5-Minute Piano Lessons

“High-Tech” Keyboards Help Make More Music Musicians

The piano is a wonderful tool. A big reason is that pianists can make full and complete music without other musicians. Band and orchestra instruments require other people. Thus, after school is over many musicians find it hard to be satisfied playing their trumpets, violas, or french horns alone. The piano has also allowed the geniuses of music it to write our classics – music which is known and loved the world over. For these, and many other reasons, the piano has come to be our society’s instrument of class and choice.

Unfortunately, too many pianists seem to have “copped an attitude” about any technological change in pianos – even though such changes are improving the world of piano instruction. This essay explores this topic. (more…)

For a few, actually playing keyboard and piano beats simply listening

I have been thinking a lot lately about the differences between two types of musical joy- the joy of consuming music as a listener and the joy of making music as a piano or keyboard student.

As our technology improves, it becomes easier and easier to simply be a consumer of music rather than a producer. Now we all love to listen to music, and where would any producer be without a consumer?  However, some few folks want to take things further and actually make the music themselves. Naturally, I believe playing keyboard or piano beats other instruments but that’s my bias. (more…)

Music study helps people of all ages

By Nancee Marin

Extensive research has shown that music study helps people of all ages gain overall life skills and promotes increased well-being (visit http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/benefits.html for further details).

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The final six should cement your decision!

By Nancee Marin: The author is a piano/keyboard/guitar instructor from Redlands, CA. She is also a professional performer on those instruments. She can be reached via her website.

4. Easy maintenance of instrument.

You don’t need to tune a piano or a keyboard like you do other instruments. Have a professional piano tech do it for you. You don’t have a choice if you’re a guitarist, violinist, or wind instrumentalist. You have to tune the instrument yourself all the time, and intonation can be a tricky thing. (more…)

Just the first three might be reason enough!

By Nancee Marin: The author is a piano/keyboard/guitar instructor from Redlands, CA. She is also a professional performer on those instruments. She can be reached via her website.

Do you think that playing musical instruments is the domain of a few select talented people, especially whiz kids? Or is it just something that highly trained professionals do? Unfortunately, many older folks (anyone older than school-age students!) don’t think they can play the piano (or any other instrument, for that matter) because of the unfair comparison to child prodigies, who are actually the minority of the population. So, out of the gazillion things to do while you’re still alive, why should you learn to make music, especially on the piano or keyboard?

Let me count the reasons. (more…)

Online piano lessons succeed – but not for all piano students

My previous post, Part 1 of this essay, is available here.

There are two final necessities which I didn’t even imagine when I began giving online lessons a couple years ago. I guess I had become too accustomed to dedicated piano students I taught in my home piano studio. I didn’t recognize that teaching at a distance requires these traits in the piano student. I also didn’t completely see that these traits the KEY traits which can make or break that student’s success at learning the piano. Now I do and use these in deciding to accept new online piano students. (more…)

Online piano lessons succeed – but not for all piano students

I’ve written quite a few essays about online piano lessons. Some of the online lessons I’ve seen are good but lots are quite the rip-off, at least to my way of thinking. The reason I think so is experience, of course, having spend about two years with online piano students good and bad, 20+ years teaching live adult piano students, plus at least three BIG piano blogs (this one is the biggest and best.) I’d like to share with you what I see as the four factors absolutely necessary to succeed with online lessons. (more…)

Extensive research has shown that music study helps people of all ages

(Note from Dan Starr: For the next several essays I’ll present other writings by like-minded teachers.)

Nancee Marin (Inland Empire, CA)

They gain overall life skills and increased well-being (visit HERE for further details). However, research findings have been usually skewed to promote the idea (and thus perpetuate the myth) of starting children earlier in music lessons, which isn’t necessarily better.

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Let’s try to make “Happy Progress” your situation!

I hear things. No, I don’t “see dead people” but I DO hear stories about dead piano lessons. It makes sense that I would since the folks coming to me for lessons have often had very poor piano instruction in the past. Otherwise, they wouldn’t feel the need for more lessons, would they?  My personal experience is “skewed” a bit. Still, any time I tell people I’m a piano teacher I get to hear about their experiences good or bad. Honestly, there have been too many tales of bad experiences for my liking. I suspect that many piano students and piano lovers are dis-satisfied. I’d like to comment on why this might be and suggest remedies. (more…)

Everybody talks about it but what is it – and does it matter?

You know those cultural ideas – the ones people speak of every now and then but mostly accept without much criticism? This idea of “talent” is one of those. A large part of this idea is “some people have ‘it’ and some don’t.” Now I’m a piano instructor, and thus talent at making music on a piano or keyboard is what I live and breath. I’d like to share with you what I have observed. Wonderfully, my observations tell me that almost everyone reading this has enough “talent” to make good music on the piano. For specifics, read on. (more…)