September 2009 MTNA e-Journal

Foundational Concepts Of Technique For Beginning Piano Students
By Julie Knerr, NCTM
When Julie Knerr began teaching piano after graduating from college she wondered if she was teaching students correctly, specifically in the area of technical development. After interviews and observations with teachers she started to see trends related to the teaching of technique. In this article, Knerr describes these trends as they relate to teaching technique to beginning students. [Read More]

Watching Learners Learn
By Robert A. Duke and Janice J. Buckner
To learn is to change. Robert Duke and Janice Buckner observed piano teachers and examined the changes in student and teacher behavior. The authors describe differences in teacher and student behavior between lessons taught by teachers whose students are mostly successful in accomplishing goals and teachers whose students are less often successful. [Read More]

Discovering Unstable Equilibrium Sensing A New Movement Paradigm In Our Bodies To Empower Our Playing Hands
By Alan Fraser
Despite significant advances in neuroscientific understanding of the human body, for the most part contemporary culture still views it mechanically. How would we behave if we kept in mind that a muscle is intelligent, suffused with nerves connecting it to the brain, and it is our thought processes that control it? Alan Fraser discusses sensory-motor learning and offers a number of learning exercises to increase body awareness. [Read More]

Technology, The Internet, The Law And You: Knowing Your Rights When Your Studio Extends Beyond Its Four Walls
By George F. Litterst
We are living in a new era with old laws and rapidly changing technologies. Modern technologies provide opportunity to make better use of copyrighted material, but perhaps violate the law in the process. George Litterest tells how to work with copyright restrictions, take advantage of modern technologies and lead a musically creative life. [Read More]