Piano Lessons by Cherwyn Ambuter

09/29/2026

"There was a time when music, literature and art occupied a more central place in people’s lives, not because they were expected to produce anything but because they were understood to have intellectual, aesthetic, even spiritual value. And this wasn’t only the preserve of an aristocratic leisure class: it reflected a broader idea that cultivating one’s faculties — learning to listen to music, look at a painting, read challenging books, playing an instrument — was itself part of living a good life. Today, we’re much more likely to ask what such activities are for, whether they improve us or make us more healthy, whether they’ll advance our careers or provide a nice experience worth paying for. The idea that an activity might be worth doing simply because it deepens our experience of being alive has become harder to articulate."

Today, my studio consists 50% of adults. It seems that after the pandemic, adults have decided to follow their long-put-off dreams! Musical study isn't just for children. Find your creative self and a piano teacher to bring more personal experience of beauty into your life. :-)

In an age in which all activities must be optimised, there is something rare about devoting yourself to something that cannot be turned into content

08/08/2026

72% of pianists have some sort of musculoskeletal injury sustained from playing the piano. (See the "Frontiers in Psychology" link embedded in article below for more on this.)

This article states in its conclusion: "Calling on experts specializing in biomechanics or musical ergonomics could also help to prevent acute and chronic injuries."

This is exactly why the Taubman Approach to piano technique is so helpful for those with piano-related injuries, or who are looking to prevent them from ever taking place. Dorothy Taubman studied the mechanics of anatomy and assembled and created a technical approach which works with healthy body movement, rather than to move the playing mechanism into positions that can cause injury to the tendons or carpal tunnel.

Her game-changing technical approach is what healed the legendary performer-teacher Leon Fleisher's focal dystonia, which had sidelined his performing career for years.

If you're seeking a Taubman teacher who can offer technical training which teaches the body to move in healthy ways, contact me to discuss your goals of study and to meet to explore whether we should work together.

Playing the piano involves much more than striking the keyboard. The pianist's entire body is in movement, from the torso to the fingers. But how does the musical expression generated by this choreography heighten the risk of self-inflicted, long-term injury?

08/05/2026

06/04/2026

This shows how sometimes, what couldn't be proven true at one point may yet be true! As piano teachers, we definitely teach our students specific techniques to produce, a gorgeous, round, warm and appealing tone. It has little to do with the speed of the key descent (speed of the attack)!

"For generations, pianists and music teachers have insisted that a performer's touch can change the character of a piano's sound. Skeptics argued that once a piano hammer strikes a string, the resulting tone is determined almost entirely by the instrument itself. Now, a major scientific study has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that pianists really can shape a piano's timbre through touch alone."

For more than a century, pianists and music teachers have argued over whether a performer’s touch can actually change the tone color of a piano note — and now scientists say the answer is yes. Using a cutting-edge sensor system that tracked piano key movements at 1,000 frames per second, researc...

05/21/2026

Some lovely tips!

04/25/2026

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=54528

Calendars, old and new, are based on astronomical cycles: the yearly cycle of the sun; the monthly cycle of the moon. But there is one unit of time that doesn’t adhere to any celestial rhythm: the seven-day week.

04/11/2026

We hosted a first-time new performing experience for those students who wished to try it: a Dessert Café. It was amazing for us all! This article made the front-page news of the local paper! (Local to the town just north of us, where most of my current students live.) A local eatery, Birdie's Café, very kindly loaned to us their outside café tables & chairs to transform our piano room and great room into an evening café.

Six students from the piano studio of Cherwyn Ambuter performed recently in an event called a Dessert Café at Ambuter’s home in Vernon. Invited guests enjoyed d...

04/09/2026

Our studio held a recent, innovative event which was so uplifting for everyone present! The students who took part and their families are still talking about it a month later.

Six students from the piano studio of Cherwyn Ambuter performed recently in an event called a Dessert Café at Ambuter’s home in Vernon. Invited guests enjoyed d...