rhapsodydmb
BETA BLOCKERS: ONE OPTION TO HELP WHEN YOUR BODY BETRAYS YOU IN PIANO LESSONS OR PERFORMANCE
My body betrayed me a few years ago during lessons with two piano teachers. One was my third teacher since taking up piano lessons after...
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Rhapsodydmb.com
A soft place to land to read poetry & stories about music & share our love of piano adventures!
rhapsodydmb
- Jul 2
- 7 min
CORRECTING THE ERRANT FINGER - OR ACHIEVING THE DESIRED AUDITORY EFFECT OF A PASSAGE: TWO UNIQUE VISUALIZATION OR "SENSING" SOLUTIONS
There is pain in learning the piano. And there are solutions to reduce the hurt. I'm not talking about tendinitis pain which I battled...
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rhapsodydmb
- Apr 11
- 4 min
CURIOSITY IN LIFE AND MUSIC
"The recognition, pursuit, and desire to explore novel, complex, uncertain, and ambiguous events" is as good a definition of "curiosity"...
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rhapsodydmb
- Jan 17
- 4 min
"YA JUST GOTTA LAUGH" - MAINLY AT YOURSELF IF YOU'RE A PIANO STUDENT!
"Everyone has a belief system ("B.S."); the trick is to learn not to take anyone's B.S. too seriously, especially your own." - Robert...
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rhapsodydmb
- Jan 5
- 5 min
IS THE FIRST THE BEST?
My November music-themed birthday party table decorations; photo courtesy of guest Grace Hueunemann. Thelonius Monk always said that the...
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rhapsodydmb
- Dec 23, 2023
- 6 min
EMBRACE "GOALS" - ESCHEW "RESOLUTIONS" and CONCENTRATE ON "THE GOOD"
New Year's Resolutions represent the ultimate folly as far as human beings and my personal experience go. I've learned not to bother;...
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rhapsodydmb
- Nov 29, 2023
- 7 min
THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES: TAKE TWO
Above is Rocket, my cat Tipsy's boyfriend, pausing under mentor Joe's gorgeous "Sir B" (seven foot special Beethoven edition Bosendorfer...
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rhapsodydmb
- Sep 17, 2023
- 4 min
THE DIGNITY OF "TRIVIAL LITTLE PIECES"
If famed cellist Pablo Casals could do it – so can I! While Vivian Mackie was studying cello with Pablo Casals in Spain in the early...
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rhapsodydmb
- Aug 6, 2023
- 5 min
A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE: AGE AS A BLESSING OF CREATIVE OPPORTUNITY...OR ONLY A DEATH SENTENCE?
Am I past my "sell by" date? Let's just start out with a never-ending stereotype of what aging means in America today, by citing this...
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rhapsodydmb
- Jul 11, 2023
- 6 min
TEACHING ADULTS (ANDRAGONY) VS. YOUTH (PEDAGOGY)
Are we adult piano students horses of a different color when it comes to lessons taken up in later life? Are there different ways we...
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rhapsodydmb
- Jun 17, 2023
- 2 min
THE JOY OF "PRACTICING"
I was recently talking with a piano teacher who hails from Kentucky, when she corrected something I had said. I mentioned "practicing"...
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rhapsodydmb
- May 10, 2023
- 5 min
THERE IS SOMETHING PERSONAL IN CRITICISM
In the world of "separate knowing," criticism is not personal. The knowers "must accept it with equanimity," explain the authors of the...
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rhapsodydmb
- Apr 23, 2023
- 2 min
SELF-CONFIDENCE IS OVER RATED
I wonder if pianists of top calibur like Yuja Wang (pictured here at a March 2023 symphony where I heard her play Rachmaninoff's Third...
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rhapsodydmb
- Apr 11, 2023
- 4 min
"COMPLICITE" AKA "PARTNERSHIP"
Reading the French word "complicite" (accent aigu) had a powerful impact on my understanding about the learning environment when it comes...
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rhapsodydmb
- Apr 2, 2023
- 4 min
HOW JUSTICE & AMBIVALENCE CAN MOTIVATE PERSISTENCE & REDUCE STRESS IN LESSONS & PERFORMANCE
Theories in the field of psychology about motivation are vast. What can we use to motivate ourselves toward lessons with a goal of...
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rhapsodydmb
- Mar 30, 2023
- 5 min
THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES, AND MAKES MUSIC LIVE!
The COCA-COLA company claims that "Advertising slogans are a part of everyday life for consumers around the world,and Coca-Cola has...
43 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Mar 26, 2023
- 6 min
PLAYING WHAT ONE LOVES, BUT LISTENING TO ALL
One of the principal elements I seek in any piano teacher with whom I work, is that I be allowed to choose the pieces I want to learn,...
54 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Mar 5, 2023
- 4 min
HOW TO USE YOUTUBE - & - THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
HOW TO USE YOUTUBE: Cello teacher Hans Jorgen Jensen (from Denmark) taught me the "right" way to use many performances on YouTube to...
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rhapsodydmb
- Mar 3, 2023
- 4 min
PERFORMANCE IN THE FACE OF PUSH-BACK
Joe, my neighbor-piano mentor friend pictured here before he played my Duchess, loves to prepare for months for his student recital every...
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rhapsodydmb
- Mar 2, 2023
- 4 min
WHY IS DEFINING THE ELEMENTS OF PIANISM SO DIFFICULT?
Why is explaining how do make something happen on the piano, or what a term in the piano vocabulary means, so difficult for my piano...
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