the front row (with my pen and notepad!)

I guarantee that you will find your time at NCKP well worth the effort. You will come away from the conference with a new perspective on the importance of your role in the lives of your students.

Marvin Blickenstaff
More by Marvin Blickenstaff
A Tribute to Marvin Blickenstaff and his Pedagogical Legacy
Back to Discovery Page

The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement

Written By Lesley McAllister

We would like to thank Lesley McAllister for this insightful article on rhythm and movement. To read the full article, click here.

Movement, for children, is necessary for learning. Young bodies are fine-tuned sensory receptors collecting information, curious and eager to explore the world around them.1 The young child is in a period of sensitivity for gaining kinesthetic and sensory awareness, along with awareness of their own thoughts and emotions—which sometimes seem overwhelming. Learning through movement allows children to engage in joyful, intuitive experiences that lead to productive listening habits. This playful engagement keeps students attentive to their bodies while allowing abstract concepts like rhythmic notation to grow from natural experiences.

The joy of moving and responding to music is inborn, as seen in babies who dance by moving their bodies to music even before they can walk. There are strong two-way connections in the human brain between our auditory cortex and motor-control center.2 The rhythmic impulse is the driving force behind all music, and students who do not develop a strong sense of pulse early on in their musical studies may later lack melodic shaping, fluency, and momentum; in short, they will not sound musical.

Yet, for many teachers, the ways in which we work with rhythm are more mathematical than musical; students may learn to “count,” but not to truly feel the rhythmic drive in their bodies. The emphasis should not be just on rhythmic reading, but also on listening and responding to rhythmic patterns. While any musical concept can be experienced as whole-body movement, it is ideally suited for the internalization of pulse and the experience of contrasting tempi, meters, and rhythmic patterns.

The Benefits of Mindful Movement

When rhythmic practice is combined with slow, integrated movement, and particularly when used in correlation with the breath, the benefits are magnified. The positive impact of mindful movement on cognitive, physical, and emotional skills has been well-documented in research, with physical benefits including improved coordination, body awareness, and postural stability.

Mindful movement also boosts concentration and attention, increases memory, and improves the set of mental skills called “executive function skills,” which include the ability to plan, organize, and stay focused on tasks while resisting distractions. It enhances myelination between the two brain hemispheres, allowing for integrative processing across the whole brain, and relieves stress, resulting in better listening, comprehension, and retention of concepts.3

There are even musical benefits, too. Mindful movement increases auditory processing and responsiveness and assists with the development of the vestibular system or the inner ear, which is involved not just in balance and spatial orientation, but also in language processing and sound discrimination. With these benefits, mindful movement is particularly beneficial for children with special needs including those with ADHD, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, and autism.4

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Lesley McAllister’s article “The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement.” You can read the entire article by clicking here.

Notes

1 Carla Hannaford, Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City, UT: Great River Books, 2005), 92.

2 Adriana Barton, Wired for Music: A Search for Health and Joy through the Science of Sound (Berkeley, CA: Greystone Books, 2022), 36.

3 Lesley McAllister, Yoga in the Music Studio (New York: Oxford, 2020).

4 Lisa Flynn, Yoga for Children: 200+ Yoga Poses, Breathing Exercises, and Meditations for Healthier, Happier, More Resilient Children (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2013), 56.

MORE ON HEALTHY MOVEMENT

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement
Back to Discovery Page

Exhibitor Sample Profile

Written By The Piano Conference: NCKP
Piano Inspires Kids icon

Piano Inspires Kids

Booth: 101

  • https://kids.pianoinspires.com/
  • Piano Inspires Kids is a quarterly print magazine from the Frances Clark Center. Join us as we explore the world through the music, cultures, and people that connect us together.
  • Primary Contact Name: Sarah Leonard
  • kidsmag@pianoinspires.com
Contact Us
Download PDF

Promo Code: NCKP2025

10% off subscriptions and single issues until 8/5/2025.

Giveaway: Enter our daily raffle at the booth for a chance to win a one-year subscription to our interactive piano curriculum.

Booth Schedule:

4:00pm on July 28th: Meet the editors!

11:00am on July 29th: Giveaway winner announced

Play

Do You Use Summer Lessons for Special Reading Activities?

Written By Richard Chronister, Mary Ann Lenti, Berdine Ehrman

We would like to thank Richard Chronister, Mary Ann Letti, and Berdine Ehrman for this insightful article on summer reading activities. To read the full article, click here.

Both writers for this issue’s Music Reading Department take the view that summer is special for piano students. A good case can be made for discontinuing the regular curriculum and making sure that summer study is something that makes the coming autumn a thing to look forward to rather than a thing to dread. 

I think that one of the most important aspects of this summer-difference is that the activities mentioned below are inherently reader builders. There is a vast difference between knowing how to read and being able to read fluently. Reading drills which ask students to name notes (saying or writing), to draw intervals, to spell chords, are drills on how to read; they are not drills in actual reading. The only thing that can truly be called a reading drill is reading a piece of music (notes, rhythm, dynamics) and even then, it is reading only if the piece is played in what could realistically be considered a tempo. Reading and playing slowly and carefully is for working out new repertoire; it contributes little to learning to be a fluent reader—unless the slow playing of a passage or piece is instantly followed by faster, in tempo, playing. 

Students must read some new music in tempo every week, every day of every week, if they are to become the fluent readers everyone of them is able to become. This, I think, is the most important aspect of the summer programs you will read about here. May I urge you to also include some of these ideas in your year through curriculum. Producing fluent readers remains our second priority, close behind our most important goal—fostering the joy of making music at the piano.

“Gimme a break”

By Mary Ann Lenti

Ah, summer vacation – the very sound of it conjures up images of hammocks, fishing poles, a sandy beach. It means, for teacher and student alike, a welcome change from the activities of our work-a-day year. 

“Gimme a break” is the order of the day for using the summer for special reading activities. There are no recitals coming up, no homework for Freddy to rush home to, and no need for a meat and potatoes meal. Here’s a light summer menu of reading activities from which to choose.

​POPULAR MUSIC

​It is very exciting for children to create, with their own hands, the same soaring melody that lifted E. T. across a moonlit sky. And with the ascent of some fine composers into Hollywood’s elite, there is much music of quality from which to choose. 

The editor’s work is crucial here. Some companies throw together the latest hits in what they call “easy piano” format—more often than not, these are plagued by total lack of fingering, narrow margins, minimal space between staves, chords requiring a hand like Rubinstein’s, rhythms requiring a knowledge of calculus, and a texture consisting of unison playing on page one followed by chromatic double thirds and octaves on page three. 

To insure success, begin by examining pop collections by your favorite pedagogues. For example, Alfred’s Basic Adult Pop (or Jazz, or Western) Song Piano Book series comes in several levels, and contains clearly printed, logical, and well-fingered arrangements suitable for your 2nd- and 3rd- year younger students as well as your adults. 

The Music Pathways series (Carl Fischer) also has a Something Light collection which covers blues, boogie, western, rock, and pop. Again, this is intelligently arranged and edited, and will insure a successful reading experience. There are many other pedagogic collections from which to choose. 

If you prefer sheet music of specific student favorites, Bill Boyd’s arrangement for MCA of Somewhere Out There is a good example—clearly printed and fingered, creating a big effect with simple means. There are no big stretches, and no chordal endings to rival The Great Gates of Kiev. Ditto for Felfar Music’s Linus and Lucy.

Piano Duets

As one half of a piano duet team, I have championed the use of duets for reading motivation from coast to coast. Not only does the student have to keep going (since neither wind, nor rain, nor “mess-ups” will stay the teacher from the final cadence), but the student also learns valuable lessons in balance, rhythm, and ensemble. 

There are countless volumes of wonderful duets for reading, but my personal favorites are by Diabelli, in which the primo part stays in a five-finger position. Both the Melodious Pieces, Op. 149, and the Pleasures of Youth, Op. 163 yield more dynamism from a stationary position than seems possible. For student motivation, there’s nothing like sounding like a hundred bucks on twenty bucks worth of effort.

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Richard Chronister, Mary Ann Letti, and Berdine Ehrman‘s article about reading activities during summer piano lessons. You can read the entire article by clicking here.

MORE ON MUSIC READING

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Do You Use Summer Lessons for Special Reading Activities?
Back to Discovery Page

Piano Inspires Kids: Musicians and Athletes: What Can They Learn from One Another?

Written By Stephen Pierce

The Summer 2024 Issue of Piano Inspires Kids is coming soon! Subscribers will be receiving the print issue in their mailboxes in the coming weeks. Not yet a subscriber? Click here to receive the issue and give the gift of music to the musicians in your life! Keep reading for a sneak peek into the Summer Issue.

Want to learn more about Piano Inspires Kids? Watch our webinar, “Inside Piano Inspires Kids: A New Publication of the Frances Clark Center” with Co-Editors-in-Chief Sara Ernst and Andrea McAlister: click here.

MORE ON PIANO INSPIRES KIDS

Learn more and subscribe
Piano Inspires Kids: An Interview with Co-Editors-in-Chief Andrea McAlister and Sara Ernst
Back to Discovery Page

This Month in Piano History: July 2024

Written By Curtis Pavey

July 1, 1950

Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, whose work in music education made a lasting impression on the field, died in Geneva, Switzerland on this day. He completed studies in Geneva, Paris, and Vienna, working with the likes of Fauré, Delibes, and Bruckner among others. Early on, he became fascinated with rhythm, and while working at the Geneva Conservatoire, he began developing his influential method known as eurhythmics.1 His ideas were presented in 1905 at a conference in Switzerland, and from there, his work rapidly spread throughout the world.2 In addition to his work in music education, he composed a number of works for chamber and orchestral ensembles.

July 13, 1955

In Lenox, Massachusetts, the Beaux Arts Trio made their performance debut, beginning an international performance career lasting fifty-three years. The trio was originally formed with pianist Menahem Pressler, violinist Daniel Guilet, and cellist Bernard Greenhouse. Pressler remained the pianist throughout the group’s existence, however the string members included violinists Isidore Cohen, Ida Kavafian, Yung Uck Kim, and Daniel Hope as well as cellists Peter Wiley and Antonio Meneses. The Grammy-nominated trio recorded nearly the entire piano trio repertoire within the Western canon before dissolving in 2008.3 Enjoy this recording of the ensemble performing Maurice Ravel’s Piano Trio.

The Beaux Arts Trio performs Ravel’s Piano Trio.

July 19, 1759

Pianist Olga Kleiankina performs the first movement of Marianna Auenbrugger’s Sonata in E-flat Major.

Viennese composer Marianna Auenbrugger was born in Vienna, Austria. Marianna and her sister Katharina Auenbrugger were accomplished keyboardists of the time; both studied under Antonio Salieri and were well known to Mozart and Haydn.4 Haydn, who dedicated multiple pieces to the sisters, once wrote about them stating, “the approval of the Demoiselles von Auenbrugger … is most important to me, for their way of playing and genuine insight into music equal those of the greatest masters. Both deserve to be known throughout Europe through the public newspapers.”5 Although Auenbrugger’s compositional output was exceptionally limited due to her short lifespan (1759-1782), her Sonata in E-flat Major is frequently performed. Enjoy this recording by pianist Olga Kleiankina.

July 22, 1987:

Natalie Hinderas, one of the first major Black classical concert pianists, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on this day.6 Hinderas, originally from Oberlin, Ohio, was born into a family of musicians. Her father was a professional jazz musician and her mother was a classical pianist who taught at Fisk University.7 Hinderas studied at the Oberlin Conservatory before pursuing further studies with Olga Samaroff at Juilliard and Edward Steuermann at the Philadelphia Conservatory. She toured worldwide, performing throughout North America, Europe, and Africa. Among her significant accomplishments is a recording of works by African American composers such as R. Nathaniel Dett, George Walker, and William Grant Still.8 In addition to her remarkable performance career, Hinderas served as a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia from 1966-1987. Below is an excerpt from her celebrated recording which features George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 1.

Pianist Natalie Hinderas performs the first movement of George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 1.
OTHER RESOURCES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement
Sources
  1. Lawrence W. Haward and Reinhard Ring, “Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed 11 July 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000014181.
  2. Haward and Ring, “Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile” Grove Music Online.
  3. Menahem Pressler, “Beaux Arts Trio,” Menahem Pressler’s Official Site, Accessed on July 11, 2024, https://menahempressler.org/beaux-arts-trio.html.
  4. Sylvia Glickman, “Auenbrugger [D’Auenbrugg], Marianna von,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed 11 July 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000047884.
  5. Glickman, “Auenbrugger,” Grove Music Online.
  6. “Natalie Hinderas, 60; Played Classical Piano,” New York Times (New York City, NY), July 23, 1987. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/23/obituaries/natalie-hinderas-60-played-classical-piano.html.
  7. “Natalie Hinderas Collection,” Temple University Libraries, Temple University, Accessed July 10, 2024, https://library.temple.edu/finding-aids/natalie-hinderas-collection
  8. “Natalie Hinderas,” New York Times.

Glickman, Sylvia. “Auenbrugger [D’Auenbrugg], Marianna von.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 11 July 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000047884.

Haward, Lawrence W. and Reinhard Ring. “Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 11 July 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000014181.

“Natalie Hinderas, 60; Played Classical Piano.” New York Times (New York City, NY), July 23, 1987. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/23/obituaries/natalie-hinderas-60-played-classical-piano.html.

“Natalie Hinderas Collection.” Temple University Libraries. Temple University. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://library.temple.edu/finding-aids/natalie-hinderas-collection.

Pressler, Menahem. “Beaux Arts Trio.” Menahem Pressler’s Official Site. Accessed on July 11, 2024. https://menahempressler.org/beaux-arts-trio.html.

Back to Discovery Page

Q&A with Marvin Blickenstaff: Part One

Written By Marvin Blickenstaff

We would like to thank Marvin Blickenstaff for answering these questions regarding his approach to piano pedagogy. Want to learn more about Marvin’s teaching? The Frances Clark Center recently published his book Inspired Piano Teaching. This fall 2024, we are excited to announce that Marvin and The Frances Clark Center will host a virtual book club using Marvin’s book, allowing participants to discover and reflect on their pedagogical practices in transformative ways. Register for the book club and other events here.

I love your technique videos on PianoInspires.com! I use your exercises with all of my students. My question is: how do you encourage students to spend so much of their practice time on technical skills? How do you teach them to stay focused and to enjoy the process?

I try to point out to my students that one of the issues that we face when we’re studying piano is developing the technique that is necessary to play the repertoire at hand. And with that, I place a great deal of emphasis in my lessons on warmups. Athletes warm up, dancers warm up, and piano students warm up. The bottom line of warming up is to stimulate blood circulation in the playing mechanism—the hands and the arms. Along with that, I have two important things that I try to stress with all my students and illustrate in their warm ups: stretching and rotations. They are such an emphasis in my work with my students that I joke with them that I’m sure that when I die, they will have inscribed on my gravestone, “Here lies piano teacher Marvin Blickenstaff. May he stretch and rotate in peace.” 

So I think warm ups are very important. It might be possible to over-emphasize technique and the warm up in lessons, but what we’re doing is preparing the student for the rest of their piano life. So I don’t apologize very much for having six or seven different technical exercises that they are to practice as part of their work every day. 

In order to get students invested in their work on technique I try to be very, very aware of pointing out how much their hand is improving, how much the sound is improving, and how much their coordination skills are improving so that they can see that the technique work is paying off. 

In summary, every minute that we spend in the lesson on technical exercises, and every minute that the students spend at home on technical exercises, ultimately pays off. Now, that’s not as much fun as learning a new piece or playing a recital piece, but you can’t play your pieces effectively if you don’t have enough technique. And I try to emphasize to my students that growth in piano playing is directly related to how you start to practice every afternoon.

Marvin celebrating his student

What is the first thing you say to a new student?

I think it’s important for piano students to hear from a piano teacher that they feel privileged to have this relationship and this experience of learning about music together. You’ll have your own words to communicate that. But, it’s not that I’m the big authority, you’re the little student, and you have to do exactly what I tell you to. Rather, it’s very important for piano teachers to cultivate the attitude that this is a partnership and we’re working together to make beautiful music. 

Additionally, we have to hook our students into the excitement of playing the piano. How? Through sound. That’s why when students come for their first lesson, I try to play a few bars of different kinds of pieces, because it’s so interesting for a student to hear such contrasting sounds. And I say, “I am so glad that we have this opportunity to learn how to play the piano together. We’ll learn quiet pieces, we’ll learn fast pieces. We’ll learn hopping and jumping pieces, and we’ll learn dancing pieces.” Hook the student on sound and they will be excited to learn.

Have you ever struggled with students who weren’t interested in taking piano lessons but had parents who signed them up anyway? How do you get that student excited about music learning?

Once again, I would say you hook the student on sound. And you pull out all of your pupil saver pieces—the pieces that are kind of easy to learn, but have a great sound to them. Richard Chronister was a colleague of Frances Clark and Louise Goss, founder of Keyboard Companion and the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy (now NCKP: The Piano Conference), and a major force of 20th-century piano pedagogy. He always used to say that piano students come to us for one reason only: to play exciting sounds at the keyboard. I try to really ingest that into my pedagogical being. Why are students here? They want to play exciting sound, whether it’s quiet, loud, fast, or slow. 

“I think it’s important for piano students to hear from a piano teacher that they feel privileged to have this relationship and this experience of learning about music together.”

There are two files of pieces that I would urge you to start in your studio. One is “beautiful pieces,” and the other is “pupil savers” (a term from Louise Bianchi in Texas). Pupil savers are pieces that are easy to learn, but have great sound. 

So, what do you do with a disinterested student? You hook them with the repertoire. And you don’t work so much on technical exercises. Instead, you work on beautiful pieces (pupil savers, perhaps) that they will really enjoy. 

What is a favorite performance memory?

Last summer I played a recital at Goshen College where I taught for 20 years in Indiana. That was really well-tested repertoire and I had a wonderful piano to play on. I thought all during that recital, “What a privilege to play this music on this piano for old friends.” Years ago, I was invited to play a concerto with the North Carolina symphony. It was not a very good choice, but I decided that I would learn the Samuel Barber Concerto for Piano. That’s a tough tune. That performance is one of my least favorite memories of a performance, because it was really a rough performance and the orchestra and I kind of fought our way to the end. But actually, four nights later, I played the same concerto, same orchestra, in my hometown in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and it went really well. And it was almost like I had to go through the fires of hell in order to reach Nirvana. And it was just such fun to play the Barber concerto with an orchestra. So we have different experiences with performances, but we go on.

I have a student who really struggles with memorizing music. We have tried all kinds of exercises, tips, and tricks, but they are quite discouraged despite my encouragement. What advice would you give them… and me?

The issue boils down to the fact that students think that memory is just to train the fingers in muscle memory, and there’s a big missing link there. The students who rely solely on muscle memory do not have a mental concept of how the piece is constructed. So one of my goals for my students is to do more labeling and analysis. We piano teachers must do a much better and more thorough job of helping our students name what they play. If you can name what you play, you probably have it memorized. So for most students, if there’s a memory issue, I think it’s because they don’t know what they’re playing. 

When my students are memorizing pieces, we establish three memory checkpoints on each page. The goal is that they can start cold at any number. Go back to number two, jump ahead to number five. And boy, if you can start your piece at all those memory checkpoints, you have your piece very well memorized. 

I would also say that along with the memory checkpoints, you should be able to articulate the reason that a spot is a memory checkpoint (such as, that’s where you play the D major chord in your left hand).

Marvin with Dr. Sara Ernst at NCKP 2019

So I think that labels and memory checkpoints are really the answer for memory problems. The great American pianist Josef Hoffman said that there are actually four ways to practice a piece. One way is that you play the piece at the piano looking carefully at the score. Then, you play your piece at the piano without the score (from memory). The third way to practice a piece is to sit away from the piano with the music in your hand, looking at the score and hearing the music. And the fourth way– which I think is just an incredible memory check– is to sit away from the piano, close your eyes, and see your hands playing the piece on the keyboard. It’s so helpful. Actually, it’s my favorite way of checking memory when I’m getting ready for a performance. And when I’m falling asleep at night!

Coming soon: Q&A with Marvin Blickenstaff: Part 2 where Marvin answers more of your questions!

The Marvin Blickenstaff Institute for Teaching Excellence

In 2023, the Frances Clark Center established the Marvin Blickenstaff Institute for Teaching Excellence in honor of his legacy as a pedagogue. This division of The Frances Clark Center encompasses inclusive teaching programs, teacher education, courses, performance, advocacy, publications, research, and resources that support excellence in piano teaching and learning. To learn more about the Institute, please visit this page.

OTHER RESOURCE YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

Back to Discovery Page

What is a Good Piano Sound and How Do You Get it?

Written By William Fried

We would like to thank William Fried for this insightful article on making a beautiful sound at the piano. Want to learn more about tone production? Check out the latest issue of Piano Magazine. Our new summer issue can be found by clicking here.

“You get a terrible sound at the piano, William. Just terrible.” So spoke my teacher in college, in an admonition I would hear many times over four years. A wonderful person and infinitely generous, but she did not mince words.

“Thanks a lot, Arlene,” I muttered under my breath, before trying the passage again.

She was right, of course. I did get a terrible sound at the piano. I could hear it. Or rather, I could hear the difference when compared with the polished sound in recordings. Why didn’t my Mozart sparkle like that? My playing sounded dull and heavy and forced.

There were reasons, no doubt. Bad technique, certainly. Rapid teenage growth spurts that led to Glenn Gould-esque hunching over the keyboard didn’t help. Nor did the shallow-actioned and unresponsive Kimball baby grand that had been my instrument since childhood. But accurate accounting of blame wasn’t going to solve my problem, and there I was: a college freshman hacking and slashing my way through Chopin and Liszt. And as I progressed, I began to suspect that this was the ceiling holding me back, the main cause of disappointments in competitions and auditions.

And in this, my teacher may have been out of her element. A former child prodigy herself, everything came easy to her. It’s simple: you just listen and hear it and fix it. What’s this kid’s problem? Or maybe she did have the solution and I wasn’t ready to hear it. It’s hard to know with these things.

When I did finally begin to address this problem, help came in the form of a relatively late learner—my teacher in graduate school had initially been a composer before switching to playing the piano full time. Maybe there is something to this. I remember Irish pianist and pedagogue John O’Conor once saying in a masterclass that he attributed his success as a teacher to his figuring things out so late in life. He could still recall the process of learning; it hadn’t happened when he was too young to remember.

Whatever the reason, upon hearing my playing, this new teacher knew exactly what I needed. He prescribed a regimen he credited to his own teacher, the Brazilian pedagogue William Daghlian: Tausig exercises to be practiced slowly, attentive to physical gesture and the conditioning of good habits, with an ear always to the resulting sound. I became aware of things, trivially simple things, that I had previously never noticed. Like the importance of letting go of a note (he called these “releases”) at the very moment of the next so that there’s no gap or overlap between them. Easy to do if you know to do it. And the very process—hearing and correcting little things—became empowering in itself. The more I heard, the more I demanded from my fingers, which found a way to deliver and allow me to hear more and insist on more—a virtuous cycle. And my sound, once this intractable bugbear, began to improve, gradually but noticeably, and it was narcotic—like getting the keys to the kingdom. Like the character in Forrest Gump who, once he sheds his crutches, determines to run everywhere, I was resolved to play with sound. Debussy and others like him became my exclusive focus for quite a while. In retrospect, I might have benefitted from hearing, like Horatio, that there were more things in heaven and earth than dreamt of in my new philosophy, but honestly, I’m not sure I would have listened. That which has eluded us the longest, once we finally attain it, we value above all other things.

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from William Fried’s article “What is a Good Piano Sound and How Do You Get it?” To read the full article, please click here.

MORE ON TONE PRODUCTION

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
What is a Good Piano Sound and How Do You Get it?
NOTES
  1. Harvard Medical School. “A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence.” Harvard University. Last modified September 28, 2017. sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/history-artificial-intelligence/.
  2. Microsoft. “Workshop: Interact with OpenAI Models.” Microsoft. microsoft.github.io/Workshop-Interact-with-OpenAI-models/llms/.
  3. OpenAI. “ChatGPT: Conversational AI developed by OpenAI.” OpenAI. openai.com/chatgpt.
Back to Discovery Page

A Tribute to Gary Ingle

Written By Jennifer Snow
by Jennifer Snow

Published in Piano Magazine, Summer 2024 Issue

Leadership is a term that is frequently used. A quick google search reveals a range of characteristics, terminology, and definitions of success. The truth of effective leadership lies in the person—an individual who impacts a profession, motivates and inspires, builds community, navigates change, directs through crisis, builds connections, and creates new paths and resources for the future. In our field, Dr. Gary Ingle has exemplified inspired leadership for over twenty-eight years at the helm of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). This summer, Dr. Ingle will complete his tenure as CEO and Executive Director of MTNA. Gary, as he is known to most of us, has been a long standing friend and partner with the Center. Because of his expert leadership, we have benefited for decades from our rewarding collaboration with MTNA. Our founders, Frances Clark and Louise Goss, were passionate members of MTNA and worked with Gary to support piano teachers across the country. Our continued close relationship with Gary and MTNA has been one of the most important relationships for the Center and our shared, purposeful work.

As a leader in the profession, Dr. Gary Ingle has dedicated himself to advancing music education globally. The list of boards and associations he has served is broadly international and extensive. In his MTNA role, he worked tirelessly to advocate for the profession and actively built new networks. His vision propelled MTNA and the profession at large to be more broadly engaged. The long list of MTNA initiatives and programs developed under Gary’s leadership speaks to his creativity, collaborative approach, and service to all. As the largest and most influential organization in our field, MTNA leads and supports teachers across the country, as well as non-profit organizations like the Frances Clark Center and the larger music education industry.

We are all very grateful to Gary for his stewardship in recent years through the pandemic. Through his tenacious leadership, the profession remained resilient and relevant. We weathered the difficult times together as a community because MTNA continued to lead and inspire.

In addition to MTNA program advancement, Gary also led new opportunities through the creation of grants, scholarships, partnerships, and awards. Through tireless advocacy, Gary raised awareness and funds to support the future of the profession and elevate the contributions of many. For us at the Frances Clark Center, The MTNA Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award was established through a bequest to MTNA from Frances Clark. Throughout Gary’s leadership, the Center has worked closely with MTNA to recognize innovative new contributions to the field of piano education.

The steadfast vision for MTNA, passionate advocacy for music educators, tireless dedication, service to the community, and genuine care for all of us, make Dr. Gary Ingle one of the most transformative leaders in our history. His commitment to emerging professionals is unparalleled. Many of us built, and continue to build, our careers with opportunities provided through MTNA. Throughout my own career development, I have always upheld Gary as a kind and effective leader that one aspires to emulate. Gary’s expert leadership fervently supported the membership and the board, allowing new ideas to advance and flourish.

On behalf of the Frances Clark Center Board of Trustees, Staff, and Center community, present and past, we congratulate our friend and colleague Dr. Gary Ingle on his outstanding and impactful leadership. We look forward to his next stages and know that he will continue to contribute to the field in transformative ways that benefit music educators and amplify the power of music. We also congratulate the new MTNA CEO, Brian Shepard, as we look forward to our future collaborations.

The Frances Clark Center to Receive $30,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Written By Piano Inspires

PRESS RELEASE: 21 MAY 2024

The Frances Clark Center is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $30,000 to support its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts in music education publications. The NEA will award 1,135 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling more than $37 million as part of its second round of fiscal year 2024 grants. 

“Projects to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in music education exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “So many aspects of our communities such as cultural vitality, health and wellbeing, infrastructure, and the economy are advanced and improved through investments in art and design, and the National Endowment for the Arts is committed to ensuring people across the country benefit.”

“We are extremely grateful to the NEA for supporting these meaningful, creative projects in diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said Jennifer Snow, CEO and Executive Director of The Frances Clark Center. “We appreciate the work involved in the rigorous NEA review and adjudication process, and we are honored to be included with this year’s outstanding recipients. Piano education opens opportunities for broader cultural understanding, building stronger and more connected communities through music learning. Receiving the NEA grant makes it possible for us to advance these powerful initiatives this year.” 

The NEA Grants for Arts Project award will support The Frances Clark Center’s DEI efforts in three publication projects: the Indigenous Composer Project, Piano Magazine, and Piano Inspires Kids. The Indigenous Composer Project aims to create an inclusive collection of commissioned pedagogical piano music by Indigenous composers representing various Tribal Nations, celebrating Native American culture and fostering respect and appreciation in music education. The project will distribute up to 1,000 copies of the books at no cost to teachers, students, and schools in the Tribal Nations. 

Piano Inspires Kids centers on diverse and underrepresented musicians, offering inclusive and interactive content to educate students on musical cultures, composers, and styles. Piano Magazine emphasizes diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, translating content into multiple languages to reflect and celebrate diverse communities and cultures.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

For more information on each of The Frances Clark Center initiatives, visit:

A Tribute to Gary Ingle

Written By Jennifer Snow
by Jennifer Snow

Published in Piano Magazine, Summer 2024 Issue

Leadership is a term that is frequently used. A quick google search reveals a range of characteristics, terminology, and definitions of success. The truth of effective leadership lies in the person—an individual who impacts a profession, motivates and inspires, builds community, navigates change, directs through crisis, builds connections, and creates new paths and resources for the future. In our field, Dr. Gary Ingle has exemplified inspired leadership for over twenty-eight years at the helm of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). This summer, Dr. Ingle will complete his tenure as CEO and Executive Director of MTNA. Gary, as he is known to most of us, has been a long standing friend and partner with the Center. Because of his expert leadership, we have benefited for decades from our rewarding collaboration with MTNA. Our founders, Frances Clark and Louise Goss, were passionate members of MTNA and worked with Gary to support piano teachers across the country. Our continued close relationship with Gary and MTNA has been one of the most important relationships for the Center and our shared, purposeful work.

As a leader in the profession, Dr. Gary Ingle has dedicated himself to advancing music education globally. The list of boards and associations he has served is broadly international and extensive. In his MTNA role, he worked tirelessly to advocate for the profession and actively built new networks. His vision propelled MTNA and the profession at large to be more broadly engaged. The long list of MTNA initiatives and programs developed under Gary’s leadership speaks to his creativity, collaborative approach, and service to all. As the largest and most influential organization in our field, MTNA leads and supports teachers across the country, as well as non-profit organizations like the Frances Clark Center and the larger music education industry.

We are all very grateful to Gary for his stewardship in recent years through the pandemic. Through his tenacious leadership, the profession remained resilient and relevant. We weathered the difficult times together as a community because MTNA continued to lead and inspire.

In addition to MTNA program advancement, Gary also led new opportunities through the creation of grants, scholarships, partnerships, and awards. Through tireless advocacy, Gary raised awareness and funds to support the future of the profession and elevate the contributions of many. For us at the Frances Clark Center, The MTNA Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award was established through a bequest to MTNA from Frances Clark. Throughout Gary’s leadership, the Center has worked closely with MTNA to recognize innovative new contributions to the field of piano education.

The steadfast vision for MTNA, passionate advocacy for music educators, tireless dedication, service to the community, and genuine care for all of us, make Dr. Gary Ingle one of the most transformative leaders in our history. His commitment to emerging professionals is unparalleled. Many of us built, and continue to build, our careers with opportunities provided through MTNA. Throughout my own career development, I have always upheld Gary as a kind and effective leader that one aspires to emulate. Gary’s expert leadership fervently supported the membership and the board, allowing new ideas to advance and flourish.

On behalf of the Frances Clark Center Board of Trustees, Staff, and Center community, present and past, we congratulate our friend and colleague Dr. Gary Ingle on his outstanding and impactful leadership. We look forward to his next stages and know that he will continue to contribute to the field in transformative ways that benefit music educators and amplify the power of music.

Search
Piano Inspires logo featuring stylized diagonal stripes in orange, gold, and teal, next to the text 'Piano Inspires' in bold black lettering.