The World According to Ms. Alison

"12345" is to "1324" as "piano" is to ...?

by Alison Lund on 07/20/12

I have a strong interest in the physiology, anatomy and psychology of healthy, efficient physical use in all contexts, which in turn is a huge part of my approach to playing and teaching piano. Over the years I've studied and/or completed formal training in Embodied Anatomy, Alexander technique, yoga/mindfulness, Feldenkreis, Gyrotonics, and Rolfing. So I'm no stranger to the field of injury prevention, but even I was struck dumb (no small feat) by the following excerpts from an online forum for young pianists. These are verbatim, promise.

"The most intriguing one...seems to be some type of recurring stress fracture in my right index finger...but most consider my technique flawless"

"And then quite often after I cut my nails, the skin underneath my nails somehow ends up getting pushed back, which starts to gush blood if I play piano in that state".

"I am only 15 and have very good technique, but my shoulder hurts the worst if I`ve been playing for two hours or more".

Mmmmm. Perhaps this last kid had the right idea in just getting the pain over with in one grand gesture...

"When I was about 8, I didn't want to practice anymore, so I slammed the piano lid down onto my hands. Ended up with a bone bruise and no playing for a week or 2".

Good grief. Who makes their kid keep playing piano when they would rather break their hands?

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So....how young IS too young?

by Alison Lund on 07/12/12

Not to put too fine a point to it...yes, it is possible to start piano lessons too young and, yes, there is an entire industry out there devoted to convincing you there is a critical developmental period which you must pounce upon before it is ALL. OVER. Call me cynical, but the earlier this purported deadline falls the longer the marketable window over the life of your kid.

This might be a good time to point out that the "Baby Einstein" megalomaniacal corporate nightmare (a subsidiary of Disney) makes soooo much money they can afford to pay off the executors of Albert Einstein's state, putting him in the top 5 of the highest earning dead celebrities. Nice. Just imagine what Mozart could have been accruing since "The Mozart Effect" (trademarked, naturally) and the exquisitely marketed "Music for Little Mozarts" piano course hit the shelves back in the early 90s.

Yes, there are major developmental milestones related to hearing and otherwise experiencing music. Do these correlate to beginning actual instrumental study at, say, the age of three? I strongly doubt it. Approaches to the musical development of young ears and bodies such as the Yamaha method or Dalcroze Eurythmics rightly focus on developing aural acuity and an embodied sense of musical concepts, such as rhythm, which at a more appropriate age transfer into instrumental study. They are also impossible to teach unless you are a professional musician. Ahem, random Franchisees.

The students I have been lucky enough to teach who had this foundation had an effortless sense of rhythm in their playing from the very beginning, the ability to play by ear, and to quickly associate specific pitches with formal music notation. This intuitive sense of musicality is commonly perceived as "talent". This is in stark contrast to the graduates of "piano preparation" classes I have encountered. One would be excused for thinking that, if, after two years of "piano tuition", all they can do is play a couple of very simple songs, usually very badly, then they must be very untalented indeed. This is an extremely depressing misconception.

By writing this I just eliminated a massive market niche for myself. About one in ten of the inquiries I receive are from well-meaning parents with teeny tiny children who may or may not call me back three years from now. Just know this: the average six year old will master in less than one semester what would have taken them two years in the "piano" class with the deluxe materials kit starting at the modest sum of $69.99 before tuition.

Maybe Baby Newton can do the math.

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Have You Heard of a Place called Keyboard Town?

by Alison Lund on 07/04/12

Being a piano teacher is one of the more old-fashioned jobs a girl can have. Which is only fitting as I love vintage everything. And tonight, this very evening, all the angels of Etsy.com illuminated a whole new world of of vintage piano method books to collect. Yes, dear reader, I hover upon the very edge of a Paypal precipice of precipitous purchases.

Other than nostalgia for quality artwork and tasteful design (I shall refrain from commenting upon the appallingly tacky aesthetic of every single contemporary method book series), I am in love with these books for their imaginative, beautifully written rhymes and songs.

Music is an art. Poetry is an art. Art is an art. If piano method books are intended to introduce hundreds of thousands of people to the beauty of music, surely the accompanying art and text should also be beautiful, creative, and original.

Have you heard of a place called Keyboard Town,
Where half of it's up and the other half down,
And the people all sing what they'd naturally say,
While the traffic cop signals in a musical way?

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