Contemporary Techniques of Piano Teaching …

( … and Learning)

By Dr. Alejandro Sabre

A PIANO PEDAGOGY SEMINAR

Seminar Description: Fridays & Saturdays in July 2003

Improve your piano teaching and playing skills.

The seminar will expose piano instructors of all levels to current techniques and strategies of piano teaching. The focus will be on studying techniques and approaches that facilitate efficient learning. The primary goal of modern piano pedagogy is to promote teaching that assists students in becoming proficient players quickly by encouraging healthy and efficient studying habits, developing strong technique, and endorsing solid sight-reading skills as well as impeccable musicianship.

Topics will include:

• Defining the primary goals of teaching; developing lesson contents
• Practicing Vs Studying: Techniques for Learning Efficiently  
• Planning as the Foundation of Success in all Complex Endeavors
• Understanding Musical Structure; Subdividing by Musical Segments
• Learning Vs Memorizing: Techniques for Both
• The Piano & the Self: Physical Properties of the Human Body
• Theory of Weight and Energy Distribution: Technique and Scale Playing 
• Developing Solid Sight-Reading skills; Collaborations with Colleagues
• Performance Techniques / Selection of Repertoire / Musicianship

Instruction Format and Materials:

Most information will be conveyed in lecture & demonstration format.  A select number of participant-performers will help demonstrate techniques through a “hands-on” approach. Students that are selected as performers will be expected to play short, simple pieces of beginning to intermediate level. All students will learn from watching their colleagues participate in “mini-public lessons”.  Instructor will provide weekly handouts with sources / articles for discussion.  Authors and source readings will be selected from the following:  Denes Agay: Teaching Piano / Walter Gieseking: Piano Technique

Maurice Hinson: Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire / Ralph Kirkpatrick: Interpreting Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier / Josef Lhevinne: Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing

Alejandro Sabre: The Study Sessions / Harold Taylor: The Pianist’s Talent

Abby Whiteside: On Piano Playing

Who should attend the seminar?

All piano instructors in the community are strongly encouraged to attend.  This particular version of Piano Pedagogy has been designed with the Modesto and Turlock community piano teachers in mind. There will be relevant information for everyone regardless of level of playing and years of training. Piano students interested in teaching: A MUST.

ALL PIANO INSTRUCTORS WELCOME!!

LECTURER:              Alejandro Sabre, DMA

                   Director of MJC Piano Program             

DATES & TIMES:     Fridays and Saturdays in July 2003

Start date:                     Friday July 11, 2003
End date:                       Saturday July 26, 2003
Meeting times:              9:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Hours per session:         3 and ½ hours (with a 20 minute break)
Number of sessions:      Six Sessions
Total No. Of hours:       Twenty One Hours
LOCATION:               Gottschalk Music Center

133 Burney Street, (across from DMV)
Modesto, CA 95354    (209) 523-5326

 FEES and Enrollment Information: 

$115.00 * for all 6 sessions (includes weekly handouts).

10% Discount for MTAC members. Cash and Checks Only.

$40.00 for each individual session (subject to space availability).

Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.

Applications Available at:

Gottschalk Music Center: (209) 523-5326 and

Modesto Junior College, Arts Division Office: (209) 575-6081

Enrollment Deadline: Friday June 20, 2003

Maximum Capacity: 30 Participants

College Students:  Depending on Financial Need and Space Availability, a small number of Audit Only Admissions at a discounted rate will be considered.

I nformation:                     (209) 575-6263

About Alejandro Sabre:

Sabre has appeared in solo recitals throughout Mexico, the United States, Spain and France. Performances as soloist include several major orchestras in Mexico and the United States. His recording for RCA/BMG with music by Mexican composer José Sabre Marroquín received great acclaim and continues to receive considerable airtime in classical music radio stations in Latin America. Born in Mexico City, Sabre began his piano studies at age five. His undergraduate studies were in piano and composition at the National School of Music in Mexico City before moving to the United States in 1989.  He earned a Masters Degree in Piano Performance from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance and Literature with a minor in Music Theory from the Eastman School in Rochester NY. 

His principal teachers include Irene Schreier, Rebecca Penneys, and Steven Laitz.

As Director of the Piano Program at Modesto Junior College since the fall of 1998,      Dr. Sabre has gradually emerged as a strong force within the musical community of the San Joaquin Central Valley. He has offered master classes, workshops, and lectures for both piano students and teachers in the area through the Stanislaus branch of the Music Teachers Association of California.  Sabre has been invited to act as adjudicator, most recently by the Fresno Branch of the MTAC for their annual Piano Competition and by Stanislaus State University for their annual and statewide Student Research Competition. He has also lent his time and efforts to fund raising events, most notably MJC’s Summer Sonata, the college’s signature event that raises money for student scholarships, and events for the upcoming Gallo Performing Arts Center.

A strong advocate for live performance of Western Art Music and for the development, understanding and dissemination of this art form, Sabre has been active over the past few years designing and coordinating community outreach projects with his students. As the coordinator of the Music Theory Program at MJC, he also teaches the first two years of the music theory and musicianship undergraduate curriculum for music majors. He taught sophomore level Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music and Piano at the Hochstein Music School in N.Y. State before moving to Modesto five years ago.

Performances during the 2003-2004 Season will include appearances as soloist with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, solo recitals and lectures at the “Festival Internacional Del Centro Histórico” in Mexico City, and a series of lecture-recital presentations in Southern Texas sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin.