Have you ever been handed a difficult piece of music and been expected to play it immediately? If you have, you know that it’s not the easiest thing to do. If not, well then you’d best prepare yourself for when it will (eventually) happen. Here are 5 ways you can incorporate sight reading into your […]
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Here is Grieg’s Melody, Op. 47 No. 3, a small gem of a piano piece hidden amongst his huge collection of Lyric Pieces: History One of the Romantic era’s leading musicians, Norwegian pianist and composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) helped shape the face of classical music. His use of Norwegian folk styling and themes in his […]
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How many of you took piano lessons as a kid? And then how many of you stopped soon after? Whether it’s due to scheduling conflicts or a lack of interest, sometimes music lessons just don’t happen. But here are 4 reasons why you should learn how to play the piano: 1. It teaches discipline. One […]
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As musicians, we all love getting new music to start learning. Whether you are preparing for a performance or just learning the piece for fun, it’s important to take certain steps in your practicing to best learn your music quickly and correctly. Here are 5 practice tips to implement when learning a new piece of […]
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Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi has written many beautiful piano pieces. What I love about his music is that each composition tells a story. This is no different with his work Le Onde (“The Waves”): *If you like my cover, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel for more! Background of Le Onde Einaudi’s first big hit, Le […]
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Lead, Kindly Light is a prayer in the form of a hymn that seeks comfort and guidance from God. I personally love this hymn, so I wrote my own piano arrangement and researched the history of the music: *If you like my piano arrangement, download the free sheet music here! History of Lead, Kindly Light […]
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Today I want to share with you one of my most favorite pieces of music: the Holberg Suite (more properly known as From Holberg’s Time) by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907). Grieg wrote the Holberg Suite in 1884 to celebrate the 200th birthday of the Danish poet and playwright Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754). Composed of five movements, the suite calls […]
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Last week we discussed how minimalism became a musical movement in the mid-1900s. After decades of experimental music and a shift away from traditional melodic and harmonic ideas, a group of American composers aimed to return to the simple and – as a result – created minimalism. Today, let’s take a look at some* of […]
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Minimalism: “a form of art music that employs limited or minimal musical materials” (thanks Wikipedia). But what does that mean exactly? And why does it matter? I’ll tell you why it matters. Minimalism as a musical style emerged in the middle of the 20th century, and its influence has since permeated contemporary music. Many famous […]
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When you sit down to write a new piece of music, is it inspiration or perspiration that gets you the end result? Sometimes we are inspired; a melodic idea comes into our head or we hear a rhythm that suddenly unfolds into a new composition. However, inspiration only carries us so far. It’s the perspiration, […]
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