Category Archives: Interpretation

Interpretation & Staying True to the Score

By joy (admin) | Published: 27 August 2010
This post compares two interpretations of Franz Liszt's concert etude, Waldesrauschen. It also discusses the importance of being able to follow the markings on the score in such a way that the listener can easily hear them whether they are familiar with the piece or not.
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Preparing for Student Recitals: Recording!

By joy (admin) | Published: 16 April 2010
Many of us teachers are probably currently preparing our student for spring recitals, so today I thought it might be beneficial to discuss a way of preparing for performances: recording your students playing their pieces, and then listening to the playback together. Benefits of Recording The student practices performing. Playing for a recording device can [...]
Also posted in Advanced Level, Beginners/Elementary Level, By Student's Level, For During the Lesson, Ideas, Improving as a Teacher, Intermediate Level, Recitals / Performances, Studio Class / Group Lessons, Technology, Topics in Teaching Piano, practicing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Play forte – but NOT accented…

By joy (admin) | Published: 2 April 2010
You know, learning to play an instrument is all about making breakthroughs.  There are so many things to consider and train yourself to do.  It’s a complicated process!  You are never done learning.  There’s always room for improvement. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been realizing that when I play forte on the piano — [...]
Also posted in Advanced Level, Beginners/Elementary Level, By Student's Level, For During the Lesson, Ideas, Improving as a Teacher, Intermediate Level, Posture at the Piano, Topics in Teaching Piano | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Using Adjectives to Capture the Imagination

By joy (admin) | Published: 6 November 2009
One of the ideas I’ve been exploring extensively throughout the research I’m doing for my paper for college (the one about improvisation) is making music musical.  This seems so obvious, but really, what would music be without musicality?  Check out this video, of a robot playing the violin. Speaking of which, have you ever had [...]
Also posted in For During the Lesson, Humor, Ideas, Motivation, Resources / Links, The Power of Music, Topics in Teaching Piano, What I'm Up To, inspiration | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Music + Imagination

By joy (admin) | Published: 29 May 2009
I often have students’ parents and grandparents tell me that they wish they had kept taking piano lessons.  I use this to encourage my current students, and tell them that it’s a gift to be able to sit down at an instrument and create music — a gift that can provide great pleasure to oneself [...]
Also posted in Motivation, Recitals / Performances, practicing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Accuracy vs. Musicality

By joy (admin) | Published: 11 April 2009
There are many performers who I consider to have amazing accuracy of notes, but minimal musicality….others who hit many wrong notes, but have AMAZING musicality.  The greatest performers, I think, are those who manage to do both successfully.  But if I had to choose between one extreme or another, I would choose the musicality over [...]
Also posted in By Student's Level, practicing | Leave a comment

Reflections upon Interpretation

By joy (admin) | Published: 10 March 2009
Yesterday at a piano lesson, my student kept saying how she wasn’t sure “what to do in this section.” Although I wasn’t completely sure what she was feeling, I think she was saying that she sometimes wonders how she can make decisions about how to play a particular piece / passage musically. We were working [...]
Also posted in Advanced Level, By Student's Level, What I'm Up To, practicing | Leave a comment
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