Two of a Kind

From http://www.morrissuntribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=14722&section=homepage&freebie_check&CFID=79125600&CFTOKEN=95501180&jsessionid=8830b87b61206a524946

By Katie Erdman
Hancock Record

Adair Horgen (left) and Della Conroy share a love of piano duets and they’ll play plenty during their “Adair, Della and Friends” show Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Morris Area Concert Hall.

Born into a musical family, Adair Horgen has lived and breathed music all her life. For nearly 85 years, she has practiced, performed, composed, played and enjoyed music, especially piano music.

Adair took her first music lessons at age 7, but by then she had already been enjoying experimenting with her mother and father in their music. Her mother played the piano and her father the fiddle and later in life, the cello. It was easy for her to take to the music that was so much a part of her life.

Practicing the piano was often her first priority, never a chore. She would even use practice time to get out of other chores, like doing dishes. Her dedication led to a successful life filled with the joy of music.

After living and working in California most of her life, Adair and her husband moved to Morris 10 years ago to be near their daughter who was teaching at the University of Minnesota, Morris.

That move was one that would bring the beauty and joy of her music to this area, and to sharing her talents through an annual program called “Adair, Della and Friends.”

The fourth annual event, featuring the talents of Horgen, Della Conroy and other musical guests, is 7 p.m., Sept. 4, at the Morris Area Concert Hall.

Shortly after moving to Minnesota, Adair met Conroy and the two immediately struck up a friendship based on their mutual love of music.

While in California, Adair had started performing with another pianist in two-piano duets. She missed those times and asked Della if she would be willing to try it.

The Adair and Della combo was born. Since that time, the two have entertained many with the unique musical experience.

Playing a two-piano -- or, at times, two people at one piano -- duet is not an easy task. Before they even begin practice sessions, Adair spends hours re-composing the music to accommodate four hands. It is a precise process, not only to make it work technically but also harmoniously.

Della has never regretted joining Adair in her musical ventures. She was also raised in a musical family, agreeing with Adair that she often skipped out of chores just so she could practice.

However, Della’s devotion to her musical career was one of not only pleasure but necessity.

Her family owned a restaurant in Alberta and she learned to play an accordion her father purchased when she was in the third grade. She liked to entertain their customers occasionally in the restaurant.

Her 9th grade band director inspired her further pursuits in music. He encouraged her to learn piano. When he and his wife, who was the church organist, moved away, Della was quickly initiated as the church organist. Before she knew it, she was playing at three church services every Sunday and cleaning one of the churches. At $4 for each of the jobs, she was earning $16 each weekend.

Della enjoyed earning the extra money from something that gave her pleasure. As a reward, she purchased a horse with her hard earned cash. After graduating from high school, Della went on to college in Morris and majored in music. She took additional music lessons and learned from some of the best -- Eleanor Gay and Kay Carlson.

Della has taken that knowledge and passed it on to her piano students while continuing to serve as a church organist, a labor of love for 43 years. She recently retired from the organist duties and concentrates more on playing for fun.

One of these fun events started a few years ago when Della and Adair joined their musical fingers at the piano keys in a concert held on the Fourth of July at Della’s home in Hancock.

For several years, people would pack the house after the annual July 4 parade to listen to their duets of patriotic music. The event soon grew in size and eventually the duo decided to carry it a step further with the “Adair, Della and Friends’ concerts.

All proceeds from the program go to help fund the Prairie Renaissance Cultural Alliance. The music featured this year will include timeless tunes such as “Moon River,” “Blue Moon,” “Mapleleaf Rag” and “The Beer Barrel Polka.”

Another highlight will be “Stars and Stripes Forever,” which features four pianists -- eight hands on the two pianos. For the song, Adair and Della will be joined by Julia Conroy and Kris Miller.

The program will also include several other friends, not only on piano but singers, dancers and instrumentalists. Adair and Della have never had a problem finding the talent or even encouraging people to join them. Many people who have seen past programs come up to them later and ask if they can join in the next one. Some say that they love to just sit and listen while others would rather participate.

Whether listening or participating, they encourage people to join them in the fun and entertainment on Sept. 4. Adair added that she is thinking of retiring soon, maybe doing just one more concert next year. Then she will be passing on the piano, so to speak, and joining those who come out of these concerts smiling, laughing and simply happy to have spent an evening filled with talent and inspiration.

Piano Maintenance Tips

From http://www.3x24.com/piano-maintenance-tips/801659

Piano Maintenance Tips

by Gray Rollins

Did you know that a piano can have up to 12,000 moving parts? It’s true. Not only that, but many of those parts are moving parts. And if you want your piano to stay in good working order, it needs a little bit of maintenance to stay its best.

During the first year of a piano’s life it’s suggested to have it serviced two to four times. Then talk to your piano technician to decide what frequency to continue service at. Usually twice a year after the first year is recommended, but sometimes once a year is enough. Servicing includes having the piano tuned, regulated as needed, voiced as needed, and eventually having worn parts repaired or replaced as needed.

A piano has over 200 strings and when the technician starts tuning a piano, it’s the strings he’s going to work on. The technician wants all the strings to have the correct pitch.

How does a piano go out of tune in the first place? The most common cause is humidity changes. It’s recommended that you don’t get your piano tuned right after the humidity has changed or the tune will only hold a couple months.

When a piano is regulated, that means that mechanical parts of the piano are being worked on. There are no hard and fast rules to how often a piano needs to be regulated as it depends largely on the climate its being kept in.

When it comes to voicing the piano, we’re talking about adjusting the pianos quality of sound or tone. The frequency that voicing needs to be done depends largely on how much you use your piano - 1 to 5 years tends to be the typical range.

You’ll also want to make sure you take good care of the exterior of the piano too. Neglecting the exterior of your piano can, believe it or not, affect the sound quality of your piano. Keeping it clean is a pretty simple job, but one thing to remember is that you don’t want to use furniture polish.

Your piano will also need to be reconditioned occasionally. Some parts will get worn out from use and will need to be replaced.

If your piano has deteriorated severely then reconditioning it won’t be enough. You’ll have to get the piano completely rebuilt which involves completely disassembling the piano. As you might imagine it’s very labor intensive and quite expensive, but in some cases it’s the only way to restore the original performance level of your piano.

Keep in mind that a piano is an investment, and that a well maintained piano can actually increase in value over its life.

About the Author:

Gray Rollins is a featured writer for PianosCentral - a site that helps people learn how to play the piano. Learn more about Rocket Piano review and the Pure Pitch Method at his site.

Beach Boy celebrates sea change with music

From http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/08/25/1A_BRIAN_WILSON.ART_ART_08-25-08_D1_DQB33NQ.html?sid=101

Beach Boy celebrates sea change with music

Monday,  August 25, 2008 3:12 AM

By Solvej Schou

Associated Press

Brian Wilson

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Brian Wilson sits on a plush couch in his living room, smiling nervously.

On the back porch at the home of the Beach Boys visionary, the 15 family pooches yip and scramble over one another.

Inside, photographs of his children with wife Melinda Ledbetter -- Daria, 11; Delanie, 10; and Dylan, 4 -- lace the walls.

The immaculate two-story, deep into a gated hillside community in Beverly Hills, has a swimming pool that overlooks the valley below -- as in a postcard.

"I'm happier now than I was a year ago," Wilson says. "I started exercising, and I started eating more of the right food, and I started feeling better. I just get up in the morning and say my prayers."

Tall and gangly in a pinstriped dress shirt, his graying hair swept back into waves, the wizardly songwriter behind 1960s hits such as Good Vibrations and California Girls stares with sharp blue eyes and frequently fidgets.

Much has changed for the historically reclusive southern California native, who speaks with a slight slur -- a result of one-time drug abuse and a medicated journey through mental illness.

The second-round father, 66, has two daughters from his first marriage -- Wendy, 38; and Carnie, 40 -- who hit the road as the Wilsons.

In the wake of the rock opera Smile in 2004 and a 2005 Christmas release, he has a new, ambitious solo album, That Lucky Old Sun, due next week.

He is touring behind the material, pushing through enduring stage fright.

"I think the new album is just as good as anything the Beach Boys ever recorded," Wilson said. "Playing these songs live, I feel proud."

Two years ago, he said, he recorded 18 songs, then last year chose 10 for Capitol Records/EMI.

He devised the album's lush orchestration and music, while 43-year-old band mate Scott Bennett scribed the lyrics, with colorful narrative interludes by Wilson's longtime collaborator, Van Dyke Parks.

The outcome blends up-tempo pop and piano-based ballads. The title track, a cover of Louis Armstrong's That Lucky Old Sun, flows into the bouncy anthem Morning Beat, setting the album's tone.

"Van Dyke Parks, Brian and Melinda thought this should be a love letter to Los Angeles," Bennett said. "At this point, Brian was 65 years old, and it just felt right to embrace his legend and be a bit nostalgic."

Songs such as Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl touch on Beach Boys melodies; Mexican Girl adds a dash of salsa flavor. Midnight's Another Day and Oxygen to the Brain reference Wilson's dark days in the 1970s and '80s, when he receded from the spotlight into isolation, drugs and weight gain.

Wilson calls Midnight's Another Day, which skirts on a solitary piano melody, his favorite song -- "kind of introspective, kind of how I feel around people."

The album's last song, Southern California, reminisces about co-founding the Beach Boys in 1961 with brothers Carl and Dennis (both deceased) and ends the album on an uplifting note as Wilson sings, "It's magical / Living your dream."

"Yes, Brian had a rough time of it, with his mental health, but I would kill to have the kind of catalog he does, and tour everywhere with his brothers like he did," said Bennett, who confirms that Wilson "is on a heavy dose of anti-depressants."

Regardless, Wilson has hit a creative stride in his life.

Inspiration emerges at night when he sits alone at his Yamaha synthesizer and grand piano in his music room, with purple curtains.

"When I go to the keyboard, I feel holy, like an angel over my head," he said. "I feel very holy."

Questions about the Beach Boys' status receive lukewarm responses.

Wilson, who also formed the band with cousin Mike Love and then-school friend Al Jardine, split with most of the group's surviving members years ago amid legal squabbles.

Love and later Beach Boys band mate Bruce Johnston tour as the Beach Boys Band; Jardine has his own Endless Summer Band.

Wilson underscores the subject's touchiness.

"We don't want any publicity about me getting back with the Beach Boys because I don't want to. They're not my group anymore."

Yet he clearly loves performing Beach Boys tunes as well as his own solo work, even with nightly stage fright, which he says he works through by getting neck and shoulder rubs and praying.

At a taping days later for Yahoo! Music's Live Sets, Wilson is joined onstage by his nine-piece band, including Bennett and members of the Wondermints, who have played with him for 10 years.

Asked during a question-and-answer session about his biggest regret, Wilson doesn't mince words.

"The drugs I took, which kind of messed up my mind -- the LSD, the marijuana, the cocaine."

Inspiration emerges at night when he sits alone at his Yamaha synthesizer.

What Age Should Your Child Start Piano Lessons?

From http://www.3x24.com/what-age-should-your-child-start-piano-lessons/80591

by Amy Nutt

There isn’t a parent who doesn’t want their child to be good at something and one of the more common aspirations is playing piano. There`s something about being able to dance your fingers across the ivory keys that appeals to both parents and children. The big question on every parent`s lips is “When should my child start piano?”

The younger, the better. We’ve all heard about the likes of Mozart and other child prodigies who began playing at very tender ages, 3 or 4. Getting a child into piano lessons that early means they will have the most time possible playing, even if they don`t end up being extremely gifted in the area of music.

Introducing Young Children to Piano

You can start peaking your little one`s interest in music right from the start. Listening to classical piano while in the womb and after birth will give your child an early appreciation for the piano. They will be far more interested in playing than if you simply ignore music all together and then abruptly introduce it as you want them to play.

If you’ve decided to start your very young child in piano, it is very important to find the right teacher. Toddlers can`t and shouldn’t be expected to, focus on one thing for a long period of time. That means lessons will certainly need to be cut into smaller, more manageable bites. Most 3-4 year olds do very well with 15 minute lessons.

You really can’t expect a 3 year old to learn the same way a teen or adult would, so having a piano teacher that understands the age group and knows how to communicate effectively with a small child is vital. Without this, you’ll find that children don’t learn well and will rapidly become frustrated with the instrument. The idea is to keep it fun and enjoyable, particularly at this young age.

With a good base to build on, small children will often go on to play piano for the rest of their lives and this gift of music is definitely something that they will treasure in years to come.

Older Children and the Piano

Of course, not everyone can start their toddler in piano lessons so early. In some cases, parents may not have even considered the possibility until their older child came out and asked for lessons. This is a common scenario, where the child is the one interested in playing.

First, you`ll want to ensure that this isn’t just a passing phase. Most parents do this by requiring their children to take a minimum of one year of piano lessons. This is more than enough time to get a good taste for the music lessons and after a year, a decision can be made, to continue on or to leave it.

Children who instigate the learning process tend to stick with it better than those who are forced into it at an early age, but they may be slower to pick up the concepts behind the music and it can be a bit of a struggle for older children to learn to read music in some cases. However, if the effort is made, it can be an excellent way to learn more about music and no one has ever done poorly because they learned to play the piano.

To make the piano lessons a success, be sure to have a way for your child to practice daily. It’s important they have this opportunity, no matter what their age. While younger is still better, that certainly doesn’t rule out older kids who are interested in learning.

About the Author:

Get quality music lessons Vaughn and piano lessons Vaughn at one of the most innovative and recognized music schools in North America.

Cornell Math - Recent Ph.D. Recipients

Cornell Math - Recent Ph.D. Recipients:

"Michael O'Connor Using Tree Automata to Investigate Intuitionistic Propositional Logic"

Brahms’ Lullaby Op.49 n.4

Brahms’ Lullaby Op.49 n.4:

Brahms at piano

Op 49, No. 4 Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, gute Nacht is a piano composition by the soloist Johannes Brahms who composed in 1868. It is said that Brahms composed this piece has to lift the daughter of Schumann, a young girl in the end of life that could not pià get up from bed. The girl appreciated very much the melody, like millions of children today. Who does not want to fall asleep so?

After publishing the simplified version, I propose another version, slightly more complex, but very, very simple! Play this song if you’re looking for a girl-friend, certainly falls at your feet, but to sleep!

This piece, dedicated to all those people who, like me, want to stay children maintaining the soul clean.

Download here

This version is an hard version, you can download it here.

Onara: Piano beginner blog

Onara Piano beginner blog:

"Wow! Its been almost a year since my last update. I have been very busy (lazy) indeed. I managed to get back into piano for a while, although not continuing with the Alfred course, I managed to learn my first complete song (excluding the Alfred stuff). Proud yet ashamed of this achievement. I have had my piano for almost two years now but haven’t progressed as quickly as I would have liked. It was the same for guitar too.

I had decided to learn the theme song ‘Onara’ from the South Korean drama Dae Jang Geum which is about the life of the first female royal physician of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea."

Read more here: Piano beginner blog

piano man: Value Music Before Theory and Gain a Piano Learning Excellence Experience

piano man: Value Music Before Theory and Gain a Piano Learning Excellence Experience:

"Music is a peaceful manner and a means to achieve self-expression. It is a universal language that geographical boundaries that cannot contain, and it is automatically understood and felt in specific ways for anybody that is around it. Music study develops skills that are necessary in the workplace. It focuses on 'doing,' as opposed to observing, and teaches students how to perform, literally, anywhere in the world."

Caring for the piano’s finish � The Piano Chronicles

Caring for the piano’s finish: The Piano Chronicles:

"See here for finish care guidelines from the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG).

Most pianos that are sold have cases finished either partially or completely in glossy black polyester finish. This is very similar to the finish that you find on cars. Although the high-gloss finish is very durable and relatively easy to keep clean it is still susceptible to being scratched, it takes fingerprints (but not as bad as a satin black poly), and does attract dust a little."

Old Picture of the Day: Piano Lessons

Old Picture of the Day: Piano Lessons: "Piano Lessons


This photograph was taken in 1899, and shows a young girl taking Piano Lessons"

More about this picture here:
Old Picture of the Day: Piano Lessons

Decisions, decisions

Although this was not completely unexpected, I have been asked to be the interim assistant music director of my church.  Prior to being asked, I had always thought that I would turn this position down immediately but now I find myself thinking about it.  I have said that I would call in my decision on Monday so my weekend is cut out for me.

When I did the music camp that wiped me out, that was 15 hours a week plus a couple after-camp meetings.  Could I do that every week plus an additional 5 hours sometime during the week?

I already put in quite a few hours during the school year.  I currently usually play bells on Sundays (2) and I often sub in a youth group (1), have 2 bell rehearsals on Tuesday (2), have a rehearsal on Wednesday (1), children's handbells and play piano for another group on Thursdays (1.5).  That's 7.5 hours already and more than enough to add to the time that music camp was. 

Could I, with my nap schedule, pull all that off?

This is a temporary position.  When a new music director is hired, the current acting music director will resume her "real" job, which is the one I would be doing.  Hopefully, a new permanent director will be hired soon.

My ideal thing would be to say yes, get the prestige, such as it is, of having this job, then they hire someone who starts the beginning of September so I never have to actually do the work.

As a volunteer, I can always say no to coming in for an extra rehearsal.  As an "official person", I think I would have less leeway to do that.

I have worked with the acting music director for many years and we work well together.

Other than the schedule above, I can set my own hours.

This job involves emails, computer scheduling, other computer stuff, all of which I can do easily.  If there's any recruitment, I don't think I could do that.

The acting music director says that she will help me with repertoire since she is very aware what they have in the library and I don't.  I would hate to choose music only to find that that choir had just played the piece in the spring.

I need help deciding - what should I do?

Piano Puzzlers!

 

From http://jasonmorris.blogsome.com/2008/08/08/piano-puzzlers/

If you’re a music geek (like me), I have a program for you. Now, let me be clear, to fully qualify as a music geek…you must have a fond appreciation for classical music (no, Poison, Quiet Riot, and Zepplin do not count as classical music). So, if you’re a “music geek” without an appreciation for classical music…well, I hate to burst your bubble…but, you’re not truly a music geek. Instead, you’re a music appreciator, but not a geek. So, if you just listen to indie music and scowl at anything on a label larger than Matador…don’t bother following the link I’ll provide…the fun will be lost on you…And, you probably won’t have a chance.

 

Every Wednesday night, on my way home from WNL, I turn on my local NPR station to listen to Piano Puzzlers on Performance Today. It’s absolutely incredible. A pianist/composer (Bruce Adolphe) takes a familiar folk or pop tune and sets it inside a classical masterpiece (or in the style of a particular composer). Sometimes it’s easy…sometimes it’s ridiculously difficult. There are days when I say, “got it” on the first pass. Then there are days when I say, “what the heck?” And, more often than not, I’m able to get either the popular/folk tune or the composer.

 

This is sad to admit, but there are nights when I’ll slow down on the drive home or sit in the car in the driveway to finish an episode. In fact, I get a little worked up if someone stops me after WNL…as I might miss the beginning of Piano Puzzlers (it usually hits around 8:20pm on our local station).

 

Take a listen to some of the archives and see if you can figure it out! It’s really cool…but probably only appreciated by music geeks (the kind of people that listen to NPR for their musical programs and not just the snipets of cool indie rock between segments on All Things Considered…which is a great show too).

 

Play Piano Puzzlers HERE!

My friend Chris and her brother David in Concert

 

Piano Tutorial - Middle C

From http://www.keyboardsheetmusic.co.uk/mikes_music_blog/piano-tutorial-middle-c

Todays lesson is about a very common musical note called Middle C. Today I will show you how to recognise this note on sheet music.

Middle C is an important reference note on the staff and the keyboard. If I ask you to play C on the keyboard. You might say which one. Now if I say play me the 1^st C above Middle C you will no exactly which C to play (you will when you have completed this section).

First, we will deal with Middle C on the staff (this is also the second note below the staff discussed in the previous section) this is how Middle C looks on the staff

Notice there is a small line in the centre of the note. This is called a Ledger Line. It is like a continuation of the staff. Therefore, instead of printing a full line we use a small line, it is easy to read it makes the rest of the music easy to read and Middle C is probably the most recognised note in the world.

Now let us try an example of how we can use this as a reference note.

Here we have Middle C D and D

As you can see, the first D is slightly higher than Middle C and the second D is a lot higher than Middle C.

This tells us that the first D is very close to Middle C in fact on the keyboard it is the next white note.

Therefore, the first D in the above example is the first D above Middle C. Which means the second D is the second D above Middle C. Please note that we are using distances from bottom to top not left to right

The distance from one note to another left to right does not matter at all at this stage. It is also useful to know that as the notes go higher you play higher up the keyboard, which means to the right of the keyboard and as the notes go lower you play lower down the keyboard to the left of the keyboard.

Up the Keyboard and Higher = Right

Down the keyboard and lower = Left

To see more about Middle C and how to find it on a piano keyboard, download my Beginners Piano Course. It has 10 lessons for the beginner and you can download it to your desktop for a small fee. Find out more here: Beginners Piano Course

Watch out for our final lesson in this series called Note Values. This lesson is about those musical notes you see written on sheet music, what are they called and what is there timing value.

Until next time

Mike Shaw
Mikes Music Room

Louis Teicher, 83, Half of a Virtuoso Pop Piano Duo

http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/louis-teicher-83-half-of-a-virtuoso-pop-piano-duo/83189/

By STEPHEN MILLER, Staff Reporter of the Sun | August 5, 2008

Louis Teicher, who died Sunday at 83, was half of the piano duo Ferrante & Teicher, which toured for four decades and released 150 albums, some as suitable for elevators as for concert halls.

Click Image to Enlarge

Scott W. Smith Collection

Arthur Ferrante (standing) and Louis Teicher in 1964.
duo pianists and Juilliard alums

Yet for their fans — and there were enough to purchase 88 million of their records — they were "the grand twins of the twin grands," virtuoso showmen in the tradition of Liberace and perhaps Liszt.

Ferrante & Teicher were perhaps best-known for their hit instrumental versions of 1960s movie themes, including "The Apartment," "Exodus," and "Midnight Cowboy." In the 1970s, they sent an average of three albums annually up the charts.

Their glistening, Muzak-friendly stylings, some of which today sound of a piece with the cascading strings of Mantovani, did not always appeal to critics, who found them hackneyed or camp.

"Passionless ... lifeless ... numbing," sniffed the Washington Post in 1978. The irony in this was that, in the earlier decades, the duo was seen as cutting-edge. In the 1950s, they used prepared piano to create space-age sounds. They continued touring until 1989, and survived to see their music revived by retro-hip audiophiles in recent years.

Born August 24, 1924, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Teicher was a child prodigy who began studying at the Juilliard School of Music at age 6. Teicher received his piano diploma at 16, and after further studies he joined the Juilliard theory faculty at 20.

Inspired by the two-piano repertoire they'd studied under Carl Friedberg, Teicher and Arthur Ferrante, also a precocious Juilliard graduate, decided to become a duo in 1946.

"We became professionals out of necessity," Teicher told the Juilliard Alumni News in 2004. "It was the Depression era, and you did whatever you could to pick up some money."

They booked their own concerts at colleges and universities in Canada and America. Supplied with grand pianos by Steinway, they maintained a fleet of trucks to transport them around the country and sometimes even slept in the van.

They made their mark with a classical repertoire. A 1948 concert at the Town Hall was attended by an audience of 1,400, who heard them play Liszt's "Concerto Pathétique" and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." But the crowd went nuts for their rendition of the latin-charged "Tico Tico," then a popular nightclub hit. Their future lay in such crowd-pleasing fare.

They first modified their pianos, Teicher told the Juilliard Alumni News, in order to simulate the percussion in Ravel's "Bolero." Later they used chains, cotton balls, and glass, and sometimes strummed the strings to achieve various effects. They seemed to herald what they subtitled their 1956 disk "Soundproof: The Sound of Tomorrow Today." Though appearing often on the easy-listening, summer pops orchestra circuit, they were smuggling the avant-garde in the back door. They were booked on all the 1950s variety shows.

Humor was an important part of their arsenal, both in terms of repertoire and costume. They dressed in identical flamboyant outfits — "straight from a Liberace fire sale" said one wag — and horn-rim spectacles. It was a kind of running joke that audiences couldn't tell them apart. Each night, they said, fans backstage would ask whether pianists in a duo required lesser skills than soloists.

Ferrante & Teicher charted 22 gold and platinum records, beginning with the theme from "The Apartment" (1960), and claimed to have played 5,000 concerts attended by 18 million people. If their names evoke blank stares from today's audiences, it is because, for all their wit, their music was as evanescent as smoke in a summer breeze. Some of their signature pieces can be seen on YouTube.

Teicher died of a heart attack at home in Sarasota, Fla., according to a statement from the duo's manager, Scott Smith.

He is survived by his wife, Betty, his children Richard, Susan, and David, and several grandchildren.

"Although we were two individuals, at the twin pianos our brains worked as one," said Mr. Ferrante, who also survives him. "I will miss him dearly, and as pianists it's ironic how we both ended up living on keys" — in Florida.

Piano Tutorial - Are You Ready to Learn How to Play the Piano (Part 1)

Piano Tutorial - Are You Ready to Learn How to Play the Piano (Part 1)

In these times of the internet, it's never been a better time to learn how to play the piano. Why is that? I hear you ask, because, information on virtually any subject you can think of is available, with a little research on the internet, and learning to play the piano, is no different than any other subject you might wish to learn....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks like this might be an interesting series! Click on this link in the title for future episodes.

Enjoying Vacation?

I know some of my students are doing exciting things this summer from attending the Olympics in Beijing, to trips to Arizona, to cruising, to music camps and violin festivals.

I hope you're all enjoying your time away and come back refreshed and relaxed.

As usual, I'll be away from August 23 until September 6.  Lessons will resume on September 17.