(Click here to see all of my posts on the 2009 MTNA National Convention.) Sorry for the blurry picture! That’s Catherine Rollin and the big screen which displayed her hands close up as she played. She presented a seminar today called Technique and Artistry: You Can’t Have One Without The Other. If you are familiar …
MTNA Nat’l Conference – Catherine Rollin on Technique Read More »
(Click here to see all of my posts on the 2009 MTNA National Convention.) Three of the best things about attending conventions like this one are the opportunity to meet the people who create teaching materials, the free stuff, and the products available at discounts from exhibitors. Today, I met Dennis Alexander (pictured at left) …
I’m here in Atlanta at the MTNA national convention! I’ll be posting summaries on the seminars I attend. (Click here to see all of my posts on the MTNA National Convention.) Because I believe that there will be recordings made available for purchase, I’ll try not to be too detailed. If you do buy recordings, …
MTNA National Conference – Sunday Keynote Address Read More »
We have lived in our new house for a year now, and my piano had its second tuning today. It’s so nice to have it sounding tip-top again! Before we moved, I interviewed my former piano technician about piano care. Thanks to piano technician David Rountree of Savannah, GA for these great tips! Mr. Rountree …
I really need to finish off my scale postings because I have a number of other things that I’d like to write about! So, here are some ideas and resources I have used in teaching scales. 1. Graphical scales. Rather than showing the notes on the staff, these graphical scales show the fingerings on a …
Natalie asks a great question for open discussion at her blog Music Matters. The question is basically, “How do you teach students to rip off their scales in 4 octaves, played in 16th notes at quarter=126 BPM?” I have to be honest and say that, due to having started studios in 4 different cities, and …
Once I’m 100% sure that a student can reliably find whole steps and half steps from any key on the keyboard, we proceed to step two of the “learning major pentascales” process. Step One is here. On their assignment page, I write this formula: S-W-W-H-W1 -2 -3 -4 -5 The letters stand for Start-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole. Of …
With my beginner students, I start to teach pentascales about the time that they begin playing notes on the staff. I start off by explaining half steps and whole steps. Several years ago, I took a twin bedsheet and drew a keyboard on it with permanent marker, making the keys big enough to step on. …
I am not a Suzuki teacher, but this quote sums up how I feel exactly. I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart.—Shin’ichi Suzuki
