“The other day I heard Chopin improvise at George Sand’s house. It is marvelous to hear Chopin compose in this way: his inspiration is so immediate and complete that he plays without hesitation as if it could not be otherwise. But when it comes to writing it down and recapturing the original thought in all its details, he spends days […]

The list of famous left-handed pianists is a who’s who, from 20th-century legends Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein and Glenn Gould to today’s keyboard masters Daniel Barenboim, Radu Lupu, Leif Ove Andsnes, Steven Blier, Richard Goode, Helene Grimaud … and many more. Pianist Russell Young, director of Kennesaw State University’s opera and music theater program, believes being left-handed is an advantage […]

“In every fugitive vision I see worlds, full of the changing play of rainbow hues…” Konstantin Balmont Visions Fugitives (fleeting visions) by Sergey Prokofiev is a set of pieces based on a poem written by Russian poet Konstantin Balmont. They were composed between 1915 and 1917 and premiered by Prokofiev on April 15, 1918 in Petrograd, Soviet Union. The pieces, […]

The Hungarian-French composer Stephen Heller (1814-1888) produced a large amount of piano music of which his numerous studies are still very popular because of their fine pedagogical qualities as well as their strong and appealing characteristics. His other piano pieces of all kinds, variations, character pieces, operatic transcriptions, fantasies, sonatas, dance movements, nocturnes, waltzes, caprices and scherzos might by today’s […]

Pianists who begin practicing in childhood have been found to have better developed nerve pathways in parts of their brains. Scientists believe this results in better fine motor coordination. Most professional pianists begin their careers in early childhood. Very few people can develop their capacities as fully later in life. A research group under the leadership of  Fredrik Ullén, a […]

Playing piano pieces for four hands is often very motivating for beginning piano students. Diabelli’s 28 Melodious Exercises opus 149 are simple but appealing pieces and the primo part stays in the five finger position all the time which makes them great for practicing sight reading. Diabelli’s 28 Melodious Exercise, opus 149 are now available for download from the Piano […]