Amazing Kid Musicians

Marie Daniels, Viola, Age 17

2011-09-05T20:15:00.000-06:00

Marie Daniels, Viola, Age 17, The Woodlands, Texas

Marie Daniels, viola, is from The Woodlands, TX, and has been studying viola for 8 years. She has performed with the Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra and Texas State Solo and Ensemble since 2006, and the Houston Youth Symphony since 2004. She has studied at the Heifetz Institute, the NYU Steinhardt Quartet Camp, and the Baylor Invitational Quartet Camp. Past Young Artists Program participant (2009). (See Source)

This video is of one of my all-time favorite hymns, "Come Thou Fount." In addition to being a very accomplished classical violist, she had the opportunity to participate as a band member for a Robbie Seay at a Good Friday concert hosted by the Woodlands United Methodist Church. Check out this video!

See Video >>

Abby Elder, Age 17, Viola & Voice

2011-09-01T15:06:00.000-06:00

Abby Elder, Age 11, Viola & Soprano

I couldn't pass up these two videos. The first is of Abby Elder playing Elegie pour Alto for viola by Henri Vieuxtemps. The second is a song Abby Elder composed named, "Winter Skies." Both videos are absolutely beautiful! She has played with the Dearborn Symphony.

Elegie pour Alto

Henri Vieuxtemps

Winter Skies

Abby Elder: Composer, Viola, Voice
Jenine Lawson Brown: Piano

Lola Astanova, Virtuoso Pianist

2011-08-27T12:03:00.000-06:00

Lola Astanova, Virtuoso Pianist, originally from Tashkent USSR now in New York City

Take a sparkling musical talent, infuse it with unyielding spirit, then add beauty, elegance and passion and the result can be called Lola Astanova. Born in Tashkent in the former USSR, Lola’s music career began at the age of six when her mother gave Lola her first music lesson. A few months later, Lola set on a professional music path, working with renowned professors Tamara Popovich, Mark Rusak and the "godfather” of the Russian piano school Lev Naumov whose pianistic lineage traced back to Franz Liszt. (See Source)

These are comments she posted in response to questions from her listeners:

Question:

I notice, when you are playing scales and/or arppegios at your tempo (fast -lol), how should I curl my fingers? Or should I? Especially, the 5th finger... Ive notice pianist like Keith Jarrett. When he plays, his 5th finger is curled up. No matter how much I practice trying to hold my fingers in those positions, they end up pointing straight out. What could I do to improve this (if it needs to be improved)...? Thank you so much!! PS - I LOVE your sense of fashion! You're the best!

Lola Astanova responded:

Thanks for the complements. As for your question, I'm not sure that curling any finger one way or another should be a concern or a goal. Everybody must find their own natural way around the keyboard. If you are struggling with one finger than the issue is, probably, broader, and you may need to go back to some basic hand positioning exercises.

Lola Astanova on learning a new piece:

Learning a new piece is a multi-step process. What I recommend doing first is learning the text in the score with great precision and without any emotional involvement, especially when it comes to well-known pieces or those that you are dying to play. Once you've done that, your intellectual and interpretational analysis will more come naturally and with greater depth.

Lola Astanova about curling fingers:

Never curl your fingers like a rainbow... It's a bad habit and it does nothing for your speed or delicate playing at fast tempos. When you curl your fingers you lose speed and consistent accurate motion. TEST 1: Curl your fingers like a rainbow and wiggle them up and down quickly. NOW: leave them un-curled, slightly arched being closer to being straightened and wiggle your fingers. THE DIFFERENCE in speed will be noticed instantly. Keep your hands straight when you play ;)

See Video >>

Yuja Wang, Age 11, Piano

2011-08-26T11:06:00.001-06:00

Yuja Wang, Age 11, Piano, Beijing China

I am so impressed with her articulation and the fluidity of her piano technique. Wow! You will love her video. It is amazing impressive!

Biography:

Born in Beijing in 1987, Yuja began studying piano at age six, with her earliest public performances taking place in China, Australia and Germany, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing under Ling Yuan and Zhou Guangren. Following three years, from 1999 to 2001, at the Morningside Music summer program at Calgary’s Mount Royal College, an artistic and cultural exchange program between Canada and China, Yuja moved to Canada and began studying with Hung Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone at the Mount Royal College Conservatory. In 2002, when Yuja was 15, she won Aspen Music Festival’s concerto competition and moved to the U.S. to study with Gary Graffman at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she graduated in 2008. In 2006 Yuja received the Gilmore Young Artist Award. In 2010 she was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Yuja is a Steinway Artist. Biography from http://www.yujawang.com/.
See Video >>

Tiffany Koo, Age 5, Piano

2011-08-25T01:06:00.001-06:00

Tiffany Koo, Age 5, Piano, California

This background information is from the Capistrano Connections Academy website written three years after the taping of the video of Tiffany Koo playing Chopin's Nocturne #20 in c sharp minor shown below. I find it amazing that online school can be successful even at Tiffany's young age in allowing her the flexibility to continue her piano studies at her advanced level.

Tiffany is an eight-year-old second grader at Capistrano Connections Academy (CapoCA). She lives in Redlands, California. She is a professional pianist who travels the world performing in concerts and competitions.
Tiffany is a quickly rising piano prodigy. She started playing piano at the age of two and amazingly played Chopin at just five years old. She has gone on to perform before large audiences, who don’t frighten the talented artist.
The balancing act for Tiffany comes when trying to manage her love for piano and school. After encountering issues with balancing her schedule between piano and academics, Tiffany was enrolled in Capistrano Connections Academy. The program has allowed her to pursue her passion for performing in piano concerts and develop her academic education as well. Her mother says...
“...Since joining CapoCA , Tiffany can access and review school work anytime from anywhere, this makes her study convenient and efficient, which results in more time available for her music. Now we are confident about her learning, especially the school’s intuitive online program which helped Tiffany to excel academically." (See Source)
See Video >>

Rainbow Piano Technique - "Bugle Call" Trial

2011-08-16T23:42:00.004-06:00

I spent some time today experimenting with my kids….they are being so patient with me as I keep changing things around on their piano lesson books. I adjusted the colors even more because when I put them on the piano there wasn’t enough contrast. I also am waiting to put colors on the black notes until they start using those piano keys just to keep it more simple looking for them. Riley, my 12 year old commented, “Okay mom (monotone)…..” after I asked him to try out a newly colored song. After he got done he said, “Sorry mom I am not much help because I just sight read the whole thing and memorized it and didn't look at the colors.” I watched him play it on the piano for the first time and just buzzed right through it, peeking every so often at some of the colors :). I am so glad that he does have a really good ear...the second time through went even better.

Here are the colors I used on the piano keys. They look a little different when you print them out than what they show on the screen with my printer. I stuck with the basic colors on the white keys (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown) and then lighter shades on the black keys (light blue, grey, pink, light orange, light green.) It is similar to what Annie Wang does in her Rainbow Piano Technique books except I used the same colors every octave and the lighter shades are further away from their darker counterparts. These colors also go really well with the basic colors of a Crayola marker set of which I have many (just got a couple more for $.01.) I took a marker and colored in their regular piano lesson book. At first I was a little worried about coloring in their book but I figured if it ends up helping, it is worth it.

I get really frustrated with either having to write the letters or the finger numbers in their books in order for them to learn the pieces. In the end they don’t really learn the music, they are just playing it enough times with help from me during our piano lessons that they end up memorizing it.

As I have been experimenting with the colors they are paying more attention to the keys and the sheet music and can play it after a couple of times through on their own. Sometimes I have to correct their counting or fingering but I take into consideration that they are looking at new things, i.e. colors on the page and on the keyboard for the first time.

"Bugle Call"

Bastien Piano Basics

Piano Book Level 1

by James Bastien

I “colored” a couple of songs for each of them after they went to bed tonight. I find that they are playing through them faster than I can color them. I tried coloring the stems of the notes and then circling the notehead on the whole notes but that was a little crowded so I am trying for the first time tonight just putting a dash above the treble staff or below the bass staff showing the color.

It does take a lot of time with the songs as long as they are for my kids, but it is cheaper than buying new books. A huge advantage is that I can start leaving off certain colors one by one at their pace to eventually get away from the colors all together.

I have my two kids in different piano lesson method series because they are at the same level and they were competing a lot. They started memorizing the songs while listening to the other one practice so when it was their turn to practice the piano they were just playing the songs by ear, and of course messing up in the same places (kinda funny when I think of it).

I find that they are turning into better sight-readers using this Rainbow Piano Technique. I have found that sightreading is the MOST valuable of all the skills I have as a musician. I have to pull teeth for them to play with style and dynamics right now but once I get them comfortable with the new note-learning method we will work on that. I don't want to throw too many things at them at the same time and frustrate them.

Let me know what you guys think.....

Lacey

Amazing Kid Musicians

Rainbow Piano Technique - "Lightly Row" Trial

2011-08-15T14:54:00.001-06:00

I took some of your guys' feedback and played around with different colors. Will someone let me know what you guys think? Email me your email address to amazingkidmusicians@gmail.com and I will send you the files to print.

Julie, Age 9, Trumpet

2011-08-13T16:27:00.000-06:00

Julie, Age 9, Trumpet, Meridian Idaho

A little about Julie...She has been playing the trumpet at the point of this video for only two weeks. She had previously studied the cello with her mom for a year and a half and continues to study the piano. When she grew out of her 1/2 size cello her mom asked her if she wanted to get the next size cello or try out another instrument. She has listened to her brother play for four years now and quickly said that she wanted to learn the trumpet. Her older brother, Riley, and her love to play tumpet duets. Julie was a previous spotlight here on Amazing Kid Musicians playing "Lightly Row" on the cello. She loves to practice and really enjoys her lessons with Dennis Keck, a well-known trumpet performer and teacher.

See Video >>

Rainbow Piano Technique - Day 3

2011-08-10T00:30:00.002-06:00

On August 10, 2011 we spotlighted Olivia who is 6 from Georgetown, Utah. I asked her mommy teacher how it was going and she wrote the following:

"It is more independent with the rainbow book. I don't have to tell them what to do as much as the other Bastein books. I ordered the pdf document; it was only 10 bucks. We'd been doing the other books off and on for a while, but without letters or finger numbers she was really struggling and with this she just picked right up. Maddy, age 4, and Jack, age 2 like it a lot too. With Jack I use symbols along with the colors like sun, pumpkin, fireman, and sky. I don't like how similar the colors are though like on the right hand there's two kinds of oranges next to each other and two kinds of green and blue and stuff like that right next to each other. Also on the "easy" songs the hands are supposed to move around in one song, so I have rearranged the pages a little bit. There's only like four songs that don't have the hands moving or don't have eighth notes. I like the concept, but I don't like the songs that she put together."
See Video >>

Olivia, Age 6, Piano

2011-08-10T00:22:00.001-06:00

Olivia, Age 6, Piano Georgetown Utah

This video is of Olivia on her third day after starting lessons using the Rainbow Piano Technique with her mom. Her cute little voice singing, "Quarter, quarter, half-note...whole-note-hold-it" is awesome! Olivia's mommy teacher wrote, "We'd been doing the other books off and on for a while, but without letters or finger numbers she was really struggling and with this she just picked right up." Great Job Olivia!
See Video >>

Grace, Age 7, Fiddle

2011-08-07T01:00:00.008-06:00

Grace, Age 7, Fiddle, Meridian ID

Grace has been playing violin/fiddle since she was two and a half. Her mom didn't plan on starting her that young but once her older sister gave her a fiddle she was hooked. This video is of her at the Idaho Open Fiddle Contest during the second round.
See Video >>

Robyn, Age 9, Fiddle

2011-08-05T23:49:00.000-06:00

Robyn, Age 9, Fiddle, Meridian ID

Robyn has been playing the violin/fiddle since she was three and a half years old. She, her brother, and sister all love to play at community and church events. This video is from round two at the Idaho Open Fiddle Contest 2011.
See Video >>

Rainbow Piano Technique - The First Day!

2011-08-05T23:14:00.000-06:00

Are you trying the Rainbow Piano Technique? What age(s) are the students? How did it go on the first day? What worked the best? I received this advice from Annie, the author, regarding older children but see that it would apply to all ages.

Dear Lacey
Thank you for your interest in our book again. I am sure your kids will enjoy it. My suggestion for your older kids is letting them play and try first, and you can do the last correction, like fingerings and articulation. Remember to do it slowly.Not too much practice,but do it slow and accurately. Good luck
Annie

Words from a master teacher for sure!

Lacey

Rainbow Piano Technique - Let's Try it Together

2011-08-04T22:36:00.000-06:00

Is there anyone interested in trying out the Rainbow Piano Technique with me? I just ordered the books tonight and can't wait to get them. I am going to try this with my nine and twelve year old. I am really curious if this will increase their independance and confidence. I will post our experiences periodically if anyone is curious. I think that it would be awesome to do it with others as well. Anyone want to?

Lacey Holzbauer

Colin, Age 10, Fiddle

2011-08-04T08:00:00.020-06:00

Colin, Age 10, Fiddle, Meridian ID

Colin has been taking fiddle lessons since he was 5 years old. He also plays the guitar and loves to play at church and community events. My favorite memory of Colin is when he walked around fiddling for all of us at a church pioneer activity. Nothing brought the spirit of pioneers better than that. The video below is from him playing his fiddle at the Idaho Open Fiddle Contest, 2011.
See Video >>

Richard, Age 3, Piano

2011-08-03T08:00:00.021-06:00

Richard, Age 3, Piano, Pasadena California

I ran across a very intriguing piano teaching method for young children the other day and I am very excited to try it with my little girl, Addison, when she starts taking piano lessons with me. (She is only 12 months so it won't be for a little while yet.)

The method is named the "Rainbow Piano Technique." The creator is Annie Wang the mother of the young pianist Richard Hoffman. The LA Times wrote a story on him which included the following quote. "His shiny leather shoes dangled from the piano bench -- his legs too short to touch the ground. By the third piece of his first piano recital, one of his shoelaces had become untied." (See Source)

The following video is of Richard playing the piano when he was three years old. At that point he had been playing for approximately 9 months. Enjoy!
See Video >>

Teaching From The Kitchen

2011-07-28T11:00:00.003-06:00

As a mommy private piano teacher I am always wondering whether I correct my kids when they are practicing or wait until the next piano lesson. I wish that I had time to sit down with them everyday and guide them through the learning process, but with all the other mommy and wife things to do every day that isn't possible for me.
See Video >>

Lucas, Age 6, Violin

2011-07-28T08:00:00.010-06:00

Lucas, Age 6, Violin, Germany

Lucas began taking private violin lessons when he was four years old. His violin teacher was the renowned Vladislav Goldfeld. When he was seven he won First Place at the Spanish television TVE, this time in Valencia. At age 8, he won the international violin competition "Gradus ad PARNASSUM" the first in Lithuania Price. (See Source)
See Video >>

Max, Age 9, Guitar

2011-07-27T15:29:00.005-06:00

Max, Age 9, Guitar

In addition to playing the accoustic guitar and taking private guitar lessons, Max enjoys singing and writing his own music. Max is working to get noticed by a record label company and hopes someday to land a recording contract with one of them. In addition to the accoustic guitar, Max also play the electric guitar. Here is a video of Max playing Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."
See Video >>

Olivia, Age 9, Piano

2011-07-26T08:30:00.010-06:00

Olivia, Age 9, Piano, Meridian Idaho

This is Olivia age 9 at the school talent show May 2011. She is playing Miniature Sonatina by Joseph Kuffner (adapted). She has been playing on the piano since she was 2. She has been taking lessons for 1 year.

See Video >>

How Do You Get Your Kids To Practice?

2011-07-26T08:00:00.006-06:00

To get my kids to practice for their music lessons I used a simple sticker and chart/calendar method. When kids are really young, say two or three years old, they typically don't understand the concept of days of the week. For them I created a chart with five boxes and gave them a sticker to put in each of the boxes after they practiced for the day. I would have them help me create it by writing their name at the top and coloring it. I wrote the words "Music Practice Chart" at the top as well. After the five boxes were filled I gave them some type of little prize. It was never anything very extravagant and usually from the dollar store. I kept the little trinkets in a container and would let them pick the one they wanted. Seeing all the prizes seemed to motivate them to continue to practice. As they got older I would change to use a calendar. I still used stickers but I would do it for practicing the agreed upon number of days during the week or month. The number of days required could be between you and your child or between your child and their teacher. Eventually my kids stopped using the charts and stickers and it has evolved into a habit and they do it along with all of their other chores for the day.

What do you do that works for your kids? How did you adjust your approach as they got older? These questions are the most often asked from my students' parents.

Lacey Holzbauer

Jacob, Age 7, Drums

2011-07-25T08:30:00.009-06:00

Jacob, Age 7, Drums, Glendale Arizona

When asked when he started drums, Jacob answered "At 8 months old, my father held my hand and made me feel the pulse of the rhythm. I started to tap my hand to the downbeat of music. As my father explains to me, it would take 6 to 8 consecutive quarter beats for my timing to become shaky. At 18 months, my father had me sit behind a full 5-piece drum kit where he taught me how to play 2/4, 4/4, 6/8, 12/8, 5/4, 7/4, 9/4 and swing. I still feel a little weird watching myself play at that age in the video clips. If it weren't for my father, I probably would have not discovered drums at 8 months old or at any age for that matter. Since he is such an educated musician and an accomplished composer/keyboardist, I still have a lot to learn from him." (See Source) This video is of Jacob when he was seven years old.
See Video >>

Aimi, Age 4, Piano

2011-07-24T23:58:00.003-06:00

Aimi, Age 4, Piano

Aimi Kobayashi is a 15-year-old pianist born on September 23. She started piano at the age of 3 and gave her first international debut recital at the age of 9. Her first debut CD came out January 2010 with EMI Classics. (See Source) This video of of her when she was four years old.

See Video >>

Jonathan, Age 3, Conducting

2011-07-23T11:36:00.003-06:00

Jonathan, Age 3, Conducting

I couldn't take my eyes off this video.

"This is 3 year old Jonathan conducting to the 4th movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. This piece was conducted by Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker, one of Jonathan's favorite conductors and orchestras. Jonathan's passion for classical music became apparent when he was only eight months old. Shortly after that he began conducting on his own." (See Source)
See Video >>

Benjamin, Age 5, Harp

2011-07-22T11:00:00.005-06:00

Benjamin, Age 5, Harp

This video is of Benjamin playing in a Concert for Amnesty International.

See Video >>