Look At That Motorcycle

“We are the music makers,
    And we are the dreamers of dreams”

-Arthur O’Shaughnessy/Willy Wonka

It’s my 8th birthday and I’m jumping out of my skin in anticipation of what might be behind the enormous piece of plywood my parents have carefully placed across the entrance to our living room. “We’re waiting for Grandpa to get here,” my mother cheerfully says, as the seconds continue to tick by, ever so glacially. 

My grandpa FINALLY arrives, walks across the kitchen, peeks behind the plywood, and exclaims “Oh my, look at that motorcycle in there!”  I assumed from the look of annoyance on my mother’s face that he’d given away the surprise, as I tried to pretend that I hadn’t heard him. 

I could hardly contain my excitement- “I’m getting a motorcycle!!!”  I immediately began to speculate as to how many girls the only eight-year-old boy in his school could pick up.

The plywood was pulled back and they had me close my eyes, as they led me slowly into the living room.  Images swirled in my mind. “Was it dark blue… or even better… shiny red, with gold sparkles?  What color is my helmet?!?  Do I get to wear cool boots and leather gloves?!?!?”

Suddenly, they stopped me in the center of the living room.  The moment of the big reveal had come!  “OK, open your eyes,” I heard someone say.  I opened them. There, sitting right before my eyes, was…. a piano. 

I did my best impersonation of an excited boy, but I suspect that the look on my face revealed a less-than-enthusiastic response from what my parents had hoped for.  It took a while for my mom to forgive my grandpa for having built up my expectations, but it took absolutely no time at all for me to realize that I’d been given one of the greatest gifts anyone could ever receive:  the gift of making music at the piano.

The piano and I have been best friends ever since, always there for me whenever I needed to express whatever emotion required expression in any particular moment.  In fact, there’s never been a time when I didn’t walk away from playing the piano not feeling at least a little more alive than when I’d started.

My goal is to spark that same lifelong passion for making music in my students, whether they wind up doing it in a professional capacity, purely for the sake of enjoyment, or they simply need a friend to turn to who will always be there and will never let them down.  

Since everyone learns differently and has different musical interests and goals as to what they want to achieve, I carefully tailor my teaching methods to the learning styles of each individual student.  I especially enjoy teaching students with special needs (or “special gifts,” as I prefer to say).  

But regardless of the type of student, the common element is a desire to give students a fundamental understanding of the language of music, so that no matter what style(s) they want to play, whether by ear or via the printed page, they know what it is they are expressing.

Making music is, after all, and above all else, about communicating in a way that bypasses the head and goes straight to the heart, which is why, like Sondheim, I consider teaching to be the sacred profession. As Oscar Hammerstein said, “By your pupils, you’ll be taught” and at the end of the day, I find my students to be my greatest teachers. 

Who could ask for anything more?

The Piano As An Extension Of One's Self - Part 1

Part 1: Video Games, Athleticism, And The Keyboard

Growing up I was into sports…and video games. From basketball to martial arts, I always proceeded to balance it out with a healthy dose of Mario Bro’s or Ninja Turtles.  For every minute spent sweating on the court or in the dojo, I had equal if not more time invested seated on a rug with a controller in my hands, my gaze riveted to a TV screen, my body contorting in hopes to make the characters on the screen move with me to avoid imminent death. One was three dimensional and the other quite two dimensional, but both were very much mentally stimulating, so I rarely, if ever, saw much difference between them, nor saw a need to discern between the two.

They were the Ying and Yang of my day until eventually there came a point where I continued to improve at videogames but plateaued at sports. Much to my chagrin, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't force myself to jump higher, or run faster (and the more I strained, the worse it got), but in videogames, I could always refine my movements to be quicker and more accurate, and so a disparity arose that grew with time.

My young mind didn't have the insight or analytical skills at the time to realize something that was not revealed to me until much later, after graduating from college: in videogames, it is not so pivotal how you press the buttons physically—what your legs are doing, whether your shoulders are raised with static tension if you’re breathing well—as the game/avatar does the majority of that work for you, but in sports, the how of running, jumping, passing, kicking, or what have you, is where the true skill lies, what the majority erroneously call “natural talent”.

The new Michael Jordan documentary lays this out pretty clearly, as they make it evident that Michael was not innately good at basketball, losing often to his brother and performing averagely his first years of high school, but what Michael had on top of his unparalleled grit, determination, and competitive spirit was what dancers call “poise”.  A graceful and elegant bearing to his person that promoted balance and equilibrium throughout his body which in turn gave him that suspended quality when he would jump through the air to dunk the ball (hence earning him the moniker “Air” Jordan). 

Growth in any skill is always slow and steady, but it is poise (or rather, the continued maintenance of poise, for we all have this beautiful freedom of movement when we are young children) that gives us that extra lift after years of hard work and study, adding exponential growth to our skill curve and potentially catapulting one to be the best in their field.  Great examples include Muhammad Ali, Serena Williams,  and yes, pianists like Arthur Rubinstein. Poise is both physical and mental, and as a term applies so aptly to the world of piano and piano technique, as playing a keyboard instrument is, in my opinion, the ultimate hybrid between sports/martial arts and video games. 

Such a statement begs the question: “what importance does poise have to an instrument that is seemingly so nonathletic?” and even more importantly, “how does one continue to regain poise that they may have lost through years of screen watching and reading/writing, while learning a new skill as complex as the piano keyboard?”

We have only just touched on this idea of poise as it relates to making music and playing the piano, but I hope this primer will set the stage to explore this concept in further detail in a way that is more relatable to a majority of people. I look forward to diving deeper into this concept in my next blog post and breaking things down!                                                           

How does an online recital work?

When the first cars started showing up in the late 1800’s, people thought nothing of them. They thought they were a passing fad and would never catch on. Nothing could compete with the stability and power of the tried and true horse and buggy.

I think we all know how that turned out.

Technology is crazy and always pushing us forward. We have all seen it happen in so many ways throughout our lives.

And now we are excited to take that next step with you and our students as we offer our very first ever online student recital!

A lot of folks have been asking just how an online recital would work so I thought I would walk you through it.

How To Sign Up For The Recital

Each student registers ahead of time, just like an in-person recital. They do so through an online form that each student has been emailed a link to. This way we know who is performing and what song or songs they will be playing.

Anyone who is not a student and wants to attend the recital as an audience member can “purchase” a free ticket to the recital. This will give them access to view the recital as an audience member. This can all be done through our Live Events page on our website.

Once we have all students registered by the registration deadline, we will make a recital program. We then email the program to all the students as well as attendees so everyone knows the order of the performances.

How The Actual Recital Works

The actual recital takes place over a streaming platform such as Google Meet, Zoom or GoTo Meeting. Students and attendees can join the event via phone, tablet or computer. After completing registration, students will be emailed a private link so that they can join the event. Anyone who purchases a ticket to the event, will also be emailed a private link to join the event.

To get properly set up for the recital, the student just needs to have their webcam device situated in a way that everyone can see them in front of their piano or keyboard. They will also need to make sure they have their keyboard volume turned up to a reasonable level so everyone can hear them ok.

The recital will have a mediator to kick things off, to mute and unmute microphones, and to announce each student when it is their turn to perform. When a student is up to perform, they just need to sit in front of their keyboard or piano and play their piece or pieces. Once they are done, the mediator will then unmute all the attendee’s microphones so that they can give applause and praise for the performance.

Then the mediator will announce who is up next and the next student performs. Once each student has had a chance to perform, the mediator will give some closing remarks and finish the recital.

Other than to allow applause after each student plays, all participant’s microphones will be muted by the mediator. The mediator will also unmute the microphone of each student when it is their time to perform.

There will also be a chat function where all students and attendees can interact with each other. Through the chat, attendees can give praise and encouragement to the students as well as say hi to others who are attending.

That’s really all there is to it! I know it is a little weird and may feel a little different at first, but after doing one or two of these online recitals, it will begin to feel more normal. The horseless carriage seemed so odd back in the day, and now we all have one or two of them sitting in our driveways. The same will happen with these online recitals. We will all be pros at this in no time!

We are really thankful for the technology that is available to us so that all of our students, whether they be in-person or online students, have a chance to show off all their hard work!

Want To Join Us?

So what are you waiting for! Are you an STL Piano Lessons students and want to get in on the next recital? Are you a parent, family member or friend of an STL Piano Lessons student and want to join us for the next recital and cheer on the students?

Be sure to visit our Live Events page for more information on upcoming online recitals. We will see you there!