I used to perform a lot on stage. As students, we had to perform in front of our teachers and peers once per week. That was part of the training in stage performance we had. It was not a very pleasant experience. Mainly because of my performance anxiety. Later on, when I graduated, I started …
Vera in the Cologne opera house, 17 y old. 1400 people were coming to Keath Jarred’s concert. He didn’t like the piano. He left. Vera tried to find a replacement. It became the best-selling album in the history of jazz. This is how challenges and problems can crash your creative process … or they can …
Research has shown that children who receive music education already show enhanced brain development in the areas of language acquisition, reading skills, and critical thinking (Rauscher, Shaw, & Ky, 1993). The benefits of music education have been shown to be long-lasting. With computation power, especially in smartphones and tablets, becoming more and more part of children’s daily …
For me, as a classical school musician, practicing technique means playing scales and arpeggios or working on études. Repertoire practice for me is often playing through the piece or playing the difficult parts. Since I started to learn how to improvise, I decided to change those approaches. I believe that all practicing can be practical …
