Shaping the Sound - Piano Parent Podcast Episode

A little while back Shelly over at the Piano Parent Podcast had an interview with a pretty big name in piano pedagogy, Marvin Blickenstaff, where he shared his 'Rules of Thumb' for shaping sound when playing the piano. 

We all know on some level that music is so much more than a simple combination of notes. Expression, dynamics, articulation and even emotion all play a role in interpreting music so that it actually sounds musical. But even beyond those, there are ways to play that shape our sound into something truly beautiful, nuanced and textured. From the way we strike the keys to how we interpret phrasing, or even what to do with repeated notes to keep each one sounding fresh, there really is a lot going on under the surface when we hear well-played music. In this episode Marvin talks about some of those tricks. You can listen to the episode here, show notes available here (including a free download of Marvin's Rules of Thumb!)



For parents of piano students, I would highly recommend listening to this episode in order to understand some of what we are trying to accomplish with different rote pieces and technical exercises, and to help your piano kid during their home practice. If you piano kid is old enough to track with the podcast, you could have them listen to it with you, and discuss some of the Rules of Thumb he introduces and whether there are any places in their current pieces that they could be applied.