Piano Pedagogy Practicum Class for Teachers!

This "practicum" class offers a practical approach to teaching and is designed especially for piano teachers. In this class, the participants will receive in-depth information and solutions to common issues on specific topics and levels.

For example, one of the classes is the continuation of my most popular workshop "Fundamental Techniques for Beginner and Elementary Students and Beyond." This class includes techniques, dynamics controls, articulations, practice strategies, and musicianship drills. It addresses the following subjects but not limited to:

• How do I fix awkward hand position or bent joint?
• Why are the fast passage notes sounded uneven or having unison problem?
• Why can't they play musically? 
• Why can't my students practice correctly?
• How can I improve my students reading or counting ability?
• How do I choose repertoire to motivate students?

Class format:

• Siting limitation: each class will only accept 3-4 participants only to address individual concerns with the benefit of small group discussion
• Time: 75 minutes session
• Location: Sunnyvale studio, CA
• Length: Three consecutive weeks per topic/level concentration. Participants will have the opportunity to review and experiment what we have discussed in the class during the following week

Please contact me 408.675.9896 for detail information and enrollment. 

Workshop with composer Mr. Dennis Alexander

It was always a privilege to meet with the composer or the concert pianist in person and gain the insights of their compositions and performances. Monday was no exception! Thanks to my local chapter CAPMT Santa Clara Valley, we had Mr. Dennis Alexander as our featured guest and clinician. He shared his newest publication "Nocturns" as well as teaching tips and stories behind his composition inspiration.

Mr. A is a very expressive performer, like he said, "romantic at heart", which resonates with my strong belief in playing music with expression. No matter what kind of techniques we try to teach to our students, they serve as means to fulfill the musical purpose. In my conversation with Mr. A, he talked about how he choreographs physical movements to help students play more expressively. He also demonstrated using a body leaning movement to add more arm weight when playing big sound.

Talking about rhythmic counting, Mr. A emphasized the importance of counting out loud when playing! Totally my teaching philosophy. As many of my professors have addressed, if you can't count aloud when you play, you don't know the rhythm well enough nor develop the rhythmic pulse in you. He also offers ideas such as tapping the rhythm with the "practice version" of the CD to gain a thorough understanding of the piece.

Here are a video of his Chopinesque Nocturn and photos highlights!

Feb CAPMT Pedagogy Workshop in San Jose!

Look forward to presenting an informational session "The Nitty-Gritty of Comprehensive Curriculum Program." This workshop is FREE to the public, NO registration required!! There are refreshments and coffee provided in this gathering. 😋

This session will share insights from two international and two CA state CC programs that help teachers to explore their options and determine which CC is best suited for their studio teaching and students' level.

Highlight: It will include comments and views from the examiners/evaluators!! 


Date: Wednesday, 2/28/2018
TIme: 9:30 am
Location: San Jose Greene Music
Host: CAPMT SCV Chapter