Blog | Ann Grogan

A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE: AGE AS A BLESSING OF CREATIVE OPPORTUNITY...OR ONLY A DEATH SENTENCE?

rhapsodydmb

Aug 6, 20235 min read

A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE: AGE AS A BLESSING OF CREATIVE OPPORTUNITY...OR ONLY A DEATH SENTENCE?

Am I past my "sell by" date? Let's just start out with a never-ending stereotype of what aging means in America today, by citing this...

66 views2 comments

rhapsodydmb

Jul 26, 20234 min read

NO SUCH THING AS "BAD" MUSIC!

Some think that a discussion of a music genre or particular composition is concluded by focusing on evaluating the matters of artistry...

35 views0 comments

rhapsodydmb

Jul 23, 20234 min read

MAKING A MUSICAL EMBER INTO FIRE

What makes the cold, hard black-and-white notes on a score sheet come to life? From my position early on the recent three-year journey...

14 views0 comments

TEACHING ADULTS (ANDRAGONY) VS. YOUTH (PEDAGOGY)

rhapsodydmb

Jul 11, 20236 min read

TEACHING ADULTS (ANDRAGONY) VS. YOUTH (PEDAGOGY)

Are we adult piano students horses of a different color when it comes to lessons taken up in later life? Are there different ways we...

65 views0 comments

rhapsodydmb

Jun 17, 20232 min read

THE JOY OF "PRACTICING"

I was recently talking with a piano teacher who hails from Kentucky, when she corrected something I had said. I mentioned "practicing"...

19 views0 comments

"PINK MAGNOLIA" (A short piano-love story)

rhapsodydmb

Jun 17, 20239 min read

"PINK MAGNOLIA" (A short piano-love story)

I thought I would share my first-ever fictional short story involving music and performance. Although based loosely on some of my...

51 views0 comments

WHAT IS MUSIC? (Part III: The Process and the Personal)

rhapsodydmb

Jun 8, 20232 min read

WHAT IS MUSIC? (Part III: The Process and the Personal)

Such simple and profound words describing music and its meaning in his life, were said on the CBS morning news today (6.8.23) by cellist...

23 views0 comments

WHEN LESS IS MORE (Guest Blog by Garreth Brooke)

rhapsodydmb

Jun 5, 20233 min read

WHEN LESS IS MORE (Guest Blog by Garreth Brooke)

INTRODUCTION: I know the above saying but often don't heed it, since I'm a woman who loves words! But today in homage to the theme, I...

42 views0 comments

rhapsodydmb

Jun 4, 20235 min read

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT MUSIC

The renown and often respected piano teacher Henrich Neuhaus (1888 - 1964) thought that "amateurism" tainted the perfection that any...

71 views0 comments

AN HONEST RESPONSE TO THE ECSTASY OF CLASSICAL MUSIC!

rhapsodydmb

May 22, 20233 min read

AN HONEST RESPONSE TO THE ECSTASY OF CLASSICAL MUSIC!

Has classical music come back into favorable public opinion? Perhaps, even if public transit facilities are using it more and more to...

29 views0 comments

WHAT IS "MUSIC?" (Part II - Losing the North Star: The Modernists

rhapsodydmb

May 17, 20234 min read

WHAT IS "MUSIC?" (Part II - Losing the North Star: The Modernists

MIRED IN THE "MANY" Music and the art of composing are "creating One out of Many" says Igor Stravinsky in six lectures he presented at...

35 views0 comments

SO, WHAT IS "MUSIC?" (Part 1:The Common Understanding)

rhapsodydmb

May 11, 20233 min read

SO, WHAT IS "MUSIC?" (Part 1:The Common Understanding)

For that matter, what is "noise?" (Could not resist this cute picture of my cat "Mo" helping me contemplate this question, and the below...

30 views0 comments

THERE IS SOMETHING PERSONAL IN CRITICISM

rhapsodydmb

May 10, 20235 min read

THERE IS SOMETHING PERSONAL IN CRITICISM

In the world of "separate knowing," criticism is not personal. The knowers "must accept it with equanimity," explain the authors of the...

21 views0 comments

rhapsodydmb

Apr 23, 20232 min read

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...

35 views0 comments

rhapsodydmb

Apr 12, 20234 min read

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...

53 views0 comments

rhapsodydmb

Apr 11, 20234 min read

"COMPLICITE" AKA "PARTNERSHIP"

Reading the French word "complicite" (accent aigu) had a powerful impact on my understanding about the learning environment when it...

46 views0 comments

A LEARNING PARTNERSHIP DOES NOT INVOLVE "COMPLIANCE", "FORCE", OR SUFFERING

rhapsodydmb

Apr 7, 20238 min read

A LEARNING PARTNERSHIP DOES NOT INVOLVE "COMPLIANCE", "FORCE", OR SUFFERING

The most beautiful illustration of the nature of relationship and teaching style under which I thrive, came when recently I interviewed,...

53 views0 comments

HOW JUSTICE & AMBIVALENCE CAN MOTIVATE PERSISTENCE & REDUCE STRESS IN LESSONS & PERFORMANCE

rhapsodydmb

Apr 2, 20234 min read

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...

26 views0 comments

THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES, AND MAKES MUSIC LIVE!

rhapsodydmb

Mar 30, 20235 min read

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...

43 views0 comments

PLAYING WHAT ONE LOVES, BUT LISTENING TO ALL

rhapsodydmb

Mar 26, 20236 min read

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,...

54 views0 comments

Subscribe to blog & publication updates

A soft place to land to read poetry & stories about music & share our love of piano adventures!