Speaking the piano
Subtitle: reflections on learning and teaching
By: Susan Tomes
Publisher: Boydell Press
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 267
ISBN-13: 9781783273256
Subjects: Biography; Instruction and study; Piano; Education; Piano teachers; Pianists
Description: "In Speaking the Piano, renowned pianist Susan Tomes turns her attention to teaching and learning. Teaching music encompasses everything from putting a drum in a child's hands to helping an accomplished musician unlock the meaning and spirit of the classics. At every stage, some fundamental issues keep surfacing. In this wide-ranging book, Susan Tomes reflects on how her own experience as a learner, in different genres from classical to jazz, has influenced her approach to teaching. She tells us how her performing career has given her insight into what young performers need to know, and how discussions with students have fed into her own practice. She describes the brilliant and intriguing teachers whose masterclasses opened her ears to the many ways in which music can be brought alive and communicated. This is a book to appeal to a wide range of readers - pianists of every level from beginner to professional, piano teachers, musicians of all kinds, and the broader community of music-lovers. In a passionate contribution to the ongoing debate about the place of music in education, Susan Tomes argues that this most inspiring of arts can play a unique role in personal development."--Dust jacket flap.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Section One: Teaching. Enlisting the imagination; title: Pretending to be other people; title: Why don't people play better?; title: Grappling with the instrument; title: Words and signs; title: Tempo is character; title: Connecting the beats; title: Sensing the style; title: Imagery, positive and negative; title: Different physiques; title: The inescapability of one's own nature; title: What we talk about in lessons; title: The benefit of hindsight; title: Fusion cooking; title: 'You'll find the black notes play louder than the white ones'; title: 'For me this is like jazz'; title: Is playing the notes enough to reveal the music? To sway or not to sway; title: How important is it to hear the sound?; title: Section Two: Learning. Beethoven among the Alpine flowers; title: Not all those who wander are lost; title: The sound of two hands clapping; title: Music lights up the brain; title: Epilogue; title: Index.