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Summer Road Trip Begins
Hallelujah! We have nearly made it to the end of another school year. My daughter is finishing her junior year of high school, and you can see it in her eyes.
You can see it in the eyes of children everywhere. You can see it even more in the eyes of teachers everywhere. It’s time to start thinking about, what are we going to do for our summer vacation?
And this week, I have just the thing. We’re packing up the car and heading out on a road trip to the East Coast. Myrtle Beach, to be exact.
With a stop in the Great Smoky Mountains along the way. Solid tunes are an essential part of any road trip, and we’ve got an intermediate-level soundtrack provided by Christopher Goldston, along with one selection by his mother, Margaret Goldston.
So grab some snacks and buckle up! We are hittin the highway on the Piano Pedagogy Playlist. Greetings and welcome.
I hope your day is going well. My name is Luke Bartolomeo. I’m a pianist, a teacher, and also a developer of music education apps, including Rhythm Swing.
Each Monday on the Piano Pedagogy Playlist, I play for you some of my current favorites from the piano teacher’s repertoire.
1:26
Open Road Journey
This week’s Road Trip comes to us courtesy of Chicago composer Christopher Goldston. Chris belongs to a long tradition of teacher composers.
He spent years mentoring young composers, serving in leadership roles with MTNA, and helping support and encourage composition as part of a student’s broader musical education. We’ll embark on our journey with a piece called Open Road.
It’s jaunty and optimistic, with what I would call a let’s get out of town sort of vibe. It’s built around familiar pop style harmonies and chord progressions.
Its inspiration actually comes from exercises that the composer would use with his class piano students at Columbia College.
You can almost picture the coffee in the cup holder, luggage stuffed tightly in back, and the anticipation of unknown adventures that lie ahead. Here’s Open Road by Christopher Goldston.
4:30
Smoky Mountain Waterfall
It’s a good thing we got an early start. We’ve been on the road for about 10 hours now, and we’ve arrived at our first destination, Bryson City, North Carolina, nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Christopher Goldston’s Mountain Waterfall comes from his collection called The Great Smokies. That collection, in turn, was inspired by a piece by David Carr Glover. That, well, if you’re of a certain age, you know that piece.
Students encounter some interesting challenges here. The left hand is doing that dance where it provides the bass note, the foundation of the harmony, and then it zips above the right hand to sing out the melody.
It requires students to think carefully about what the listener should hear, rather than simply allowing whatever most naturally comes out the loudest. Voicing is important.
Take a deep breath of mountain air and watch the mist rising up between the trees as I play Mountain Waterfall. Margaret Goldston was one of the major figures in American piano pedagogy during the later 20th century.
7:42
Myrtle Beach Seagulls
Her music found its way into countless teaching libraries and festival repertoire lists. I’m sure many of you listening today grew up playing her music at one point or another.
Her pieces had a masterful way of balancing imagination with practicality. They were colorful and distinctive while remaining beautifully suited to students. We’ll let her music set the scene as we arrive at our final destination.
Seagulls Over Myrtle Beach opens with a brief seagull cry then settles into a lyrical melody over rolling waves in the left hand.
But what began as a peaceful beach scene suddenly becomes unexpectedly theatrical as the piece builds toward a dramatic cadenza before returning to its dreamy lyrical ways. Here is Margaret Goldston’s Seagulls Over Myrtle Beach.
10:54
Wishing and Reflection
Summer trips always seem to invite imagination. I’m always reminded how getting away from routines and stepping off the hamster wheel for a little while creates space to reconnect with parts of ourselves that sometimes get neglected.
Travel has a way of opening us back up. That makes our last piece today, Wishing, feel like a fitting final stop.
Chris completed this piece from one of his mother’s unfinished sketches, giving an unfinished musical thought a chance to reach its destination. It has an earnest quality to it, wide-eyed and open-hearted.
It’s begun to feel as though this road trip wasn’t only geographical, but also across generations. Here’s Wishing by Christopher Goldston based on a sketch by his mother, Margaret Goldston.
We started out on a simple summer road trip, and it’s turned into something a little larger.
14:31
Journeyʼs End
A journey through the mountains to the coast, for sure, but also through the continuing legacy of composers dedicated to helping students discover, imagine, and grow.
And maybe also a reminder that some of the most meaningful journeys have less to do with where we end up and more to do with what we reconnect with along the way.
And just like that, we have to close the lid on today’s episode of The Piano Pedagogy Playlist.
If any of you out there listening have ideas on how a piano teacher slash app developer slash podcaster can quickly earn a little extra cash, with gas prices the way they are, I have no idea how I’m going to pay for this trip.
At this rate, we might be walking to Myrtle Beach. No matter, I’ll look forward to seeing you again next Monday when I’ll share more of my current favorites from the contemporary piano teacher’s repertoire.
Until then, keep nurturing the music, and have a great week.