That's quite a coincidence! I grew up in Monrovia. My piano teacher charged a pittance. We were very very lucky to have him.

I am not saying no one loves classical music in the US, but a deep engagement with such things is the realm of the privileged, and anyone who tries to bring this stuff to the general population faces an uphill battle and deserves honorable mention. Let me give one example: the Young Musicians Program. Look at their site, or just go ahead and give them money. Founded in 1968 by the brilliant conductor, educator and musician Michael Senturia.

I played for my friend yesterday. He is a good pianist. He doesn't correct me when I play other composers much. He thinks I know how to play many of them (like Rachmaninoff) and that I have a good idea how it should be done.
But when I play his pieces he either corrects me or makes suggestions.

I learned from him that when playing Irish music one should remember how singers sing or rather a declamation. A singer takes a breath and then sing the phrase, after there is kind of a pose until he takes another breath etc.
I tried to play Chopin's cantilena this way, but it doesn't work. It is something very Irish I think. But without this Irish slow airs sound mechanical and not beautiful. I don't know may be Scots do the same in their slow airs and may be Welsh.
The second thing we were discussion was legato. I had some problems with his figurations. They are fast up and down arpeggio type or runs with missing some arpeggio notes (often skipping the fifth and repetition changing  position on tonic). He said that he also was taught to play legato and legatissimo and turning his thumb etc. But we have to unlearn what we were taught and do what works.

I tried to play by positions and very lose hand and arm. It worked well. I am excited to practice it now. The sound is much better when I don't hang on each note trying to make it legato or legatissimo.

We already talked a little about legato and I thought may be some people have something to add to the subject.

Daniel,
The site can be useful to me. I laughted at some of the post and saw that people go through similar things when teaching children.
I am trying to learn from everybody, piano teachers and musicians and none musicians etc. It is a little discouraging to know that people learn piano to unlearn it later on.

This is a good idea from Sydney Grew. The printed score is an approximation anyway.
For contemporary pieces it is often hard to know and understand how they should be played. May be a score could come with a sample of how the composer thinks it should be played. It is a new idea for the XXI century.

Mr Sydney Crew wrote: Quite seriously, should not something be done to make the playing of all instruments less difficult?
I often think why are there not more good teachers? There are so many opinions about what a good teacher is anyway. Is it the one who understand the needs of his student and puts their interests before one's own. Or is he a machine who produces good pianists some of who become great pianists by the bandle?
Is he a technition that gives his students technical means and tools and they then interpret music according to their individuality?
Is he the one who can push their career forward because of his influence in the world of music?

I think that teaching to play is a speciality and one need to have a develp different way of thinking.
It is as different as to play solo and accompany. Teaching is an art in its own right.


For example, I don't think I am such a great teacher. First of all I still have many unanswered questions. I have to experiment a lot (by myself and with each student) to find what works and what doesn't and some times (I don't know how often) I can not find a satisfactory solution and I don't like the result.

For example, I am playing De Falla piece that is very well known and was arranged by Millshtein for the violin.

There are several bars there that are akward and I can not play without slowing down significantly. He was probably a good pianist himself, but for an average one like myself it is not easy. So I was thinking the unthinkable. I was thinking I will not play some notes, but will keep the rhythm of the pasadoble.

Now I said it, I am afraid for what kinds of replies I will get. In my defence I can say that Liszt often had assai written in his scores. Other composers have done it too.

I found that people are so different. Some people hate scales, but will play a nice easy going study. Even Hanons work for some people. I myself never used them.
Some people prefer scales and arpeggios to studies.
Some people never play anything and their technique is perfect.
That is life I suppose. We all are so different.

But on the subject of legato I completely changed my stand. No more finger legato for me. Also positional playing is much better than legato in long arpeggio figurations. Relaxation is the key for good sound, not turning of one's thumb.

Yes! If the original is straight eighth notes, then making dotted rhythms does help by enriching the pathways in your cerebellum that learn the passage. But ideally you spend the same amount of time doing the reverse (Scotch snaps - sorry, Grewbies). In fact, any alteration of the rhythm in unexpected ways will improve these pathways, as long as one doesn't overestimate the value of the exercise.

My students that are doing Royal Irish Academy exams underperformed this year. They tell me that examiners are very sour (they change them) and they got very nervous etc. Several came out crying.

I wrote about my experience to my friend and this is a reply I got. I want to share it with you.
On the whole I am not happy with RIA system. I am going to move my students gradually to associated board. (may be the weakest can do RIA). The peoblem with the irish academy is that they have very low standards. May be they have different standards for Dublin and the rest of the country. The other explanation may be that they are raising their requirement in which case it is a good thing.


I remember the first exam I did for the RIAM (having started with the London College of Music). The Academy sent down a horribly ugly bad-tempered and bad mannered woman whom many years later I came to recognise as the wife of the ignorant and curmudgeonly music critic of the Iriah Times - the notorious Charles Acton. The shock was frightful compared to the lovely people who came over from England. At my very first exam which was held in a big house on the outskirts of Cavan which had a grand piano there was a revolving piano stool. I had never encountered one before and managed to fall off it just as I was about to start playing. I started to cry. The lovely English gentleman examiner promptly produced a box of sweets and had a great little chat with me about Cavan and music and pianostools and his experiences with them, got me settled and I payed so well I got First Honours or distinction or something. If I'd fallen off the stool for Carol Acton she'd probably have kicked me while I was down as well as failing me in the exam. The Academy has done its share of career blighting and excluding but there are some great prople there too, its a pity they dont select more user friendly good with people examiners

I started with Royal Irish Academy. I did not know about Associated board.
I can not say they are bad. This year they seems to be cold and not friendly, but last years there were nice friendly people here. It all depends.
The standards I find strange. I have now enough experience with them.
It is very easy to pass exams of RIA if you are not in Dublin (I don't know how it is in Dublin).
All you have to do is to show up. To fail it one has to be really bad.
On the other hand when we come to diploma the criteria changes all the sudden. The bar is raised and people don't understand.
How these peole reach grade 7, 8 or senior certificate I don't know, but I have to deal with it on a regular basis. The people are not ready for the difficult pieces that are on the list. It is difficult to explain to them that they were duped.

I was in the Academy itself once, accompanying violin dimpoma. It was not pleasant at all. I don't know why they had to be so cold. I was not examined and I had easy part (Bruch violin concerto, Beethoven Romance and something else I don't remember) and even I was not comfortable.

Their head is pleasant enough fellow although I never met him personally. I do't know why the whole thing is set up like that. I can not say that the pieces in grade books are bad.
My criticism is that they don't demand theory earlier and that the standard is so strange.

In my opinion many people here had to be failed. This would of course make them not popular. Majority of people only trying it for several years anyway. I really don't know what to say, but sometimes I see people passing exams with ok marks (80 89%) and they are not good at all. The ones that get bellow really should fail.

I don't know if I am right. This is something that I just started to think about recently.