As a piano teacher in Barrie, I place ads for my services on Kijiji. Recently, someone contacted me with a very interesting request. They had a recording of their friend singing and playing piano- an original song they had written. She had passed away some years ago, and he wanted the song written down on paper. This way he could share a special part of her that still lived on, with her friends and family.
It was quite a time consuming project, with lots of ‘stop & rewind’ on the recording, but well worth the effort! When something is meaningful like this, it is inspiration in itself. After having finished the project, I was full of new energy to dig deeper into the pieces I’d already been practicing for months. This is one reason I will take on any musical challenge- it offers a different perspective, which is a very helpful thing!
Although my work was finished, the project was not. He is going to bring the music to a tattoo artist and have them tattoo part of it on his arm! Such a sincere gesture that will help keep her alive through art and song.
Such a tricky topic! It’s so hard to find the right balance here. It’s absolutely necessary for parents to show an interest in their children’s piano lessons and practice, otherwise the kids themselves won’t be interested. Of course they would be discouraged- they feel like they’re doing something that is boring and nobody cares about. Kids want to be where the action is! So how do you bring the action to them without intruding in their learning process? Ask questions! Arrange a weekly home performance! Give a virtual performance to grandparents on a regular basis! Sit in the room with them while they practice! You don’t necessarily have to practice WITH them- just knowing you are in the same room can make a huge difference!! Then it becomes more of a quality time activity than a chore.
This is one of the pitfalls of music lessons- practicing can seem lonely at times. And for kids especially, this is not something they want to endure. BUT, when something like a pandemic hits, practicing your instrument can be some of the best (and safest) company you can have!
My Dad learned piano alongside me for about a year! There came a point where he just could not keep up. This was inevitable, of course, since kids are able to climb a much steeper learning curve once they get into it. Just the fact that my Dad was interested enough to listen to the teacher and try to practice a little on his own made a HUGE difference in my learning. It made me that much more excited about it! And even after my Dad stopped learning, he always asked questions (both me and the teacher), and always wanted to hear what I was practicing. My Mom would sit at the kitchen table every morning before school and have her tea while I practiced for half an hour. Even though my Mom had no interest in learning herself, her being there with me was comforting and encouraging.
I just love it when I see parents who are as excited about piano lessons as their child. I know this means I will have support on my end, and more importantly that the kid will have support and encouragement at home. Because no matter how much I can pump them up in class- that’s only once a week. The majority of the work is done at home.
Thank you to all of those wonderfully inspiring parents out there!! 🤗
I mentioned in my very first blog post that I was a competitive gymnast as a kid. I was doing 16 hours a week of gymnastics when the piano was first brought into our home. Needless to say, it wasn’t brought there for me. My parents got it for my younger sister. We had a teacher come to our house each week to give her lessons. I would stand at the back of the room, quietly listening to everything, and would practice on my own time (what little I had). My sister, however, made it very clear to everyone involved that she did not want to take piano lessons. I begged my parents to let me play, and told the teacher how much I wanted to take lessons every chance I got. After much work on the teacher’s part in convincing my parents, and many more failed attempts at lessons for my sister, they finally caved! I was so happy. I practiced every day in the morning before school, and still continued for a year or two with my demanding gymnastics schedule. After my gymnastics coach asked my parents to increase my hours at the gym to 20 a week, I had a decision to make. It was just too much to continue with both. It was the biggest life decision I had ever made at that point (or quite possibly the only one!), and even though I knew what I had to do I still didn’t want to give up one of my loves. Looking back as an adult, I’ve always known I made the right choice. I wouldn’t trade in my music, or the experiences it has offered me, for anything. ❤️🎹❤️🎼❤️
Me and my gymnastics team, 1993:
Me and my piano, pre-mushroom cut:
Here you can see the colour of the piano better (my mom painted it to match our living room!):
A key from my first piano (it’s real ivory, and was best cleaned with vinegar):
I’ve talked quite a bit about how music is so helpful to seniors, particularly ones with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. I see how they light up when I play one of their old favourites, or the way they gently sway to the music in their wheelchair.
What I haven’t mentioned is how close this hits home for me.
My Dad passed away almost three years ago; he spent six weeks in hospice before he died. He had multiple brain tumours, which greatly affected his personality and brain function. I had accepted the fact that I would never be able to have another conversation with my Dad even before he went to hospice, but I still wanted to see him.
While he was in hospice, one of my friends would come to visit. She’d bring her guitar so she could play and sing for our enjoyment, and when she did – she brought my Dad back to us! We still couldn’t really talk, but the emotions that came through were very real. When we cried together, he was with us again. Those moments were such a precious gift and will be with me always.
I also played piano for him a couple of times, and he went right to sleep. Now that might sound a bit like an insult 😊, but he had such trouble sleeping, or even just relaxing, that seeing my Dad able to sleep was a different kind of gift, but one that was profound for me and my parents.
Whether it’s someone with cancer, dementia, or a person suffering from a deep loneliness, I really believe music is healing. To be able to help someone, even just a little bit, or just for a moment; this is a gift in itself. I’m so glad that I can give that gift to others… and that my friend was there to give that gift to my family.
Why not both?! Ok, so realistically that’s not usually a viable option. Most people are going digital these days. It’s more affordable, they’re easier to move, never need to be tuned, and you can use headphones! This means that practice can be done at any time. Even if someone is trying to get an assignment done in the next room, or trying to catch a little extra sleep on the weekend. 😌
The world of piano certainly changed when digital pianos (not to be confused with electric pianos!) entered the scene in the early 1980’s. They were becoming much more popular by the late 1990’s. My parents bought my first one for me in 1999, which opened up a whole new world! But there’s nothing like an acoustic piano. They’re all different, with their own quirks. Every key is not weighted perfectly, the pedals always respond differently, and the sound varies from piano to piano. Any high level exam or important performance is done on an acoustic piano. If you’ve never tried one before, it will be very difficult to adapt to all of these variables in such a high pressure situation.
This is why I now have both! It offers me (and my students, of course), the best of both worlds. It will definitely be useful to minimize contact when in-person lessons pick up again. It also makes piano concerto rehearsals possible, and offers the ability to practice pieces written for 2 pianos. All I need now is someone else who is as obsessed as I am and wants to learn the music with me! 🎹🎶
Sometimes I get lost in the vortex, and I know I’m not the only one! You’re on YouTube and you search for a song. There are so many other enticing videos that pop up underneath it. One click leads to the next, and before you know it a half hour has gone by! In one listening session I might have listened to 10 new songs I like and discovered a new artist or two who I am interested to hear more from. It’s incredible, the amount of music that we have access to these days. I remember using dial up internet and waiting 3 hours for one song to download! It would take me a week to make one CD. Now we have endless hours of music available in no time at all, including pre-made playlists for every mood. How satisfying!
Every once in a while, somewhere in the vortex, I find a gem. Here’s the most recent one I stumbled across. Enjoy!
While Jarred Dunn has achieved a high level of playing, he doesn’t just sit on his laurels. He is always looking to improve. For many of us, when we think of piano lessons, we imagine little children clunking away, or maybe a pre-teen trying to master a popular tune. But professional performers know there is always room for improvement, and they seek out guides that can help. In our last post on Jarred Dunn, here are some of his thoughts on being a student of piano.
If you had to pick the three most influential teachers you’ve had, who would they be and why?
Jacob Lateiner taught me how to read scores. He studied with Schoenberg, commissioned new music, and was a sensational performer. He was all about the music. I studied with him from 2007, until his death in 2010.
Veda Kaplinsky re-taught a sustainable technique and told me what a music career really involves. She taught me how to play effortlessly while being sensitive to the music. I met her in 2010 and I studied with her until I moved to Poland in 2014. I continued to play for her on and off until as recently as a month ago.
Dorothy Taubman taught me how to analyze the playing movements with her so-called “X-ray vision”, which I now use to diagnose technical problems. She showed me how to use the 4th and 5th fingers for the Chopin étude op.10, no.1, so that it was playable in 30 seconds! I had about 12 lessons with her in 2012, but she passed away in 2013.
How did you get connected with these teachers?
I contacted Lateiner, asking him if I could play for him before I had my audition for Juilliard. I had tried to contact Kaplinsky, but never heard back from her (she’s always so busy). One day after I’d just had a lesson, I saw her standing at the door of the studio beside Lateiner’s and I approached her.
When I was doing my undergrad in Toronto, I wrote an essay on Dorothy Taubman. Later, I heard she was still teaching seminars and so I contacted her. I felt lucky then to have contact with these great teachers, but this all became a phase because soon I got the invitation of a lifetime and my circumstances changed.
Would you be able to tell us about a few of your teachers in Europe?
I flew to Warsaw to perform and participate in some master classes, one was with Anna Górecka, who is the daughter of the composer Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. She had a different take on the technical issues my former teacher addressed. Piano came naturally to her and she described it in artistic terms, stressing that technique is simply the means to produce beautiful sound. After my first class with her, we talked about my career goals and she invited me to study with her at Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. I thought for five seconds and knew this was the moment: about a month later I was moving to Poland and I studied with her for four years. My fourth year, I began lessons with Katarzyna Popowa-Zydrón (head of the Warsaw Chopin Competition jury) in Bydgoszcz Academy, where I later took my Artist Diploma.
Anna Górecka eventually asked me to be her assistant and to teach her students when she was on tour. This was vital for me, all of her students were fantastic and serious about their studies. They came to their first lesson prepared to be work on complex repertoire. It required me to have more than just technique to teach them, because the music was already in their fingers.
What Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń taught me could fill several volumes. She’s one of the most intuitive people I’ve met and she knows how to listen. Her example taught me to be quiet and wait for the music to reveal itself before I do anything to it, and likewise to listen to my student carefully before I instruct. It is impossible to sum up because her teaching is so ingeniously specific that it feels like she knew me much longer than just the two years of my studies. She’s really a perfect professor.
Do you still practice every day?
Yes.
For how long?
Between 3-6 hours.
Does it ever feel like a chore you just don’t feel up to, or do you always look forward to that part of your day?
No, because if it did I probably just wouldn’t practice! It all depends on my mood. At least with a minimum of 3 hours I know I have accomplished what I need. If I’m in a fiery mood to work and am very inspired, then I can go for as long as 6.
Do you break up the practice time throughout the day?
Yes, although during my master’s in Katowice (Poland) I would often do it all at once since I had to obtain a key for the practice rooms in the school and it was preferable to do all the main work in one lengthy session. Now I do my best practicing in the morning for two hours, before I go for a jog in the lovely part of Montréal where I live. I always practice before I teach.
Have you ever come to any cross-roads in your career?
No. I was not sentimentally attached dreams about where I would go with my studies. If an opportunity felt right, I took it. I had the opportunity to pursue my doctorate at Juilliard, but McGill offered a great funding package and the allure of living somewhere I hadn’t lived before, not to mention coming home after a long time away. McGill is a more research-oriented school, and I wanted to develop my academic side along with my playing, so this was a logical choice. Now that I’m teaching at McGill it feels even more right.
What is the simplest way to summarize your view on teaching and performing?
If you listen and practice according to who you are, you become your greatest inspiration . You understand and identify with yourself more than anyone else. Any teacher knows that if they are imposing their view of the music on their students, something is wrong: we teach to inspire and ignite what is already in the student: ‘We play the way we are.’ The great performers invite us into their world, they’re not forcing us into it. They are uncompromisingly themselves, and this is the most inspiring thing. A music education – which I believe is something everyone should have – is the way to find this part of ourselves.
With Veda Kaplinsky (Juilliard 2013):
With Anna Gorecka in Warsaw, 2014 (the master class that changed everything):
In addition to being a professional performer, Jarred is also an excellent teacher – as I can personally attest. Jarred teaches teachers, helping them to develop even when it seems there’s no more time to practice because they’re always teaching. He also accepts younger students who are already aware that they are serious about music.
This is where a teacher like me comes in… I take beginners to a level where the ambitious ones can move on to and access a teacher like Jarred.
When did you develop an interest in teaching?
After I began to play really serious repertoire at the age of 13, I became interested in helping other people learn to do it since I enjoyed it so much.
How old were you when you accepted your first student?
Fifteen.
Have you ever taught beginners?
Unfortunately for them, yes.
Could you imagine teaching beginners now, at this stage in your career?
No, definitely not. I believe I would be the worst choice to teach a young beginner, since I began learning piano at the age of two. I don’t remember the beginning stages and since then have devoted myself to playing.
If a student came to you for advice on how to pursue a performance career in music, what would be the first thing you would tell them?
Go for it. If that’s something you want, you’re not going to feel fulfilled until you know you’ve given it your best shot.
What would you suggest they do in order to try to achieve this?
The competition world is an easy way to develop your repertoire and make yourself visible to musical experts and to the public. Public involvement in the arts will happen naturally if you are an honest and real musician, and in the process of educating yourself you learn whether you have enough grit to go through with the career long-term.
If people see their child is really talented, in what ways should they encourage that talent?
They need to study with a teacher who recognizes that talent , but who maintains objectivity about what will be needed to make that talent into something marketable. The highly-developed work ethic will support that young person becoming independent and capable of making artistic choices. When sending their children for lessons, parents yield a certain degree of control to the teacher. The child may be talented, but every teacher knows that there are inter-related capabilities and some of them suffer because one area is not as strong as others. It takes a discerning ear to hear such flaws and an experienced teacher to correct them, which is why the parents need to trust the teacher to find what is really holding the child back . What all three parties need to remember (parent, child, and teacher), is that it is about the music, and they’re all working together the pursue the same end.
Everyone knows that performers have suffered greatly through this pandemic, but how has Covid affected your teaching?
My colleagues now understand how I have been doing online teaching for the past eight years, and I arranged some master classes for my students to meet one of my colleagues in Katowice through online teaching! The Covid pandemic hasn’t changed my teaching life. People now realize that they can continue with their development online, but the best development still comes from within, with the help of trusted guides, teachers, and mentors.
Master Class at Lithuanian Academy of Music Pre-College (April 2019):
Master Class at MTNA Seattle (March 2020):
Chamber Music Master Class at Chopin University of Music in Bialystok, Poland:
Digital Master Class with Prof. Magdalena Lisak (Academy of Music in Katowice), June 2019:
Jarred Dunn is a professional pianist, a Yamaha Artist, and currently works as a piano instructor at McGill University Schulich School of Music. To get to this point, a professional performer often participates in many competitions. For pianists, the world of performing and competing are intertwined. Here are some of Jarred’s thoughts on performing and competing.
[After Covid] Do you see concerts becoming the norm again anytime soon?
I hope, but I don’t know. It was already a challenge to get concerts, but hopefully more communities will see and appreciate the value of concerts after all this is over.
If you had to choose one or the other (performing or teaching), which would you choose?
Another impossible question: I have good students and I enjoy teaching them, but without my performing I could not offer what I feel is best. Teaching is a kind of performing and performing a kind of teaching: they’re inextricably linked. Ok…performing.
You recently did a social media practice challenge, where you posted a one minute clip of whatever you were practicing for 100 consecutive days. What made you decide to accept this challenge?
I told myself I had to do it.
How did you decide what to post each day?
I became quite spontaneous. I made a list of 30 composers and went through them. After I was finished that, I repeated going the same composers. But by then I was bored with my system, because systems are always boring, so I just posted whatever I wanted each day.
Do you think the contacts in your social media accounts were inspired by this?
It appears they were, because my Instagram followers increased throughout the time I was doing this (@jarredpianist).
You encouraged your students to accept this challenge as well. Did many of them undertake?
Yes, and hopefully more will in the future.
Have any of your teachers accepted this challenge that you know of?
No. Most of them hate the digital world and are waiting impatiently to return to the usual.
After seeing all the positive responses from people, do you think you will continue to post practice videos every so often?
Yes. I will post short videos every few weeks, just to keep things going. I will definitely be taking a few days off after this has finished, though.
How old were you when you performed your first concert and where was it?
I was five, and it took place in a church in Niagara Falls. I performed Beethoven Bagatelles op.126 and some Bach preludes.
Sadly, the pandemic has restricted your performing opportunities. When was your last performance for an audience?
February 2020 at the Freedom from Religion Foundation in Wisconsin.
Do you miss performing?
Very much.
Do you have a pre-concert ritual?
I practice early in the morning, as always. I make a smoothie or eat energy-boosting food a couple of hours before the performance. When I arrive at the hall, I set my phone to airplane mode and make recordings from various parts in the hall so I can hear how the piano sounds in different areas. This is particularly important when playing with an orchestra, so that I can determine how I will need to play certain parts when the other instruments are playing.
Piano and concert hall conditions always vary. I prefer to organize a thorough sound check and get to know the instrument if it’s a hall I’ve never played. An hour alone with the piano before the concert is ideal. In Katowice at the National Polish Symphony, there was one performance when I wasn’t able to do a sound check. I was playing Polonaise-Fantaisie, Mephisto Waltz, and Rachmaninoff Préludes (all are larger works), on a 9-foot grand in a smaller hall that seated about 150 people. Sometimes, I am playing on a 6-foot grand, in a hall that seats more than 600 people. This is one reason I tell my students not to decide on their interpretation too trenchantly in the first year of playing a piece. Play each bar 50 ways and then don’t decide. Decide only in the moment of performance.
It’s clear that performing would give you various advantages in your teaching, but does teaching offer you anything as a performer?
If it wasn’t for teaching, I wouldn’t have developed as much empathy and social skill, so it does offer me something personally. But on stage I just need to be myself.
Being a pianist of your standing is unbelievably demanding. Have you ever felt like quitting?
Maybe, but never seriously… Some competitions can be so unpleasant that I wondered how I got there, but when I sat at the piano I didn’t regret it. There’s no way I could quit. My relationship with the piano is good all the time. Not always great, but always good. I love that as my bottom line my career and passion are one.
What excites you most about playing with an orchestra?
I love solo performing, and with an orchestra I’m an individual in a large group. When I finish a concerto, I am a different musician because I just had deliver a dramatic monologue with sometimes 60 other musicians interacting with me at the same time, not to mention keep in step with the conductor. There are all these different voices coming at you and you have to respond. The response to these voices has to be instant and fluid: you cannot be thinking about pianistic technique at all. This is an experience I wish for all of my students to have.
I know you have performed in many competitions. When was your first?
Age 6.
Which one was the most nerve-wracking?
One in Germany in 2017, because I had to memorize a new set of pieces that had been commissioned for this particular competition.
How did you benefit from competing?
Winning the Chopin competition in Lithuania guaranteed me a year’s worth of performances in Europe and offered many master classes and workshop teaching opportunities. Travelling was a benefit, because even if I didn’t pass to the finals as I had hoped, I was then spending time exploring new cities and nearby sights.
You recently became a Yamaha Artist- congratulations! How does it feel to have that title?
Like I have legitimately distinguished myself in ways that are worthy of promoting. I’m thrilled about it.
Do you think this will open any doors for you as a performer and/or teacher?
Yes. They’re helping me with my next album.
You recorded your first album about a year ago- is that correct? And now you’re already working on a second and a third?
Yes I did. I am focusing on one album at a time, but there are two more projects on the horizon that Yamaha is supporting.
(You can find Jarred’s album ‘Chopin and Debussy’ on Apple Music, iTunes or Spotify)
Who are some inspiring figures in music, both past and present for you?
William Shakespeare contributed more to beautiful oration and poetic utterance, than did any other play-write. If a musician wants to know how to speak (music) on a stage, they should study Shakespeare’s plays and poems, or at least any poetry and arts that connect with them. These build sense of fantasy, and enough cannot be said for developing this fantasy.
Stay up to date on Jarred’s upcoming concerts through his website: www.jarredunn.com
North America vs Europe – the Classical Music Experience
Having lived, worked, studied and performed in North America and Europe (he moved to Poland in September 2014, to further his musical education), Jarred has some clear thoughts on the differences between the two classical music environments. It makes you wonder what Canadian society and culture would be like, if we embraced a more European view on musical education.
How long were you living in Poland?
Full time for 5 years, but on and off for 6.
What were some of the biggest differences you found when comparing musical education in North America to Europe?
In Canada, higher education costs money. In Europe, higher education is free.
If a parent knew they could send their kids free of charge, for a couple of hours per week for personalized music lessons with a highly qualified teacher (which is essentially learning the use of the body and mind, creativity, expression, clarity, discipline, helps math and linguistic skills to develop faster), I can’t think of a parent who would turn this down unless the child was not interested. The students in Europe are studying with professors from elementary school. Music is a part of the education as much as science, mathematics, language acquisition. In Canada, it’s an extra privilege that is the first thing to be taken away when the economy becomes even slightly unstable.
Is one place more competitive than the other in terms of performances, connections, and career goals?
In Europe, the possibility for a career is much bigger. Music is easily accessible, and it’s part of the national narrative to have artistic and cultural heroes. Imagine if you walked by statues of our musical icons every day and streets were named after them in every city.
In Poland, there’s a very system in place for music education, similar to how it works in North America if you want to become a doctor. Furthermore, if you decide you want to become a professional musician and you practice to this end, then there are many (more) outlets available to you to accomplish that.
How do you feel classical music enriches the world?
When we listen to classical music, we are listening to ourselves and our fantasies, imaginations and emotions. This gives us a sense of unity within our individuality.
When it comes to classical music, where do you think the Canadian scene should go?
Upwards, quickly. We need to make music accessible to as many people as possible: and this is the basis of the free education in Poland.
Do you have any ideas on how to make this change happen?
We are still figuring out how to keep audience numbers up. Marketing isn’t such a well-understood practice here as it is in the United States, nor is music as generally accessible as it is in Europe. There isn’t as much focus on building community concert series, or gaining enough financial leverage to keep a series alive. If we could focus more on music education in public school systems, and having more access to private lessons, I think our lives would be much richer and easier. I know of arts-specific high schools that do try to balance between usual curriculum and an arts-intensive education, but the fact is that private lessons — the space to develop a student into a performer — are often too expensive. In order to become an artist, you need to be steeped in the discipline for a long time. We should also encourage and help facilitate students to be able to study abroad.
What were some of the biggest differences you found when comparing musical education in North America to Europe?
If you go to Europe to study music, you learn that music is life. There are so many great teachers in Europe. The ones that I studied with just happened to be the ones that I clicked with. To become a renowned professor, one has to have tremendous performance career or be able to teach in such a way that after only a few hours, the student plays significantly better. You really have to be able to change the fundament of the student. Sometimes in Canada we are caught up in the process of learning that we forget that sometimes it’s best to make changes decisively. Do the work right here and now. As a teacher, that’s a very valuable habit. Sometimes it’s as simple as ‘you’re playing too fast’ so you need to stop playing like that: make the change. Now. Forget about what process we’re going to use to make it happen and just do it. This is a broad statement but I have seen that music education in North America emphasizes well-roundedness whereas European education emphasizes specializing in one discipline at a time.
Performing Mozart Piano Concerto in A Major, K488, with Lithuanian Chamber Symphony in Vilnius (November 2018)
