5-Minute Piano Lessons

A piano student should practice enough to succeed

Please notice that I did not say, “A piano student must practice an hour a day.” Nor did I say, “A piano student must practice seven days each week.” Neither of these things is true, and even the attempt to put an actual time on practice is a mistake. The correct way to think about piano practice is to put your attention on success, not the clock. The student must practice enough to succeed.  The goal is to play the music well, not to pass time, and if this goal can be achieved in less time than expected, then that is wonderful. However, common sense tells us that the amount of practice time will not be zero! Actually, there are two psychological factors which establish the length and timing of practice. These factors operate in both children and adults and understanding them is simple and leads to successful piano practice.

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Time, energy, money, and hope must be invested. But for what?

What do folks get out of learning the piano? Why do they do it? After all, despite the many books and website claiming to be able to teach a complex skill in no time at all, piano actually is one of the most difficult of instruments to play well. A good pianist has invested much time and energy, sometimes practicing daily over many months or even years. This person often has spent money on private or online lessons, sheet music books, and, of course, their instrument. Above all, the piano student must keep up their hope of playing the music they love the way they would love to play it. That hope must be maintained for some time. Those who don’t already play sometimes wonder what the big deal might be. (more…)

Identify Your Confusion and Name it so You can Solve It

Some piano students find practicing piano, reading music, working on pieces “confusing.” At least, that’s the word they use at their lessons when trying to describe their problems. It’s a very broad, general word and, because it is so general, it’s almost impossible to “un-confuse” the student. If anything like this happens to you then read on, because I know a solution which will leave your path clear and obvious – and unconfused.

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The Psychology Behind a Common Problem of Adult Piano Students

As almost all adult piano students know, “nervousness” remains a constant problem. I thought I’d share with you the exact psychology that underlies adult lesson nervousness in the hopes that some of you will find a new tool to help you enjoy your lessons more. I know it frustrates you – my personal piano students tell me about it several times a week. (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…)

What YOU can Do to Create Faster, Better, and More Enjoyable Lessons

Once you’ve found a good piano teacher, someone you trust, someone who understands you and your needs, then almost all the rest depends on YOU. The piano student is mainly in charge during a series of piano lessons, for the simple reason that most of your learning occurs during your regular piano practice. Sure, your instructor can tell you what to practice and how to best practice it, but only you can follow those directions. Learning to play piano is something you do without the teacher present. Thus, anything that helps you do that would also make your lessons faster, better, and more enjoyable – right? (more…)

Get a Greater “Return on Investment” of Money, Time, Effort, and Hope

The purpose of these essays is to “WIN (be successful) at piano lessons.” Of course, saying this means nothing unless we fully and carefully define what we mean by “success.” We could say that it means different things to different people, and to some degree this is true. However, for the vast majority of piano students, “success” means the ability to play various pieces of music they like in a reasonable manner after a reasonable amount of piano practice. (more…)

Two Keys that the Adult Piano Student Taking Lessons Can Totally Control

One major key to success when taking adult piano lessons is opening your mouth! Yep, an open mouth with words coming out of it is more important than what you do with your hands and fingers, at least as far as having successful piano lessons. The reason is simple: if your piano teacher doesn’t know what’s happening with you, your teacher doesn’t know how to help you learn to play the piano properly. (more…)

How to Feel Calmer and More At Ease During Your Piano Lesson

One of the chief reasons a piano teacher is valuable to the adult student is to provide pep talks and reasonable expectations. Sadly, many students’ expectations of themselves and their progress are fairly UNreasonable. Such folk are usually somewhat down on themselves in general and can be recognized by the fact they start each lesson off with an apology to the teacher for their lack of progress, failure to accomplish something or other, poor amount of time spent at piano practice, something. (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…)