I have had a never-ending love affair with music. My earliest childhood memories of of trying to play everything I heard on the piano, which included classical and jazz music.
My formal music education began at the Harlem School of the Arts, where I studied with Dr. Armenta Adams a concerto winner of Julliard School of Music who studied with world renowned pianist/professor Sascha Gorodnitzki.
I then went on to continue my education at Manhattan School of Music in the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts where one pianist is selected every three to four years. I earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Jazz Piano Performance. I continued my education earning a MM in Piano Performance at Florida International University studying with world renowned international pianist Kemal Gekic.
I have participated in master piano classes with legendary pianists: Awadagin Pratt, Dr. Kenneth Cooper of Manhattan School of Music, Dr. Geoffrey Burleson, John Lewis and Norman Simmons. I have also had the pleasure of studying jazz improvisation and performing with Maestro Nestor Torres and the illustrious Ron Carter.
Each one of these legendary and brilliant musicians have helped to bring out what I feel is a rare combination of exceptional technical skills, musical sensitivity and a passionate release of raw emotions.
I have performed, recorded and taught in the NY/Tristate area, Canada, Florida, South America and the Caribbean.
http://www.theartofpianoperformance.com/
http://www.theartofpianoperformance.maison/
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The Art of Piano Performance 
Great web site, Jamila! From a fellow piano teacher in London UK 🙂
Many thanks! Thanks for stopping by, I am looking forward to seeing your site too! 🙂
Really nice blog you have Jamila. I am a beginner on Piano.:)
Greetings, Many thanks for your kind words 🎹🎶😌I would love to hear more about your adventures on the piano and what repertoire as well as technical studies you are working on. Piano Artistry is a fascinating study.
Oh I am not sure I have adventures, and I certainly have no repertoire lol..I am just a plonky beginner. At the moment I am learning a one paged beginner’s version of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony theme (2nd movement)
Greetings
Gotta start somewhere! Hope to hear your your one page piano transcription of the Beethoven. I would love to see the score perhaps some of my beginning adult students would like to try it, sounds lovely. 🎹🎶😌 Perhaps you can scan it and send to me? 😌🎶🎹
ᒍᗩᗰIᒪᗩ ᔕᗩᕼᗩᖇ http://www.theartofpianoperformance.com http://theartofpianoperformance.me
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I am not sure you’d want to hear my fumbly fingers just yet Jamila lol..but maybe when I “perfect it”! You know how it is with us adult beginners- getting the right notes and finger positions first, then onto getting the dynamics right….
Yes, I am happy to share the music with you- it was free online!
Here it is:
http://www.8notes.com/scores/7214.asp
There is a lot of nice classical “beginners” versions on that site. I have printed quite a few out.
Greetings
Some unsolicited advice, although the learning process will take longer, I believe it is better to incorporate the dynamics and phrasing into the music while learning the notes and have a big picture (in your mind) of how you want the music to sound. Because the dynamics and phrasing are related to the meaning of story the music is telling. From my experience, it is harder to incorporate the dynamics and phrasing after learning the notes because then it is like something separate, and should be part of what the music is conveying. But in the end it is better to work on the music in the way that feels comfortable to you. Just some food for thought and I would still be happy to hear your ‘fumbling’ rendition. 🎹🎶😌
ᒍᗩᗰIᒪᗩ ᔕᗩᕼᗩᖇ http://www.theartofpianoperformance.com http://theartofpianoperformance.me
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Yes, well I kind of try to do that- I really struggle to read music and am more of an ear person, so I tend to practise music I already know, as I can follow my ear how it ought to sound if you know what I mean.I just had another practise- this time with the strings setting on Privia and tried to play louder and with more force as the music builds up! I am still getting used to the harder action on Privia- Cecil has a much lighter action.
I also noodled a tune that came to me after that in- Cmajor, but in Phrygian mode.
Greetings again,
I have found that when one has difficulty reading the music (including myself) you should go at a slower pace maybe even half the tempo. Remember for every note you play on the piano the brain has to think of minimum 30 things. So give yourself more time between each note for your brain to absorb and retain the information. That way when you do it next time it will feel better. Promise this always works in my lessons. Remember the tempo for learning the music should be at least half the speed or even slower than the normal performing tempo. Hope this helps ! 🎹🎶😌
ᒍᗩᗰIᒪᗩ ᔕᗩᕼᗩᖇ http://www.theartofpianoperformance.com http://theartofpianoperformance.me
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Greetings, you are such a creative artistic person. I relate completely, I first started playing by ear and sight reading music has always been a huge challenge for me. One thing that I found helpful from one professor was to work on very small manageable sections at a time, maybe one phrase or in some cases one or two measures. Even 1/2 half a measure when reading Liszt or Rachmaninoff! So even if you learn and feel solid with one small section you will have a sense of accomplishment. The key is to not move on till you feel it is solid. That way by the time you reach the end you will have it mastered. I learned also a good way to work on a challenging piece is to learn the most difficult sections first ( usually the endings ) and work my way back to the beginning in small sections. Sounds like some kool creative music ! Have fun with it! 🎹🎶☺️
Ah yes, I am slow anyway lol! I should try using Privia’s inbuilt Metronome also!