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…)

Understanding one’s preferences regarding art is always difficult

I’ve boiled it down like this. (more…)

An easy, but highly interesting timing “trick” every pianist should understand and master

Few words seem more mysterious than “syncopation.” Most piano students are given syncopated pieces at some point  When these are presented, however, the pianist too often just plays what the composer or arranger has written. They can hear the interesting sounds and fascinating timing but don’t really understand how that sound and timing is produced. They are just following orders, so to speak. I’d like to explain syncopation in the way my adult students, both live and online, have found useful and successful. Funny thing, it has always been my observation that the adult who understands what they play does a better job at it than the adult who only follows orders. (more…)

Some piano students make emotional trouble for themselves

Instead of focusing on the sheer enjoyment of making music which they love, they wonder if they are “doing it properly.” Similar concerns are too common as well. Such folks have been indoctrinated, often at a young age, that there is a right way and wrong way to make music. I’d say something different – that there is a way that makes the listener happy and a way that does not. By “listener” I include the pianist him/herself. (more…)

Practicing Piano Scales is Most Worthwhile when Done Smartly

I don’t know why I was surprised when the site’s “analytics” (the statistics that tell me each week what folks have been interested in reading) told me that the “big draw” recently was practicing scales – something I only rarely assign to my piano students. This interest makes sense, however, considering that music teachers have been pushing scale practice for centuries. This is sad to me, because more time and attention is wasted on lousy and inefficient scale practice by aspiring hobbyist pianists than almost anything, other than lousy and inefficient practice routines in general. I’d like to set the record straight on this topic and hopefully save you readers time and frustration.

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Those Who Have Had Piano Lessons Before Will Find This Interesting

The essays in this series provide my personal viewpoints. I’m going to repeat my reasoning for this at the beginning of each essay in the the series.

My experience as a piano teacher has brought me into contact with many folks who have had past piano lessons. Too often, such lessons were NOT a joy and too often the piano student ended up blaming themselves for this unpleasantness. Such piano students often do not take further piano training, even though they still want to play the piano. Even when they do, they bring much “baggage” to their new piano lessons which hinders their progress. I hope to change some minds and thus help more people learn to play piano for their own enjoyment and that of others. (more…)

Those Who Have Had Piano Lessons Before Will Find This Interesting

The essays in this series provide my personal viewpoints. I’m going to repeat my reasoning for this at the beginning of each essay in the the series.

My experience as a piano teacher has brought me into contact with many folks who have had past piano lessons. Too often, such lessons were NOT a joy and too often the piano student ended up blaming themselves for this unpleasantness. Such piano students often do not take further piano training, even though they still want to play the piano. Even when they do, they bring much “baggage” to their new piano lessons which hinders their progress. I hope to change some minds and thus help more people learn to play piano for their own enjoyment and that of others.. (more…)

Too many piano students do poorly due to ineffective piano teaching

Previous essays have explained why many current methods are really “snakeoil” methods which promise much but deliver next to no piano skill. I also spend time discussing how this approach to learning to play piano was made attractive by the years of grinding, boring, and frustrating “teaching” on the part of piano teachers who turned making music into drudgery. Many folks have a stereotype of the piano teacher as a little old lady forcing kids to play endless scales while they’d prefer to be elsewhere, anywhere on a Saturday morning.  Very unfortunately, this stereotype is fairly accurate. This essay explains why learning the piano doesn’t have to be this way.

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Many Piano Students Hate Them but Used Properly Metronomes are Great Tools

The metronome, that thing that sits on many pianos, is the subject of a love/hate relationship for many piano students. Most adults who took piano lessons in their youth likely had some experiences with the metronome, often bad experiences. In this essay, I hope to offer advice that will make the metronome your favorite tool for improving both your piano practice and piano performance. (more…)

Too many piano students do poorly due to ineffective piano teaching

Previous essays have explained why many current methods are really “snakeoil” methods which promise much but deliver next to no piano skill. I also spend time discussing how this approach to learning to play piano was made attractive by the years of grinding, boring, and frustrating “teaching” on the part of piano teachers who turned making music into drudgery. Many folks have a stereotype of the piano teacher as a little old lady forcing kids to play endless scales while they’d prefer to be elsewhere, anywhere on a Saturday morning.  Very unfortunately, this stereotype is fairly accurate. This essay explains why learning the piano doesn’t have to be this way. (more…)