Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

Welcome to an ongoing series about how to use the pedals on the piano. Today we are going to be covering the right pedal, commonly referred to as the damper or sustain pedal. This is the pedal you will be using most of the time while playing the piano and it’s a great place to start.

The question I get asked the most is when to use the pedal. While there are no absolutes, there are some general guidelines that you can follow. A basic rule that applies to nearly any type of music is that when the harmonies change, you must clear the pedal. If you don’t do this you will get clashing dissonance.

While the pedal shouldn’t be overused, it is a great way to enhance the tone of your music. We know that you should clear the pedal when there are new harmonies, but there is a wrong way and a right way to do this. When the harmonies change, you should release the pedal upwards – don’t push it down. This is very counterintuitive because you are probably used to tapping your foot and tapping down on the downbeat. The opposite is true for the damper pedal, you will want to bring your foot up and clear the pedal on the downbeats when harmonies change and put it right back down.

Another technique you should practice is to not push the pedal down before you begin. Pushing the pedal down before playing a note will result in an echoing sound. You should push the pedal down right after you play the note, but before your fingers are released. If you push the pedal down after you release your fingers it will not hold the notes.

These are the basic principles of pedaling and how you should be using the damper pedal. Practice these techniques and make sure that you are releasing the pedal on the downbeat of changing harmonies and push it down immediately after but before you release your fingers.

Thanks again for joining me and be on the lookout for future videos about the art of pedaling on the piano. Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

The Art of Pedaling on the Piano Part 1 – The Damper Pedal (Right Pedal)

Welcome to an ongoing series about how to use the pedals on the piano. Today we are going to be covering the right pedal, commonly referred to as the damper or sustain pedal. This is the pedal you will be using most of the time while playing the pian

Singing might often be overlooked by most musicians but it’s an essential component in musical development and education. When it comes to piano, you can produce a tone without hearing it first. Singing is the absolute opposite of this – you must hear the notes first or you can’t possibly sing them.

Singing lends more to music than you might think. Like we talked about in our video this week, the breath and the cyclical nature of things weave its way into music. Understanding this relationship is extremely beneficial to a pianist and that’s why if you are a piano major at a music conservatory, you will have to either play an instrument in the orchestra or sing in the choir. Adversely, if you play an instrument or sing in the choir, you will need to learn to play the piano!

The tone the piano produces is a sharp attack, a quick decay, and a slow descending sustain. Music, on the other hand, is produced in round phrases – much like singing or breathing. That’s why it’s always a good idea to sing along with your music while you are learning it. It might sound silly but it’s an extremely helpful tool to get you to understand how the music should be played and heard.

In the video accompanying this article, I play the Chopin Prelude in E minor. I demonstrate the benefits of singing the melody while playing the chords. By singing your parts you will start to understand the structure of the music like you never have before; it’s enlightening.

I really can’t recommend this technique enough. It’s something that every pianist must do as it helps enhance your understanding of music and will greatly benefit your playing. There is no substitute for this technique so even if you cringe at the sound of your own voice you should do yourself a favor and sing along – I guarantee it will help!

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

Why You MUST Sing your Music! Piano Lessons

Singing might often be overlooked by most musicians but it’s an essential component in musical development and education. When it comes to piano, you can produce a tone without hearing it first. Singing is the absolute opposite of this – you must

Everybody that is a fan of classical music has definitely heard this piece before. The massive chords complement the orchestra so well; the sound is incredible and powerful. Many people will attempt to play these chords but many people won’t play them correctly. In this lesson, I’m going to discuss how to play these chords and produce the desired sound.

If you watch any professional pianist on youtube or live you might notice that they move their arms up and down and look very animated as they play. Many people might not realize that this is done mostly for show and the actual sound is produced not by these exaggerated motions but once the fingers come in contact with the keys.

It doesn’t matter how big your piano is, you will always produce a better sound if you push from the surface of the keys. Producing more volume is simply a matter of producing more energy in the point of attack – not by striking the keys harder from above. Slapping the keys produces a very harsh sound and it’s also incredibly difficult to play accurately.

Try and play some chords on your piano by simply placing your fingers over the keys and pushing them into the key bed. Try just pushing down and don’t even strike the keys at all. You will be surprised at how loud and wonderful the sound can be just by using this technique.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

How to play the opening chords of the Tchaikovksy’s Piano Concerto

Everybody that is a fan of classical music has definitely heard this piece before. The massive chords complement the orchestra so well; the sound is incredible and powerful. Many people will attempt to play these chords but many people won’t play t

Active Tones and Restive Tones are the foundation of Western Harmony. If you haven’t seen it already, I really recommend watching a previous video I made about resolution:

This topic relates to it very well.

A long time ago before there was tonality, notes would meander around and there were some pretty melodies but you didn’t have notes with different power than others. All notes were essentially equal.

The best way to demonstrate the power behind tonality is to play a major scale and stop on the 7th note. Go to your piano and try this, you will find that you simply can’t stop – it might drive you crazy – but you will need to resolve and hit that last note. Modal music was much different because there were no raised leading tones – which meant you didn’t really need to resolve.

So getting back to the question, what are the Restive Tones? They are the 1, 3, and 5 notes in your respective key. If you play the other notes in the key you will find that they need to be resolved to either the 1, 3, or 5.

So what are the Active Tones? These are the other notes in your key besides the 1, 3, and 5. They are the notes that when played must be resolved to one of the restive tones.

In some ways, this is a simple subject with complex implications. Make sure to check out my other videos – specifically the one on resolution – to learn more.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

What are Active Tones and Restive Tones?

Active Tones and Restive Tones are the foundation of Western Harmony. If you haven’t seen it already, I really recommend watching a previous video I made about resolution: This topic relates to it very well. A long time ago before there was tonalit

As we discussed in Part 1 of this lesson, Bach wrote this “concerto” as a solo piece and it’s not what you would typically think of as a concerto (one instrument or a group of instruments with orchestra). To replicate the sound of a traditional concerto, Bach wrote dynamics for both hands throughout the piece. Last week we talked briefly about the first movement of the piece, today you will get some tips on the second movement.

In the right hand, you have a beautiful and luscious melody while the left hand is to be played very quietly. The right hand has an almost improvisational quality. Classical composers improvised quite a bit in their days, however, since recording technology wasn’t invented yet we really have no examples of what it sounded like. One could imagine that the right hand in the second movement of the Italian Concerto is a glimpse into the styling of Bach’s improvisational work.

The left hand in this piece has a repeated regular pattern of 8th notes and is a great place to focus as you begin learning the second movement. If you listen to the piece, you’ll notice that there is a nice steady beat to these notes. Think of it almost like a heartbeat that holds up the structure of the music.

When I play this piece, sometimes I use a little bit of pedal, sometimes I use no pedal at all. It’s always a great idea to practice without the pedal so it doesn’t act as a crutch. One way to approach without the pedal is to play the top notes of the thirds legato and the bottom notes more detached. This will help to bring out the clarity of the lines. The secret to this is utilizing good fingering. If done correctly, this will give the illusion that it’s two instruments playing together. Baroque music is personified by counterpoint and this is one example of that.

When it comes to the right hand, you should always remind yourself that the ornamentation should not affect the rhythm. You should play very expressively but don’t get that confused with changing tempo. Many times people will see trills and turns and think it means playing fast, which is not the case. Here you will want to play the lines very expressively, letting them stand out and playing them as beautifully as possible.

I’ve had numerous videos talking about the importance of the arms when playing piano; here is no different. You can use the weight of the arms – both left and right to create a nice balance and tone between the two hands. Use more weight in the right hand to bring out the melody.

Thanks again for joining me. I will be producing some much more thorough lessons in the near future on specific repertoire like this. If you would like to be notified when these become available please email me Robert@LivingPianos.com

How to Play the Bach Italian Concerto on Piano – Part 2

As we discussed in Part 1 of this lesson, Bach wrote this “concerto” as a solo piece and it’s not what you would typically think of as a concerto (one instrument or a group of instruments with orchestra). To replicate the sound of a traditional

Welcome to my ongoing series of lessons for specific repertoire. I have much more advanced lessons on piano pieces on the way. If you would like to be notified when these become available, please email me: Robert@Livingpianos.com.

This is an iconic piece by Bach and it has a very interesting history behind it. While it’s called the Italian Concerto, Bach never visited Italy! In fact, Bach was German and traveled very little in his life. A concerto is a piece of music with a group of instruments or a solo instrument with an accompanying orchestra. This piece is purely a solo work – there is no orchestra or even other instruments involved. So how can this be a concerto?

There is no doubt that Bach was a musical genius. He spent his life in Germany but would encounter many visiting musicians from other countries. He would make a point of listening to the music and the styles of different countries and cultures and he would then emulate that in some of his own works. He wrote French Suites, English Suites, and the Italian Concerto just by listening to visiting artists.

Bach was an incredibly busy man. He had over twenty children and at one time composed complete masses every week for not one, but two churches! Even though he left an incredible body of work, most of his music was all but forgotten after his death.

The great composer Felix Mendelssohn worked at the same church as Bach had a century earlier and uncovered many of Bach’s manuscripts. He is credited with bringing the music of Bach to the masses. Even though Bach’s existing work is immense and diverse, it actually represents a very small fraction of his actual output – most of which was lost forever. There are even urban legends of people wrapping fish in Bach manuscripts.

If you’ve ever seen Bach’s original compositions you would notice that there are almost no dynamics written in the scores. If you see anything written in it’s most likely an editorial suggestion. Bach probably did not write them. A huge exception to this, however, is the Italian Concerto; every single section has dynamics. Not only does the piece have dynamics throughout, they are actually written specifically for each hand.

Throughout the composition, each hand will either be playing forte or piano. Sometimes both hands will be forte or piano and on other occasions, one hand will play one dynamic while the other hand is the opposite. This is the way Bach achieved the quality and sound of a concerto with only a solo instrument – he created the effect of large and small groups in a solo keyboard work with different hands emulating solo and ensemble playing.

So what’s the best way to approach this work? Being a Baroque piece, you will not want to take many liberties with the tempo; practicing with a metronome is advised. You should be able to maintain a steady beat while playing this piece.

You should also pay very close attention to the dynamics. In fact, this is the first piece I ever learned to play on the harpsichord because it was easy to delineate which keyboard to play on a two-manual harpsichord. I set one of the keyboard registrations to be loud and the other to be soft, allowing a very easy flow from one keyboard to the other by following the dynamics written in the score.

The other aspect of this piece to pay very close attention to is the phrasing. In my previous lesson for Bach’s Minuet in G, I mention a technique for using the wrist with the staccato sections and being able to link the notes almost seamlessly in the legato sections. The same basic principle applies to this piece as well.

These are some general tips and next time I will be covering other movements of the piece. Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin: Robert@LivingPianos.com

How to Play the Bach Italian Concerto on Piano – Part 1

Welcome to my ongoing series of lessons for specific repertoire. I have much more advanced lessons on piano pieces on the way. If you would like to be notified when these become available, please email me: Robert@Livingpianos.com. This is an iconic p

When I first received this question from a viewer I thought immediately how the pedals can add color to your music. Then I began to think about the subject and realized that there are other ways to add color to your music beyond simply relying on the pedals. Certainly the impressionist music of Debussy and Ravel make creative use of pedals to color the music, but what is possible with the hands alone?

This article and accompanying video demonstrates how to add color to your music without using the pedals at all. A second video to follow will cover how to color your music with the pedals. In the video attached to this article, I demonstrate some techniques using Mozart’s C major K545 Sonata. It’s a great piece to use since the piano of Mozart’s time had no pedals!

One technique is how you balance the hands. Playing the melody stronger than the accompaniment immediately adds more flavor and color to the music. An easy way to achieve this is to simply apply more arm weight to the right hand while playing.

All instruments essentially imitate the human voice. However, with the piano, every time you play a note, it immediately begins to fade out. One thing I’ve noticed from listening to my wife Florence play the flute is that she will play higher notes with more breath and volume than lower notes. This is totally natural when singing or playing a wind instrument. One thing I learned from one of my great piano teachers, Ruth Slenczynska is that you can mimic this effect on the piano. Playing higher notes louder and lower notes softer will add a lot of color and expression to your music. You can also take a bit more time when you reach the higher notes to add a greater effect. You will create the sense of a singing line on the piano!

But let’s not forget about the left hand in all this. If you were using the pedal you could meld the notes to create a nicer sound. Yet without the pedal you can achieve this by holding selected notes with your fingers! Try holding the bottom note holding the first note in each group so it overlaps the following sixteenth notes. You will be rewarded with a rich sound!

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729. And be sure to look for part 2, which will cover techniques using the pedal.

How to Add Color to Your Piano Music – Part 1

When I first received this question from a viewer I thought immediately how the pedals can add color to your music. Then I began to think about the subject and realized that there are other ways to add color to your music beyond simply relying on the

When it comes to Hymns there is a general rule of thumb: once you can one you can pretty much play any of them! However, before you reading level has progressed it could be difficult to play any of them. The key to playing hymns is understanding the structure.

The first thing you must do is figure out what key you are in. Make sure you take note of the key signature and figure out what the tonalities are. It’s a lot like detective work trying to figure out the correct chords – and don’t worry, I will provide some helpful tips to allow you to avoid the music theory part of this.

Generally, these pieces are choral writing – soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Typically with your hands, you will play two voices with the left hand and two voices with the right hand. One secret is that it will be easier to play three voices with the right hand and just the bass with the left hand. This can be a little tricky because with choral writing the soprano and alto parts are always in the treble clef and the tenor and bass are always in the bass clef. However, choral writing always has a bigger distance between the bass and the tenor – from the bottom note to the other three notes than any other voices; it is often times more than an octave. Redistributing the hands is one way to make hymns a little easier.

Another valuable tip for approaching music above your reading level is to simplify the music. If you just want to get through something or gain some benefit from music above your reading or skill level this can be a helpful tool. You must remember that the melody and bass are fundamental – the bass is the structure and the melody is the song. To simplify the music, simply play only the top and bottom lines. In the video embedded above I provide an example of this. Say you are in a church setting and someone hands you some music, you won’t have time to learn it. However, if you just play the top and bottom lines and have a choir singing along with you, it will sound fine.

The good news is that by simplifying the music you will start to gain a better understanding of how the music is structured. This enables you to flesh out the inner voices much easier than you think. Maybe just add the alto voice eventually and leave out the tenor line. Experiment and see what works for you; expand and embellish your playing at a comfortable level.

Just remember that the most important thing is to get the melody and bass. If you can play those you will be in good shape. Once you feel a bit more comfortable start adding the other parts in gradually.

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

How to Play Hymns on the Piano

When it comes to Hymns there is a general rule of thumb: once you can one you can pretty much play any of them! However, before you reading level has progressed it could be difficult to play any of them. The key to playing hymns is understanding the

This past weekend I had the honor of teaching and performing for a group of talented young piano students in Escondido California on behalf of the MTAC (Music Teachers Association of California). This opportunity has given me time to reflect upon the importance of music education and I have some thoughts I would like to share with you.

I am lucky to have grown up in a musical household. My father Morton Estrin (www.mortonestrin.com) had an illustrious career as a concert pianist with dozens of recordings and hundreds of performances. He’s also a phenomenal teacher who’s had many successful students go on to professional careers in music. My mother was a music teacher in public schools – my sister is an accomplished pianist and successful teacher in Cleveland, and my wife is a concert flutist. My daughter and son are also musicians and pretty much everyone in my extended family is connected to the music world in one way or another. Needless to say, music is an incredibly important part of my life.

Unfortunately, music is commonly overlooked when it comes to public education. It seems like anytime there is a cutback in education funding, music is always one of the first things on the chopping block. It’s a shame there is a lack of music education available to young students – especially since studies have shown that learning a musical instrument actually helps with the development of the brain. There are so many benefits to music education and performance – from mental development to confidence building, to teamwork – there are countless ways that music education helps children and adults.

But beyond any of the benefits listed above, music is something that can bring joy to your life and the lives of those around you. Music is an art form and as such it’s a great way to express feelings and emotions and illicit reactions from those who hear it. Its unique expression enhances life.

Not everyone is going to be a professional musician, but that’s not the issue. With knowledge comes understanding; being able to appreciate the musical language and having an education about it only amplifies its effect on people. I’m sure those who have studied music for any length of time in their lives will tend to agree.

While music might be something that’s considered superfluous when it comes to budget cutting, it’s not something we should just disregard. It has many benefits beyond just learning to play an instrument. Please share any comments you have about this subject, it’s a very passionate one for me and I’m sure many others of you out there.

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

The Importance of Music Education

This past weekend I had the honor of teaching and performing for a group of talented young piano students in Escondido California on behalf of the MTAC (Music Teachers Association of California). This opportunity has given me time to reflect upon the