Juilliard graduate helping dedicated adult pianists who love challenging repertoire practice less while learning more.
👀 Do you see it?
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I started this weekly newsletter 6 months ago and have been searching for the right name for it, followed by a logo. And here it is, sitting at the top of your email. PRACTICE NOTES It didn’t go perfectly. I knew when I landed on the name (after 48 iterations) but I originally started with a completely different design direction. It just wasn’t landing. So I scrapped it and went somewhere entirely different before arriving at the logo you see now. And as soon as I had it, I knew. This was it. 🎯 Had I stopped earlier, something would’ve kept bothering me. This version feels complete... At least until it doesn’t. That’s a lot like practicing piano. The most productive practicing usually involves experimenting, trying things that don’t work, backing up, adjusting, noticing tension, changing approaches, and staying with the process long enough to recognize when something finally clicks. 🎯 Take one passage that feels tense or unsettled. Now experiment with changing just one variable at a time:
🧐 I'm curious Reply and let me know. I read every response. ps While I was on a creativity roll this weekend, I also updated my About Page here. |
Lisa Spector, Piano Ninja
Juilliard graduate helping dedicated adult pianists who love challenging repertoire practice less while learning more.
I thought my competition days had ended more than 30 years ago. Apparently not. 🤷♀️ There are very few international piano competitions with no age limit. I only know of three.I've been recording for one of them this past week. I love the preparation. What I didn't love was what happened last week. The maximum submission length was 15 minutes, which isn't much time to make an impression. My plan was to submit Brahms's left-hand arrangement of the Bach Chaconne. It's an extraordinary piece,...
Your score tells you when to pedal down and when to release. You know what it doesn't tell you? How slow or fast to pedal. 🐢 🏃♀️ That gap is where most of your pedaling decisions are happening on autopilot and you don't even know it. In this YouTube short from the recent 50 Shades of the Damper Pedal workshop, I'm playing 24 seconds of Debussy Reflets dans l'eau. I'm describing what to watch and listen for. Watch my foot. You'll notice it doesn't always move at the same speed. Sometimes fast....
Last week I told you the score is lying to you about pedal. This week I want to show you what it sounds like when you stop following the score and start listening instead. Are you using the damper pedal the same way every time? Down to connect. Up to clear. Repeat. 🔁It keeps things smooth. It keeps things safe. And it keeps your playing from ever sounding like anything other than competent. Pedal isn't a connector. It's a color. 🎨 And the moment you hear the difference, you can't go back. In...