Tag: Chicago piano instructor
Snag
Will this work? How long do I have?
Being in a band.
What are some essential things you need to be in band? Should you have some technique? Yes, but you usually don’t need a lot. Should you be nice to others? Yes, but if someone other than the band director starts picking on you, you have the right to defend yourself. Should you have a working…
Non transferable
I have been writing about music in this form or another for more than forty years now. I try to communicate what I hear and what I feel when I come across a moving song. But it is frustrating. Music doesn’t write well. This is probably why we use a complicated code to put sounds…
A few things about Mozart. Part two.
I wrote about Mozart’s death in the previous blog, and how the legend differ from reality. At the end I left a question: why were legends created about Mozart? Mozart’s first biography were written during an artistic period known as Romantic. Romanticism has had great composers, among which Liszt or Chopin. Great writers too, by…
A few things about Mozart. Part 1.
I just finished it! I was not just reading a book, I went through an epic journey listening to the works of Mozart. Would I run into a complete chapter dedicated to The Marriage of Figaro, I would watch the opera on Medici.tv.com (a site for classical music lovers). What an adventure! I enjoyed immensely…
Organic curiosity
After a student has been taking lessons for a little bit, she often reports that she can hear on the radio a certain beat she just learnt. Now, I think that’s great because it means that I teach things that are very practical, but it also shows how someone’s curiosity expand with their knowledge of…
Tailoring the lessons
Our digital world doesn’t invite to patience. Yet, that’s one of the principal ingredient necessary to make a musician. Fortunately, in our 10 seconds environment, there are ways to curtail boredom, tediousness and quitting. I have devised exercises through both my piano and my drum lessons that cater to a progressive approach of the instrument.…
Physical endurance
There used to be that commercial about how physical drums are. It was a biker who comes to the camera with a beautiful scenery in the background. He struggles through the steep hill then stops pedaling altogether once he’s close to the camera. He throws his bike on the side of the pathway and decides…
What I see in piano.
One of the first exercise I propose on piano is fairly simple. Put your hand on the keys with your right thumb on the middle C and the rest of the fingers on the notes above, ending with the pinky on G. Then, one key at a time, go up and down the notes. You…
Different approaches.
When I was a teenager I was placed in a music section in high school. Although I was a drummer who didn’t know a third from a sixth (see the previous blog for an explanation), they did that. The teacher trusted that I would learn (he was right, look where I am now). The first…