03/20/2022
This 7min video shows so many reasons why I teach Piano, and why I teach it the way I do.
I wish I had time with students to go over the intensive technical training that Jeremy Denk had in his childhood. I already tell my students “I’m not torturing you, I’m trying to help you.” But I also don’t want to create more anxiety on top of the anxiety most of my students already have in the fast paced life they experience.
I sincerely hope that I instill the sense of “bringing a piece alive,” the cathartic experience of dealing with emotions that piano playing brings.
I am aware of the cons of not spending more teaching time on helpful but time consuming techniques. But I try very hard to give them a solid foundation. One where if they decide they want to go on the journey of deciphering the more enigmatic “treasure maps” the ones that require time consuming, not necessarily anxiety ridden, but time consuming technical development; that they have all the tools they need in their ears, hands and most importantly hearts to do so.
How to listen, How to practice. How to curve that 4th finger 😉
How to learn that mistakes are not failures, frustrations, or reflections of self worth. Feelings I know so well, feelings which I invested way too much time in; not recognizing their uselessness. That was part of my journey. But going through it has given me an opportunity to help students learn to let go of the anxiety and enjoy playing, not just the piano, but hopefully in navigating whatever “treasure map” they find in their lives.
“I needed a sense of the wider purpose of piano playing….the Musical Score is a treasure map, you know, telling you, here is how you create this piece, here is how you bring it alive, this is how you do it. And it’s not a misery but a beautiful guide.”
-Pianist Jeremy Denk, on CBS’s Sunday Morning 3/20/22
CBS News correspondent John Dickerson sits down with the acclaimed classical pianist Jeremy Denk, recipient of a so-called MacArthur "genius" grant, to talk ...
