Tag: piano lessons

  • Technological headaches.

    Being a musician these days is not an analog job anymore, especially if you’re have an instrument that can only play music from the 1900 on like the drum set. If you’re in that category, you’re going to have to deal wit some kind of machine. Oh, I am not complaining, it could be worse,…

  • Every day music.

    I must be nuts. Every day for the last 40 years, I’ve been thinking mainly about one thing: music. That’s not only a long time, but it’s crazy. Now, let’s tame that statement a bit, shall we? I’ve crossed different eras in my journey, some intense some not so intense. There were some times when…

  • The famous exercises in drum or piano.

    There are some exercises that have gained fame and fortune in the studies of instruments. There are so well-known that it’s a matter of minutes before drummers or pianists talk about them. They usually have names that the common mortal wouldn’t understand and that mystery itself envelops the exercise of an even more attractive aura.…

  • Beginning on the piano.

    There are a thousand ways to be interested in studying an instrument, but I am pretty sure it almost always start because we love the sound of it. When you listen to music, are you drawn to the voice or the bass, the drums or the piano? The piano, you say? Keep reading. Piano is…

  • Listening to intentions.

    Sometimes digital music is disappointing because we cannot hear the artist intentions behind the notes. Machines are great, don’t get me wrong, but they are, almost by definition, devoid of emotions, which, at least for me, is the reason why I listen to music in the first place. Hearing the sorrow of Billie Holiday when…

  • The importance of concepts in music.

    Here is something strange. I hear all too often about a drummer who can run circles around all the known and famous drummer and yet, nobody knows him. Imagine someone like Carter Beauford, the drummer for the Dave Matthews band, but without the celebrity. One of the reason is that technique is really not the…

  • Fixing some dynamic problem in piano.

    You get both type of piano players if you have a full schedule of students: the shy ones who play too soft or the Beethovenian ones who will bring the piano to its knees. Both are equally stuck in a dynamic range. One being soft or, as we say in music, Piano (yes, like the…

  • Resolutions.

    I know we are not at that time of the year, the time when we take on big projects to fulfill big wishes. I am talking about New year’s eve, of course. That’s when the gyms around town fill up their calendars, when the sales of sugar plummets, when you see determined faces in your…

  • The new student.

    I am always very excited to meet a new student. They always come with a spark in their eyes because they’re interested, curious, hungry for knowledge. Every time I am reminded that I have the best job in the world: sharing with someone my passion for music. I tell them to sit at the piano…

  • The musician’s plague

    Musicians are often seen as people who are desperate for a job. We can all think of exception to the rule, of course, like the Elton John or Bruce Springsteen of our world, but in general, and especially if you’re at a lower level of pay and fame, the common agreement is that a musician…