15 Reasons Why Practicing Technique Can Improve Your Time at the Piano

Once again, Chris Foley posts another musical gem titled 15 Reasons Why Practicing Technique Can Improve Your Time at the Piano.

So folks, keep up with your scales, chords and arpeggios - they're important!

(c) 2008 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Piano Technique Links

With exams coming up, is it any wonder us teachers are asking to hear those pesky scales, chords and arpeggios more often?

Here are some useful links/articles to help improve your piano technique:

• Ironing Out Overactive Thumbs in Scales

• Technique Week

• Piano Technique

Feel free to suggest other sites as well.

(c) 2008 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Angry Piano Music

A few weeks ago, two of my female students (one pre-teen, one teen), were going through a rough week. When we talked about the songs they are currently working on, we came to the realization that there was a gaping hole in their repertoire: they didn't have any " angry" music. When I told them that "angry" piano music does exist, they asked for some to work on.The more advanced student is currently working through Robert Starer's "Crimson" from his Sketches in Color. The 7/8 time signature is delightfully lopsided and it's all fast and furious.

After speaking with some colleagues and conducting a quick Google search, I found a few more titles to add to the list:

look inside

Allegro Barbaro Piano Solo. Composed by Bela Bartok (1881-1945). Edited by Laszlo Somfai. Sheet Music. Paperbound. Henle Music Folios. Classical. Softcover. 12 pages. G. Henle #HN1400. Published by G. Henle (HL.51481400).

look inside

Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 83 Piano Solo. Composed by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). Piano. Classical, Contemporary, Russian, Sonata. 32 pages. Sikorski #SIK2178. Published by Sikorski (HL.50483889).

look inside

Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight) Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Edited by Murray Perahia and Norbert Gertsch. Arranged by Murray Perahia. Sheet music. Paperbound. Henle Music Folios. Classical. Softcover. 28 pages. G. Henle #HN1062. Published by G. Henle (HL.51481062).

look inside

Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11 Composed by Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951). 20th Century. Score. 11. Published by Belmont Music Publishers (BE.BEL-1034).

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Danzas Argentinas Opus 2 For Piano with an introduction by Gerald Hugon. Composed by Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983). BH Piano. Classical. Softcover. 32 pages. Published by Boosey & Hawkes (HL.48024360).

If you would like to contribute to this list of angry music, please feel free to post a comment.

I am still trying to find some angry music for my Grade 1 student. She's going to ask her mother to get her some Avril Lavigne sheet music though, so that will help channel her angst.

(c) 2007 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Music Practice Articles

This week, I've assigned some of my students online music games at www.sfskids.org and www.nyphilkids.org and I have been cajoling all of them to try shorter, more frequent practices. Improvising and composing on my new toy (stage piano) is another exciting activity for them.

Here are a few articles with tips, tricks, ideas and suggestions:

The Extreme Piano Guide, or 30+1 Ideas to Improve your Practice TimeA Guide to Great Home Music PracticeChildren's Music WorkshopPracticeTop Tips for PracticeMr. Morgan's Class - Practice TipsLessonmatch.com: Practice Tips

(c) 2008 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Scales Help at Scaleindex.com

[February 5, 2013 update: Scaleindex.com is no more. Instead, check out this article on Freejazzlessons.com on the "10 Jazz Scales You Should Know"] I stumbled upon this site while trying to makes heads or tails out of the Lydian Dominant mode (jazz musicians are probably shaking their heads at this as they know very well what Lydian Dominant is). Scaleindex.com is a very thorough site, containing scale formulas, chord analyses, note names and audio clips of everything from our standard major and minor scales to the Bebop Dominant and Hindu scales.

My student R, who likes to compose, is excited about writing in some of these different keys while my student A is currently on a modal kick with her repertoire, so she is pumped about learning how to play modes. The funny thing is, neither student is in Conservatory Canada's Contemporary Idioms syllabus. Both girls are in the traditional stream of ConCan and RCM respectively.

As for my students who need to learn the Lydian Dominant mode for their Contemporary Idioms exam, they're just relieved to have the scale formula in an easy to understand format (as am I).

(c) 2007 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.