Micek Music

The Piano Pedal Extender I ordered last week arrived in the mail on Monday and I placed it straight into use with a couple of my younger students on Tuesday. The pedal extender attaches easily to the piano, "extending" the piano's two vital pedals upward, thus allowing more height-challenged pianists to begin work on their pedaling technique despite their feet not yet reaching the floor.  I've been meaning to purchase one of these for awhile and finally made it happen. The extender will be a fixture in my home Castro Valley studio. I purchased the extender for a very reasonable price from CPS Imports . Great service, great product. Jesse

I am attending the annual Music Teachers Association of CA (MTAC) convention at the Marriott hotel in downtown Oakland this weekend. I couldn't rouse myself from sleep for any of the early presentations this morning. June was a challenging month for me, and now it's July 1st; this convention snuck up on me. I'm going to do my best to glean insights from the weekend's events, despite my fatigue. Here's a summary of the events I attended this afternoon: Meeting the authors of the "Just The Facts" Theory books: - Any parent or student of mine knows that I swear by the "Just The Facts" music theory books. Almost all of my students work from this series of books. They are absolutely the best I have found. A couple months ago I was placing a phone order with them and the woman helping me, Regina, mentioned that they'd have a booth at the MTAC Convention this year. I promised I would come by and meet her then.  I doubt she remembers me from ou...

One of the questions I am asked most frequently by students is: "What does each pedal do?". I try my best to explain the functions in person, but to complement my explanations here is a post detailing the piano pedals, their use, and application. Most students have upright pianos at their disposal at home. Upright pianos rarely have an effectual " soft pedal ". A teacher will explain to a student to a student, "The pedal on the far left is the soft pedal. Hold it down with your left and then when you play you should hear a muted sound with a different character." The student goes home, tries it, but alas the soft pedal produces no audible change. But the teacher has not lied. It's just that most upright piano soft pedals have no effect. They are just window dressing, garnish for the look of the instrument. Also, upright pianos rarely have a functional " sostenuto pedal ". Instruction regarding this pedal is also difficult for teachers, as of...