Piano Pedaling Tutorials by the Piano Prof

I recently discovered The Piano Prof YouTube channel hosted by piano professor Kate Boyd and am loving so many of her tutorial videos related to intermediate level music! She explains with such clarity and includes music samples demonstrating the concepts. I love using flipped learning and her helpful explanations are a great resource for my piano lab time lesson plans that correlate with method book pieces. 

Pedaling Tutorial Videos

Pedaling Basics

Intermediate Piano Teaching Videos for Flipped Learning

After several years of music study, music I understood the basic rules of rhythm, note reading, and chords to tackle new pieces. I quickly learned that playing piano is much more of an art than a science with plenty of nuances and exceptions to the rules.

When is it OK to Break the Rules?

Keep your eyes on the music.

Lift the pedal at chord changes.

Keep your wrist level.

Play with a steady beat.

Make sure to follow the fingering in your music.

These rules can be helpful guidelines for beginners but intermediate playing requires the ability to fine-tune skills and adapt to the style of the music or even "break the rules" to achieve more artistry and avoid tension. 

Different fingerings might work better for one player than another, pedaling can be utilized more like a dimming switch than the flip of a light.

Just like a teenager is allowed a bit more freedom than a toddler, approaching music rules at the intermediate level requires more flexibility. On some topics I've discovered that not even the "experts" can agree on the rules. I think the best rule is a principle taught by my moral development teacher in college. Does it help or hurt?  

Piano Pronto Movement 1: #28 Fur Elise and Syncopated Pedaling

  This lesson plan includes activities for Beethoven's "Fur Elise" in Piano Pronto Movement 1.    

Music Samples and History

Listen to a video of your choice below that features variations of Beethoven's famous piece Fur Elise.

Fur Elise Jam Piano Guys

BAPDARP - A Systematic Practice Approach to Expressive Playing

 

"If you give specific input you get specific results."  This was my favorite quotes from a UVMTA piano teaching seminar I attended last week by Stephen Thomas, a music faculty member at BYU-Idaho.
To start out the seminar  Thomas first gave a brief overview of score preparation and practice tips that he had covered in a previous seminar regarding score preparation and tempo.
Score Preparation -

• Add fingering
• Divide into sections and number (or name) them

Tempo Grid Metronome - Set specific metronome goals

• Slow Tempo
• Set Specific Standards (Measures 5-8 Slow Hands Separate @ X Tempo, then Hands Together)Medium Tempo

• Medium Tempo
• Exaggerate dynamics, articulation, and phrasing
• Fast Tempo
• Less repetition of small sections, more focus on larger sections and continuity

Once students can play the piece with reasonable fluency they move on to BAPDARP.   For me, I think of fluency meaning correct fingering rhythm and notes. BAPDARP requires a closer look and listen to the expressive details of the piece.

Teaching Piano Pedaling Creatively

A few weeks ago one of my students was having a really tough time getting the feel of syncopated pedaling. She was so frustrated I had her "shelf" the pedaling for a week. 

Off the Bench Piano Pedaling

To reintroduce the concept we did an off-the-bench "experiment" that she'll probably never forget.