5-Minute Piano Lessons

Predicting the Future is Usually Dicey but I Do See the Trends

I’ve been teaching piano now full-time since October of 1987. I began as most teachers do – traveling to my students’ homes. Later, I found space to teach at a local piano dealership. A few years ago I decided to limit my practice to adult and teen-aged students. This year I’m focusing my attention to the Internet. I give you this history to convince you that I might just be able to see “the handwriting on the wall” regarding piano education. (more…)

Some Piano Students Make Little Progress and Spend Lots Time Not Making It

“I’m spending lots of time at piano practicing but not seeing much improvement in my piano playing,” is a VERY common concern for piano students and pianists in general. Unfortunately, too many of these good folks come up with the following erroneous conclusions:

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Reading Music is the First Step to Playing the Piano Better

All of us would like to read music better.  The first step is to understand what “reading music” really means. (more…)

Separating Effective from Ineffective Online Piano Lessons

I’ve been online examining what is there and realized that I need to comment on the vast array of free adult piano lessons, piano videos, paid piano instruction, etc. It’s high time I did, from my perspective as a teacher of adult piano students, an author of books on adult piano, and a professional performer with several decades experience. (more…)

A Question Adult Piano Students Should Ask Themselves

Every student of adult piano should ask themselves this vital question: “How good do I need to get?”  Actually, most adult pianists have this question somewhere in their brain and ask themselves regularly, usually during moments of frustration. It’s the purpose of this essay to help you answer yourself ! (more…)

Real World Evaluation of the Pros and Cons of Children vs. Adults at the Piano

I’ve been a piano teacher for over 20+  years now, teaching 100 -150 piano and keyboard students of all ages each year.  Some stayed only for a few lessons, while others  have been around seemingly forever (they tell me they just like piano lessons!) Because I accepted and encouraged students ages 6 – 80 from the beginning, I’ve been able to conduct my own “real-world” survey of the advantages and disadvantages of age in learning the piano. (more…)