A number of years ago we had a video that discussed Breath In Music and if you want to get a general overview of the subject you may enjoy watching that video. Recently, someone requested that I produce a video that gives a demonstration of this concept. There are benefits from the visual aspect. So, I suggest you watch the accompanying video.

When it comes to singing, the breath in music is obvious; after all, you have to breathe in order to sing! Wind instruments are a natural extension of singing and utilize the breath in much the same way. The bow of the violin or cello also mimics the continuity of breath in music. When it comes to the piano, while breathing isn’t a part of the technique for tone production, it is intrinsic to the music as much as it is with singing.

In the video you can see how adding a sense of breath can enhance the music and bring it life. Without the sense of the breath, you lose the human element that makes listening to and playing the piano enriching, not just a mechanical endeavor.

All instruments are basically a representation of the human voice and adding this to your music is something that is essential in making it lively and exciting. I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions about this topic or any other, please email me Robert@LivingPianos.com for more information.

What is Breath in Music? Part 2 – Piano Demonstration

A number of years ago we had a video that discussed Breath In Music and if you want to get a general overview of the subject you may enjoy watching that video. Recently, someone requested that I produce a video that gives a demonstration of this conc

Welcome to the 4th part in our ongoing series on the Burgmuller Studies for piano. If you want to catch up on the past lessons here they are: Part 1 (La Candeur), Part 2 (L’Arabesque), and Part 3 (La Pastorale). Today we are going to be covering “Ballade” which is a wonderful piece for intermediate students that provides impressive music to perform.

The biggest challenge with this piece is going past just playing the right notes rhythm and fingering and putting some life into this music! The secret to making this piece come alive is in how you approach the phrasing and expression – particularly the dynamics. It’s not just about which notes are played, but how they are played.

This piece is in an A B A form, meaning there is a section at the beginning that repeats at the end with a middle contrasting section.

It’s important to articulate the staccatos in the right hand while maintaining a smooth legato in the left hand. These are essential principles that we’ve have talked about before: How to Play Staccato on the Piano, How to Play Piano: It’s all in the Wrist and How to Play Piano: Arm’s Equal Power and depth.

You need to learn when to play from the arm, when to utilize the fingers, and when to play from the wrist; these are fundamental skills for developing a first-class technique on the piano. It’s important to keep your fingers close to the keys when playing fast, and utilizing the wrist for short staccato notes.

As always, I recommend that you practice your music slowly and build up notch by notch on the metronome developing security in your playing. This will help keep your rhythm precise. As you progress faster, you will find it necessary to play with a lighter touch in order to accommodate more speed. When playing faster, keep your fingers closer to the keys and utilize the wrist for staccato notes.

The middle section of this piece has a slow lyrical line in the right hand with staccato 8th note chords in the left hand that is played lightly from the wrist.

In the left hand you make sure to keep your fingers close to the keys (less than an inch above) and play from the wrist – otherwise, it will be too heavy and will overtake the delicate right-hand melody.

In the right hand, you will utilize the weight of your arms to create a fluid line. You will need to play with substantial arm weight even though these notes are played piano. Ask any wind player and they will tell you that playing a quiet line takes as much energy, sometimes, even more, to play quietly; the same applies to the piano. Let your arms sink into the bottom of the keys and you will notice the lovely singing legato this produces as you transfer the weight smoothly from note to note.

The most challenging part of this piece is the ending. There is no shortcut to mastering this section. You must practice slowly at first and work your way up with the metronome. This section takes a commitment of time to master.

When you’re practicing with the metronome at slower speeds you will want to raise your fingers to delineate the notes. Play at a comfortably slow metronome speed until you feel secure and can play numerous times without problems. Move the metronome up one notch and start again. Keep doing this until you reach the desired speed. It is a great way to perfect your performance.

If you are having trouble, try practicing hands individually (WATCH: The Right Way to Practice Your Music). This will enable you to hear each hand separately listening for the evenness of the notes. Another great technique is playing the hands 2 octaves apart so you can hear things more clearly.

This is a really great piece for students and the music is rewarding. I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions about this piece or any other please email me Robert@LivingPianos.com for more information.

Piano Lesson – The Burgmuller Ballade – Part 4

Welcome to the 4th part in our ongoing series on the Burgmuller Studies for piano. If you want to catch up on the past lessons here they are: Part 1 (La Candeur), Part 2 (L’Arabesque), and Part 3 (La Pastorale). Today we are going to be covering &#

How Many Parts are There in a Piano?

It’s fascinating to think about how many parts there are in the average piano. Think about how many string there are, how many keys there are, and then how many moving parts are involved with each press of a key; it’s daunting to think of just ho

What is the Right Size Piano for Your Home?

You’d think that finding the right size piano for your home would be an easy thing to figure out. You might assume that the room size dictates what size piano you should get. There is actually quite a bit more to it. Two issues to deal with when bu

Fingering Patterns and Hand Positions

To sum up the idea behind that lesson, you should try to break down your music to chords wherever possible. By doing this you will be able to take in as many notes as you can in a hand position so you don’t have to jump around more than necessary.

The first piece I use in the video is Bach’s Prelude in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I. I picked this piece because it is simply a series a broken chords – which makes it easy to demonstrate this lesson.

When you approach this piece, try playing block chords first instead of playing as written. It looks like this:

By grabbing as many notes as you can, it makes the piece much easier to learn and makes fingering choices obvious.

The trouble begins when you have to change hand positions.

For example, in the second movement of the Pathetique Sonata by Beethoven, when the first theme finishes, it repeats an octave higher. How do you approach this with the chord technique?

You see in the highlighted section that the piece goes up an octave. There is a technique for handling sections like this when you’re breaking down into chords. You figure out a “pivot note” to switch to a new hand position that gets over the new chord. Typically it’s a third or fourth finger crossing or as in this case, a thumb crossing. This instantly puts you in a new hand position!

Notice the position of my hands, as soon as I hit middle C, I am over the next chord.

By using this technique of identifying pivot notes to switch hand positions, it will guide your fingering choices.

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions about this topic or any others, please contact us at: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Piano Lesson – The Essentials of Fingering

Today we are going to discuss a very important topic, the essentials of fingering on the piano. We are going to use a couple of pieces as an example so you will benefit from watching the accompanying video. Fingering on the piano is one of the most i

I often encourage my students to explore different styles of music. If you want to have a career performing music it helps a lot to have many different talents and styles available. One of my students, Bijan Taghavi who just turned 16 has been studying piano with me for many years. He has performed incredibly complex pieces, has won competitions and even performed concertos with symphony orchestras. (Here is a performance he gave last year when he was 15 playing the Grieg Piano Concerto.) Recently he has gotten into learning and performing jazz – here is a performance of him playing Summertime as a Tribute to Oscar Peterson on KX 93.5 in Los Angeles, California. Has it hurt his classical playing? Not at all. The big challenge he faces is having enough time to keep learning both styles of music! On top of that he is also an accomplished guitarist and bass player! Good luck Bijan!

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Does Playing Jazz Hurt Your Classical Music Skills?

This is an incredibly common question and there are a lot of opinions on the subject. I have to admit, I do have a viewpoint which I am happy to share with you. I know a lot of teachers and I’ve known some over the years who worry when their studen

The earliest pianos had far fewer keys. The earliest pianos had around 5 octave of keys (about 60 keys). Harpsichords (the predecessor to the piano) had different numbers of keys – sometimes even two keyboards! Near the end of the 19th century, 85 keys became the defacto standard for most pianos.

By the end of the 1800’s the piano had settled on 88 keys as a standard and the vast majority of pianos produced today feature 88 keys. However, there are pianos made today that have more than 88 keys!

The Imperial Concert Grand Bosendorfer piano has 97 keys! On this particular piano the extra keys have the colors reversed – the black keys are white and the white keys are black so you can distinguish the extra keys from the standard 88 keys.

There are some pieces composers have written that include those lower notes, but this is very rare. So why would you even want these other keys if they don’t really serve a purpose for 99% of the music you encounter?

The existence of these extra keys and strings enhances the sound of the piano. When you depress the sustain pedal, the extra bass strings resonate adding richness to the tone. And the extra notes are available if you are so inclined to add them to your music.

Is 97 the most number of keys on a piano? Not by a long shot! The Australian piano manufacturer Stuart and Sons manufactures a piano with 102 keys! I have not had a chance to play one of these pianos but I would love to have the opportunity.

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions about this topic or any others, please contact us at: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What’s the Most Amount of Keys on a Piano?

The standard number of keys on a piano today is 88; but if you’re familiar with the history of the piano, you know that this standard developed over a long period of time. The earliest pianos had far fewer keys. The earliest pianos had around 5 oct