Month: August 2018

Whether you’re learning to play piano or another instrument, follow these practice tips from CMC piano faculty Elyse Weakley.

From the series: Practice Tips from Community Music Center Faculty
 

The single most efficient practice strategy for mastering a piece of music is to begin by memorizing it. Many instrumentalists will never need to perform from memory however I still strongly encourage the effort as it reaps many benefits including muscular dexterity, freedom of expression and greater ease of reading.

Follow these steps:

1. Analyze the form. Where does section A start and end? Does it ever repeat? What small or large variations are made in the repetition?  Does it start in one key and end in another?

2. Break section A into individual phrases, usually 4-8 bars long, and memorize them one at a time. I often ask my students to sing along while they play the melody as it enhances listening and retention (If you know solfege, use it. Note names or finger numbers work well too).  Pianists must memorize hands alone at first then combine them.

3. Before moving on to section B, make sure that section A is memorized as a whole, now repeat the above steps for each new section.

Pictured (L to R) Lois Feller, Roland Feller, and Jane Kumin. Photo by Drew Altizer.

“I can’t imagine a life without music.” -Roland Feller

Violin-maker Roland Feller first experienced music as a child at home, where his parents made sure that he and his five siblings each learned to play an instrument. Home is also where he learned the joy of playing music with others by playing duets with his mother – a treat that made it worth his required 30 minutes of practice per day.

Roland’s first interest in violin-making came at 12 years old when his father took him to buy his first full-size cello. He was fascinated by a man in the shop who was carving a cello bridge and decided then and there that he wanted to make violins. Years later Roland is living out that dream at his own shop on Divisadero Street.

His shop may be the first place Roland learned about Community Music Center. He has been supporting CMC for so long that it is hard to remember for sure! Former CMC Executive Director Steve Shapiro frequently came into the shop to get evaluations of instruments donated to CMC and see how they could best be used to support the CMC mission. Roland’s children, now grown, also studied music at CMC – maybe before he met Steve, maybe after… who knows!

These encounters with Steve and CMC faculty taught Roland about CMC’s mission of providing access to music for all. He knew the importance of music in people’s lives and found CMC to be an inspiration. That inspiration led Roland and his wife Lois to become supporters of CMC more than 30 years ago and they have been donating ever since.

Roland knows that everyone should have a chance to experience music, whether as an audience member or a player, and whether they are old or young. His older customers regularly ask Roland if it is too late to study music and he tells them about CMC, where everyone has a chance to study, no matter their age, experience, or financial circumstance.

Roland can see how much effort the dedicated faculty and staff put into making CMC work. He loves going to concerts and events to hear incredible work faculty do with their students. He knows that as a donor he plays a role in making that possible.

What would Roland say to someone thinking of supporting CMC? He would remind them of the importance of music in everyone’s lives. Music unites people from different backgrounds and brings so much both to individuals and to society as a whole. CMC helps everyone experience that unity, joy, and community through music.