Für Elise: Beethoven’s Mysterious Inspiration In the 21st century, the music and notes to Beethoven’s Für Elise are the object of millions of Internet searches and downloads every day. The fact that the music is so freely available for download, … Continue reading →
Can Beginners Really Play Christmas Carols This Christmas? If you are just starting out on your piano playing journey — learning to play the piano — you probably don’t think it is possible to abe able to play Christmas Carols … Continue reading →
Scales Video Full length course on scales on DVD & CD & Scale Sheets.
Continue reading →I don’t often plug the work of a competitor, but in this case I’ll make an exception. Jermaine (a young guy from Southern California and one heck of a pianist) has come out with a course on playing Christmas carols … Continue reading →
Not a single professional musician plays the music exactly as it appears on a piece of sheet music. Instead, they use the written music as a map, or an outline, and then proceed to do their own thing with it. … Continue reading →
As a piano teacher for many years now, I have had countless students ask me some variation of this question: “What fingers should I use on such and such a note, or such and such a chord?” And my answer … Continue reading →
Yesterday I posted about the pentatonic scale, and mentioned that the 5 black keys on a piano form a pentatonic scale (penta=5). A student of mine sent me a YouTube video which illustrates this perfectly. Here it is:
Continue reading →As you know, there are many kinds of scales, the most familiar of which is the major scale, on which the largest percentage of songs are built. There are also 3 types of minor scale — the natural minor, the … Continue reading →
The tango is an incredibly sensual genre of music and dance that originated in Argentina. It is always played by a tango orchestra consisting of strings, bandoneon, bass and sometimes piano, though various other Latin-based instruments are found outside of … Continue reading →
A harmony is a series of notes in combination, played simultaneously. Listen to your favorite songs, and pay close attention to the back-up vocals when they’re being sung along with the lead. Can you hear how the two vocal melodies … Continue reading →
