Elliott Music Studio

9.28.2010

25 Websites that Will Improve Your Music Practice

I am a list maker by habit. It's just something I gravitate towards naturally. I also love to plan and help others be organized. So, this list of 25 Websites that Will Improve Your Music Practice is a great resource wither you are just getting started or feel like your practice could use a pick me up. Don't feel like you need to read these all in one sitting or get frustrated if you find some contradictions as you read. There are so many different ways to teach and experience music and so many different ideas on how to do just that. You have to learn to pick and chose what works best for you.

If you find a website or article that should have made it to this list or you have a great practice tip to share please pass it along in our comments section. I would love to hear from you! Happy Practicing!

9.26.2010

Quote of the Week "I sense that the instrument is alive..."

"I sense that the instrument is alive - that when I listen closely for nuance and tone, the inanimate world of strings, wood, pins and steel comes to life. When I honor the piano's vitality and complexity, I can't tell whether I am playing the piano or it is playing me."
--Michael Jones

9.25.2010

Great Piano Posts

I was braining storming another great post for Piano Month and I began to remember some of the posts I had put together from the past that highlighted pianos. As I began reading them and watching the videos I decided I had to share all of these in one place. The list below includes some of my favorites. Enjoy!

9.23.2010

10 Piano Quotes to Celebrate National Piano Month

I love to read and share good quotes. I feel that just a few well spoken words can make a big impact in someone's life and even motivate them to greatness. That's why my "Quote of the Week" was one of the first things I added to this blog. In September the National Piano Federation celebrates its National Piano Month and what better way to join in the celebration than with some inspiring piano quotes. Enjoy!

1. "Pianos are such noble instruments - they're either upright or grand."

~ Author Unknown

2. "The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

~ Kenneth Miller

3. "One man gets nothing but discord out of a piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault."

~ Author Unknown

4. "I've never felt anything that moves me as much as my piano. I'm an emotional player. I don't really like people. I prefer my piano to people. It's totally reliable and it's alive. I can hear what it's saying."

~ Tori Amos

5. "When you play music you discover a part of yourself that you never knew existed."

~ Bill Evans

6. "To play without passion is inexcusable!"

~ Ludwig van Beethoven

7. "Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."

~ Frederic Chopin

8. "I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o'clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous."

~ Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky

9. "It is wonderful how soon a piano gets into a log-hut on the frontier. You would think they found it under a pine-stump. With it comes a Latin grammar, and one of those tow-head boys has written a hymn on Sunday. Now let colleges, now let senates take heed! for here is one who, opening these fine tastes on the basis of the pioneer's iron constitution, will gather all their laurels in his strong hands."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson