In Part 2 of How to Practice Creatively, I talked about Focused Practice sessions where you pinpoint the problem areas and work only on those, with a play-through of the entire piece as close to tempo as possible every 2-3 days. This intentional kind of practice is one way to keep the mind engaged and
In Part 1 of How to Practice Creatively, I spoke about blind repetition inducing a phenomenon in the brain called "masking," whereby the brain doesn't pay attention to a repeated, predictable event like a clock ticking or a whirring of a fan after it knows that event will continue as before. So the "cure"
So you’ve decided to take the plunge into studying piano. Maybe it’s been a lifelong dream and now is the perfect time in your life to finally begin, or maybe you had lessons as a child and always regretted quitting. Or perhaps your children want to take lessons and you’d like to learn alongside
Most adults who take up piano have an image of what it means to practice piano that often involves spending hours of pure enjoyment listening to themselves play beautiful music. Then they sit down at their first or maybe even 10th practice session and realize that it's actually quite far from what they imagined.
This video is a sample of one of my practice sessions as I work on Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu. Here I demonstrate application of practicing in Rhythms/Bursts, Accents, and Orders.
My husband, Peter, and my two cats, Shoga and Futo, and myself all make the long trek up from south Florida to Wisconsin for the summers. Back when we decided to move to Florida for more musical opportunities for me (and OK, better winter weather!), we kept this place in WI. We love this