New York Piano Center

Archive for the ‘piano music’ Category

Frederic Chopin was born March 1, 1810 in the Duchy of Warsaw in Poland. He was not very old when his potential was recognized. In fact, he was regarded as a child prodigy pianist. As early as seven, Frederic Chopin was performing in front of an audience and composed two of his first pieces in the same year. When he was a young man, he left Poland and would never return. He eventually made his way to Paris where he worked as a piano teacher and a composer. He did not perform very often as most of his time was put into his teaching and personal work, though he did perform in a few concerts from time to time.

The first instrument that Frederic Chopin learned to play was the piano. He was creative from the start, making up his own tunes, and received his first piano lessons from his older sister. He was six years of age when he received his first professional lessons and it was not long before his skill and talent surpassed that of his teacher. The same year that he first began performing in public, he composed G minor and B flat major, two polonaises. In 1926, he went to the Warsaw conservatory, which was a part of the Warsaw University and studied with Jozef Elsner for a period of three years. It was after this that he left Poland and would eventually make his way to Paris. When he first arrived in Paris, he was uncertain about whether he would remain there or not; however, it would soon become his home. He would remain there for some time and travel around while he performed. He eventually married and had two children. Later, his health deteriorated and he eventually past away from tuberculosis.

From the start, Frederic Chopin was different from other composers and musicians, such as Mozart and Beethoven. He was more innovative, more creative and more experimental with music than the great ones before him. In fact, he created new forms of music that was beautiful and was more of an emotional expression of Chopin’s. He made innovations in waltz, impromptu, prelude and many other existing forms of music. This particular musician and composer made an incredible impact on music. He introduced a change from the original forms that would greatly influence the future of music. He was the first composer to write ballads and pieces of music separately, and changed etudes, among other genres, into expressive and emotional pieces.

Much of his music was also thought to be influenced by his beloved homeland, Poland. Many of his pieces were an effort to celebrate the culture of his homeland. Even though he left Poland to grow in his musical career, his heart was always rooted there and much of his inspiration came from the home he loved so much. Even after Russia regained control of Poland, which was a main reason why he could never return home, he continued to show his love for Poland through his music in a number of compositions.

Did you ever notice how most people who start off at a young age taking piano lessons rarely continue past high school? Then, when these people grow into adults many of them will eventually regret their decision to quit. So much so that, many will actually seek out a new piano teacher and start all over again.

Why do most people quit? I don’t think it’s because they’re not motivated or they don’t like music. I believe it’s because they don’t realize why they’re taking piano lessons in the first place. Sure they can tell you that music is important and they probably should be trying harder but the fact is most simply cannot tell you the real reason for learning in the first place.

Do you want to know why? Ok, here it is. I truly believe that music is engrained into our subconscious and most of us truly want a way to express ourselves in ways that words cannot. Not only has music been around since the dawn of time, way longer than most modern forms of entertainment but, music is an integral part of our humanity.

Music resides deep within us and when we hear it, sing it, play it, share it, learn it, teach it or even dance to it, we get a little closer to who we truly are; multi-dimensional beings who are ultimately creative.

So why do we quit? Because we get discouraged when we cannot express ourselves through music the way we want to. Usually this happens because we compare our abilities to others and the distance between the way we play music now and where we want to get seems insurmountable. But, here’s the good news. Nothing can get in your way of learning if you just realize that know matter how you play you cannot be bad. Expressing yourself in any way with music is a good thing and can never ever be bad.

Now, I’m not going to go as far as saying that most piano teachers cause their students to quit because that would mean that it’s intentional. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, I do believe that many teachers lack the necessary skills to teach their students how to play from within. What does that mean? It means that teachers know how to teach notes, scales, rhythm, harmony and how to play a piece of music. What most of them fail to realize is that there is much more to teaching music than just what the mind can absorb.

If teachers knew how to tap into the souls of their students by providing the right motivational, emotional and spiritual information then, it would be easier for their students to overcome all the obstacles of learning to play. In fact, no obstacle is too big to overcome on the way to learning to be a great artist or musician. The drive is within all of us, it just needs to be recognized.

So, how can teachers learn the necessary skills? By learning how to tap into their own creative energy. You see it’s all about energy. It would be impossible for a teacher to share information about energy if the teacher lacks the creative energy themselves. Creative energy comes from within. In my experience, many teachers have never learned how therefore can’t possibly teach it.

Learning to tap into creative energy is a process which can be learned. It’s never too late. The first step to learning is realizing that you are not already connected to this energy. Then, once you realize that you’re not connected you begin to search for ways to get connected. How? By focusing on the reasons you play music. For example; you do not play music to impress rather you play music to inspire.

Music causes emotional changes within us that are positive. Most music anyway. Of course you have to be wary of low energy music that disguises itself as high energy music such as heavy pounding rock with repetitive angry lyrics. But, piano does not fall into this category. Piano music is the perfect outlet to express innate creative energy. If more teachers are to see the results they desire then more teachers will have to tap into their own creative energy.

In plenty of cartoons and movies, one of the more common scenes involves the moving of a piano into an apartment or a house. Obviously, the lunacy of a person moving an object 5x heavier and larger than themselves makes for a comical situation, and is placed as a way of giving comedic relief. However in real life, piano moving should only be done by experts for safety measures. If moving a piano had to do only with weight, it would only take a few strong people to accomplish the job. It is important to know that the danger of moving a piano is not only because of the piano’s weight, but the shape should also be taken into consideration. The asymmetrical shape of a grand piano, for instance, calls for special techniques to maneuver such a large object.

It requires skill and patience for successful piano moving. Usually, a device known as a piano board is put to use when moving a piano. First, the piano’s legs are disassembled for easy movement through doors and hallways. It is then placed on its side on the top of the piano board. The piano board allows for easy movement along flat surfaces. When it comes to stairs, the board is removed and slid down in a slow and controlled manner. More often than not, movers would decide to make use of a crane or pulley instead of using stairs to maneuver a piano vertically. This is because it is more dangerous moving a piano through stairs if it is more than one floor high. The mover’s safety is mostly at risk, since the piano can slip or prove to be heavier than the movers can handle.

Piano moving does not necessarily mean transportation from one house to another. It may also mean moving it around in a contained room. Still, this task might require the help of experienced or professional movers. Even moving a piano a few meters can cause disastrous damage to the unit. The most important aspect to keep into mind when transporting a piano short distances are the legs. They have a high possibility of breaking. Perhaps one of the legs can get caught on a crack or uneven spot on the floor and end up breaking from force. Sometimes, a smooth material, or a platform with wheels is placed under each of the piano legs for easy movement. An alternative technique requires around 5 able-bodied people to encircle the piano and lift it for easier transfer. The piano should not be lifted off the ground, rather, it should be lifted enough to take pressure off of the legs.

Another version of piano moving is international or oversea transfer. This will prove to be very complicated because of the steps required to be taken when making the move. First, a professional mover is hired to transport the piano to a freight forwarder, which is what actually moves the piano overseas. Once it reaches its destination, the customer must pay all the fines involved and process any of the documents required by the country. The customer must also be there at the time of arrival to sign for the piano. If not, the piano will be stored, which can be expensive.

Overall, piano moving should be left to the experts. There are many incidents that can occur which can prove costly for an inexperienced owner. The owner of the piano also has many responsibilities to take care of. Insurance should be secured by the owner just in case anything happens upon transportation. Also, the owner should be responsible enough to make sure that the piano can fit into its new storage place.