Simone Dinnerstein’s Insights for Adult Piano Students

Each time I have attended a live performance of a concert pianist, it was as if the musician had only to take a seat at the keyboard, lift his or her arms, and with a flick of an invisible switch, music flowed. When I watched Simone Dinnerstein perform Bach’s Prelude in B Minor in a video trailer on GRAND PIANO PASSION™, I had the same feeling. She seemed locked in a trance, transfixed, not conscious of her surroundings, the score, or even her hands. Ms. Dinnerstein and the music appeared to be intertwined, as if one could not exist without the other. How does she do that, I wondered? For a dozen years I have stayed committed to my practice as an adult piano student, but wonder if I will attain one iota of the expression that she does?

Some of my questions were immediately answered when I watched the full interview with Simone Dinnerstein, which will premiere on 11/12/13.

That’s impossible to predict, yet some of my questions were immediately answered when I watched Nancy M. Williams’ full interview with Simone Dinnerstein, which will premiere on 11/12/13. During the interview, Ms. Dinnerstein shares anecdotes from her own experiences both as a student and teacher, and addresses many of the same issues I have been contemplating in my study. Listening to her candid discussion of her own training as well as techniques she has employed with her adult students gave me some additional insight as to how I can approach the music I am currently learning. It’s as if I were granted permission to relax and use my own creativity in making a deeper connection to the piano.

I opened my notebook and jotted down her point-by-point tips, and have slowly begun to incorporate some of them in my practice. Such an open and honest discussion of piano study is hard to come by, and I am thankful that I can watch this over and over again on GRAND PIANO PASSION™.