Welcome

G’day, and welcome to Episode 38 of Piano, Finally! If you’re new here, I hope you enjoy the episode. If you’re a returning listener, thanks for coming back!

This week, I’m recording on Saturday instead of Sunday because tomorrow, I’ll be attending my first Sydney Symphony Orchestra concert of the year. The program includes a new work by Australian composer Carl Vine, the Elgar Violin Concerto, and Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 3, plus a pre-concert lecture. I’ll share all the details in next week’s episode!

YouTube Recommendation – Words Unravelled

I recently came across the YouTube channel Words Unravelled, presented by Rob Watts and American academic Jess Zafarris. Like RobWords, it delves into language origins, and the episode I watched was What’s the Difference Between a Violin and a Fiddle?.

The episode explores the history of instrument names, including how piano is a contraction of pianoforte, which itself comes from gravicembalo col piano e forte. It also looks at the names of string and brass instruments—you might be surprised where trumpet fits in!

Check out the episode here: Watch on YouTube

Essay – Move On

This week’s essay is inspired by one of my favorite Stephen Sondheim songs, Move On, from Sunday in the Park with George. The song encourages artists to keep moving forward despite external opinions—a message that resonates deeply with me as a piano learner.

One of the biggest challenges I face is transitioning from learning a piece to performing it. In practice, I stop and correct mistakes, but in performance mode, I need to move on without disrupting the flow. It’s a skill I’m still working on, and it’s reassuring to know that even professional pianists make the occasional slip but recover seamlessly.

Book Review – The Musician’s Way

My piano teacher, Devi, recently lent me The Musician’s Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance, and Wellness by Gerald Klickstein. Written by a performer and teacher with over 30 years of experience, this book offers practical advice for musicians.

It divides practice into three phases:

1. New material – Understanding the piece before even touching the instrument.
2. Developing material – Refining technique, articulation, and dynamics.
3. Performance material – Preparing for a confident and seamless presentation.

One of Klickstein’s key insights is to include articulation and dynamics from the start, so you don’t learn an incorrect version first—a piece of advice Devi often gives me!

If you're interested, the book is available here: The Musician’s Way on Amazon

Progr

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