New technology links Chinese music students and US teachers

LOS ANGELES - "Listen to the shape of the piece, don't play it note by note," a piano master tells her eager, young student. "Don't be afraid to use the pedal; it adds resonance and passion," she adds, pointing to her student's foot.

Her young Chinese student's nimble fingers flow through the passages of Liszt's etude. Responding to the instruction, the student presses the pedal and adds color and nuance to her next passage.

Eagerly watching this classic exchange are rows of piano teachers sitting in a recording studio at the Ostin Music Center of University of California, Los Angeles, which houses a Yamaha DCFX Disklavier piano.