Here is a photo of the latest addition to our music school!
April 16, 2012
Schottische Choro by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Here’s a clip of Long Island City Music School instructor Taro Morino playing a section of Schottische Choro by Heitor Villa-Lobos
March 12, 2012
Coto Pincheira
A few new photos of Artisound’s LIC Music School piano teacher Coto Pincheira. Mr. Pincheira joined the faculty in 2011 and has experience teaching piano to all ages. We will be posting performance videos as well later this week.
March 10, 2012
Gary Marcus – Guitar Zero
Interesting program on NPR featuring Gary Marcus chronicling his experience picking up the guitar at age 38.
March 1, 2012
Proper hand and wrist position for piano
Posture, hand positioning, muscular alignment, tension and flexibility are critical components to effectively developing technique and skill on any instrument. It’s important to learn and focus on the fundamentals at any ability level to prevent injury, accurately develop skills and muscle memory, and maximize effectiveness.
Many guitarists you will see slouched over the guitar with wrists flexed outward or inward. Rather than having the guitar fit the proper positioning of their body, guitarists often position their body to the shape of the guitar. Since it is not known as an ergonomic and symmetrical instrument, the resulting improper posture often leads injury, poor technique and limited musical development. Here is an article on proper hand, wrist and finger positioning on the guitar.
The piano is a much different shape and is aligned directly in front of the body. The mid range of muscular motion is key here as well. If the wrist is positioned too high above or below the keys, the wrist muscles will develop tension and limit the mobility of the fingers. It’s essential to position the hands above the piano and have the fingers rest midway down. We will be writing extended articles on posture in front of the piano including proper aligment of the back, neck, mid section, seat, legs and arms.
February 29, 2012
Women of the World – Kazuyo Kuriya
One of the key elements for effectively teaching musicians is instructors who perform regularly or semi-regularly, and can translate that experience to students. It’s important for students to play with others and in front of others as soon as possible, to reinforce what they learn and gain comfort in a variety of settings. At our music school it’s essential that performance always be considered a principal component in developing and practicing, and the reason why we have a performance space as well as rehearsal rooms. One of our instructors who performs regularly is flautist Kazuyo Kuriya, as part of the Women of the World music group. Here’s a video from Berklee in Boston.
February 28, 2012
Acoustic guitar maintenance
Following up on yesterday’s post regarding guitar repair, if you are shopping around for an acoustic or classical guitar it’s essential to purchase some kind of humidifier for the guitar. In New York City many of the apartments and houses have steam heat which cause major damage to these beautiful handmade wood guitars. There have been several students who spent a lot of money on acoustic guitars only to find out a week or two after purchasing it there were cracks in the neck. While the cracks can be sealed and protected with oil, it’s annoying to get cracks right after the guitar is purchased. We have used both of the planet waves humidifiers and these refillable plastic models tend to work best. The planet waves two way humidifiers (in the bag) tend to dry out fast and can be more cumbersome to insert into the guitars. A critical element is ensuring that the water is refilled every few days in the humidifier with a plastic dropper (pictured) and leave the guitar in the case when the humidifier is inserted. If the left outside of the case the water will dissipate from the humidifier and the guitar can still crack.
February 27, 2012
Guitar Repair
Guitars are made of wood, and for that reason, they are delicate and respond to changes in the weather and humidity causing them to sometimes crack. The strings can wear away at the fretboard and the frets themselves which may need to be replaced. Worst of all, guitars can be broken during air travel, which has happened to many players that we know. So then, where do you go to get your guitar repaired?
When we have issues with our guitars at Artisound’s LIC Music School in Queens, we go to Domingos Fialho at Pentatonic Music in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Domingos is an excellent repairman in addition to being a master at building acoustic and electric guitars. If you need a build or a repair, we suggest you go see Domingos – his work is top notch.
We’ve had repairs done at more popular places that needed to be redone or were not done correctly. Even though his rates are a little higher, they are still reasonable, and his repair work has been excellent.
February 25, 2012
Inspiration from the piano masters
One of the great benefits to bringing a community of music performers, educators and students together in a place like New York City is the exchanging of ideas, inspiration and a passion for sharing music with others. Often musicians, especially soloists, spend a great deal of time practicing on their own, it’s important to be able to connect with the community to be able to grow as an artist. One of our faculty members shared this beautiful piano piece titled Transcendental Etude No. 8 and performed by Boris Berezovsky.
February 20, 2012
Live music performance
One of the essential elements to live musical performance is the environment, both for the audience and the player. There are certain characeristics of acoustics which tend to elevate or negate certain sonic frequencies, and musicians need to prepare accordingly. For audiences, the perception of “where” the concert or performance is being held is enormous. If the show is in Carnegie Hall, there is often the assumption that it’s a “world class” show, whereas if a guitarist is playing in the subway it’s usually assumed that the musician is a nobody, no matter what it sounds like. The Washington Post wrote a great article several years ago about acclaimed concert violinist Joshua Bell playing a 3.5 million dollar violin as a street performer in the Washington D.C. subway system and how peoples perceptions were based on where he was performing, not knowing it was actually him.
If you live in New York City or visit and see performers in the subway system in Times Square, Grand Central or any of the other high profile locations in the city, the musicians who land those spots need to audition, usually through the MTA as part of the Music Under New York program. Landing these gigs is by no means a shoe in, and the competition is fierce given there are so many musicians and performers living in the city vying to get a nice, cash paying gig to play regularly. The next time you are rushing hurriedly through Grand Central terminal past a musician, take a moment to stop and listen, you never know who might be playing or subbing in for someone. Here ‘s the video of Joshua Bell performing in the D.C. train station.
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April 25, 2012
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