What Time Is It?

I’ll be blunt: Too many piano students practice piano like it’s a video (or computer) game and this is holding them back. There… I’ve said it (whew, I feel better already!!!). Now before you exclaim “Wait, I love playing video games!”, let me clarify: I love video games too. In fact, I love them too … Read More

One of the reasons I love piano teaching so much is that it gives me opportunities to study the learning process, and how each of us learns as individuals. A fascinating example of this often happens when I start working with a new student. At some point, I’ll ask the student to slow down at … Read More

How do you practice piano? For pianists, this is really the central question. And I think there is no one “correct” answer. But if you’re looking to improve at a rapid pace, you can learn from a recent study involving music students at The University of Texas in Austin. Researchers identified eight specific ways in … Read More

When you first look at a new piano piece, how do you begin practicing? Specifically, do you learn the notes first and then “add expression,” or do you try to play musically right from the beginning, at the same time you learn the notes. My teaching experience shows me that both ways are valid at … Read More

Yesterday I posted a link to an excellent study that highlighted effective piano practice habits. Researchers found that pianists who tried playing with hands-together early on when learning a new piece learned the music faster than those who stayed with hands one-at-a-time for longer. I think this is probably because playing with both hands helps … Read More

Have you seen the article in The Creativity Post about effective piano practicing? Researchers studied how a group of university music students learned a piano piece and saw some common practices among the students who learned it best. The whole article is worth reading: 8 Things Top Practicers Do Differently Basically, the study shows that … Read More

Before Miles Davis was “MILES DAVIS, TRUMPET LEGEND,” he was “Miles Davis, young, insecure trumpet player in Charlie Parker’s quintet.” He eventually became such an imposing musical figure, that it’s a little hard to imagine him standing up there next to “Bird” night after night, flubbing the fast bebop melodies and struggling to make his … Read More

If you’re interested in rock, pop, blues, or jazz piano, you’ve probably heard of the blues scale. (In the key of C it’s C, Eb, F, F#, G, Bb.) Here are my Top 10 Reasons you want to learn the blues scale on piano: 10. So you can play soul music like Ray Charles. 9. … Read More

Here’s how I gained a little insight into what made The Beatles great: Each December, I give some of my piano students an assignment: compose a piece of piano music using Winter, Christmas, or Hanukkah as inspiration. I don’t give any further instructions, and I love hearing the amazing music my students of all ages … Read More

The internet is like that old joke where one person tells another, “I only tell the truth 50% of the time; it’s up to you to decide which 50%!” There’s so much information instantly available to us, and it’s usually presented in an authoritative, confident manner. (“10 ways to blah balh blah,” “Here’s the definition … Read More