David Story Online Toronto Piano Teacher
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Live Music Inspires 

5/29/2016

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Koerner Hall 

Year round opportunities.  
  • Stewart Goodyear
  • Lang Lang
  • Stefano Bollani
  • Joey DeFrancesco
  • Kenny Barron
  • András Schiff​

http://performance.rcmusic.ca/  
 
See you there. 
 
David 
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Do you know what you sound like?

5/27/2016

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It is difficult to improve if we don't know how we sound. Try this. Use your phone to record yourself, listen back on ear buds or headphones. Watch the score as you do. What do you hear?

Listen for:
  • Notes
  • Rhythm
  • Dynamics
  • Articulations
  • Balance
  • Tempo
  • Phrasing
  • The musical feeling
  • Memory lapses
If you are shy about listening to yourself, I understand. But, it is worth overcoming this reluctance. It is very helpful. You are now hearing what the teacher hears. And, the rest of your home.

Question of the week: 

Do you know the meaning of all the text in your pieces? Example, Allegro? These words give us direction on the interpretation of the music.

Cheers,

​David Story
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Practice log

5/15/2016

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Try this
  1. Get a notebook.
  2. Each time you practice mark in what you did, how long you persisted and what was the outcome.
  3. Each week review what you did.

More next week. I'm off to find a notebooks myself. One for piano, one for drums.
​
Cheers,

David
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Why Study Classical Piano? 

5/8/2016

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  • ​Make beauty. A Chopin Mazurka, a Bach invention, a Beethoven sonata. At the piano, for many including me, that’s as good as it gets. 
  • Ballet for the fingers. There is something deeply satisfying dancing over the keys and hearing the results. 
  • Tradition, enough said. 
  • Complete some important unfinished business. Maybe your piano studies were interrupted in your teenage years. You have regrets. I understand. Come back, times have changed, you have changed.  
 
Cheers, 
 
David 
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Piano Exam Preparations: The final weeks

5/3/2016

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Here are some tips:

  1. Double practice time if you can. Increasing bench time will improve the tone of your playing.
  2. Now that the music is memorized, play slower and savour the sound. Let the joy out without the stress of tempo getting in the way.
  3. Play your program daily in its entirety. This builds endurance.
  4. Play your program for friends and family. This will reduce stress on exam day.
  5. Enjoy this memorable milestone.


Cheers,

David
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    I'm a professional pianist and music educator in West Toronto Ontario. I'm also a devoted student and teacher of the drums. 

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