Would you teach your students to play only the first six notes of each major scale? Of course not! Good teachers introduce a complete concept, often from multiple perspectives. They may emphasize the building blocks of scales, key signatures, logical fingering, good practice habits, and healthy technique. Out...

The Words We Speak: The Power of Language in Nurturing Confident Musicians

Valentina Lisitsa is a formidable pianist with dazzling technique and an ever-growing fan base. A self-made luminary, she was arguably the first classical musician to catapult herself from relative obscurity to superstardom using social media alone. At forty-three, the Ukrainian-American virtuoso now boasts 300,000 subscribers to her YouTube channe...

​For better or for worse, in sickness and in health..." As I think back to my marriage vows, I wonder how they might have changed if I knew then what I know now: "In forte and piano, in Scriabin and Prokofiev, until you are parted by death or insanity...?" My husband, Salam, is a Renaissance man, a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde. By day, he works as an...