Thursday, April 7, 2022 by Maffrine LaConte | Pedagogy

I teach students to:  

• Produce beautiful tone and sound colors by using the different touches on the piano keys
• Play piano with using their bigger muscle (arms) to produce tone without finger isolation 
• Play without tension by having a natural posture and hand shape at the piano and proper transfer of weight
• Play with firm fingertips, flexible wrists, and aligned hand-arm position to help them develop speed and clarity 
• Read notation, not note by note, but intervallic, so that they recognize intervals quickly and read music fast 
• Play by rote so that they can play and experience impressive sounding music before they can read it
• Chant and move to rhythm so that they play music with flow and understanding of strong and weak pulse
• Sing the music before playing so that they are able to think musical phrases in their mind first
• Sing solfege so that they can think music in their mind with understanding and therefore able to transpose music to any keys
• Improvise at the piano to develop freedom, creativity, and confidence at the instrument
• Play expressively by helping them to think imaginatively about the music they communicate
• Know theory of music in its context so that they may develop a deeper appreciation and understanding of the music they play
• See the beauty and logic of a composition by analyzing its harmony, progression, form and structure
• Practice efficiently and intentionally by giving them an outline of daily practice goals