Visual Productivity-Pull out the abacus!

This week, I got a bit excited about abacuses.  Let me explain...

One of the reasons practicing remains difficult for students to gage is the lack of daily project completion/assignment confirmation for students.  Think about this - at school, kids routinely hand in daily assignments and get checks for completion or some sort of letter grade.  For piano, my proposal is for the student to use an abacus as a physical and visual measure of daily productivity.  There is an appropriate abacus for every level of student and engagement!

My youngest student, loves the rainbow abacus (second from the left).  She squeals in excitement in order to "move the beads!" For this student, the different lines and colors are great for breaking down the sections.  Say one is working on a 4 line, 16 bar piece. A single row could be a line, or even half a line (2 measures), right hand, left hand, or hands together.  By moving the beads, he or she stays on track and has both visual and physical confirmation of completion.  The top red line could be for linking two sections/lines together successfully or even playing through the whole piece. I swear that using this method may beat giving out stickers!

For the intermediate or advanced student (see 1st or 3rd abacus), each row can be applied towards running through a larger section; ie. an entire exposition, and the rows could be used to keep track of progress through several days or a week even or less if broken into smaller sections and used for different pieces. There really is no wrong way to use an abacus.

Have fun practicing and organizing everyone!

Metronome...Check!!

Today is the first official day of the school year (post Labor Day) in the city and for many parents, along with purchasing school supplies, make sure your child has the appropriate metronome handy!

Metronomes have gone through little change through the years.  I am forever buying new ones just because a metronome not in use does absolutely no good and the updated Seiko metronomes have a volume wheel that makes a whole lot of difference!

http://www.amazon.com/Seiko-SQ50-V-Quartz-Metronome/dp/B000LFCXL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391705671&sr=8-1&keywords=metronome

The updated SQ50 (red wheel, far right), finally gives us volume control of the beeping sound without having to pay a fortune and resort to draining our iphone/ipad battery with a metronome app. The blue version, left side, carries a louder beep (2 different pitches) which is good for young kids and the one in the middle, though credit card size, has a higher pitch beep if you're into that short of thing. Finally, a metronome I can be happy turning on and playing along with!

What is the metronome for besides the obvious, keeping steady?  The metronome helps us diagnose the weaker areas of our playing so we can work for greater control.  It helps us iron out our kinks!  On a higher level, it fine tunes our listening and phrasing.  On a more basic level, it organizes our practice time more efficiently.

Happy practicing!!

Awareness-how does one actually get around?

When it comes down to it, there are really only 5 ways of getting around the piano keyboard no matter how intricate or expressive the passage; most of what actually is dependent upon the actual dexterity/flexibility of the palm. Knowledge of the actual process makes for more coherency in the playing, allowing one to concentrate rather, on the artistic purpose of the passage. 1. Contraction (shrinking of the hand smaller than actual finger interval span) 2. Expansion/reaching (opposite of contraction) 3. Jumping/skipping/hopping 4. Crossing over and under 5. Finger substitution (switching fingers when repeating a note shifts the hand's position)

What are we doing when we practice exactly?

On the most basic level, these are the things we are trying to achieve by practicing...

Advanced Pianist

1. Clarification of Ideas

2. Character

3. Control

Beginner-Intermediate

1. Sound, tone

2. Coordination

3. Comfort

4. Balance

5. Fluidity

The Working Unit

Most students make the mistake and waste countless amounts of time playing through versus practicing. They fail to realize that things need to be fixed or examined in smaller sections than what most students take on when "playing through".

A run-through/play through involves a larger unit and consists anywhere from 8 bars to an entire movement or piece. While run-throughs are necessary, by themselves, they are not a sufficient or productive way to practice and learn material. Run-throughs should take up less than half of the practice time.

The working unit, on the other hand, allows the pianist/student to focus and fully comprehend the material. Like phone numbers and clumping, the human brain can only fully comprehend so much material at a time. As such, the base of the working unit is usually 2 bars, sometimes 4 or 8, and always ends on the downbeat of the following bar. For example, a 2 bar working unit ends on the downbeat of bar 3. By practicing until the next downbeat, the pianist avoids the faux paux of ceaseless hesitations, strange rubatos when linking together complete phrases, the unnatural stopping-starting created by technical deficiencies.

Listening and Creating Your Own Personal Sound World

An inspiring, eye-opening lecture about how to listen given by Evelyn Glennie. This will transform your concert going experience and the way you respond to music. What every artistic teacher is trying to impart to their students...

Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen | Video on TED.com

Books to Improve Reading for Beginners

Summer is a great time to improve reading as well as sight-reading skills.

The books that I commonly use to improve reading for beginners is the Sight Reading & Rhythm Everyday Series by Helen Marlais and Kevin Olson. I usually will use levels 3A-5 to explain and revisit concepts as needed. Beyond that, students should be sight reading in the actual repertoire.

See my Sightread in Keys post