Relief for Musicians with Cold Fingers

One issue musicians must contend with on occasion (some more than others) is cold fingers. My hands tend to go ice cold just before a performance. Not good when you have to perform something like Ginestera's Danza del gaucho matrero which clocks in at 152 dotted quarter notes per minute. That means that you're playing 456 eighth notes per minute for most of the piece!

Thanks to my colleague Andrea Kazmaier for sharing this. At a conference, she discovered Wristies. They keep one's hands, forearms and wrists warm without impeding upon the dexterity required to play an instrument. It's good for people who are at the computer a lot.

Andrea enjoys her leopard print Wristies very much.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Black Original Wrisites and Black Light Wristies. The one I really can't wait to don are the Serengetti Short Wristies (pictured to the right). Someone should request ones with a piano keyboard pattern.

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

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.

May 2008 Music Celebrity of the Month

May's Music Celebrity of the Month is Max Steiner. Steiner was an Austrian-American film composer who scored the soundtracks to Gone With the Wind and King Kong:

He was an Academy Award winner who lived from May 10, 1888 - December 28, 1971.

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

If you'd like to learn more about Max Steiner, check out this book:

April 2008 Music Celebrity of the Month

It's been such a crazy month, filled with music festival preparations that the April Music Celebrity blog almost fell by the wayside. This month's music celebrity is American jazz composer, pianist and band leader Duke Ellington. He lived from April 29, 1899 - May 24, 1974. A few of my students are studying some of his works. "It Don't Mean a Thing" is the popular choice among the group.

If you'd like to add the Duke to your music collection, check out these albums by clicking on the image below:

If you'd like to learn "It Don't Mean a Thing" or any of the Duke's other songs, head to Sheetmusicplus.com and choose which version you want.

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

Music Lesson FAQs

For my 2008/09 Registration package, I created a FAQs sheet. It contains some general questions about music lessons. I thought it would also be useful to create a Music Lessons FAQ's page on my website. I did conduct some online research on FAQ's and am grateful to my colleagues who have inspired me with theirs. In the spirit of sharing, colleagues who visit my page are welcome to take and revamp my FAQ's for their own studios.

If you have any suggestions for FAQ's, please send them in!

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