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Now from a jury member at an international competition. . .
I know that I promised mirror neurons in the next post, but we have the following from someone who has not only won a major international competition but has also served as a member of the jury at an international competition. Paavali Jumppanen is an internationally-known Finnish pianist, winner of the Young Concert Artists International…
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Are you listening or watching? part II
I hate to admit it, but I played the electronic game Simon for years before I realized it was possible to play it by the colors, not by the pitches. I knew the red, blue, yellow, and green buttons each corresponded to a certain pitch and flashed when that pitch sounded, but it simply never occurred…
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Are you listening to the music – or watching the performer?
Imagine being Brahms in 1889 and being the first composer/performer to be able to hear a recording of your own playing, as well as hearing your own voice. Granted, the quality of the wax cylinder was terrible, but hearing a piano performance coming from a machine, rather than producing it yourself or seeing it being produced by…
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Triple axels and the piano
A few years ago, a composer who was writing a piece for me commented at one of our rehearsals that he wanted the audience to breathe the same collective “Aah!” at the end of the work as they do when a figure skater lands a flawless triple axel. We were in the middle of the…
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Music makes you smarter – or maybe not
Twenty years ago, the press had a field day with a small study published by a California researcher, much to the surprise of the author. The public’s imagination was caught by headlines that proclaimed “Listening to Mozart Makes You Smarter,” or “Music Makes You Smart.” An entire industry grew from the idea that listening to…
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Want perfect pitch? Maybe you can take a pill
If you’re like I am, you may have thought half-heartedly about making a New Year’s resolution or two. But one New Year’s resolution that wouldn’t occur to most musicians is to resolve to acquire perfect (absolute) pitch – if we don’t already have it. There are no documented cases of an adult ever being able to…