Dear Friends,

About a month ago, along with many people throughout the northern hemisphere, I witnessed a full solar eclipse. It's been a while since it happened, but I have been so swamped with end-of-semester activity that I have fallen behind on my normal newsletter schedule, so I'm finally getting around to writing about it today!

For the eclipse, classes were canceled at my university, and we were all encouraged not to come to campus because they were opening up the campus to people to view the eclipse.

Seeing as we were "banned" from campus, we went up to our friends’ farm north of Indianapolis and spent a decadent afternoon visiting, eating food, and watching the eclipse. It was a rare day of rest during the busiest part of the academic year, and in some ways, it felt slightly transgressive; there was something about our "Eclipse Holiday" that made it feel like it was already summer.

If you were in the path of totality, or if you have witnessed a total solar eclipse in the past, you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say there are truly no words to describe the sight and experience of a total solar eclipse.

Now, how does this relate to music? Well, when John Cage wrote his famous silent piece, 4’33”- where the pianist sits at the piano in silence for four minutes and thirty-three seconds- he was being as much a philosopher as he was a composer. Cage was interrogating the very nature of what we describe to be “music.”

We think of 4’33” as a "silent" piece, but in fact, it premiered at an outdoor festival, where the audience would have heard birds, trees, and other ambient sounds, including each other! And the performer's silence turns the experience inside out, thereby allowing all the rest of the sounds to become the piece.

Cage believed that all sound was music, and questioned our decision to elevate some sounds, call it "music" and play it on the stage, declaring it worthy of our attention, while ignoring the other sounds that surround us all day. The hum of the air conditioner, the sound of that car going past: all of the sounds that we routinely tune out, were sounds that Cage wanted us to notice, and to find beautiful.

Last month, on an Indiana farm in the countryside, on a warm April afternoon, the sunlight became anemic as the shadow of the moon passed over the sun. Ten minutes before the sun was completely blotted out, the spring peepers started singing in their ponds, the birds started chirping their nighttime calls, and the wind started rushing through the trees. During the breathtaking, awe-inspiring 4+ minutes of totality, when the moon’s shadow obscured the sun completely, all of the creatures fell silent. And then when the sun re-emerged, the birds started singing again, and soon we were back to a normal afternoon in Indiana.

My question for you this week is: if you stop reading this right now and pay attention to the sounds around you, what do you hear? What sounds are you routinely tuning out? And when you practice the piano, how can you bring that awareness of and sensitivity to sound with you, so that you are really listening to the sound of each note?

Happy Practicing! 🎹

-Kate

🎼 Today's Practice Tip: Lower Your Shoulders!

Today's practice tip is straight from my own practice session this morning.

We pianists can carry so much extra tension in our shoulders, and while we practice our neck can get tight and our shoulders can gradually rise toward our ears and accumulate tension. This is often accompanied by shallow breathing. If you ever have a stiff neck or shoulders after a practice session, you might be doing this!

This week’s exercise: Throughout your practice session, take a moment to check in with your shoulders. To release them, let your arms and hands dangle loosely at your sides, raise your shoulders toward your ears as high as you comfortably can, breathe in, and then after about 2 seconds, breathe out while releasing your shoulders, and let them settle. If you're anything like me, you'll find that your shoulders feel like they are more relaxed and "lower" than they were before you did that exercise.

You can take short breaks from time to time while you are practicing to repeat this exercise and continue to "reset" your shoulders. Over time your shoulders will grow more accustomed to being in a relaxed position while you play the piano.

Quote of the Week

🎥 My Two Most Recent Videos:

​How to Play CANTABILE on the Piano​

This video contains five techniques to help you play the piano with a cantabile, singing line.

​What are WRIST CIRCLES in Piano Technique?​

I demonstrate how to do the wrist circle motion and incorporate it into the examples I use in the video.

💜 Some of My Favorite Things

1. Recording: What better piece to listen to around the eclipse but Gustav Holst's The Planets? I love this recording by Leonard Bernstein from his Young People's Concerts. Their performance of "Mars, Bringer of War" is simply electrifying.
2. Recording: One of my students recently played Louise Farrenc's Air Russe Varié - a theme and variations for the piano. It has been going through my head for weeks. Here's a wonderful performance of this lovely piece by Konstanze Eickhorst.
3. Book: Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music, by Angela Myles Beeching. This classic is a great book for musicians who want to create a fulfilling career in music.

🎹 Want more from me?

Here are four things you can do:

1. ​Book a lesson or a coaching session with me.
2. ​Contact me to learn about applying to study with me at Butler University.
3. Check out my resource pages, where I share my recommended books, technical exercises, gear and more!
4. Take a look at this spreadsheet with links to all of my YouTube videos.