5-Minute Piano Lessons

The proper priorities regarding chords and fakebooks can save time and improve your playing

Note: This essay is taken from my ebook concerning Advanced Chord and Fakebook Use. I felt it too important to limit it to that source.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of what I consider Advanced chord and fakebook usage, I want to urge you to keep your priorities straight as you study. These priorities are stated in this essay’s title, at least as I’ve found them in 40+ years of successful piano performance. I truly believe it will be very worth your time to consider my reasoning before you embark upon the study of the rest of this ebook. (more…)

A Further “Cure” for this Common Problem of Adult Piano Students

Every adult piano student knows that nervousness during the piano lesson leads to a lack of enjoyment for lessons. I’d even wager that many pianists reading this little essay are here looking into online adult piano lessons because “live lessons” with a piano teacher is just scarier than they can stand. Allow me to present another in my series of possible “cures” for the nervousness so many student feel before, during, and after their piano lessons. (more…)

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…)

A Better Understanding of  the Three Types of Memory Will Help

First, we must be define “memorization” more carefully and clearly. There are actually THREE types of memory involved in piano playing and by improving each we can memorize faster and more “deeply.” This is important because, under the stress of performing, nervousness reduces our ability to recall our music. The better our memorization and the more certain we are of being able to recall WHAT and HOW to play our pieces, the better our chance of a successful piano performance. (more…)

Speed of Practice is Crucial to Successful Piano Practice

Much improvement in playing piano pieces is lost because adult piano too often students  practice their music at whatever pace (tempo) they believe that piano music should be played in performance.This almost always means that mistakes are common and linger long.  If you only such piano students knew and used this motto:

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Pianists – Amateur and Pro – Limit Their Enjoyment with Negativity

Brain researchers are discovering which parts of our brains do what when musicians do what they do best.  An article from my local newspaper discusses brain research into how musicians improvise music. Here’s the key point, taken from the last half of the article: (more…)

Good Piano Performance Demands Pianists Know and Obey This Rule

In past essays we have discussed the mechanical aspects of performing with good tempo and the musicality of performing with good tempo. In closing these essays, I want to offer one further, critical guideline. My piano students have greatly benefited from following it. (more…)

Some Simple Tips Can Add “Interpretation” to Your Piano Playing

This is a straight forward “How to…” essay for the piano student, and applies to both online piano lessons and lessons with a live piano teacher. In order to add feeling to your piano performance do the following: (more…)

Every Adult Piano Student Wants to Get Better at Piano Playing

Whether you want to play sonatas or showtunes, Bach or the blues, an adult piano student always seeks to improve his or her piano playing. Improvement, to the piano student, is the very essence of progress. Unfortunately, learning the piano is much like learning anything else, in that there are good days and bad days, even good weeks and weeks that are, shall we say, “not so hot.” Thus, how does an adult piano student KNOW if improvements are being made? (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…)

Why This is a Critical Question to Ask and Why the Right Answer is  “YES !”

Seems like a stupid sort of question at first, doesn’t it?  “Do I play the piano? Well, DUH! I’m an adult piano student, aren’t I?” However,  I’ve asked this question to a number of my adults students over the years and have been shocked when they told me that they did NOT consider that they played the piano. (more…)