Just Being at the Piano

by Mildred Portney Chase, Lee Strasberg (Foreword by)

Overview

Harmony begins in the Soul, Long before the first note is Played

Forward by Lee Strasburg

There are many approaches to piano theory. They range from the simple technique of reading music and touching the keys, to playing-by-ear, but few have taken the inner path that begins in the soul.

Mildred Portney Chase merged her piano lessons with the discipline of mindful Buddhist practice and created an experience that evokes not just music for the pleasure of the listener, but a journey that leads the student to a world of calm and peacefulness flowing from the soul out into the universe . . . ever-evolving day-by-day within the heart of the student.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780875168937
Publisher:	DeVorss & Company
Publication date:	01/15/2017
Pages:	120
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

MILDRED PORTNEY CHASE (1921—1991) was an international concert pianist, teacher, author, wife, mother, and grandmother. She first began to play the piano by ear before she could speak. After growing up in Los Angeles, Mildred was granted a four-year fellowship to Juilliard, where she studied with famed Russian pianist and piano teacher, Josef Lhevinne. Back in Los Angeles, she performed with Peter Yates in his “Evenings on the Roof” concert series, then taught piano at the Los Angeles Conservatory and at the University of Southern California Graduate School of Music. She studied Eastern philosophy and culture which influenced much of her peaceful techniques, practices and theories.

Table of Contents

Foreword Lee Strasberg xiii

Introduction 1

Attitude 5

Body Awareness and Movement 9

Warming Up 17

Tone 21

Listening 33

Slow Practice 39

Feedback 43

Fingers: Strength or Alignment 47

Innate Rhythm 51

The Left Hand 57

Ornaments 61

Improvising 67

On Reading Music 73

To the Adult Beginner 77

To Help a Child 81

To the Student 87

Performance 93

Just Being 97

Bibliography 98

About the Author 99

What People are Saying About This

Lee Strasberg

“...Works toward developing the musician's sensory awareness of the sound, of the touch, of what the entire body is experiencing, so that each tone may sing." — Lee Strasberg

Editorial Reviews

"This book is as useful as it is lovely, as it deals with real matters such as rhythm, finger 'balance and alignment,' the pleasures and pitfalls of sight-reading and improvisation, slow practice, and tone production. This Josef Lhevinne student has offered us a profound, touching, and quite recommendable approach.

Clavier