Working with a pianist can be a real treat!

Unfortunately, it can also be frustrating at times, especially if you're uncertain how to do it well, so I've put together a tongue-in-cheek guide to ensure that your next opportunity is a delight to both you and your musician!  (I've been on the receiving end of ALL of these at some point in my 20+ year career! lol)

Enjoy! :D

Top 10 Worst Tips for Working with a Pianist

1. First of all, do NOT talk with your pianist outside of the studio. Musicians love to...

Classical Music and Circle K

Did you know that convenience stores often play classical music outside their entrance to discourage people from hanging around? Why? Why do you think classical music would have that kind of power?

I would speculate that the layers of rhythm, harmonies, structure, etc in classical music is just too much information for untrained (music-wise) minds to really appreciate; it's noise rather than music to them. They would likely simply say they don't like it, but my guess is that...

When you are considering what music you want to use for your petit allegro, there are really only two things you need to consider, is it about the landing or the jump, AND, how high do you want the allegro to be?

Let me explain.

Let’s talk about glissades for a second. Glissades are a travelling step. They’re quick and close to the ground. Do you want to encourage your dancers to have high glissades? No!  The coordination is fast and small. In fact if you have this...

I'm not playing the piano, why do I need to know music terms? Does it really matter if I know what those 4 words mean?

Yes! Yes! and YES!!!

You NEED to know what they are so you can be clear to your musicians, your dancers and yourself when you're marking! Your total awareness and ability to express these music qualities will take your teaching to a WHOLE new level! 

Bwoop! Bwoop! Bwoop!

4 Music Terms you NEED to Know, Understand and Demonstrate

Tempo

This is the speed of music you need. When...

Petit Allegro.. A joy. A pain. Dreaded. Loved. Hard. Easy!

"It's just jumping"

"Why can't they be on the music?"

"I'm so sick of using a 2/4 for sautes"

"What else can I use?"

So, when it comes to petit allegro, you usually have 2 purposes. 1) Warm up their achilles and 2) wake up your students' brains and feet!

Generally warm up allegro should be a combination of plies, rises and actual sautes. With that in mind.. what kind of music works for that? What kind of music supports your various saute...

Choices..We all have to make them

Have you ever been at a restaurant and said to the waiter, "I'm not sure what I want, the lemon seared trout with risotto or the chickpea/chicken curry bowl with naan..which would you recommend?" So often we're faced with a situation where 2 options would work, but we don't know which one we want.. or why! (After months of social isolation, you can see where my mind is at, a meal I don't have to make!! lol)

Like this little story, you, too, are faced with this daily...

Today's blog on codas/galops harks of the old Sesame Street song, "One of These Things is Not Like the Other". If you watched Sesame Street a lot as a child, you may remember it (Big Bird singing it). Below, I have 4 statements based on musician's terms, the game is for you to see if you know which one is not true!

4 Statements (based on musician's terms), which one is NOT true?

• Chaines are fun!
• 6/8s are for galops
• Galops are for chaines
• Codas are for chaines

Let's take a quick walk through each of...