Musicality, Pedaling, Technique
Relating to the Broader Physical Aspects of Playing Piano
On July 13th, Laura wrote a series of questions. Neil Moore briefly responds to these. 1) Bench Height: if I don’t have an adjustable bench, how do I deal with students who are smaller and have very bent arms to play (looks very uncomfortable). On…
Accompaniment 1 – Ratios
First hiccup in this program and I would love some advice! Just working with a pupil through the Triads, both Black and White, and the concept of the 1-2 Ratio for the 4/4 Time Signature(4 on the top line). I feel our issue has come…
Getting the Alma Mater Blues Rhythm
I’ve noticed that a number of my students have trouble getting the rhythm right in Alma Mater Blues. The left and right hands are properly coordinated but the RH is played evenly rather than with a swinging feeling when the hands are played together. However,…
What About Technique?
Had 40 people at an FIS last night and the wife of a local traditional teacher was in the group (not a nice woman, but that’s another story) and asked at the end of the Q & A section —“What about technique?” I did not…
A Dialogue on Being “Rhythmically Challenged”
Recently, a general question was asked, and in the email the words “rhythmically challenged” were used as a metaphor. It prompted an email exchange that is worth reading. I have provided a digest below. Kind regards, “… I would like to hear from the experienced…
Playing with Expression
I have a student who is playing all of the right notes for her songs, but is lacking in musical expression of those songs. For example, she plays a “lullaby” type song the same way she plays the blues. And it sounds really good on…
Developing Expression
Sheri emailed me about how I develop musicality with my students. She said, “I haven’t worked much formally with my students in expressing the musicality of pieces. I wonder if you could share with me some of what you do to formally train the musicality.…
Wrist Position – Technique
I have a student whose grandmother has the whole family concerned about the position wrists are held while playing. While I have often reminded students to lower shoulders, or alter the wrist position to try to increase their comfort, I haven’t really noticed anything obvious…
Young Students Dropping Out
This week, after one month of lessons, two 7-year-old students dropped out. The one mother was very upset. She started by saying “We have some terrible news”. She even filled out the evaluation sheet even though the little girl only knew one song. It was…
Rhythmically Challenged Student
I have a 12 year old girl in level 2 that has really been struggling with rhythms. When I brought up a metronome as an idea to help her get a feel, she said it was a disaster when she tried it with her traditional…
