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Phrasing and Cannibals

Why is piano playing so often confused with racing?

A student was dashing through a piece. At that breathless pace, the phrasing was a casualty, the melodies ran together, and

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Overcoming F.E.I.S.

You have no doubt heard of F.E.I.S., a nervous condition afflicting piano teachers. I’m referring, of course, to Fur Elise Irritation Syndrome. This is caused by piano students repeating E and D-sharp over and over (and over) without a hint

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Teaching Creators

At 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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