Claude Debussy Archives - O'Connor Online Piano Lessons

What You Need to Know about Piano Pedals

January 14, 2022

| Pianists, Piano

These are some examples of pedal marks in piano music: Pedals on a grand piano: There are two standard foot pedals on the piano: on the left side is the una corda pedal and on the right side is the sustain (damper) pedal. The middle sostenuto pedal is only standard on the American […]

Hands According to Pianists

August 18, 2021

| Daily Listening

Redditor NeokratosRed had an idea: depict the hands of great composers and pianists, according to the characteristics of their music. He shared it on the social media site, and also punted for suggestions of more. It has since received over 300,000 images views, and lots of further suggestions from fellow Redditors and piano geeks. Whisks […]

Piano Puzzlers!

August 9, 2021

| Music Quiz, Piano

The Piano Puzzlers book is available in the O’Connor Music Studio library if you’d like to give any a try. Piano Puzzlers as heard on American Public Media’s “Performance Today.” Includes 32 tunes with songs by Gershwin, Berlin, Arlen, Porter, Rodgers, Fats Waller, Lennon & McCartney, and others disguised in the styles of Bach, […]

Debussy: Clair de Lune ~ Daily Listening Assignments

July 29, 2021

| Daily Listening, Piano

And, we’re back with Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. Clair de Lune is French for “light of the moon”, or “moonlight”. Debussy liked to create tonal “impressions” rather than conventional melodies. Clair de Lune” is a famous example of this as it creates the feeling of rippling water. Follow the score: […]

🎂 Happy Birthday to Gene Krupa!
Eugene Bertram “Gene” Krupa lived from January 15, 1909 to October 16, 1973. He was an American jazz and big band drummer, actor and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style. One of my all-time favorite non-piano songs is Sing Sing Sing. Krupa joined Benny Goodman’s band in 1934, where his featured drum […]
🎹 What You Need to Know about Piano Pedals
There are two standard foot pedals on the piano: on the left side is the una corda pedal and on the right side is the sustain (damper) pedal. The middle sostenuto pedal is only standard on the American grand piano, and is very rarely used. With pedals, the pianist can add resonance and color to […]
🐤 Today is Rubber Ducky Day!
According to a 1973 Sesame Street calendar, Rubber Duckie’s Birthday is January 13 so around the country it’s National Rubber Ducky Day! A friend of Ernie and Big Bird, Duckie made his debut in a February 1970 episode. The rubber ducky (also spelled duckie) has come a long way from his first concept as a […]
🎹 Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique, was written in 1798 when the composer was 27 years old, and was published in 1799. It has remained one of his most celebrated compositions.Beethoven dedicated the work to his friend Prince Karl von Lichnowsky.
👏 All About Carnegie Hall
You’ve all heard it before. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. If you want to go, other than practicing, Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south […]
☃️ Snow Days This Week!
No lessons this week due to the snowy weather. Keep practicing! Those using Piano Maestro and/or Sproutbeat may find new assignments.
🎂 Alfred Brendel’s Birthday!
Alfred Brendel was born in 1931 in Wiesenberg, Czech Republic. After World War II, Brendel composed music, as well as continuing to play the piano, to write and to paint. However, he never had more formal piano lessons and, although he attended master classes with Edwin Fischer and Eduard Steuermann, he was largely self-taught after […]
🍝 National Spaghetti Day
National Spaghetti Day on January 4 recognizes that long, thin cylindrical pasta of Italian and Sicilian origin.
🎂 Happy Birthday, Victor Borge!
Victor Borge made his debut as a pianist in 1926, and as a revue actor in 1933. From 1940 until his death in 2000 he worked in the USA for radio, television, and theatre, and has performed with leading symphony orchestras on worldwide tours since 1956. He was best known for his comedy sketches combining […]
2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣ 2️⃣ Happy 2022
New Year’s Day is observed on January 1, and is probably the most celebrated public holiday, often observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts in each time zone.
🎇 New Year’s Eve!
1929 ~ Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played Auld Lang Syne as a New Year’s Eve song for the first time. Auld Lang Syne had been the band’s theme song long before 1929. However, this night was the start of a New Year’s Eve tradition as Lombardo’s famed orchestra played at the Hotel Roosevelt […]
🎄 Christmas Music Conclusion: Auld Lang Syne
“Auld Lang Syne” is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song. It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. By extension, it […]
🎄 Christmas Music: Composers by the Numbers
🎁 Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their masters, employers or customers, in the United Kingdom,The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Bermuda, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and other former British […]
🎄 Christmas Countdown: Hallelujah Chorus
Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Psalms. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public […]

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