Ten Musical Commandments

by Fanny Waterman

1. Keep your back straight and your fingers rounded.
2. Practice regularly every day.
3. Before you start playing any unfamiliar music, clap the rhythm, counting the beats aloud.
4. Choose fingering most suited to your hand, write it on the music and keep to it.
5. Hands separate before hands together.
6. Practice slowly before playing up to speed.
7. When practicing, correct any mistake immediately and play the passage several times correctly before going on or back.
8. Play any piece with precise rhythm throughout before introducing any rubato or rhythmic freedom.
9. Follow all of the composer's markings.
10. Listen to every sound you make on the piano.

Promoting a love of music for a lifetime

A focus of my studio is to impart a love for learning and music enjoyment for a lifetime, so I was happy I came across this list on the MTNA website:

Ten Essential Skills for Promoting a Lifelong Love of Music and Music Making

* Ability to internalize basic rhythms and pulse.
* Ability to read - music literacy.
* Ability to perform with physical ease and technical efficiency.
* Ability to hear the notes on the page ? ear training.
* Ability to work creatively - improvise, compose, harmonize and play by ear.
* Ability to understand basic elements of theory, form, harmony, etc.
* Ability to respond to the interpretive elements of the composition in order to express the emotional character of the music.
* Ability to conceptualize and transfer musical ideas.
* Ability to work independently and problem solve.
* Ability to perform comfortably individually and with others in a variety of settings.

What a high school pianist should know

The top 10 things high school pianists should know:

• Major and minor scales
• Key signatures, triads, and 7th chords
• Proper pedal technique
• Technical skills . . . wrist staccato, proper phrasing, flexibility
• Etudes and study pieces
• Music for each of the 5 periods of music history: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, and 20th Century.
• Theory and harmony skills
• Memory of repertoire
• Knowledge of music terms
• How to play musically