Each year, I host a Holiday Party and Music Salon for our music students at one of our student’s homes. It’s a great way for our youngest and shyest to get over their fears of performing in front of others. And every year it gets better. It also gives a chance for new friendships to […]
Should All Music Students Learn to Read Music? As a music teacher, I’m often asked about reading music. Some parents want to know,”Will my child learn to read music?” These are usually parents who have had musical training and see the benefits of being able to read music from the last 1000 years of music […]
When I was a kid, I felt like loneliness was my best friend. It’s not like I wanted to be around him. He just clung to me. We were the only Asian family in an all-white neighborhood in a suburb of New York City. The typical question was, “What are you, Chinese or Japanese?” […]
As parents, we want the best for our children and we are usually anxious about getting it right. Here in Park Slope, we all know the competition for preschool, day care and elementary schools begins at birth! You can usually get a sense of your child’s interest in music by around the age of 2 […]
This past Sunday, there was a NY Times Article on the importance of music education in everyone’s life. I feel like it was written specifically for music teachers! The author interviewed some of the top performers in numerous and diverse industries and has found a surprising number had deep musical training from Condoleeza Rice to […]
By Andrew Ingkavet With all of my students, I stress the importance of memorizing their pieces, especially for performance at a recital. Here’s some of the reasons why. Repetition is the Mother of Skill How many times did Tiger Woods hit a golf ball before ever entering a competition? Apparently he was already golfing at […]
It seems every year there’s a new study that confirms the positive benefits of music lessons in early childhood. This one has some great findings: From the NY Times Well Blog: By PERRI KLASS, M.D. When children learn to play a musical instrument, they strengthen a range of auditory skills. Recent studies suggest that these benefits extend […]
As many of you know, I’ve been working hard on an interactive iPad iBook for quite some time. Today Play Piano For Kids, Volume 1 (Penguins Don’t Play Piano, But You Can!) is officially live in 32 countries around the world in the Apple iTunes Bookstore. It’s on sale for the next week for only […]
It was a great recital last Saturday at the Carroll Gardens Library in Brooklyn. With 30 students performing and a house of over 100 guests, we had a lovely time and everyone did their best. Thanks again to all the parents, grandparents, friends and family who came to show their support, love and appreciation of […]
Apologies for the site being down all of last week. But we’re back! Here’s a quick update and enjoy the week off for Thanksgiving! As many of you know, in each of my lessons, my aim is to address 3 main areas: repertoire, reading and music theory. Repertoire This is building up a collection of pieces that […]
Many of you are struggling with playing cleanly and smoothly. This simple technique can help you to relax your fingers to pay more fluidly. Developed by Glenn Gould’s mentor and longtime teacher Chilean pianist Alberto Guerrero, it aims to retain a relaxed muscle memory. You can learn more about this in the wonderful documentary Genius […]
One of the core concepts of my approach to teaching music to young children is the use of colors to represent pitches. I’ve used this with great success on both piano, guitar and in reading music notation. Those of you studying with me have already seen my piano covered with translucent tape and my guitar […]
Talent is not inherited. The first month in a nightingale’s life determines its fate…I had always thought that a nightingale’s incomparable song was instinctive or inherited. But it is not so. Nightingales to be used as pets are taken as fledglings from nest of wild birds in the spring. As soon as they lose their fear and accept food, a “master bird” is borrowed that daily sings its lovely song, and the infant bird listens for a period of a about a month. In this way the little wild bird is trained by the master bird…It is not a matter of being born a good singer or a bad singer…the life force has a wonderful power to adapt to environment.
Many parents have expressed their frustration at getting their child to practice their musical instrument. Here’s some tips to help. Re-frame the notion of practice from chore to a fun activity or even a reward. Don’t force them to practice, it will only drive them away from it. Place the piano in a central part […]
As a teacher of music, this is a common question I hear. Every child is unique and while there is no one right answer, I can offer a few guidelines. ABCs One of the first “games” I play with my younger students is to have them order the letters of the alphabet. This is a […]
Here’s a little video introduction I made. Enjoy. [flv:/flvs/Goals.flv 450 337]