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Typically, summer is a time of rest and renewal for piano teachers and performers. Even those who are lucky enough to perform and participate in summer festivals benefit from the change in pace and location. Finding time for purposeful renewal is crucial this year. Although only midway through 2020, it is turning out to be an exceptional year. Sinc...
LEARNING BEFORE 2020 While teaching online is a new adventure for many professional musicians, it is an extension of distance education that began in the United States in the nineteenth century and was subsequently developed in Europe, Canada, and Australia.1 Often, these were courses offered through extensio...
Excellent piano teachers negotiate the delicate balance between preparing and planning for each lesson, and responding to unanticipated student needs during the lesson. These two skills, careful preparation for upcoming lessons and thoughtful flexibility during actual lessons, are essential during the COVID-19 global pandemic. So, even as we strugg...
In this issue of the Piano Magazine, we explore the impact of inspirational pedagogy on pianists of all ages and abilities. Teaching and learning piano requires dedication to developing skills, such as technique, voicing, balance, sight reading, and improvising, to name just a few. But, music is written to be shared with others, sometimes with peer...
Kayo Anderson is a musician with LA Community Action Network (LA CAN), who works with Skid Row artists, many of whom are former industry-level musicians, to understand their unique challenges and help them facilitate their return to employability. In the United States, employment brings personal satisfaction but also stability for necessities such ...
As pianists and educators, many of us excel at creating meaningful musical opportunities for students and audiences whose backgrounds are similar to our own. But, how might we serve people whose experiences are different from ours, in their own communities, in ways that enable them to participate in personal music making (or "musicking," as Christo...
Performance Practice I began subscribing to Clavier within the first month of my undergraduate studies; it was required reading in my studio, but it became essential reading as I developed my piano skills. I initiated my Keyboard Companion subscription once I moved to the United States for graduate studies and became m...
Celebrating Ten Years of Clavier Companion: Returning to Our Roots and Embracing Change If we do not change, we risk failing to grow and evolve as human beings. The same can be said for organizations and for resources that we depend on for our professional development. At the dawn of the new year, I am please...
Celebrating American Music In this issue, we celebrate American music by taking a closer look at two composers. One whose name and music is familiar throughout the world; the other remains largely unknown even to professional musicians in her home country. In Celebrating Leonard Bernstein at 100, you'll have ...
New Beginnings September, this moment of new beginnings for both teachers and students, always seems to me like a time when anything might be possible. After several decades of teaching, I still look forward to the first day of classes and the first week of lessons as much as I did when I was a student. As teacher...
"Growing old is not for the weak in spirit." Although I've heard this adage countless times, I finally know what it means. For me, 2010 ushered in a series of medical mishaps, medications, and miracles. I'm now a cancer survivor, yet I feel that surviving the myriad of prescriptions is another story. I always knew I would grow older, but I nev...
from the series: It's Never Too Late: Adult Piano Study Michelle Conda, Editor by The Adult Learning Committee of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy Okay, let's face it - I'm not talking about the good habits your adult students have, but the bad habits that form the foundation of so many recreational pianists' technique. W...
Adult students never cease to amaze me. Just last week two of my adults volunteered to play for a student recital as part of the Southwest Ohio Music Teachers Fall Festival. This would be incredibly nerve-racking to most people, but both have asked to do it again! For years I have been preaching to leave recitals out of adult piano curriculums. I g...