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.”
Elephant 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 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 MoreAt the close of the SMU-IPT Conference last July, a piano teacher came up to me and said with a solemn tone, “Thank you for your presentations. I never knew you could teach music with creativity. I was just taught to play the notes correctly and that was it.”
Since the mid-19th century, the central focus of piano pedagogy has been to
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