GRADE LEVELS Level 1: Beginning, five-finger patterns & simple rhythmsLevel 2: Easy, scales & simple syncopationLevel 3: Intermediate, beginning counterpoint & complex rhythms, Bach Notebooks, Bartók Mikrokosmos I–IILevel 4: Late Intermediate, technical & rhythmic sophistication, Bach Inventions, Bartók Romanian Folk Dance...

In this lesson, we explore ways for Maddox to make his motion more fluid in Chopin's Etude Op. 10, no. 10. He is stressed about the right hand, so we first address body positioning to increase ease of motion, and then we proceed to examine how to rethink groupings in the left hand to make leaps more fluid. Music Featured: Frédéric Chopin - Etude in...

Female composers have been historically underrepresented in the canon of piano literature. Although celebrated in her time, Louise Farrenc—French composer, virtuoso pianist, editor, and professor at the Paris Conservatory—is generally unheard of today. Her works for solo piano include several collections for beginning through advanced pianists,1 al...

Pianist and pedagogue Joseph Hofmann states: "To transmit one's matured conception to one's auditors requires a considerable degree of mechanical skill, and this skill, in its turn, must be under absolute control of the will."1 After all, how can a pianist be expressive in his or her playing without the necessary preparation? Today we witness piano...

Are all piano composers dead?" my student asked. The question seemed a bit ironic since we had just finished working on a folk song that was arranged for the piano by me. Last time I checked, I wasn't dead. But I understood what she meant. It does sometimes seem that piano teachers spend an inordinate amount of time working on the music o...

Daily I am reminded of the numerous things that should be taught in lessons to develop knowledgeable and proficient pianists. Certainly in a 30 or even 60-minute lesson, priorities must be established for what will be included and what will be left for another day. In my early years of teaching I emphasized the basic keyboard patterns of scale...

It rests in a corner of a neo-classical style building from the 1920s - a beautiful temple, faced with Indiana limestone. The central court in which it slumbers is full of beautiful things: several pieces of Chihuly art glass, mounted high on the wall; a seventeenth century Claude Lorrain portrait of a young boy; and a Fairfield Porter paintin...