rhapsodydmb
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.com
A soft place to land to read poetry & stories about music & share our love of piano adventures!
rhapsodydmb
- Apr 12
- 4 min
EAST VS. WEST PIANO TEACHING METHODS
After almost two years of zoom lessons and a ton of YouTube research on music and "how to" technical skills since returning to the piano...
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rhapsodydmb
- Apr 11
- 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
- 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...
24 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Mar 30
- 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...
42 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Mar 26
- 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,...
51 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Mar 5
- 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...
18 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Mar 2
- 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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rhapsodydmb
- Feb 28
- 5 min
WHY DO SOME PRACTICE DAYS GO SO WELL?
Last night I played Schumann's "Traumerie," Mendelssohn's "Confidence (intermediate arrangement)," Schumann's "Foreign Lands," Aram...
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rhapsodydmb
- Feb 26
- 5 min
FIFTEEN TRANSFORMATIVE LESSONS FROM MAESTRA MEZZO-SOPRANO JOYCE DIDONATO
Opera singer Joyce DiDonato, a mezzo-soprano, is a miracle maker. In a 45-minute Mistress Class mezzo-soprano DiDonato transformed a...
26 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Feb 22
- 8 min
LANG LANG FOREVER!
Love him or hate him -- there's just no "in between." Is he the best (or worst) pianist who has ever lived or who is alive today? Some in...
25 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Feb 20
- 3 min
FRIENDS, PIANISTS, & COUNTRYPEOPLE: LEND ME YOUR EAR!
Today after a short conversation with my composer-pianist friend Bruce, this strange idea came to me: Do you think up there somewhere in...
16 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Feb 13
- 9 min
WHAT I WISH I HAD KNOWN AT THE START
At the end of March, 2023 I will accomplish 24 months of weekly piano lessons. So what do I wish I had known before I returned to study...
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rhapsodydmb
- Jan 29
- 4 min
QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE TEACHER
I'm eternally curious about what makes for an effective piano teacher. Here's a helpful list of 19 common elements present in the methods...
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rhapsodydmb
- Jan 25
- 8 min
THE "FLOW" - A MYSTERIOUS CONCEPT
Words fascinate me. When I was in early grammar school and it was about time to leave for school in the morning, my mom used to find me...
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rhapsodydmb
- Jan 23
- 6 min
LEARNING THE PIANO - DREAMS & INDIVIDUAL OPINIONS
After the just-past 21 months of piano lessons, I have arrived at the conclusion that there are no (or very, very few) "best practices"...
45 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Jan 20
- 4 min
“MUSICALITY” - AN ELUSIVE CONCEPT
The more I delve into new words and concepts from the world of music, the more I find ambiguity and vagueness. So often the experts I...
22 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Jan 13
- 7 min
TEACHING PIANO TO OLDER STUDENTS
There is nothing different -- and everything different -- about teaching the piano to older students! Working in a cooperative...
26 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Jan 8
- 6 min
DESENSITIZATION: HOW TO ENCOURAGE FOCUS DURING PIANO LESSONS
People who experience more anxiety than others tend to focus attention on OPO (other people’s opinions), especially negative opinions....
18 views0 comments
rhapsodydmb
- Jan 6
- 8 min
SITTING IN THE POCKET: HOW AN ADULT STUDENT CAN ENHANCE LESSONS
“Sitting in the pocket” is a summary saying that comes to my mind when I consider this blog topic. On December 14 in an earlier blog, I...
43 views0 comments
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