Happy February! I can’t believe how 2020 is flying by so quickly! This month, students have been encouraged to sign up for a duet partnership. What that means is that if they are interested in playing a duet with another student, I will find them another student to partner up with that is a similar level. I warned my kiddos that even if they didn’t sign up, they might still be picked to be a partner!
I have been so encouraged by the wave of interest in this new endeavor! And I really look forward to pairing up students so that they may work together to create some awesome music!
As piano players, we are often playing solo works (which is great!) but it is always fun to make new friends and work together with others. Why do kids want to join a sports team? To learn the skill of playing, yes, but also because they have the opportunity to play and work together with friends and teammates! This is the chance to have a teammate in piano!
Also, I have been doing a bit of digging, and there are so many great duet works out there for all levels of piano players! This is my first step into duet territory as a teacher, so I am extra excited to hear this new repertoire come to life.
A few months from now, at our annual formal recital, interested duet pairs will have the chance to show off their work. I can’t wait!
In addition, sign ups are taking place for next month’s event at Animal Friends, a piano play-a-thon called Paws and Listen. In a way, this is also a collaborative experience! We are working together to raise money for Animal Friends non-profit shelter, using our musical skill to better the lives of others. I’m proud to encourage participation in this event which teaches kids the value of helping someone else through the use of their own gifts and talents.
There is all kinds of collaboration underway!
WHAT AM I LISTENING TO:
Today, after researching some awesome duet pieces, I find myself once again peacefully listening to Chopin nocturnes. They are some of my very favorite piano works. The way Chopin writes such nuance and emotion in his compositions has always fascinated me. They can swell from delicate flutterings of melody to a sea of complex harmony and somehow, it always feels so fluid. Even when the change in emotive quality is drastic and sudden, I seems right. His nocturnes play out like well-directed films in my mind. I am completely enthralled. I actually had to press pause as I am writing this paragraph because I was too engaged in the music and kept getting distracted! I love how he makes the complexity of the music sound so simple. I don’t know if I could ever get tired of listening to these lovely works. Today, Op. 71 No. 1 has captivated my attention. While perhaps not as popular in media as Op. 9 No. 2, it is just as delicately beautiful. I’m going to press play and keep enjoying the music! I hope I have inspired you to do the same.
MackMusicStudio 