How to choose your first piano or keyboard

Buying your first piano or keyboard? 

It can be a difficult choice, you don’t want something that you or your child are going to outgrow in a few months. But you might not want to invest too much is the beginning if you aren’t sure how long you or your child will stick with the piano. In this post I will break down the options available to show you how to …

Why adults can, and should, learn piano

Have you ever thought about playing the piano? 

On almost a daily basis I interact with adults who express interest in the fact that I teach piano lessons. 

It’s very common for them to tell me that they’ve always wanted to play the piano or that they wished they had stuck with it as a kid. 

But, then they usually go on to tell me reasons why the can’t learn the …

Scriabin plays Scriabin

For Scriabin the true reality of music lies in the notation, which reflects a metaphysical order, not in the execution, which reflects a contingent moment.

The recordings of his compositions performed by Alexander Scriabin (Moscow, 1972-1915) in 1903 for mechanical piano testify to a great diversity compared to the written page. 

We are blessed by the existence of the mechanical piano for having preserved at least one spark of the "true" way …

The pure sound

The piano sound whose harmonics and noises are controlled.

The great Italian pianist Ferruccio Busoni once wrote about the difference between the sound "of the piano" and the sound "of playing the piano". 

What is meant by "pure sound"? 

A "pure sound" is a sound whose harmonics and noises are controlled . 

But how can we create a "pure sound"? 

Let's start from the beginning explaining the basic aspects of piano playing: to many it …

Maria Judina plays Beethoven Sonata op 111

Judina's ideas are always illuminating, even when they are too much aimed at utopia, as in this so profoundly revealing execution.

"The manner in which Judina performed the last sonata of the Bonn composer is particularly striking. The second part is of exceptional length and very boring, but she not at all feels its weight". 

This is the curious comment by Shostakovich on the exceptional performance of his classmate. 

Judina's ideas …