Oclef Blog

July 04, 2018

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.” You could build a miniature replica of Rome in a day, but it wouldn’t be as glorious as the real thing. “Good things come to those who wait.” Then again, you have been waiting for your concert tickets for over an hour so you could leave and enjoy something else in the meantime. But, now you would be missing out on what would have been an awesome night. “Patience is a virtue.” Impatience is a vice.

October 24, 2016

5 ways to make memorizing music your strength

One thing that always kept my attention when talking with fellow musicians was discussion about memory. For pianists it’s often the top thing on our minds heading into concerts. How is my memory? Sviatoslav Richter who was one of the greatest pianists of all time and one of the top 5 of the 20th century ran into lots of anxiety over his memory in the later stages of his life. So he began to use music. Lang Lang often will use a score on stage if he’s performing a relatively new work. Two more...

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October 03, 2016

Why do we teach?

At the end of every teaching day, I’m exhausted. Just like any other job you love, you’re depleted emotionally, physically and mentally. Teaching music is particularly rewarding since you see your students grow and develop over the years. But what I find incredibly rewarding is when I see students use the skills or mindset they have from piano, in their life outside piano. We often give presentations in theory class and it’s always the new students who feel most uncomfortable. Amy was a new s...

September 24, 2016

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree

I recently ran an audition for students looking to join our studio. It reminded me of my last audition – the day I was accepted into the Royal College of Music in London. But this time I was the one doing the decision making. It’s really tough. You see the students come in and they’re all dressed well and nervous. But it’s the one’s who do the right things: look you in the eye and say hello, place the music on the table, and even say thank you when they’re done; those are ones I’m likely to s...

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September 18, 2016

Avoiding errors vs. achieving excellence (Part II)

A teacher of mine from a long time ago once told me that mistakes in performance are like if someone walks in front of the TV while you’re watching a show. This always stuck in my mind. The person walking in front of the screen temporarily messes up the line of communication that you have with the TV, but it doesn’t effect your understanding and appreciation of the story, characters and setting. You still enjoy the show and by the end, you probably won’t even remember the person who walked by...

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September 15, 2016

Tough love

Every so often I need to reach for the tissue box in lessons. Tears happen. Does it mean we’re too tough as teachers? It depends. I often push students as hard as I think they can go. The result is a deeper student to teacher connection in the long term, but a frustrated student in the short term. I push them because they can do it. Because I believe it’s the right thing to do. It’s tough being a student. I know. I was there and went through every lesson, recital, competition, audition, tours...

September 12, 2016

Avoiding errors vs. achieving excellence – Part I

One of my first blogs on Oclef was a message that I sent to my students before a competition. You can read it here – The Perfection of Pursuit What I work to make clear to my students in every opportunity is that mistakes and errors are not the problem. The problem is almost always maintaining the correct focus or mindset. Do your students fear making mistakes? Or are they more focused on creating excellence in their music? Perspective is everything. I think this is the one big differences be...

August 25, 2016

Is Frank Ocean’s new album Blond more artistic, creative and impactful than all of today’s contemporary classical music?

The obvious answer is that you can’t compare apples and oranges, but that’s not the case here. Stravinsky released his Rite of Spring in 1913 as Ballet Russes newest cross-arts production. The art created a reaction that drove people to riot. They were so emotionally connected to the outcome and felt compelled to riot. They were moved. When Franz Liszt toured for a few years – people would travel from neighboring villages so they could see the “Great Franz Liszt”. They were seeking to see som...

August 22, 2016

3 simple yet powerful practice habits

Practicing an instrument for years doesn’t mean that you’re practicing correctly, but even if you are, there are still ways to hack your practice time to make it even more efficient. With these three hacks any student can turn 15 minutes into an effective session. The 10 second break – If you watch any great sports stars, they all find a brief moment to mentally collect themselves during events. Great tennis players mess with their racket between points, basketball players have a complete rou...

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