How Shall I Practice the Piano?

Written by Emily Sigers


Continued from page 1

8. Begin by practicing slowly at first, so as never to be obliged to stop. Always play strictly in time: rhythm and time must never be neglected for want of patience or energy. Sounds without rhythm have no more meaning than single letters ofrepparttar alphabet.

9. Duringrepparttar 109779 rests, do not removerepparttar 109780 hands fromrepparttar 109781 keyboard, but rather utilizerepparttar 109782 time, if necessary, forrepparttar 109783 next position. While one hand is playing, it is quite easy to preparerepparttar 109784 other for its part to come, if you are only quite clear in your mind what it has to do. Hence, such parts as require a change inrepparttar 109785 position ofrepparttar 109786 hand should be practiced alone, untilrepparttar 109787 hand has learned to assumerepparttar 109788 required position and to do its work unconsciously.

10. Aim forrepparttar 109789 highest, so as to attain something worth attaining. Overcome all fear or dislike of finger-exercises. Convince yourself that they are as absolutely indispensable and essential as arerepparttar 109790 words and rules of grammar which must be learned by heart beforerepparttar 109791 knowledge of a foreign language can be acquired.

11. Be patient and persevering. Want of patience will spoil all; perseverance will overcomerepparttar 109792 greatest obstacles and difficulties.

12. Be glad, if you can give others pleasure by your playing. But do not seek to excel by brilliant technique, which can never berepparttar 109793 object ofrepparttar 109794 true artist, whose aim must rather berepparttar 109795 acquisition of a thorough musical education. The ambition which incessantly urges on toward perfection isrepparttar 109796 natural quality peculiar to those gifted with great talent and a strong character. Pride and vanity ignore, or know nothing of,repparttar 109797 ideals of true art, and arerepparttar 109798 outcome of small minds.

This article, written by Karl Zuschneid, was taken from the November 1922 issue of magazine "Etude Musical Magazine." This article is featured at http://www.thepianopages.com, along with free piano lessons, sheet music, products, and lots more.


The Gong Show: Daddy to American Idol?

Written by Ed Williams


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On “The Gong Show,” you had a host who brought outrepparttar acts (Chuck Barris), and three judges who rated them. Right behindrepparttar 109778 judges was a gong. When an act came out and performed,repparttar 109779 judges would vote for it utilizing a one-to-ten scale. The scores would then be totaled up, and whichever act hadrepparttar 109780 highest total atrepparttar 109781 end ofrepparttar 109782 show won. It was fair, simple to understand, but that wasn’trepparttar 109783 best thing about “The Gong Show.” The best thing was whenever a truly crummy act came out and performed. If it stunk to high heaven and back, any one ofrepparttar 109784 three judges could turn around and strikerepparttar 109785 gong - that meantrepparttar 109786 act had to stop performing right then and there. And since “The Gong Show” only offered a few hundred bucks to whomever won,repparttar 109787 overall quality of their acts was generally poor, which made them great fun to watch. Especially more fun to watch than these slicked up kids they’ve got on “American Idol.” They’re all too squeaky clean, not one hair out of place, andrepparttar 109788 their song selections are simply atrocious. The other night I almost swallowed a whole ice cube when one ofrepparttar 109789 Idol contestants sangrepparttar 109790 old Partridge Family hit, “I Think I Love You.” The bad thing was,repparttar 109791 young man was singing it like it wasrepparttar 109792 most serious song he‘d ever heard. It nearly caused me to curse out loud, which is something I’ve never done before in my life.

Folks, let me go ahead and tell y’all what’s gonna happen on Idol. Those record company execs who runrepparttar 109793 show have pretty much decided that either Carrie or Bo hasrepparttar 109794 potential to sellrepparttar 109795 most records. So Randy, Paula, and Simon are going to steer public opinion towards those two as much as they can. Just watch, I’d bet a BTO CD on it. And while I’m watching it all unfold overrepparttar 109796 next few weeks, I’ll better understand why my mind keeps flashing back to “Gene, Gene, The Dancing Machine,” “The Unknown Comic,” “Larry and his drum,” and that simple little gong....



Ed’s latest book, “Rough As A Cob,“ can be ordered by calling River City Publishing toll-free at: 877-408-7078. He’s also a popular after dinner speaker, and his column runs in a number of Southeastern publications. You can contact him via email at: ed3@ed-williams.com, or through his web site address at: www.ed-williams.com.


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