Music is a magic that can change the world
This post is part 2 in the Chart Your Quest series, for people wanting to start learning piano (or any instrument!) but don't know where to start! You can read the first part here. Last week, we talked about finding our motivation: what is it we actually want to learn to do in piano and …
Continue reading "How Curiosity Keeps Us Happy and Motivated While Practicing an Instrument"
Taking up piano is very much like embarking on an epic quest. You have a general idea of where you need to go, but there's a lot of terrain between here and there that you don't know about yet. If you're not careful, you could end up trapped in a dark forest of no return! But don't worry, these posts will be your guide to finding the perfect guide for you. It will help you create the path for your journey, starting with where you're going and why.
I am a pianist with small hands. That presents a challenge when many composers (cough, cough Rachmaninoff) write lovely pieces with large chords. Over the years, I’ve learned strategies for facing these challenges. Below are four tips on playing large intervals as a small-handed pianist that promotes healthy technique and ease of tension. But first …
Continue reading "Minuscule: Tips for Pianists With Small Hands"
“The demands placed on memory during a piano performance are remarkable, sometimes requiring the production of over 1000 notes a minute for periods of up to 50 minutes,”Chaffin and Imreh wrote in their 1997 article about musical memory (315). Their work, as well as the work of many other scholars studying the elements of memory …
Continue reading "Musical Memory: The Many Pieces of the Memorization Process"
One of the best ways to learn anything is by creating. Think about the last paper you wrote? You were a lot more invested in that history topic than you were by just reading about it. The same goes with music. You gain a more intimate knowledge of piano by playing it. You feel the …
Continue reading "Spooky, Scary Songs: A Halloween Composition Pack"
Part 1: Research on Mindfulness (and Music) Review of the Basic Research on Mindfulness Mindfulness is defined as a mental practice that focuses one’s attention on the present moment with non-judgmental awareness. It originally stems from Buddhist traditions but has found its way into popular media in the past couple of decades, especially with the …
Introduction In his 2019 literature review on the study of joy in positive psychology, Matthew Kuan Johnson explains there are four types of joy. Joy can be an emotion, mood, a disposition or trait, or what religious or spiritual practices consider a “spiritual fruit.” As an emotion, joy comes from an external situation; it’s an …
Continue reading "7 Steps to Practice Joy While Practicing an Instrument"
Introduction Since the 18th century, Mozart’s music has inspired deep analysis and discussion for both performers and music analysts. I won’t go into too much detail, but if you found this post, you’re interested in how to “correctly” play Mozart’s music on the piano. In this post, I first provide a brief description of the …
Introduction In this post, I’ll be reviewing the full “ProPractice Lifetime Access Course” that currently includes 4 levels divided into 2 parts each, technique and repertoire. If you’re only interested in the repertoire section of one level, you can purchase just that section alone here. I purchased the full course, so this post will cover …
Continue reading "Piano Course Review: ProPractice by Dr. Josh Wright"
Part 1 Last week we looked at the theme and first six variations of this famous piano piece by Mozart. This week, we’ll pick up right where we left off with brief analyses of what Mozart does to make each variation unique as well as the physical piano techniques required to successfully play each variation. …
