Micek Music

From an article by Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim, published in the Wall Street Journal 9/29/11: Performance psychologists are invited into music departments nation-wide, as educators recognize the need to prepare musicians for the competitive, high-stakes world of classical music. In the past, performance anxiety was rarely discussed; if anything, it was seen as a Darwinian way of separating those fit for a solo career from those doomed to teach. Today, performance psychologists advertise their services as coaches, not shrinks, providing musicians the same concrete tools and drills offered athletes and CEOs. ----- Fear is not the problem: If you want to do well, you will probably experience fear. [The newer approach] is to build up the mental skills needed in a performance, like courage, trust and a focus on higher-order qualities: artistry and expression for musicians, strategy for athletes. Much of this involves [mental training] ... In addition, [performance psychologists coax] tea...

-- My teaching schedule during the month of October will be complicated. I have been hired to take over the pianist chair for actress Rita Moreno's one-woman play "Life w/o Makeup" at the Berkeley Rep Theatre . My first performance will be the evening of Tuesday, October 11. The play runs through the entire month of October and then through the first week in November. There are shows Tuesday through Sunday every week. I will be calling and emailing parents and students in the next few days to discuss lessons that will need to be re-scheduled. -- I have scheduled the next student recital. It will be held on  Saturday, December 10  between noon - 4pm at CSUEB. More details are forthcoming. -- The 2011-12 Certificate of Merit cycle has begun. Fees for participating students will be collected with November lesson payments. Here are the CM dates for this spring:   * Performance  evaluations will be held on the weekends of  March 3 & 4 and March 10 & 11 ....

From an article on FYI Living, published 6/15/11: "Engaging in musical activity for most of one’s lifetime significantly helps remember names, and enhances nonverbal memory, the ability to work based on what one sees, and mental agility during old age. The habit of physical exercise, in addition to musical involvement, further adds to mental lucidity in old age. Starting musical training early and continuing it for several years have a favorable effect on metal abilities during old age. Musical training also seems to enhance verbal prowess and the general IQ of a person." Read the full article here .

A quick post here to alert students and parents of some important dates for the upcoming year. The next Student Recital will be held on Saturday, December 10 between noon - 4pm at CSUEB. The 2011-2012  Certificate of Merit dates for the spring are also in:  - Performance evaluations will be held on the weekends of March 3 & 4 and March 10 & 11 .  - Theory testing will be conducted on the weekend of March 3 & 4 . Jesse

I watch my 7 month old son on Wednesdays. I'm getting to know his ways. It seems highly unlikely that he would be able sit quietly and not disrupt an hour-long MTAC meeting. So I've been planning all along to not attend this yearly "welcome back" meeting for Southern Alameda branch MTAC teachers. It's lovely for me that these meetings are held at the Castro Valley Center for the Performing Arts, which is located about 3 blocks from my house. I strapped the boy into his Ergo baby carrier and walked to center. Picked up my teacher packet, signed up for the requisite spring CM job, and then walked right out. I was like a phantom. "Hey, where'd that guy with the baby go?" Straight back home. Preparations for Certificate of Merit will begin ramping up with my students soon. I'm not looking forward to the added workload. But it's something I'm committed to offering. I won't back down. So let's do this. Jesse

Another informative video from Robert Estrin and Living Pianos . The best advice I would give to someone who is strongly considering purchasing a particular used piano: hire a piano technician to come with you and give the piano a thorough examination. Don't spend thousands of dollars purchasing an instrument that turns out be a lemon! Bring a piano technician (aka piano tuner or piano restorer) to the instrument first. Their cost will be small in relation to the greater cost of the instrument and will deliver you peace of mind about your purchase.

My piano is on an every-6-months check-up schedule. To have one's piano tuned twice yearly is common. Due to the heat of the summer, my home instrument had predictably veered sharp in pitch. New realizations:  - My regular tuner Linda saw when she entered my studio that I had my piano's keyboard covered by the key lid. She suggested I avoid encasing the keys this way on a regular basis because it will cause them to yellow more quickly as a result of being exposed to less oxygen. This was news to me. Instead, one can shield the keys from collecting dust with a felt piano key cover. Here's an inexpensive option sold by Amazon: - The humidity levels in my teaching studio are too high and this climate problem will affect my piano's "health" in the the long-term. That is, unless I take action. I was convinced to finally take the plunge and have a  Dampp-Chaser device installed on the instrument prior to my next tuning appointment. The Dampp-Chaser is a climate-...