Friday, April 16, 2010

Yesterday a ten-year-old showed me the most amazing thing: when she is fascinated by a sound she will work at it until she can do it, even though it is seemingly beyond her capacity. In other words, the sound not only motivates her, it also organizes her hands and her mind. She will work on the elements of the sound one at a time, then combine them in various ways. In this case, as often happens on the piano, it is a matter of doing not two but three things at the same time. I kept asking whether it was too hard. "No, no." Amazing.

The same child works on her own at playing two against three, for the same reason. In each piece the sound is irresistible.

The collection is called Album for the Young, by Lowell Lieberman. I thoroughly recommend it for players of all ages.