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Rhapsodydmb.com
A soft place for humanists to land to read poetry
& stories about music, share our love of piano adventures, & work toward restoration of a more just & kind America & the world!



UNEXPECTED GIFTS -- THE BEST KIND!
Do you notice how sometimes you set out in one direction toward a location only to end up headed in another direction and landing at...
rhapsodydmb
Nov 18, 20247 min read
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BETA BLOCKERS: ONE OPTION TO HELP WHEN YOUR BODY BETRAYS YOU IN PIANO LESSONS OR PERFORMANCE
My body betrayed me a few years ago during lessons with two piano teachers. One was my third teacher since taking up piano lessons after...
rhapsodydmb
Jul 19, 202412 min read
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CORRECTING THE ERRANT FINGER - OR ACHIEVING THE DESIRED AUDITORY EFFECT OF A PASSAGE: TWO UNIQUE VISUALIZATION OR "SENSING" SOLUTIONS
There is pain in learning the piano. And there are solutions to reduce the hurt. I'm not talking about tendinitis pain which I battled...
rhapsodydmb
Jul 2, 20247 min read
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LUCID DREAMING.2 - TO IMPROVE PIANO TECHNIQUE OR WRITE POETRY
View of the aurora borealis on May 10, 2024 across Mono Lake. Photo: Samantha Lindberg from the Mono County Newsletter. Listen to...
rhapsodydmb
May 22, 20245 min read
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LUCID DREAMING.1 - OF MUSIC, POETRY, AND IMAGE? AN INTRODUCTION (See the May 22 followup blog on improving skill in playing an instrument)
"Wave of Emotion" (Photo (c) Jeanette (Stringham) Vonier 2022) ("Ein Traum" by Grieg (orchestral version)) "Music is like a dream. One...
rhapsodydmb
May 11, 20248 min read
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"LONELINESS" - A SERENDIPTOUS MESSAGE FROM THE UNIVERSE
In this second week of the New Year, yet another message from the universe has come to my attention: a call to contemplate "loneliness."...
rhapsodydmb
Jan 9, 20247 min read
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IS THE FIRST THE BEST?
My November music-themed birthday party table decorations; photo courtesy of guest Grace Hueunemann. Thelonius Monk always said that the...
rhapsodydmb
Jan 5, 20246 min read
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EMBRACE "GOALS" - ESCHEW "RESOLUTIONS" and CONCENTRATE ON "THE GOOD"
New Year's Resolutions represent the ultimate folly as far as human beings and my personal experience go. I've learned not to bother;...
rhapsodydmb
Dec 23, 20236 min read
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SELF-CONFIDENCE IS OVER RATED
I wonder if pianists of top calibur like Yuja Wang (pictured here at a March 2023 symphony where I heard her play Rachmaninoff's Third...
rhapsodydmb
Apr 23, 20232 min read
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EAST VS. WEST PIANO TEACHING METHODS
After almost two years of zoom lessons and a ton of YouTube research on music and "how to" technical skills since returning to the piano...
rhapsodydmb
Apr 12, 20234 min read
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"COMPLICITE" AKA "PARTNERSHIP"
Reading the French word "complicite" (accent aigu) had a powerful impact on my understanding about the learning environment when it...
rhapsodydmb
Apr 11, 20234 min read
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HOW JUSTICE & AMBIVALENCE CAN MOTIVATE PERSISTENCE & REDUCE STRESS IN LESSONS & PERFORMANCE
Theories in the field of psychology about motivation are vast. What can we use to motivate ourselves toward lessons with a goal of...
rhapsodydmb
Apr 2, 20234 min read
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THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES, AND MAKES MUSIC LIVE!
The COCA-COLA company claims that "Advertising slogans are a part of everyday life for consumers around the world,and Coca-Cola has...
rhapsodydmb
Mar 30, 20235 min read
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PLAYING WHAT ONE LOVES, BUT LISTENING TO ALL
One of the principal elements I seek in any piano teacher with whom I work, is that I be allowed to choose the pieces I want to learn,...
rhapsodydmb
Mar 26, 20236 min read
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HOW TO USE YOUTUBE - & - THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
HOW TO USE YOUTUBE: Cello teacher Hans Jorgen Jensen (from Denmark) taught me the "right" way to use many performances on YouTube to...
rhapsodydmb
Mar 5, 20234 min read
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WHY IS DEFINING THE ELEMENTS OF PIANISM SO DIFFICULT?
Why is explaining how do make something happen on the piano, or what a term in the piano vocabulary means, so difficult for my piano...
rhapsodydmb
Mar 2, 20234 min read
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WHY DO SOME PRACTICE DAYS GO SO WELL?
Last night I played Schumann's "Traumerie," Mendelssohn's "Confidence (intermediate arrangement)," Schumann's "Foreign Lands," Aram...
rhapsodydmb
Feb 28, 20235 min read
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FIFTEEN TRANSFORMATIVE LESSONS FROM MAESTRA MEZZO-SOPRANO JOYCE DIDONATO
Opera singer Joyce DiDonato, a mezzo-soprano, is a miracle maker. In a 45-minute Mistress Class mezzo-soprano DiDonato transformed a...
rhapsodydmb
Feb 26, 20235 min read
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LANG LANG FOREVER!
Love him or hate him -- there's just no "in between." Is he the best (or worst) pianist who has ever lived or who is alive today? Some in...
rhapsodydmb
Feb 22, 20238 min read
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FRIENDS, PIANISTS, & COUNTRYPEOPLE: LEND ME YOUR EAR!
Today after a short conversation with my composer-pianist friend Bruce, this strange idea came to me: Do you think up there somewhere in...
rhapsodydmb
Feb 20, 20233 min read
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