Dear Friends,

This year marks the centennial of the first performance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which was premiered on February 12, 1924, in Aeolian Hall in New York City.

I had the distinct privilege of performing Rhapsody in Blue a couple of weeks ago with the Butler University Wind Ensemble. By so doing, I became a member of the club of pianists who played Rhapsody in Blue this year: I personally know at least four other pianists who are playing it in 2024, and there are many more besides that!

Many people have mixed thoughts about Rhapsody in Blue a century after its premiere. Some critics call it "the worst masterpiece," while others believe it’s as brilliant as ever. When the project was first proposed, I myself briefly wondered if it was worthwhile to put in the time to become one of the army of people performing such an “over-played” work this year.

But… when I sat there on the stage the other week, and that famous, iconic opening clarinet solo started - the one that starts from nothing and pitch bends its way into the melody that has captured so many hearts - the hair on my arms stood up. I felt a wave of gratitude to be given the privilege of performing this work that ignited the imagination of so many when it was composed. The world looks quite different in 2024 than it did in 1924, but Gershwin’s youthful energy and the "Americanness" of that piece endure.

My question for you today is: what piece have you heard over and over that you don't think you can ever tire of? What is it about that piece that you love?

Happy Practicing! 🎹

-Kate

🎼 Today's Practice Tip: Rhythmic Permutations!

Today's practice tip will help you make your passagework more even. Practicing in rhythmic permutations is one way I practice long passages of sixteenth notes. I have suggested this to several of my students this month, and when they applied this method, it worked like magic!

This week’s exercise: Practicing with different rhythmic permutations works like this: Take a sixteenth-note passage and play it through, hands together, stopping on the FIRST note of each group of four. Go through the passage twice. Then, practice the passage again, stopping on the SECOND note of each group of four, and again going through the passage twice. Repeat this process, stopping on the THIRD note, and then the FOURTH note of each group of four. By the end, you will have practiced the passage a total of EIGHT times. This also works for triplet passages, stopping on the first, second and third notes, going through the passage a total of SIX times.

Quote of the Week

🎥 YouTube update

Over at The Piano Prof, I have been busy with behind-the-scenes updates. I have upgraded my mics, changed my camera setup, and worked on my website. So, this week I don't have a brand new video to share with you.

However, the video that has received the most views over the past month is relevant to many pianists: it's a piano scale tutorial where I show you how opening and closing your hand will help you play your piano scales with more ease and fluency.

​You can watch it here!

💜 Some of My Favorite Things

1. Performance - The spring weather and lengthening days in the part of the world where I live have put me in the mood to listen to Scarlatti. I adore this performance by Yuja Wang, from the Verbier Festival over a decade ago. It brings a smile to my face every time I hear it!
2. Podcast - Over on the Vibrant Music Teaching podcast, Nicola Cantan shared her "5/7/22 Music Memorization Method," where she goes over how she applies the principle of spaced repetition to her practice when she memorizes music. After I listened to this podcast, I adapted a version of her method in my own practice. I think this can be helpful to anyone who is memorizing music.
3. Piano Gear - By popular demand, I have created several resource pages on my website for pianists and piano students. So far, I have created four pages for technical studies, sight reading resources, books, and gear. You can check all of them out at this page.​