Older Adults – Page 3 – Upper Hands Piano Blog

January 15, 2017April 23, 2019

Pledge To Play: 10 Minutes A Day

Dear Piano Peeps:

Today I hope you will join me in pledging to play the piano at least 10 minutes every day for the next 30 days (January 15-February 13, 2017). You don’t need to have a goal attached to your pledge, other than sitting down at the bench every day, and playing for a few minutes. Even if you were working all day and feel beyond tired, sit down for 10 minutes before you get into bed. Even if you are out-of-town, practice “virtually” by looking at the music and “playing” on a tabletop (which is surprisingly effective!), or spend 10 minutes listening to versions of your current pieces on YouTube, while playing along with your right hand (if it’s not too fast!) I chose this photo to remind you to take it one step at a time 🙂

Why is this an important pledge? Research shows that short daily practice sessions are more effective in long-term learning, than infrequent long practice sessions. The brain learns best with consistent exposure to the notes and keys. Another reason to pledge is to nurture the “habit” of practicing. When I was a piano student, I would be amazed at how quickly the week between lessons shot by. And I would wish that I had just taken a little time each day to practice my pieces. After 30 days of playing for at least 10 minutes, I hope that you will fold practice into your daily routine, and will feel the strong pull of the piano before bed, if you didn’t get to it during the day.

Though 30 days might seem like a long time to promise to do something, people generally find that it goes by quickly; and playing daily gives them an increasing sense of accomplishment each day that they fulfill the 10-minute pledge.

Practicing more than 10 minutes per day is great, but do try to get a minimum of 10 minutes on the keys every day. For my part, I will be writing some blog posts to help you practice happier and healthier. Besides playing the piano every day, I pledge to play the accordion every day (I have to strengthen those push-pull accordion shoulder muscles before the onslaught of St. Patrick’s Day gigs in March!) And I will be practicing at least 10 minutes of French each day. I have a 2-year online subscription to Rosetta Stone, and am loving it!

If you do have a specific musical skill you would like to dedicate this month to, write it down in a music journal, and share it with us! Let us support your progress. But keep it small, and do-able. Rather than trying to “perfect” something, strive for something achievable such as increased smoothness in a musical passage, memorizing a couple of lines, working on hand-strengthening exercises, etc. Make your goals open-ended, working towards progress, not perfection. I will talk a lot more about “perfectionism” this month. Thanks for joining our pledge. I look forward to hearing from you!

With love and music, Gaili

UpperHandsPiano.com ||| Upper Hands Piano books are available on Amazon.com

January 4, 2017July 13, 2018

What is a Practice?

Hello and happy new year! Are you, like me, pondering the question of which attributes and activities you would like to bring into your life, and which you are ready to let go of in 2017? My friend recently sent me a blog post entitled, 25 habits that psychologists have linked with happiness. Most everything the authors listed as sources for increased happiness resonated for me (ESPECIALLY #1 and #2 which are so pertinent to those of us over 50 studying music!) They refer to these habits as “practices,” because, as with the piano, we need to extend some consistent effort and attention to the routines and personality traits we wish to fold into our lives. A practice suggests continuity. In her book Better Than Before, author Gretchen Rubin reminds us that a practice is ongoing, without thought of a “finish line.” We practice in order to keep growing and learning; To become who we want to be, and do what we truly value. People speak of a meditation practice, a yoga practice, or a spiritual practice because there is an inherent acknowledgment that it is open-ended, continuing to develop and deepen. We practice music, painting, dancing, cooking, sports, law, and medicine, understanding that we continuously study and progress with time and effort. (Though thankfully, artists and athletes can’t be sued for MALpractice!)

I am fascinated by the concept of practice, because it has been such a charged word for me in the past. As a young child it was a struggle for my parents and piano teachers to get me to practice the assigned pieces and exercises. I wanted to play Beatles songs, movie themes and ragtime, but the hours I spent on those genres didn’t count as legitimate “practice time.” I set out to become a piano teacher who would honor all time spent playing the piano as worthy, creative practice. I am currently writing a book called, Passion Practice, because I have been interested in exploring all of the elements that contribute to our ability to pull ourselves away from the multitude of demands on our lives, to get to our practice. What a gift it is to ourselves (and others!) to take the time and make the effort to learn something creative.

To help kickstart your year with consistent practice, I will be launching a Pledge To Play 10 Minutes A Day 30-day challenge, in a couple of weeks! Join us from January 15 – February 13, to practice at least 10 minutes each day. It doesn’t matter what you practice, as long as you get yourself to the bench every day. Research shows that short daily exposure to a skill is more effective than one long weekly practice session. And while we can’t expect to practice every day of our lives, hopefully this 30-day commitment will help you to make piano practice (or whatever your creative pursuit) a habit. Gretchen Rubin calls habits “the invisible architecture of daily life.” Rubin shows that while it takes will power to cultivate good habits, once we establish them we don’t have to rely so much on self-discipline.

When the Dalai Lama was famously asked what is the secret of happiness and living a meaningful life, he unhesitatingly replied, “Routines.”

During the 30 days I will be posting tips to help rejuvenate your practice routine! Until then, I hope you will embark upon another practice immediately: The practice of self-love. We need to practice treating ourselves with loving kindness everyday. In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, Dr. Brené Brown asserts that we can only love others as much as we love ourselves. Celebrate yourself today, sending love and gratitude to your body, your mind, heart and soul, your history, your pain and pleasures; because all of those things brought you to where you stand today, ready to greet a new year with love, hope and compassion. Please leave a comment about practice! What does it mean to you, and what do you like to practice best?

With love and music, Gaili

UpperHandsPiano.com

July 14, 2016July 13, 2018

PEDAL PASSION | PEDAL PRACTICE

Venezuelan virtuoso pianist/composer Teresa Carreño (1853-1917) believed that pedaling is like mixing paints on a palette, creating a profusion of colors and shades. She called the use of pedaling, tone-painting. Her good friend/teacher Russian pianist/composer Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894) further called the damper pedal “the soul of the piano.” It is Anton Rubinstein’s legato pedal technique that I will be describing here today.

I waited until well into BOOK 4 to introduce the art of piano pedaling to beginners, because it is difficult to think about moving your foot while you are already lifting your fingers, reading the notes, counting the rhythm, and gliding your hands across the keyboard! However, many of you who played the piano in childhood regularly use the damper pedal, and might like a refresher course on pedaling BEFORE getting to BOOK 4. Therefore, this post is for the intermediate piano student starting BOOK 4, or for the returning student. Beginners can revisit this post when they are ready to begin pedaling!

Teresa Carreño warned that though we use the pedal to extend the sound of the notes after our fingers have lifted off the keys, it is not a substitute for smooth, legato playing:

The “legato” must be produced with the fingers, the hands, and the arms, and the [damper] pedal must be brought to act as a help, not as the chief medium.

The damper pedal is especially helpful in allowing the sound to linger while our hands are leaping to notes that are far apart. Besides a legato effect, the damper pedal also heightens the piano’s tone, making the music sound warmer, more vibrant and rich.

To introduce you to damper pedal technique I have made two videos. The first video is an introduction to damper pedal technique:

A general rule is to lift and press (“kick-back”) the damper pedal each time a chord (broken or block) changes, but if you are playing a lot of sixteenth notes, you might lift and press the pedal with each quarter note beat. Using the legato pedal technique I describe in the sheet music and video below, you fully depress the key (“hit-bottom”), then immediately raise and lower your pedal. The result is that you are lifting your pedal slightly after playing the note.

By waiting to lift and press the pedal until you have fully depressed the key, you prevent any silences from occurring between the chords.

The second video below accompanies pages 28-29 in Upper Hands Piano, BOOK 4 offering an exercise to learn this “legato” (or “overlapping”) pedal technique. Click on the sheet music to enlarge.

You can watch the following video as you follow along in the music:

(Please excuse my nerdy videos! I am trying to get more comfortable in front of the video camera, but I am not there yet!)

If this is your first time using the damper pedal, you will find it challenging! Think of the lift/press (“kick-back”) motion as one maneuver. Each time you lift, you immediately press once again. (You can practice this quick up-down, “kick-back” maneuver any time or any where you are sitting!) In Upper Hands Piano BOOK 4 you will find many exercises and pieces in which to practice this technique.

Though at first you will faithfully follow the pedal markings, after a while YOU will determine where pedaling will enhance your music. It becomes second nature and instinctual with time. But beware of over-pedaling. In The Art of Pedaling, Teresa Carreño advises:

The pianist cannot be careful enough in avoiding the blurring which can arise from an “abuse” of the [damper] pedal.

For now, experiment with a little pedaling each time you practice to get used to it. Try to lift and press (“kick-back”) once your key is fully depressed, each time your chord changes. Let me know how it goes by leaving a comment!

With love and music, Gaili

UpperHandsPiano.com

April 7, 2016July 12, 2018

When Should You Be Practicing?

Practice In The Morning — blog.upperhandspiano.com

I am often asked for tips on how to practice effectively. In my recent post entitled The Best Ways To Practice using the latest brain research, I showed that practice is most effective when we leave time in between our practice sessions for some forgetting to set in. After we forget something or forget parts of something, it feels more difficult to relearn it. And that difficulty makes us learn it better! But does the time of day that we practice matter? Yes it does!

I have just finished listening to The Great Courses Lecture Series called Memory and the Human Lifespan by Professor Steve Joordens. Professor Joordens asserts:

Our circadian rhythms shift as we age–in adolescence and teen years we are more likely to be night owls, and as we age, we become morning people. We are alert earlier in the day and we get drowsy sooner in the day. Young people don’t start to feel really alert until lunchtime, then school ends just as they are starting to feel cognitively strong.

Dr. Joordens cites research by psychologist Lynn Hasher who studied memory retention in both younger and older people, both early and late in the day. When you compare young to old on memory tasks late in the day, the younger people scored much better. But when you compare young to old on memory tasks earlier in the day, the older people scored higher than the young!

Older adults will retain more information and skills if they practice earlier in the day! It would be great if they could fit in another short practice session just before going to bed, because sleep helps to embed new skills and concepts into long-term memory.

Children will remember more if they practice later in the day, preferably after having a healthy drink and snack (and washing their hands!) If they have the time, they too would benefit from another short practice session right before bed to let the magic powers of sleep do its mighty memory consolidation.

According to the National Sleep Foundation:

Sleep actually triggers changes in the brain that solidify memories—strengthening connections between brain cells and transferring information from one brain region to another.

We tend to focus on WHAT to practice – but as interested music teachers and students we also need to take into account HOW and WHEN to practice most effectively according to the processes of the brain. Have you found these parameters to be true for your practice?

With love and music, Gaili

Author, Upper Hands Piano: A Method for ADULTS 50+ to SPARK the Mind, Heart and Soul

Check out our awesome books, free sheet music and videos! UpperHandsPiano.com

March 18, 2015July 13, 2018

Upper Hands Piano: Songs of the Seasons, SPRING

Dear Friends: We are SO pleased to announce…

Upper Hands Piano: Songs of the Seasons, SPRING is now available on Amazon.com! Classical pieces include Vivaldi’s Spring, Bach’s Sleepers Wake, and Mendelssohn’s Spring Song. Holiday songs include Dayenu (Passover), De Colores (Cinco de Mayo), Battle Hymn of the Republic (Memorial Day), A Tisket A Tasket (Easter) and fun songs for Mother’s and Father’s Day. Popular songs include April Showers, Glow Worm, The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring, and Scott Joplin’s Silver Swan Rag.

As with our Songs of the Seasons, Winter and Autumn books, we have suggested some musical goals In the back of the SPRING book. Here is an excerpt:

Goals for Spring:

Focus On Chords:

Focus on reviewing all of the basic chords this spring. Chords are the foundation of all music (with the exception of atonal pieces). If you were to analyze your pieces, both classical and popular, you would find chords in every measure. Review the major triads in all 12 keys. Then minor, diminished, and augmented triads. Next play all of the major triads in 1^st inversion. When you know the 1^st inversions well, review 2^nd inversions. If you have gotten as far asUpper Hands Piano, Book 3, review 6ths, 7ths and major 7ths in every key. Having instant familiarity with your chords will help you to be able to identify them in music, which will enable you to learn your pieces deeper, better and faster. To learn more about chords, search for “chords” at blog.UpperHandsPiano.com

Maintain Balance:

March 20^th is the spring equinox, when night and day are equal in length. It’s a great time to think about bringing balance into your life; eating healthy along with enjoying a few treats, exercising your body along with stimulating your mind and relaxing at the piano. There are many ways to consider balance in your musical studies. Think about your posture: The ideal posture is a straight back that pivots from your derrière, with relaxed shoulders and feet flat on the floor. Piano players strive for dynamic balance, which is the ability to play one hand softer or louder than the other, as needed. Search for “The Art Of Balance” at blog.UpperHandsPiano.com to watch our Youtube video demonstrating exercises to help you increase dynamic balance.

upperhandspiano.com — Upper Hands Piano, BOOK 4

As always, thanks so much for your support! Now we are back to finishing our piano method series, with Upper Hands Piano, BOOK 4. When BOOK 4 is completed, I hope to get back to weekly blogging about issues related to piano lessons for adults 50+. I miss writing my blog posts and hearing your observations, ideas and concerns!

I am seeing the first blossoms and blooms and enjoying birdsong here in Los Angeles. Don’t you just love the first blooms?!

May you enjoy the renewal of spring!

With love and music, Gaili

PS – All Upper Hands Piano books are available on Amazon! Or check them out on our website. Thanks!

January 28, 2015July 13, 2018

7 Moving Pieces (For Anger)

Why would we want to listen to angry music? When we’re feeling mad we want to connect with something that matches our mood. Sometimes we need to hold onto our anger until we’re ready to let it go. Rather than over- eating, drinking or yelling, we might turn to music. Listening to angry music can have a cathartic effect. It can help us to express then release the dark feelings within us to make them more manageable. Here are 7 pieces to fit our fury:

1) O Fortuna (From Carmina Burana, By Carl Orff)

2) Prelude in C# minor (By Sergei Rachmaninoff)

3) Symphony No. 5 (By Ludwig van Beethoven)

4) Presto (From Summer, By Antonio Vivaldi)

5) Hit The Road Jack (By Percy Mayfield)

6) Paint It Black (By The Rolling Stones)

7) Respect (By Otis Redding)

Next: Moving Pieces (For Sadness)

With love and music, Gaili

P.S. I’ve been choosing Youtube videos that don’t have advertisements. However when I go back to check the links, I’m seeing that advertisements do pop up randomly. I’m sorry about that! I guess many videos include intermittent advertisements that I can’t see.

UpperHandsPiano.com

January 26, 2015July 13, 2018

7 Moving Pieces (For Inspiration)

Dear Friends:

I sometimes turn to moving music to get me through a difficult time, or to reflect my feelings of joy and appreciation. Listening to moving music is one of the greatest pleasures available, but we don’t do it enough! How often do you just sit and listen to music? Without doing the dishes, driving, or exercising? We’re all so busy, but just sitting and listening to moving music is like therapy.

We can get swept away by inexpressibly beautiful songs and pieces that release dopamine into our brains making us feel amazing!

We can turn to different types of music for the many emotions we are experiencing. Here is my list of 7 moving pieces that will hopefully inspire you to move forward with your dreams, desires, wishes and intentions.

1) Gabriel’s Oboe (Main Theme from The Mission, By Ennio Morricone)

2) Sonata Pathetique (Adagio Cantabile, By Ludwig van Beethoven)

3) Triumph of Time and Tide (Sarabande, by Georg Friedrich Handel)

4) Etude No. 26 in A-flat Major (By Frederick Chopin)

5) When You Wish Upon A Star (By Leigh Harline and Ned Washington)

6) Don’t Give Up (By Peter Gabriel, with Kate Bush)

7) Wonderful World (By Bob Thiele and George David Weiss)

What music do you listen to for inspiration?

Tomorrow, 7 Moving Pieces (For Happiness)

With love and music, Gaili

Check out our awesome books! UpperHandsPiano.com

January 25, 2015July 13, 2018

Musical Endings

Today I would like to talk about musical endings.

In his wonderful book Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself, (I love the audiobook!) Alan Alda said,

Deep in our hearts we know that the best things said come last. People will talk for hours saying nothing much and then linger at the door with words that come with a rush from the heart. Doorways, it seems, are where the truth is told.

The end of a song or piece is like a doorway. The truth of the music is revealed in the final measures with an outpouring of pure emotion moving us into silence or into the beginning of the next movement. Endings can be long or short, triumphant or tragic, lyrical or succinct, humorous or melancholic, stately or surprising, or can fade away into silence. Some are conclusive and others end with a question. As with beginnings and middles, it’s a good idea to put some thought and care into how we would like to end our piece.

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1) Practice your ending until you can let go of reading every note, and can move beyond the notes.

2) When you have worked your way to the final measures of a piece, think about your expression, or the emotion of the phrases. Write down a few words to describe the ending so that you can focus your mind on those emotions when you play it.

3) What tempos and dynamics will you use? Will you slow down at the end of a piece, or keep the tempo steady? Will your ending be piano or forte, or will it contain a mixture of dynamics?

4) If you are playing a popular song you can choose a wide variety of endings. You can improvise a little melody of your own. You can play some extra chords such as a minor ii7, V7, I. You can play some chord arpeggios such as the I – Major 7th. You can repeat the last few measures an octave higher, then end with a very low note.

5) Whatever type of music you are playing, make your ending count. Don’t let yourself rush through it like a horse back to the stables! Take the time to give your ending its due. What truth do you want to tell at this doorway? For Alan Alda, it was,

Oh, by the way, I love you

When you are ready,

1) Play your finished piece for someone you love and trust. Sharing your music with others is a great gift and gives your piece a sense of closure.

2) While you move on to new pieces, KEEP REVIEWING THE PIECES YOU KNOW AND LOVE.

3) If you haven’t played a piece for awhile, don’t get discouraged when you can’t play it perfectly the first time. Keep playing, and it will come back to you!

4) Write down a repertoire of about 10 pieces that you will keep in rotation. Play these pieces for yourself and/or others as often as you can.

Each time you review a piece, you will deepen your understanding of it. You will play it with increasing ease and expression over the weeks, months and years of review.

With love and music, Gaili

Check out our awesome books! UpperHandsPiano.com

Bibliography

A Pianists A-Z: A Piano Lover’s Reader. By Alfred Brendel Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself. By Alan Alda

January 23, 2015July 13, 2018

7 SMART SNACKS!

The latest food studies show that WALNUTS are at the top of the list of “brain foods.” Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at The University of California, Los Angeles have found that eating a small handful of walnuts per day can improve your memory! And they help you to lose weight by filling you up with omega-3s.

The British newspaper The Telegraph reported today on six additional snacks that are good for the mind:

1) Along with walnuts, SALMON is also rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are important nutrients for the heart and the brain. If you can’t find wild caught salmon, you can also try fish oil supplements.

2) A study out of Tufts University showed that BLUEBERRIES can actually reverse memory loss, and improve balance and coordination. Antioxidants found in blueberries have also been shown to prevent macular degeneration and maintain eye health.

3) One of my favorite foods, AVOCADOS contain extremely healthy unsaturated fats, which help to keep brain cell membranes flexible. I like to spread avocado on rice cakes, or smash it with a little lemon and salt as guacamole into which I dip raw veggies like carrots and celery.

4) WHOLE GRAINS such as brown rice, quinoa, barley and oats (steel-cut or oat “groats)) provide another source of healthy brain food. Prepare your grains whole then refrigerate leftovers instead of reaching for bread or pasta.

5) People who eat lots of BROCCOLI perform better on memory tests. Here’s what the experts say about broccoli’s nutrients:

Vitamin K helps to strengthen cognitive abilities while Choline has been found to improve memory. Broccoli also includes a sizeable serving of folic acid, which can help ward off Alzheimer’s disease. Studies suggest that a lack of folic acid could lead to depression, so eating plenty of broccoli could also keep you happy.

6) Here’s the best news of all; DARK CHOCOLATE is great for your brain! The flavanols found in cocoa improve blood flow to the brain which improves cognitive function and verbal fluency in older adults. My favorite hot drink is to mix raw cocoa powder with almond milk. Drinking this throughout the day instead of eating is my best weight control secret!

Are you hungry now? What other brain foods do you enjoy?

With love and music, Gaili

Check out our awesome books, free sheet music and videos! UpperHandsPiano.com

January 18, 2015July 13, 2018

Playing An Instrument Is Like Fireworks In Your Brain!

UpperHandsPIano.com/blog — blog.UpperHandsPiano.com

I recently came upon this Ted Ed lesson on how playing an instrument is like fireworks going off in your brain!

Through delightful animation, Anita Collins shows us that playing a musical instrument gives a huge boost to our brains.

She tells us that “disciplined, structured practice strengthens brain functions, allowing us to apply that strength to other activities.”

If you ever wondered why it’s so difficult learning to play the piano, consider this: “Playing a musical instrument engages practically every area of the brain at once.” [We piano players leave crossword puzzle solvers and new language learners in our dust!]

PLAYING MUSIC IS THE BRAIN’S EQUIVALENT OF A FULL BODY WORKOUT

Click below to watch the 4:44 minute video. I know you’ll enjoy it!

Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain!

With love and music, Gaili

Check out our awesome piano books, free sheet music and videos! UpperHandsPiano.com