Piano Notes – Studio Newsletter September 2010

yiyiku — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:11:45 +0000

Welcome to new students Welcome to the following new students to the studio: Joshua Schaefer, Sebastian Mejia, Hunter and Hudson Erickson, Jaden Oh, Yoly Witkin, Brennan Gale-Ruderman, John and Claire Howard. Recital Opportunity The Music Teachers Association of California Temecula Valley branch is organizing a student Musicale Recital on September 18 at the Temecula library.

Piano Notes – Studio Newsletter August 2010

yiyiku — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 08:26:41 +0000

Welcome to New Students It is back to school! (or almost!) I would like to welcome the following new students to the studio: Alexa, Cole, Moises & Gabriela Willis, Sara Pittel, Sonja and Nadia Muirhead, Sasha Willis, Sam, Sofia & Thien-Sa Luyen. Farewell Adalee and CJ Koshiel have relocated to Minnesota, and Caleb Patrick to

Piano Notes – Studio Newsletter July 2010

yiyiku — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:56:21 +0000

Summer Recital 2010 Join Studio Facebook Page for latest updates. Summer Lessons (July – August) All lessons have resumed THIS WEEK (as stated in the June newsletter)! If you have forgotten to come to your lesson, you may reschedule this time, since it is our first week back. If you will be away for vacation,

Piano Notes – Studio Newsletter June 2010

yiyiku — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:09:19 +0000

Welcome to New Students Welcome to Jay Chen, Hans Chen, and Mira Oflus to the studio! National Guild Audition Results Here is what the Ratings mean: C = special commendation, A = needs attention 16 more A than C checks – Failing 1- 15 more A than C checks – Passing - Family Circle Rating

Practising with score

yiyiku — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:01:28 +0000

Singing and playing

yiyiku — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:57:06 +0000

Playing for fun

yiyiku — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:29:31 +0000

After a long day of teaching, I watched some TV tonight with my husband to unwind. One of our favorite shows is “According To Jim”. The episode we watched tonight was about his daughters Gracey and Ruby, who were in a basketball team that ‘plays for fun’, and at the end of the game, everyone

Rewarding Students

yiyiku — Thu, 06 May 2010 09:19:37 +0000

Recently I heard from a former student who is now herself also a teacher of beginner students. She told me about a new incentive system she put in place to encourage students to practice more: they get ‘normal’ stickers during their weekly lessons, and at the end of the month, if they have been practicing

Weak Fingers

yiyiku — Sun, 02 May 2010 10:22:24 +0000

Recently a friend who lives overseas asked me whether or not a used piano would be a good starting piano for her son. The piano in question is a Young Chang upright; a family member was told by their piano teacher to upgrade to a better brand, due to the student having “weak fingers”, and

Perfection

yiyiku — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 07:40:54 +0000

Recently an adult student said to me during her lesson: ”Do you know what I realized, it will take years before I can perfect these pieces”. I am happy that she has come to this revelation – she has set a higher standard for herself; knowing there is room for improvement is the first step to

Piano Notes – Studio Newsletter May 2010

yiyiku — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:49:34 +0000

New Student Welcome to new student Andreas Shaefer, age 7, to the studio. Summer Recital June 26 Registration deadline: May 15 see April newsletter for details Piano Journal Recently I was very impressed by a new student, Adalee Koshiol (6th grade), when she showed me her Piano Journal. I had mentioned to her that she

Chopin Nocturne F sharp major Op15 No 2

yiyiku — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:34:40 +0000

Words of inspiration from Chopin: “Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties.” “There are certain times when I feel more inspired, filled with a strong power that forces me to listen to my inner voice, and when I feel more need than ever for a Pleyel piano.” “[…] in a

Playing from Memory

yiyiku — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:20:57 +0000

The issue of memory playing has haunted musicians for centuries. For some, it comes naturally; for others, it is an eternal struggle. Is it necessary to play from memory in order to give a professional, musical and convincing performance? Absolutely not. In fact, it was not the norm to perform from memory in Bach, Mozart,

Learning from CD

yiyiku — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 05:35:29 +0000

“I believe that interpretation should be like a transparent glass, a window for the composer’s music” – Vladimir Ashkenazy – Russian conductor and virtuoso pianist I have a new student in my studio who is extremely musical, has self-taught to play many popular songs from watching YouTube videos, but is just beginning to learn to

Method books

yiyiku — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:15:05 +0000

One of the nice things about social networking (facebook, twitter, myspace) is that you learn something new everyday. Today while browsing my friends’ updates on facebook I came across this quote: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too

Yiyi Ku Piano Studio » yiyiku