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Current and Upcoming Video Releases

3 session series on playing and teaching Schumann

Playing and Teaching Schumann

Catherine Kautsky

The Beginning Piano Playing and Teaching series is a year-long series that will attempt to address some of the most important elements of piano playing and teaching. We will explore many topics, starting with some philosophical ones such as why we teach, what are the most important things that we need to consider in teaching, what it means to lay a solid foundation, etc. We will then address topics related to learning and playing, such as how to teach reading skills, or how to develop solid and healthy technical skills from the beginning.

We will introduce important concepts and skills using an extensive list of original repertoire composed by the finest composers. You will not only explore new repertoire but, more importantly, also build up a personal library with outstanding teaching materials that are relatively under-used. We will present teaching videos, writings, interviews, lesson observations offered by pianists, teachers, and world renown pedagogues from the past and present. It will be a rich learning experience for all.

Many of our teaching presentations will integrate different learning objectives. Some learning objectives can’t be separated. Reading, techniques, listening skills, and musicianship are all interconnected with each other. Both holistic and analytical approaches will be used. The demonstrations can be great examples of how to think about and explain various concepts, and can be directly applied to one’s own teaching or playing.

Even though beginning piano skills are the main focus for this series, the series is designed to benefit all levels of teachers and pianists. It addresses skills and topics that are essential at many different stages of development for pianists. Many of us have deficiencies in our background. Sometimes, the best way to advance our playing is to simply fill the gaps: to learn what we have missed learning earlier, and to revisit and renew the skills that need to be strengthened. Some of the skills covered are relevant to even the most advanced pianists.

These are some of the topics we will explore together:
The teacher and pupil, first lessons, vocabularies, on reading, on techniques, on touch and sound, on rhythm, on fingerings, on pedal, on repertoire, on public performance, on competition, importance of building a library, short works, on music interpretation, on musicianship among others

We hope that this will be a part of your advancement in teaching and playing in 2023. We believe that you will not be disappointed.

Beginning Piano Playing and Teaching

Presentations, Writings and Interviews by World Class Musicians and Teachers

An Internationally renowned Bach interpreter and one of the most authoritative voices on playing Bach, Prof. Yuan Sheng takes us on a journey into the world of Bach Two parts inventions. One by one, he will guide us through each masterpiece by looking into some of the most fundamental issues in playing Bach. You will not only explore the essential principles of playing Bach, but also receive tips on teaching and playing each invention. All are part of building up your understanding of playing Bach.

This is a course for all pianists, teachers, and music lovers, no matter your level.

Topics discussed include:
Bach’s compositional writing
What does it mean by “cantabile” playing, and how to do it?
Baroque Fingering
Padeling
Phrasing in Bach’s music
Ornamentation
Legato Playing and Finger Pedaling
Articulations
Balancing of Hands
Listening skills

And more..

Fundamentals on Performing and Teaching Bach Inventions - A 16-session series

Yuan Sheng

Increase Student Success with Research-Based Practical Tips

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Technic-Building is a 6-session series of short, information-packed presentations focused on building essential skills for robust learning, productive practice, and confident performance.

Each session will highlight research-based practice strategies. But we won’t stop there. We’ll work together on a range of different exercises and approaches proven to improve student practice habits. You’ll experience a variety of practice methods that aren’t limited to technic-building but also shape expressive interpretation. We'll discuss their application to real-life student performance. You’ll understand how to assimilate them into daily practice.

Session 1 First Week of Learning
We’ll discuss the most important learning skill for beginners: how to practice
You’ll hear about sea slugs and their learning habits
We’ll talk about mistakes. Is there such a thing as an “honest mistake”?
You’ll understand the magic of “chunking”

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Performance Session 1 First Week of Learning

Scott McBride Smith

Increase Student Success with Research-Based Practical Tips

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Technic-Building is a 6-session series of short, information-packed presentations focused on building essential skills for robust learning, productive practice, and confident performance.

Each session will highlight research-based practice strategies. But we won’t stop there. We’ll work together on a range of different exercises and approaches proven to improve student practice habits
You’ll experience a variety of practice methods that aren’t limited to technic-building but also shape expressive interpretation. We'll discuss their application to real-life student performance. You’ll understand how to assimilate them into daily practice.

Session 2 Sports Experts Teach You How to Improve Piano Practice
You’ll learn about the importance of “desirable difficulty”
We’ll see why embracing mistakes is an important step to growth
You’ll discover how to balance praise and with correction and limit talk
You’ll encounter the “sandwich” teaching model
We’ll investigate “automaticity”: how to make it work for your students and when to change it up

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Performance Session 2 Sports Experts Teach You How to Improve

Scott McBride Smith

Increase Student Success with Research-Based Practical Tips

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Technic-Building is a 6-session series of short, information-packed presentations focused on building essential skills for robust learning, productive practice, and confident performance.

Each session will highlight research-based practice strategies. But we won’t stop there.
We’ll work together on a range of different exercises and approaches proven to improve student practice habits. You’ll experience a variety of practice methods that aren’t limited to technic-building but also shape expressive interpretation. We'll discuss their application to real-life student performance. You’ll understand how to assimilate them into daily practice.

Session 3 Practice Challenges and Solutions
We’ll ask: is traditional teacher-centered pedagogy always the right choice?
We’ll explore what students tell us about why they don’t practice
You’ll learn how to improve student willpower
We’ll discover how the “illusion of explanatory depth” affects practice
You’ll realize the importance of student-completed tasks
We’ll discuss how to move from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Performance Session 3 Practice Challenges and Solutions

Scott McBride Smith

Increase Student Success with Research-Based Practical Tips

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Technic-Building is a 6-session series of short, information-packed presentations focused on building essential skills for robust learning, productive practice, and confident performance.

Each session will highlight research-based practice strategies. But we won’t stop there.
We’ll work together on a range of different exercises and approaches proven to improve student practice habits. You’ll experience a variety of practice methods that aren’t limited to technic-building but also shape expressive interpretation. We'll discuss their application to real-life student performance. You’ll understand how to assimilate them into daily practice.

Session 4 Your Brain on Practicing
You’ll investigate the specifics of brain learning
You’ll understand how to supercharge your students’ learning and reinforce the correct neural pathways
You’ll discover the three categories of practice
We’ll explore how to counteract the “illusion of mastery”
You’ll learn practical problem-solving techniques

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Performance Session 4 Your Brain on Practicing

Scott McBride Smith

Increase Student Success with Research-Based Practical Tips

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Technic-Building is a 6-session series of short, information-packed presentations focused on building essential skills for robust learning, productive practice, and confident performance.

Each session will highlight research-based practice strategies. But we won’t stop there.
We’ll work together on a range of different exercises and approaches proven to improve student practice habits. You’ll experience a variety of practice methods that aren’t limited to technic-building but also shape expressive interpretation. We'll discuss their application to real-life student performance. You’ll understand how to assimilate them into daily practice.

Session 5 Pavlovian Perfection and Bernsteinian Practice
We’ll learn how to utilize conditioned stimuli and responses in teaching
You’ll discover how to encourage differentiation and delay habituation
You’ll acquire knowledge about building automaticity and making it robust in changing environments
We’ll discuss “repetition without repetition”

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Performance Session 5 Pavlovian Perfection and Bernsteinian Practice

Scott McBride Smith

Increase Student Success with Research-Based Practical Tips

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Technic-Building is a 6-session series of short, information-packed presentations focused on building essential skills for robust learning, productive practice, and confident performance.

Each session will highlight research-based practice strategies. But we won’t stop there.
We’ll work together on a range of different exercises and approaches proven to improve student practice habits. You’ll experience a variety of practice methods that aren’t limited to technic-building but also shape expressive interpretation. We'll discuss their application to real-life student performance. You’ll understand how to assimilate them into daily practice.

Session 6 Problem Solving and Technic Building Famous Musicians
We’ll uncover how famous teachers and performers over the last 200 years use “practice devices” to build technic:

Chopin’s deep interest in effective fingering
Liszt’s scale practice secrets
Slow practice pros and cons: the experts opine
Rudolph Ganz’s Mirror Exercises
Vladimir Horowitz’s Opposite Practice
Practicing in rhythms, its many variations, and Adele Marcus’s preference for a different approach
Erna Gulabyan’s doubled pairs practice
Scott McBride Smith’s balance and voicing exercises
Frank Merrick and Delayed Continuity practice

Improve Your Students’ Practice and Performance Session 6 Problem Solving and Technic Building Famous Musicians

Scott McBride Smith

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