What is a “bad” practice day?

Yes, I do think “bad” practice days exist. Take today, for example. For reasons I won’t discuss here, today found me “off my game.” Has that happened to you? Why? Even while warming up with finger exercises I am completely used to, I couldn’t feel my hands or fingers in the usual way. That may [...]

What does your music say?

Often when we are tired, the music disappears from our playing.

NEWS FLASH: Pianists have lungs, too!

Do you play an instrument upon which you can produce sound without breathing? If you answered “Yes,” I beg to differ! Listen to the sound. Does it have life? Direction? A core? Does it mean something? Rationale Two students come to mind whose approaches to the piano are relevant to the subject of breath. One, [...]

Ideas that define me

Thoughts such as these need our attention from time to time. Integrity Being clear about the reasons I accept each gig Preparedness Learning the music before the first rehearsal Engagement Interest in the rehearsal, listening throughout Current knowledge Listening to what’s out there, reading articles and reviews Current skills Practicing to maintain an edge Life [...]

Last weekend’s Met broadcast

 The best opera broadcast was on the radio last Saturday from 1:00-5:00 p.m.  Bellini’s Norma, was followed by some Donizetti with Roberta Peters and Carlo Bergonzi. The Norma recording was from 1970 ~ Joan Sutherland‘s Met debut and Marilyn Horne‘s first Met Broadcast.  The cast also included Carlo Bergonzi and Cesare Siepi. (Saying “also included” [...]

Listen first, learn later?

When is it acceptable to listen to a recording before learning a piece? Most of the time, I am strongly against this as a learning method.  For purposes of interpretation, copying someone else’s recording will always sound like a copy.  It will never sound like you. One scenario I heard of two pianists who played [...]

Holiday listening links

An Evening of Readings and Carols from Westminster Choir College Monday, December 19 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, December 25 at 3 p.m. A little less formal than Kings College, with several choirs. WWFM The Classical Network. This beautiful movement is part of Rachmaninoff’s “Vespers,” all of which can be heard on YouTube. http://youtu.be/Dp82BXNwrWcRachmaninoff, “Bogoroditse [...]

How important is the way we listen?

The music we listen to, and the way we discuss listening with our students.

How to make difficult passages foolproof

John Reed was a notable singer of Gilbert & Sullivan patter songs and the “principal comedian” (Margalit Fox, The New York Times, 2/27/10) of London’s D’Oyly Carte Opera Company for 20 years. “It’s funny how the brain works,” he told The Associated Press in 1988. “I can be standing there singing the Nightmare Song from ‘Iolanthe’ looking out at [...]

What we need to do when we’re not progressing

When a piece plateaus, what can we do?