His fingers were collapsing as he played, so I picked up my phone and took a close-up video of his hands as he finished the piece. "Now watch the video," I told him, "and drop one of these smiley erasers on the piano keys each time you see a finger collapse." He...

We take a three-week break for the holidays in my piano studio. That's a pretty long time not to engage with my students, but the long break allows me to fit in holiday concerts that I enjoy playing for. There were five this year. The day after Christmas, I was...