Tag: piano lessons
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Little by little
I just made a piece of furniture. I do some woodwork. I am not an expert, by any means, but it doesn’t matter because, sometimes, I am proud of what I accomplish. For example, I was beaming yesterday when I outfitted my daughter’s room with a window seat. I call it a “Lady-reader” because I…
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The good people
My son has been drumming all his life. He picked up a pair of sticks, he was three years old. Has never let go since. He’s now fifteen years old. I give him some drum lessons (severely discounted, of course, I can’t afford my own services at full price. Hahaha!). He loves to play. So…
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Rookie teaching
When I started teaching I was crazy. No, not crazy as in insane, crazy as uninformed. I thought I was there just to pass on some data. Now, I know I already covered that topic, but bare with me for another sentence or two. I was crazy because, for example, I crammed everything I knew…
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Iceberg speed
It is sometimes difficult to make a student (especially a young one) understand the concept of growth. If we start an exercise like one strike per hand, it will take probably a good six month before one is able to reach such speed that it will sound like a continuous buzz, or, to use the…
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Teaching teenagers
My business is one that accepts all people. I teach students that are 5 years to 70 years old. In that wide range, there are some categories. The young ones are from 5 to 10 or 11 years old. Then comes the teenagers. These are pupils that are between 11 or 12 years old to…
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Up to what option?
As the people who follow this blog know, I have a family band. It’s called “The little G Band”. If I can, I’ll attach a link to our promo video. We usually play concert inside. And usually we invite as many people as possible and we try to deliver as energetic of a show as…
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Playful technique
When I first started to teach, I was doing technique a certain way, the way I was taught. At the conservatory or at Berklee, I learnt how to hold a pair of sticks, get some speed, do some combination of stroke, etc. And all of that is fine and great. So, when I got my…
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What do you want?
The job of a musician is not a job. I mean that being a musician could be so many thing that there is no such thing as being a musician per say. One can be a producer. One can be a player. A teacher. A promoter (Simon Cowell). A composer. A DJ. A performer (Stomp!).…
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Party in the plate!
If you ever watched “Kitchen Nightmare” with Gordon Ramsay, it becomes quickly apparent that although a prompt service is really important in the restaurant business, it is nothing compared to what is in the plate. What about the decor, the music, the atmosphere? Those are a maybe. But the sauce with the twang, the tenderness…
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Learning from others.
I have been teaching since 1989. That’s before the dinosaurs. In that time, I’ve always taught drums. Only in the last 12 years have I taught piano. I have been fortunate to be able to explain the different concepts of music to the students who have been asking for my help. I don’t have a…