Welcome to pianomz.com! I’m Dr. Mike Zachary, and I have been teaching piano for a quarter of a century.
I plan to constantly add information to this Web site, so plan to visit the site often. I created many of the resources on this site for use with my own students. I hope this material will assist you with your teaching.
WHY CAN A KEY SIGNATURE HAVE SIX FLATS?
March 8, 2008
Recently, someone asked me, "Why can a key signature have six or seven flats when there are only five flat keys on the piano?" This is my answer:
You are confusing a flat with a black key. You are correct that there are five black keys on the piano, but that doesn't mean there are only five flats. For example, really stretch your mind with this question: how many flats are on a trumpet since it doesn't have any black keys at all!
A flat simply means to lower a note a half step. Thus, F-flat on the piano looks the same as E. So The note E can be called F-flat.
Your real question is this: Why do we go to the bother of calling the same key on the piano by two different names. The answer is this: because of history. Several hundred years ago, it WAS NOT true, for example, that C-sharp and D-flat were the same key on the piano. Because of the system of tuning that was used, C-sharp was one pitch, and D-flat was another. E was one note, and F-flat was another. Because the traditions of music change slowly, there are still many reasons why we need to think about both C-sharp and D-flat.
Chord Symbols
I am very happy to tell you that I saw my hot-off-the-press book Chord Symbols for the first time this afternoon. This book isn’t really a book to read; instead, it’s a reference book. It deals with symbols like, E, Dm, D+7, and B7sus.
For music theory lovers like me, the first part of the book explains how each chord is constructed. For example, the details of major triads and sus chords are explained. In addition, the book shows the common abbreviations that are used.
The last part of the book has a convenient listing of the chords. If you want to know which notes are in Dm7 chord, just look at the chart. It’s a snap!
Because of the fact that chord symbols are based on traditional abbreviations instead of a perfectly logical system, it’s important to have a reference book that helps you understand these items for sure.
The book is available for $10 + shipping. If you’d like a copy, just send an email to me at info@pianomz.com, and include your shipping address. I’ll cheerfully mail you a copy with a bill.
February 7, 2008
I recently received an email from one of my most talented former students. She was curious about developing a plan for a fourteen-year-old piano student who already knew violin and guitar, but had never learned piano. Here is the question in her own words:
I have a new student beginning lessons tonight that already has a pretty proficient background in violin and guitar. He can read the treble clef and rhythms well. Any thoughts on things I can start him out with? He’s fourteen, so I hate to put him in these “baby” primer books, but I don’t want to take too much for granted, either. Any advice you have would be appreciated.
Here is the advice I gave her.
- I’d be sure he’s comfortable knowing where the keys are on the piano keyboard.
- I’d introduce him to drills for reading the bass clef notes.
- I’d look for some beginning books for adults. The problem with these books is that they sometimes move rather quickly, assuming that the older learner can just move faster than children. By having a mixture of adult beginning books with children’s beginning books, I think you’ll be able to determine which books will work for him and which may be too hard or too easy.
- I’d introduce him to some basic chords and see if you can get him playing some nice chord progressions (by ear). Perhaps gently breaking up the chords arpeggio style would be good.
The goal here is to capitalize on the student’s musical background—but not to take anything for granted. Since the student already knows something about music, it will be great to move him along as quickly as possible—but not at the expense of a solid musical foundation.
January 18, 2008
I've just added "From Foreign Lands and Peoples," the first piece from Schumann's Scenes from Childhood, Opus 15, to my Web site; and it's such an accessible and attractive piece that it should be used more widely with students. As a child, I was subjected to a highly edited, simplified, and mostly horrible arrangement of this piece; but the original music by Schumann is as charming as that particular arrangement was repugnant.
If you want a special treat, go to iTunes and purchase the recording of this selection by Vladimir Horowitz. But beware! Instead of spending ninety-nine cents to purchase this piece, I spend around thirty dollars to purchase a very large album by Horowitz that included all Schumann's Scenes from Childhood, as well as many other selections.
The actual selection I purchase was Track #1 of Kinderszenen (Scenes from C...), one minute, thirty-two seconds long, played by Vladimir Horowitz on the album Vladimir Horowitz, In the Hands of the Master. 
(click here to listen)
I have never believed that students should avoid reading music, and that they should exclusively listen to recordings to guide them. At the same time, the great recordings can inspire both the teacher and the student to want to make beautiful music, not just to create the noise of notes.
Besides, fellow instructor, after some of the renditions that our students present to torture our ears, we can use a good dose of beautifully played music!
THE IN-LESSON PROGRAM
January 16, 2008
In order to help students develop fluency, I sometimes assign them to do an in-lesson program. Recently, one of my students worked on four pieces from the Anna Magdalena Notebook. I said, “This is really wonderful work! This is so good we should do a program. That way, if you need to play something for family or friends, you’ll have something worked out; and I love to hear you play these pieces.”
Even though he had played all four pieces well—and by memory—it is a challenge for him to be able to play all four pieces at one time. But the time and effort he is putting into this mini-program is well worth the effort because it is helping him to develop fluency.
At the same time, we’re still working on other new pieces. But we can’t always be pushing forward without taking time for review. And the in-lesson program is a great way of building fluency by reviewing pieces already learned.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
January 11, 2008
We must constantly remember that our students should play comfortably with fluency. When our students play, the listener should perceive that they are playing naturally, with as much ease as though they were whistling while they worked.
Students need to spend some time on challenging pieces; however, we should be sure our students have plenty of music to play that is relatively easy for them. They should learn to play folk songs, church music, and patriotic pieces that enable them to mentally sing along. While it’s a good idea for our students to work hard on recital pieces, they also need plenty of music they can master in a week or two.
When a student’s playing is characterized by struggle, struggle, struggle, there is something wrong. A student in elementary school should be quite comfortable with addition, subtraction, and multiplication before he attempts long division. Likewise, our piano students need to be comfortable with short pieces and folk songs before they tackle a recital piece that is, perhaps, over their heads.
|
|
