Hi, I want to share with you some main standpoints
regarding music, in this particular case - the piano. I am 40, and I dedicated
my life to piano. By “life” I mean - childhood, youth plus the rest, until the
present day. Besides classical music, which is my mainstream because I studied
it "officially," I listened and played every kind of music that can
be played on keyboard. In high school we practiced "sight playing,"
at home I played "by ear," because I couldn’t constrain myself to
classical music solely. This need for growing and expanding, constantly
stretching your mind and your horizons, is probably most valuable
characteristic of human beings (although it's a lot easier to gain success and
fame if you focus on one thing at the time!).
Therefore, I was always against online video
courses of playing. My point of view was based on experiences originating
mostly from high school and music academy. Long hours of practicing piano
(demanding classical compositions), reading books, visiting exhibitions,
concerts, opera, etc. In a word, enjoying in atmosphere and benefits of one
world that does not longer exists.
As I am teaching in the music school, I observe today’s kids. They are
pounding on a piano with one hand, holding a cell phone in other, trying to play
melody by ear. Everything is changing, moving forward so fast. Classical
approach in music pedagogy does not cut any ice, anymore. On the contrary, it
may be even counterproductive.
So, I went through many video classes, which I used to make fun of
before. All those virtual classrooms with camera focus on keyboard, showing
musical phrases repeated with slow motion, even synthesizers with blinking keys
(when pressed!). All seemed to me like a kind of circus. But after 12 years of
work with small kids, I changed my standpoint. This is actually exactly how it's
meant to be. So, I decided to go "online". Internet opened a brand new dimension of sharing knowledge that we kept selfishly somewhere deep in ourselves, with no thought that there is someone out there who might desperately need exactly that particular knowledge.
Ivica
Todorovich,
pianist and teacher
