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.

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.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Busy Season

As merchandisers will tell you, there are only 32 shopping days left before Christmas.

Any musician will tell you that right after Halloween, we have mere weeks before we are up to our eyeballs with Christmas concerts and party gigs. I'm currently working my Christmas gig repertoire back under my fingers, along with some of the songs from Conservatory Canada's Contemporary Idioms syllabus. Well, I'm finding that it's one thing to stay a couple of pages ahead of my students. It's a complete other story getting their songs up to performance standard.

In the end, some of the new songs won't make the cut this season. They'll be replaced with old standbys with a twist. For instance, I've discovered that God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen sounds very nice with a Latin pattern or a Boogie Woogie pattern and that Blue Christmas sounds neat with a Honky Tonk bass.

Be brave. Next time you practice your holiday music, add some zip to your songs by changing it a bit. You'll find it entertaining and quite enjoyable.

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

Terrific Tuesday Link #2

This week, I'm asking my students to check out Flashmusicgames.com . There is a good mix of programs there, for students working on ear training to games for young students. Happy exploring!

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