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Tips, free lessons, and inspiration

Clementi Sonatina in C: 4 interpretations

10/20/2022

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First Edition 1798-99

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Tempo:
  1. Lang Lang: Half note =112
  2. Wuja Wang: Half note =100
  3. Cory Hall: Half note =113
  4. Qi Zhang: Half note =110

None of the artists played with a completely steady beat, in other words, the tempo varied both from section to section and within sections. 

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Five tips on preparing for your Grade 2 piano exam as an adult

2/26/2022

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  1. Listening every day to the recordings, supplied with your books, prepares your ears for the task ahead. (Students often play a wrong note for an entire week, because they don't fully know how the music sounds.) As the Bugs Bunny Theme song “This is it” says, “We know every part by heart.”
  2. Record yourself playing. Video is best. Play, watch, make notes on what did and didn't work. This helps you avoid mindless repetition, also known as grinding. 
  3. Play your scales, chords, and arpeggios with a metronome. In modern music performance and production, the ability to play with a metronome is imperative. Try these suggestions if you are having difficulty: Use a comfortable tempo. Count aloud, starting with one note per click. Later, when you are comfortable, try two notes per click. Make a note of the tempo played by date. Incrementally increase the tempo.
  4. Memorise your pieces and technique at your earliest convenience. In the theater, rehearsals get serious when the actors are “off the book.” 
  5. Spend one-third of your time on theory, ear training, and sight reading. These are the pillars of musical understanding, interpretation, and memorization.
If I can help you, call me.
 
David 
Revised August 2022
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Sound more expressive at the piano in one simple step

1/16/2022

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​This is a simple concept that can be difficult to execute. When the melody goes up crescendo. When the melody goes diminuendo. The change will be small unless the composer indicates otherwise. Exceptions are clearly marked in the score. The last note in a melody before a rest, in Classical music, is played gently unless the composer indicates otherwise. The last note in a melody before a rest, in Jazz music, is played strongly unless the composer indicates otherwise. 

Please check out the following recording. 

If I can help you, call me. 

​David
Revised August 2022
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Piano playing is more than fingers

1/12/2022

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Everyone understands that the piano is played with the fingers. But not all students understand the role of the wrists, arms, and shoulders in piano playing. These techniques create a kaleidoscope of colour in our playing, and it helps reduce our chances of injury.

I wish my early teachers had spent more time on this when I was a kid. My ignorance of these techniques lead to significant arm injury in my late twenties. At age thirty I began relearning the piano with Donald Himes.  It took 15 years. Modern piano teaching methods introduce each of these techniques at the appropriate moment. 


Here is a partial list of techniques. They be observed in the playing of fine pianists. Here is a partial list.  
  1. Fingers
  2. Rotation
  3. Forearm roll
  4. Drop
  5. Arm weight

I use some of these techniques in the following video. If you would like help, call me. 

David Story

Donald Himes: Music director/composer for the Mr. Dress-up show CBC. He played from the 1st show to the last. A fine pianist, great teacher and avid Francophile. 

Revised August 2022
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Ten things to do when learning a new piece of music

10/20/2021

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These ten activities will simplify the process of learning a new piece of music. 
​
  1. Listen to a professional recording while following the score. It is much simpler to play a score when you know what it is supposed to sound like.   “How do I get the sound in my head out of these black dots” is much easier than, “I wonder what this sounds like?” Notice the deviations from the score that the professionals present. Mark in any nuances with dynamics and phrasing you might hear. The music is not fully represented by the notation.
  2. Observe the fingering suggestions in your score. I would only change the fingering in the case of obvious error or small hands.
  3. Practice slowly at first.
  4. If the rhythms are difficult. Clap and count aloud those passages.
  5. Explore the score further by marking the form and cadences. Notice how the professionals play the cadences. You will want to do the same. If this step is new to you call me, I can help.
  6. Practice with dynamics from the first reading. That way you avoid having to relearn the piece later. In my experience as a piano examiner, under stress candidates will abandon the dynamic plan and resort to their pre-dynamic performance. I know this because I often had the teachers' score in front of me. Dynamics in the scores were brightly underlined, highlighted, and punctuated coast to coast. The more frantic and emphatic the marking was, the less chance the candidate would execute them.
  7. Practice in small chunks. That is phrase by phrase, or if the passage is particularly difficult, measure by measure. Consider:
    1. Fingering
    2. The required movement to realize your artistic impression: slur gestures, arm weight, rotation, and so on.
    3. Dynamics
    4. Balance
    5. Flow
  8. Record yourself. Many students will find this uncomfortable. I say fight the resistance. The feedback one gets from hearing immediately of your progress or lack thereof will save you years of wasted effort. 
  9. Take breaks. My attention span is short, yours is likely to be short too. So, prepare several activities when practicing.
    1. Practice the scales and chords required for your piece.
    2. Listen some more to the recordings.
    3. Jump back in.
If I can help, call me.
 
David
Revised September 2022
Tweets by @davidstory1
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New Technology for 2021-2022

9/8/2021

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My first demonstration of pedaling using the Midiculous software.
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Bach Aria In F Major BWV Anh. 131 Study Score with Edits

5/3/2021

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This is one interpretation among many possibilities.

I have marked the right hand legato and the left-hand quarter notes staccato. These staccato notes would be a 'wet' staccato, or "portato". Slightly detached but marked to give the music some forward momentum. 

James Maddox presents a lovely rendition that closely resembles the edit above. He does place less emphasis on the broken chords of measures 9 and 16 though.  

Enjoy 

​David
Revised October 2022 
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Bach - Five little preludes BWV 939-943

4/28/2021

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These are short, charming, easy pieces for levels 5 and 6.

Q: What can harpsichordists teach pianists?
A: How to pace the music. Listen to the subtle flexibility in the flow of the music. 

In the second video the performer talks about these works. 

Enjoy, 

​David
Revised October 2022
The music. BACH JS 6 préludes (BWV 939-943).MUS (imslp.info)
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Mignon By Robert Schumann Study Guide

4/17/2021

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Preplanning shortens the time needed to "learn" a piece of music. I start, if I can, by listening to several professional performances. Some of the marks on the score reflect what I heard in a particular performance and other marks are a result of my own deliberations. As I revise this blog, I regret that I didn't mark down what was what and from whom. 

Planning an interpretation
  1. Mark the phrases and label the cadences
  2. Mark the form
  3. Explore phrasing options
  4. Select the gestures
  5. Practice the gestures
This preparation helps a musician have a clear idea of the result before they commence practicing. 

​David
Revised October 2022
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How much time should I practice the piano for?

9/2/2019

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"How good do you want to be?" A quick and snappy musicians answer. A gentler piano teacher question is, “what do you want to accomplish?"

Some benchmarks:

RCM levels 1 to 4: 45 minutes a day
RCM levels 5 to 8: 60 minutes a day
RCM levels 9 and above: 90 minutes plus

This amount of time is sufficient to cover all that needs to be done. 
  • technique
  • etudes
  • repertoire
  • theory or ear training on alternate days
  • sight reading
Some musicians require more or less time. But all accomplished musicians have put in the time. 

Best regards,
David Story

PS: I'd like to thank my colleague Becky Yuan and former teacher Leon Karan for input on the numbers. 

​Becky Yuan: Mississauga http://beckyyuan.com/
Leon Karan: Hamilton http://www.leonkaran.com/

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    You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.
    Charlie Parker

    Author

    I'm a professional pianist and music educator in West Toronto Ontario. I'm also a devoted percussionist and drum teacher. 

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  • Homepage
  • Tips, Ideas, Stories, Free Lessons
  • Adult Lessons
  • Jazz Workshop #Eleven March 5, 2023
  • Contact form, fees, calendar, policies
  • Philosophy
  • Testimonials
  • Children's Winter Concert 2023
  • My Story
  • Student awards and compositions
  • Classical downloads
  • Classical outline for beginners
  • Jazz downloads
  • Jazz outline for beginners
  • Video Library of Piano Techniques
  • Breakfast Piano Minute
  • Books, Apps, Websites, Music
  • Ear Training and Sight Singing Resources