I have become a beginner again. I have been unable to play the piano for many months, so I am learning to play this beautiful lap harp.
But I am not actually “learning to play”— I am “playing to learn.”
I once had a remarkable jazz teacher who insisted I practice everything—yes, everything—with my eyes closed. When I opened my eyes at the lesson, he would shout “EYES” at me until I closed them!
His argument (perfectly sound) went like this: When the muscles know where to go, they don’t need help from the eyes, just as a sighted person doesn’t need the
Read MoreElephant trainers in India tie a small rope around the leg of an adult elephant and then the elephant will not move more than a few feet in any direction, even though
Read MoreBach and his contemporaries considered themselves to be ARTISANS who crafted music for specific occasions and purposes. Bach improvised, arranged, and composed music
Read MoreA few years ago, I visited a private school where a friend was teaching fourth grade. I improvised a duet at a piano with each of the twenty kids in turn using various Patterns from my books. The other kids danced
Read MoreWhen I started teaching, I viewed myself as an instructor, someone with a program who planted information “in” a student. But now, I am nearly the opposite.
Read MoreI am writing to offer encouraging words to colleagues who may be wishing to make changes in the ways they teach, but are hesitant to do so. I’d like to
Read MoreWhen I give workshops on improvisation for teachers (whether classical or jazz), one idea is particularly difficult
Read MoreWhen I was younger, I really struggled at the piano for a number of years. I just couldn’t do what I wanted to do! Finally, after a completely disastrous performance, I quit piano for an entire year. As a result of these early traumas,
Read MoreMozart spent much of his youth touring Europe with his family. He would often give performances with his sister Nannerl for the royal crowd.
When Wolfgang was just eight years old
Read MoreWhen Mozart was thirty-three, he was passing through Dresden and paid a visit to some friends. A portrait artist named
Read MoreNotes don’t make sounds. They have no voice. They can’t even hear sounds because they have no ears. The fact is, notes don’t have a clue
Read MoreWhen I was in college, I began collecting parables and stories from various traditions. Some have acted like wise mentors
Read MoreTwo fundamental attitudes about the art of interpreting can be represented by Brahms and Stravinsky. I could represent the Stravinskyian attitude
Read MoreClara Wieck (soon to become Clara Schumann) wrote in her diary, “Composing gives me great pleasure… There is nothing
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