Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, shares his thoughts on learning and playing music in today’s musical environment. He discusses what he feels to be the responsibilities of a teacher to their students, the role of mentors to a career in music, what students and novice musicians should emphasize in their practice to maximize the value of their practice time, and offers tips on building your musicality, as well as on to approach the modern piano as an instrument capable of capturing the sounds of four centuries of piano repertoire.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, shares some advice for parents in helping their children begin a long and fruitful life in music, without “stage-mothering” them or expecting overnight greatness.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, discusses his education and training, and what sparked a love of music within him.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, discusses the various responsibilities that a music teacher has to his or her students - from helping them become the concert musician they want to be, to helping them find their niche in whatever area of music is their true calling. He also discusses the responsibility of a teacher to help their students understand the traditions and artistic goals of a piece, composer or genre, and by doing that to make those students complete musicians in as many ways as possible.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, discusses the twin goals of integrity and excellence as keystones to a career in classical music – in other words, being honest with yourself about your commitment to your craft and about the current quality of your work, and using these as motivating tools to push yourself toward true excellence.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, discusses what young students need to learn early in order to draw upon later – specifically excellent technique and a familiarity with the styles of various periods. He also discusses the need for a music teacher to shape a student’s style in a way that emphasizes the student’s needs, not the teacher’s.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, makes a strong argument in favor of musicians learning the cultural and social contexts of the music they play – for example, understanding the world in which Mozart composed, or the state of the church and church music in Bach’s day – as an essential step in becoming great interpreters of works.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, discusses the modern piano and the technical demands of playing it to full effect, and speaks at length about the musical demands placed on a pianist who wishes to accurately play a Mozart or Bach piano piece on a modern instrument.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, shares his thoughts on what he sees as a rising trend among his students – a new willingness to take chances in their repertoire and concert programming to creatively mix and match eras, styles and forms in order to elicit unexpected and exciting results.

Norman Krieger, a Professor of Keyboard Studies at USC's Thornton School, discusses breathing and physicality as key factors in playing music with good musicality – even for piano players and other non-wind musicians. He also speaks about his own training in the Russian tradition of building skill-sets before approaching a repertoire, and contrasts that with musicians who use repertoire as a means of building musical skills.