Golliwog’s Cakewalk, is the final movement of the 6 movement, Children’s Corner Suite. This piece has great significance for me. Some of you may know that I have somewhat small hands. Fortunately, I have a solid octave, and can reach most ninths comfortably. But as a child, my hands were very small, and weak.

When I was 13 years old, I learned and performed the complete Children’s Corner Suite which was a milestone for me. My father had many students who had far more developed technique at the piano than I had at the time. But, I was always able to create a great variety of tonal colors which worked incredibly well for Debussy.

However, at the end of the entire suite, Golliwog’s Cakewalk ends with a crashing lowest B-flat octave on the piano in the left hand, with the right hand adding a third E-flat. The octave was so anemic, my father had me play just two E-flats two octaves apart. Even then, my weak fingers couldn’t produce a suitably big sound to end this epic piece. So he had me use all my fingers curled up together in each hand to get some oomph at the end of this wonderful suite!

A Cakewalk was a popular dance form at the time this piece was written. You may notice a rather strange middle section. There is an interesting story to this! Debussy was one of the great composers of the French Impressionist style of music. This was in great contrast to the late Romantic, German style. There was a rivalry between Debussy and Wagner. The slow, middle section of Golliwog’s Cakewalk pokes fun at the very dramatic Tristan theme from Wagner’s opera, Tristan & Isolda. You can listen for the statement of the theme followed by what sounds like chuckling! Then the music transcends back to the cakewalk. Hope you enjoy this delightful piece!

Thanks for listening!

Debussy – Golliwog’s Cakewalk – Performed by Robert Estrin, Pianist

Golliwog’s Cakewalk, is the final movement of the 6 movement, Children’s Corner Suite. This piece has great significance for me. Some of you may know that I have somewhat small hands. Fortunately, I have a solid octave, and can reach most ninths

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The topic for today is about the most important aspect of music. What is the most important aspect of music? There are so many things, such as texture, melody, instrumentation, orchestration, and pitch. But what is the most important thing?

Rhythm is by far the most important aspect of music.

I’m going to prove this to you in several ways that give you some historical context. If you heard the notes of a very familiar piece without a rhythmic context, it would be difficult to decipher what it was. It wouldn’t sound like much of anything because rhythm is a vitally important part of music. So let’s break this down a little bit. Think about the trajectory of music, starting with the Classical era of Mozart, Haydn, and later, Beethoven. There was a structure and a firm grasp of harmony that actually grew from Bach and earlier composers, with Bach chorales and all the rules of harmony, and basically major and minor chords. Harmony grew into the Romantic period, with composers such as Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. And later, Romantic music got even more chromatic with Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Rachmaninoff. Eventually, tonality got to the point where keys were shifting constantly until it broke down to the 12 tone system, originally developed by Arnold Schoenberg, which used all 12 tones arranged in a random order called a tone row.

There are only 12 different notes in music!

How many different possible arrangements are there of 12 tones? Well, 144. Think about the vast majority of all Western music from before the Baroque era through to contemporary times, it’s all based upon just those 12 notes. This makes you realize how derivative melodies would be without the advent of rhythm. Rhythmic variety is what really separates melodies. So with the 12 tone system, you take those 12 tones and arrange them in some order called a tone row. Imagine building a piece out of that! Well, that’s exactly what Schoenberg did. Not only that, in trying to randomize music, not only were pitches randomized to avoid repeated patterns, but even rhythms were randomized trying to serialize the repetition of all elements. Now, this music is brilliant in its composition, but extraordinarily difficult to hear because atonal music is harder to digest than intervals that are more closely related. You can hear octaves, which are a 2 to 1 relationship, or fifths, a 3 to 1 relationship, very easily. But more distantly related intervals can be very hard to hear. Atonal music, by its very nature, is difficult to decipher. When you start randomizing other elements, like rhythm, textures, and dynamics, the music is even harder to grasp because of its random elements. This is why rhythm comes to the rescue in most music.

The revolution away from serialized music, like I just described, was the advent of minimalism.

Minimalism has a return of rhythmic elements in a new way. The brilliance of minimalism with composers like Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams, was the nested combination of different patterns, overlapping with one another, creating beautiful kaleidoscopes of sound. Once again, we see the intrinsic element of rhythm. Whereas you had Baroque music using subjects in fugues that were intertwined with countersubject, in Classical period music, there were formal structures such as sonata allegro form, but with rhythmic elements firmly in place. That broke down in atonal music in the 20th century. Then finally, minimalism to the rescue! With minimalism you could once again decipher and grasp what you were listening to.

What about microtonal music?

The reason we have the 12 tones is because the overtone series is built upon these essential 12 notes. If you were to listen to any vibrating pitched object, you’re always going to get the same series of notes. The overtone series has your basic diatonic notes. They’re not arranged as a scale, but they’re the same notes. Now, on a tempered tuned piano, all the pitches are slightly off. So much music, whether it’s Persian music or Native American music or Indian music, has notes between the notes. But they still are largely pure tones found in the overtone series. These are mathematical relationships that are part of nature, which we can discern with our ears quite easily. So when you have arbitrary divisions of pitches, for example, quarter steps, notes between the notes, this isn’t something that has any real validity in the nature of sound.

So this is the argument that rhythm is the most intrinsically important element that makes music have meaning.

Without rhythm, and with only 12 tones, everything is derivative of everything else. But rhythm, by its very nature, has almost an infinite variety of possibilities because of all the divisions of time that are possible. That adds so many elements to composition! Let me know how you feel about this here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

What Is the Most Important Aspect of Music? (It’s Not Pitch!)

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The topic for today is about the most important aspect of music. What is the most important aspect of music? There are so many things, such as texture, melody, instrumentation, orchestration, and

The Scriabin Etude in D-sharp minor from opus 8 has a very special meaning for me. My father, Morton Estrin, was the first person to record the entire Scirabin Etudes opus 8 in the late 1960’s for Connoisseur Society Records which won many accolades including record of the year. He later re-recorded the entire set on CD for Newport Classics. Both recordings remain a legacy of these monumental works.

After leaving my native New York to study with Ruth Slenczynska at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, she had me study the last etude in the opus 8, the D-sharp minor. At the time, it was in many ways the most difficult piece I had ever tackled. What was an incredible learning experience for me was that unlike other pieces I had learned, I could not use a purely linear approach in memorizing the score.

I had studied difficult pieces before, such as the Chopin G Ballade, and Liszt 6th Hungarian Rhapsody. In those works, there were key sections that I learned early on so that by the time I got to them, they were already coming along well. But for the most part, I learned them from the beginning to the end, mastering small sections at a time, connecting sections as I went. But with the Scriabin, things were different!

At first, I could connect two measure phrases to one another, but couldn’t play any four measure phrases! But I persevered. I kept learning even though I couldn’t play through the score. Eventually, I could play four measure phrases, but still couldn’t play a fluid performance. Finally, I could play this piece! But it took a new level of study in order to absorb this dense score.

ADVANCED MEMORIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR PIANO

Scriabin Etude in D-sharp minor from opus 8 – Performed by Robert Estrin, Pianist

The Scriabin Etude in D-sharp minor from opus 8 has a very special meaning for me. My father, Morton Estrin, was the first person to record the entire Scirabin Etudes opus 8 in the late 1960’s for Connoisseur Society Records which won many acco

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The topic for today is about why you must strike from above in your piano playing. However, this is not always the case. I’m referring to a very specific technique. In fact, striking from above can create a harsh, unpleasant sound in some circumstances.

When playing large chords, striking from above can sound brash.

When you strike from above using the arms, you have no control and end up with a crass sound. Instead, what you want to do is strike from the surface of the keys and drop the weight of your arms all at once. By doing so, you will achieve a gorgeous sound that will not be harsh no matter how hard you play.

Should you strike from above when doing finger work?

For slow practice, raised fingers can be a good way to delineate which fingers are up and down, so you get clean releases of notes. This is useful when practicing scales and arpeggios. However, when playing more quickly, you must stay right on top of the keys without raised fingers or you’ll never gain the speed. But to practice the release of notes, practicing with delineated fingers down with other fingers up and out of the way is a terrific exercise, akin to stretching before working out, as I’ve discussed before.

The real place where striking from above is vitally important is with staccato!

When practicing slowly, you might be tempted to play with your fingers close to the keys. The problem with this is that you won’t get the crisp staccato you’re aiming for. Playing faster using that technique will produce a muddy sound. Striking from above gives you a crisp staccato sound. So, you must strike from above in your slow practice to prepare yourself to play quickly and achieve precision and power in your staccatos.

It’s the wrist that is doing all the work.

Make sure you don’t let your fingers go down to notes before you play them. You want to strike from above in one smooth motion using your wrist. That way, you get the clarity of the staccato and the power from the wrist. Another thing to avoid is using the arms for the up and down motion. The arms are too big and heavy, which will result in a clumsy sound. You won’t get the crisp sound you desire. The arms are too slow, and it just bogs down. You should move the arms side to side to get over the right keys, but there should be no up and down motion.

You can achieve a light staccato with the wrist as well.

By utilizing the wrist staying closer to the keys, you can get a light, fast staccato as well. So remember: for more power, use more motion, and for light, crisp staccato, use smaller wrist motion. But always use the wrists when trying to achieve a short, crisp sound.

So that’s the tip for the day!

Remember to strike from above in your staccato, and you will be rewarded with a crisp sound. Doing this, you can achieve speed, fluency, power, and lightness. I hope this has been helpful for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

Should You Strike From Above in Your Piano Playing?

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The topic for today is about why you must strike from above in your piano playing. However, this is not always the case. I’m referring to a very specific technique. In fact, striking from ab

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about how faster isn’t always louder. It may seem obvious that playing faster does not mean playing louder. But you would be surprised at how much of the time when you see a crescendo, you naturally speed up! This can be detrimental to your playing for so many reasons. Let me give you an example from Clementi’s Sonatina in C major Opus 36 no 1. In the second line of the piece, there’s a crescendo. Many pianists struggle with this passage because they tend to speed up during the crescendo, making it even more challenging to play. So, how can you mitigate this problem?

Always trust the metronome.

Work with a metronome to ensure that you maintain a steady tempo throughout the piece. You may find that as soon as you get to the crescendo, the metronome seems to be dragging. Well, drag along with it! The metronome is king. By following the metronome, you will be able to play with more security. When performing the piece, it’s natural to feel a bit excited, which can cause you to speed up during crescendos. To counteract this, you can intentionally slow down slightly when you find yourself playing faster. However, you must also check your work with a metronome to make sure you’re not overcompensating and slowing down too much.

Sometimes, getting faster during crescendos can be called for.

This is especially true in 19th-century music where rubato is used to create a sense of ebb and flow. Sometimes it can actually work, so long as then the pendulum swings the other way as it gets softer. Rubato can be effective in that respect. However, you must be careful not to lose or gain time on the beat. Practicing with a metronome is essential for ensuring that you stay on track.

Fingering is of vital importance.

Good fingering is fundamental. One of the best ways to discover good fingering is by playing in chords. By playing in chords, your fingers naturally fall on the right keys. You will know what fingering is going to be most effective by working in groups of notes played together in chords whenever possible in your music. It also gives you an opportunity to understand the harmonic underpinnings of your music. You can practice in different rhythms, accents, or in groups of notes. Each of these techniques will help you to assimilate your music. I hope this has been helpful for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

Faster is Not Louder

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about how faster isn’t always louder. It may seem obvious that playing faster does not mean playing louder. But you would be surprised at how much of the time when you s

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s topic is about how to take your musical phrases further. One of the biggest challenges when playing lyrical music is controlling the ends of phrases to achieve a nice diminuendo, such as in the second movement of Clementi’s Sonatina in C major Opus 36, no. 1.

I like to play simple, effective trills that can be negotiated easily.

You don’t have to be distracted by highly ornamented trills. It’s not necessary to get the beauty of this music. Trills are left up to you. If you want to play more notes, go ahead. But don’t spend an inordinate amount of time on playing fast trills. Instead, concentrate on the beauty of the music and creating a singing line. Of course, the challenge of this movement, like so much other music, is twofold. You want to have melody above accompaniment throughout, and you also want to have the rise and fall of each phrase.

The secret to being able to control phrase endings to make them quiet is to peak later in your music.

Remember to start softly so you can grow in the middle of the phrase. You can keep growing further than the middle of the phrase. If you peak in the middle, instead of later in the phrase, it is very difficult to end the phrase quietly. Not only is it hard to control, but it also loses intensity and support. It sounds like a singer who doesn’t have enough air at the end of a phrase. Once again, it’s all about utilizing arm weight. You can look at some of my previous videos to understand what I’m talking about.

You can give the music more life by supporting the phrase further than the middle.

When you do this, the phrase endings have a nice taper. You won’t struggle to end the phrase without notes dropping out. Peak your phrases later so that the phrase endings can be beautifully controlled. You can make life so much easier for yourself while creating a longer musical line that projects all the way to the end of the phrase. You won’t have to worry about notes dropping out. So that’s the tip for today! I hope this has been helpful for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

How to Take Your Phrases Further in Music

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s topic is about how to take your musical phrases further. One of the biggest challenges when playing lyrical music is controlling the ends of phrases to achieve a nice diminuendo, suc

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about living in the comfort zone in your piano playing. Have you ever had a fast piece that you’re struggling to play fast? You have tension, but you want a beautiful, relaxed quality to your playing. You want to play with fluidity. You might wonder how to achieve this. If you keep struggling to play just a little bit faster than you are able to play with comfort and relaxation, you’ll never be able to achieve that kind of relaxed fluidity in your playing.

The secret is slow practice.

Find the speed at which you can play completely relaxed. It might surprise you how slowly you have to go in order to achieve that. The metronome is such an invaluable tool! Finding the speed at which you can play in a relaxed manner is the first step. You should have the score in front of you when you’re doing this kind of work. You may find that when you slow things down, you will realize you don’t know it as well as you thought you did. That’s why having the score in front of you and setting a metronome at a speed you can play your piece with absolute solidity is a great way to live in that comfort zone. Once you can play it at a slow tempo with total relaxation and accuracy, then you finally have the capability of speeding up your performance.

Slow practice is invaluable, but sometimes it’s hard to translate that slow playing to performance speed.

Another thing you can do is take small note groups and use extreme repetition to solidify the small section. You can take even just one or two notes! Keep playing them until you can play with complete relaxation. Then add other tiny note groups in the same relaxed manner. You can continue working this way through a passage or section of music.

These are two ways of approaching relaxation. Remember to go slowly enough that you can play with complete relaxation. Have the score in front of you so you can check your work. You’ll be surprised to learn what you know, and more importantly, what needs clarification in your playing. You can either play very slowly or you can take very small groups of notes and piece them together.

You’re working on two fronts!

One is to get a feel for what it’s going to be like when it’s up to tempo, even if you’re just playing small groups of notes that you string together. And the other one is to play at a slow tempo with complete security and relaxation. You live at that slow tempo! Live in the slow zone, in the comfort zone, and you’ll be rewarded with relaxation in your playing when you finally get things up to speed. I hope this has been helpful for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

Living in the Comfort Zone in Your Piano Playing

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about living in the comfort zone in your piano playing. Have you ever had a fast piece that you’re struggling to play fast? You have tension, but you want a beautiful, r

Brahms Intermezzo in A major op 118 no 2 – Robert Estrin, Pianist

This is one of the most beautiful works of Brahms performed on a hand-built August Forster grand piano manufactured in Germany. It was a piano we restored and sold which I enjoyed playing. It inspired this performance of this gorgeous work. Hope you

Hi, this is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com. Amazingly, there are hundreds of free pianos available all over the country. You can check out the links in the description below. But there’s so much more than that! What about free piano lessons? There are so many resources online, it’s unbelievable! You can check out what we have for you right here on LivingPianosVideos

There is a lot to consider here. The first question is:

Can you find an instrument for free that suits you, and if free video lessons are what you are after.

Some people may prefer a good, inexpensive digital piano. Again, there are countless resources online. Some people may resort to Craigslist.

But maybe you’re after a high level piano like a Steinway. But the prices have gotten out of reach for most people:

So, you may appreciate expertly restored American and European instruments from Living Pianos with top-tier instruments with free delivery anywhere in the continental United States! Aside from the thousands of free videos and articles on LivingPianos.com

I teach private lessons to students all over the world:

I was fortunate to grow up in a musical family. I also got to study with so many great pianists! So I enjoy sharing my passion for the piano.

I started teaching the piano while still in high school assisting my father with his teaching as my sister did before me. I got into selling pianos after graduating from music conservatory. Many people who contacted me for piano lessons didn’t have pianos! So I made it my business to find good used pianos which I had my piano technician put into good shape for them. There was such a demand for this sort of thing, and because of my extensive experience with pianos, people have relied upon me to help them with pianos ever since!

Teaching has been a continuum in my career which has many facets, from performing, to recording, as well as writing articles and making videos. So you can consider me your personal resource for information about pianos and piano lessons. Just email Robert@LivingPianos.com for a personalized response to help you! Thanks for joining me here at LivingPianos.comYour Online Piano Resource!

LINKS:

Piano Adoption

Piano Lessons – How to Play Piano

Digital Pianos

Craigslist

Steinway

Living Pianos

My Teachers:

John Ogdon

Ruth Slenczynska

Constance Keene

Morton Estrin

Free Pianos & Lessons!

Hi, this is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com. Amazingly, there are hundreds of free pianos available all over the country. You can check out the links in the description below. But there’s so much more than that! What about free piano lessons? The