Dan, the Keyboard Man - Help for Adult Keyboard Students!

"We don't need no stinkeen recitals!"

2012-01-16T19:40:00.001-07:00

It's true and here's why

I heard yet another "recital horror story" last night from a student. In this story my student's two sisters sat through a horrible experience at a recital and then quit piano - for good. Way to go, "teacher!" You really accomplished something.

I've written about this before but this simply story irked me anew and prompted a new explanation. Why, oh why, put young people (or people of any age) through such hell? What is gained? After all, almost every list I've ever seen states that "speaking in public" is a huge stress-generator. How much worse is it to have to do something unusual in public?

Now I play in public all the time but I recognize that I'm not normal. I'm what's called, politely and seldom to my face, a "ham." I know it. I love a crowd. I've spoken to 4000 people. I've done radio and TV, as well as print. I ran for public office. Give me a mic and I'll ask, "How many will be listening?" The more, the better. Most folks would run for the hills.

I know I'm a ham and most people aren't and have tailored all my teaching to this fact. Few wish professionalism.

That means it makes zero sense to train them in being professional, which is what a recital does. Also, where is the fairness in forcing anyone, even a child, to share their art with anybody who shows up? It simply "ain't right!"

Luckily, more and more enlightened music instructors are turning to "playing parties" and other functions that offer but do not insist on the student playing anything. They can, if they want. This works. What I've noticed is that almost everyone will play for people they care about when they get good and ready to. A playing party helps you care, puts you at ease, etc. Good call.

But recitals? Nope. And don't even get me started on competitions with judges. How would YOU like to be 10 and go in front of Simon Cowell?

Three Ways to Improve Reading Music

2012-01-12T05:54:00.001-07:00

There is a one big secret to knowing the notes and three ways to fix it!

That "big secret" is that you have to know WHERE they are on your instrument. Simply knowing their letter name is not enough to actually make a note. Allow me to give you an example to demonstrate this.

Now I'm a really good pianist. Give me some piano music that isn't too hard and I'll sit down and play it pretty well. This is sometimes called sight-reading. I'm good enough at this that some students are quite amazed. However, give me "Twinkle-twinkle" for cello, flute, clarinet, etc. and something else happens. I can still write letters next to notes as fast as my eye can see those notes. Unfortunately, no actual music occurs because I simply don't play those instruments and don't even know where those notes are on cello, flute, clarinet, and a host of others.

Get it? My "ability" to identify the notes as letters is totally useless in making music on these instruments regardless of my ability to sight-read PIANO music. "Knowing the notes" for your instrument does NOT mean being able to put a letter to them but rather to make that note with that instrument when the sheet music says to do that. That's why I'm writing this essay - too many folks have heard that it is, and it simply isn't true.

Thus, your work with one instrument does NOT carry over to another. The only thing that someone who studied trumpet in school band knows that helps in piano is that the notes have some location on the sheetmusic page and that the different shapes mean different lengths (timing of the notes.) This IS valuable and should be used. However, sorry to say but your work in high school will not help you learn WHERE the notes are on a piano.

Too many supposedly great keyboardists and their books miss this point entirely. They take the easy approach of using the letters and thus their students quickly begin to think that "knowing the notes" means being able to put a letter to each. Sorry, gang, but it ain't so.

I speculate (warning - thinking ahead!) that the incorrect word is "read music." We do NOT read it like we read this essay. With regular reading, our eyes move over the symbols and our minds provide ideas. That's it. Sheetmusic commands us to DO something with the symbols it gives us. We actually have to make a note when told to. The closest thing to reading would be reading "aloud." I think we need a new word to describe the process but I'm not at all sure what that word should be. Any ideas?

I did promise to help you get better - but how? There are three ways:

1. Realize that the idea is to memorize directly "location on the staff (both bass and treble) to the location of the key in front of you." It's NOT "location on the staff to a letter and then to a location in front of you." That's way too slow. And besides, let's say you identify your note as a C. Even on a small keyboard there are 6 C's. Which is it? You say you know? Then you don't need that letter ID in the middle. Just go directly to the location. That's why each note has it's own location on the staff - because there is only one location on the keyboard for that particular note. As I tell my students, the identifying letter will not tell you the location but the location will certainly tell you the identifying letter - if you need to know it.

Realizing this will force the right memorization on you. This is the simplest method, but if that's not enough...

2. There are computer programs galore for this, even free ones. I give my personal students the download site for one I use. Remember to "turn off" any letter ID function.

3. If you can't find a program or the program doesn't work, then you might need some flashcards. Unfortunately, not all work well. Some only give the letter and, as I hope I've made clear, that is NOT enough. You will need some cards that actually show you on a keyboard where the note pictured on the front is presented. Thus the front of the card shows a location on a staff and the answer (on the back) shows a location for that key on a keyboard.

If these things don't work, or you can't find them, or something else happens, you will need to contact me via email or by posting a comment below. I will help, cause that's what teachers do. But you're gonna have to reach out yourself a bit.

Next post - the next step in "reading" music successfully.

Learn to Play the Piano (Keyboard) by Ear? Bad Idea!

2012-01-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

Being illiterate in music is NOT a good thing and I'll explain why below!

There's been a ton of hype lately about the idea of playing the piano "by ear." Of course, different folk mean different things when they say, "by ear" but there seem to be two common denominators which lead folks to thing this is a good thing:

1. They don't want to deal with the S-L-O-W approach of too many piano teachers.
2. They think that learning to read music is almost impossible and certainly too hard.

I can relate. Some piano teachers really do go way too slowly for some silly reason. I've written a ton about why in this same blog. These same teachers usually teach reading music badly so their students cannot learn the skill. Thus, if that's your total understanding of what piano lessons are, it's no wonder that you've bought into the idea of learning by ear. I'd want to avoid that as well.

Fortunately, there are options. I say fortunately because correct teaching allows for anyone to learn to react to music quickly. I also say fortunately because playing only "by ear" is very limiting to a player. Want to know more? Read on.

Let explain first that I use the phrase "react to music" rather than "read music" because, unlike reading which is a mostly a purely mental process (what are you DOING right now,) "reading music" actually requires that you DO something to make a note or notes. It involves seeing a symbol and doing something to an instrument which produces real music IN THE ROOM. You have to "react" to the symbol. (The problem might just be this idea of "reading" music. Maybe that's a bad word. However, it's the one we have.)

That being said, to play by ear means that you only have a single "input channel" for the information you are using to make sounds, namely your hearing. This means you can only access something already available to hear. You WILL thus play covers, meaning other people's music. This might be great for some guitarist in a bar band. Most pianist's have bigger goals.

The goals of many, perhaps most pianists/keyboardists require multiple streams of input - from ear, eye, and mind. That's what a good series of lessons with a good instructor does. Such a teacher can help you hear, see ("read music") and understand what you do. I know, cause that's what I've done for decades now.

Unfortunately, if you don't live nearby you can't take lessons from me. What you CAN do, however, is sample my work by reading and using the techniques from my cheap ebooks. Cheap - nothing more than $9.99! Go HERE. My techniques do work and do help, as a huge batch of happy readers/players have attested to me. Check them out.

"Dan, the Keyboard Man"

2012-01-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

Why I'm re-inventing myself after almost 25 years of teaching!

After spending the last 2 and 1/2 decades teaching folks of all ages how to play piano and keyboard, I've discovered a few things - things that readers should know. I will simply list these things here and then expand on each every couple days. Those interested in such matters should return here for the evidence that has led me to these ideas.

1. Electronic keyboards are the best teaching tools ever invented but much "tradition" and false information gets in the way of this reality.

2. The piano is a nice instrument which has a vastly better reputation than it deserves.

3. The electronic organ is a nice instrument which has a vastly worse reputation than it deserves.

4. Adults learn more quickly than children. Sure, there are exceptions, but the normal result is as I've stated.

5. Being a hobbyist, an older person who plays their favorite music merely as a fun and cheap hobby, is something within the reach of most all adults. Plus, it keeps your brains and emotions healthier and young. Loads of pluses, and few minuses.

That's the list. Thus, I'm going to go against the grain of instructors and promote learning the electronic keyboard for older players (but as a hobbyist!)

That's why I call myself "Dan, the Keyboard Man."

"This is Your Brain on Music" Book Review - Final Part

2011-12-27T17:19:00.001-07:00

As I said in my last post, "Good, but not great."

The "good" part (positive) is that someone with some clout is, at last, saying stuff that I have been pushing for years now. Because they have this clout, this material is finally getting the outing it needs. More on the specifics below!

The "not so good" part is that the author doesn't know how actual music students work and think. Thus, his comparisons are not always as effective as mine, somebody who (no false modesty here) has been "on the front lines" of teaching normal folks for 24+ years.

I could also say that he has concluded something about consciousness that he totally fails to prove, but states it in such a way that the less-astute reader will believe him on the strength of what he does prove. This is a tad less than honest.

I promised you, however, to talk about the positives and that's what I will now focus on - this is a man who has done a ton of scientific work to show "how" things I just knew worked (from my own extensive observations.) I could tell you what to do, but not how it operated. Finally, someone who did the research needed to explain such things...

Things such as how making music can help keep you young, improve your emotional outlook, and keep the brain in "high gear," etc. I've seen this in both students and older musicians but I had no idea of the physiological "how" of these things, just that they were true. To this day, and even after the author's research, there are various other things I've observed which remain unexplored in a scientific sense.

Do YOU, the reader, need to know a ton about science to benefit from a read of this book. Nope, it's extremely "user friendly." The author, Dan Levitin, is a really good writer and will keep you entertained even while he informs you. Could I have done better by you? Who knows? Written materials must target some "general reader" rather than be specific as a private lesson or online reply can be.

My main complaint is that the "general reader" that Mr. Levitin postulates is a bit dumber than my experience would dictate. Still, his INFO is excellent, so long as you remain alert. It's only in one chapter that his "belief" takes over. You will know which chapter that is when he starts stating "maybe" and "possibly" and quoting authority figures to lend credence to his conclusions. When he sticks to "we know" and "studies show" he's excellent and spot on.

All things considered, the pluses out-weigh the minuses by a long shot. Get a copy and give it a read!

"This is Your Brain on Music" Book Review Part 2

2011-12-13T08:41:00.001-07:00

A wonderful book which you should read!

Has it really been a full 5 years since this book "hit?" According to the copyright date that's true. I'm reading it for the second time and I want to review many sections. I hope my reviews will encourage many to also read it and then put the author's ideas to use!

Now this is not a perfect book, but what is? Hey, this is Earth! Dan Levintin, the author of this book, is a professional and the only thing I can find to disagree with is the fact that he sometimes doesn't address the "normal hobbyist." Still, he's got many more pluses than minuses and this alone makes for a great read. For example, his "take" on music theory is wonderful explanatory and a ton better than that found in many other books on "theory"

On this topic, I read every book and pamphlet that comes my way. I also discuss it in depth with my music students. Mr. Levitin seems to know what I found out years ago - the adults would far prefer to really understand what they are doing, not just only "follow orders." Thus, I think that both of us "Dan's" know the subject well. I even wrote a bunch of ebooks for the "non-Mozarts" who are far more common than the "Mozarts" among us. By the way, I include myself in that latter category. I know what I know only because of my intense interest in the subject.

You can access my ebooks HERE.

"This is Your Brain on Music" Book Review Part 1

2011-11-28T11:57:00.001-07:00

A great book which deserves much attention by all lovers of music

Has it really been a full 5 years since this book "hit?" According to the copyright date that's true. I just started it for the second time and decided I wanted to review many sections, as I hope it will encourage many to read it and then put those ideas to use!

In Daniel Levintin's great first book (deservedly an NYT bestseller!) he speaks of getting a set of headphones in his younger days and how this influenced his life. (And that's just in the introduction!)

I am vividly reminded of something I was told at the piano store where I used to work. They said that being able to put in headphones was perhaps the main reason for the sale of digital pianos. They had little more to say on this, as none of them actually played - they just were salespeople (sad, but true.) I, however, have a bunch more to say, since I DO play and teach and perform and basically LIVE music.

Headphones are simply speakers but usually better speakers than those on the instrument itself. Often they are far superior! However, the idea of others not being able to hear a person practicing as a huge sales point is probably right as well - although it shouldn't be. I've found that those who practice solely with the headphones on don't do well in lessons where the instructor MUST hear you play. Very frustrating for both student and teacher.

And besides, music is to share, right?

However, Mr. Levintin's point that he makes about hearing things in a new way is very, very true. I'd encourage anyone to try headphones for this reason - simply don't use them all the time. What to do, you people who believe you sound lousy and thus don't want others to hear you? Well, take the things out whenever you have some piece mastered. I mean really, really mastered, not just "Whew, I made it through it that time."

And if you're not playing or practicing because your treasured old piano is out of tune and you don't want to spend almost $100 (my hometown of Tucson, Arizona's prices) getting it "up to snuff," then consider spending that money on a cheap keyboard and a good set of headphones. It might cost you a bit more, but you'll have something that will LAST. And if you don't know what to buy, email me and ask directly. I'll provide info for free: danstarrorg@yahoo.com. I can also tell you why this is a good choice for most of you.

Do You Have Any "Me Time?"

2011-11-15T09:39:00.001-07:00

Productive people must remember - you can't help anyone if your life is "on the ropes!"

I was forced to admit this to myself again recently. I was struggling to pay my bills but still working hard to help others - and then I realized that the person most in need of help was - ME! So I took some ("some" mind you!) time off to pursue my own purposes. This included setting aside more time to boost myself, my mood, and my good state of mind.

Then it hit me. I work with very productive folks, and such people too often don't have a hobby or any way at all to relax. I spoke with my support group and they confirmed my conclusion - one lady went on to describe her husband who owns a business and work a lot. Yet he is an avid bicyclist and takes the time out of his busy day to pursue his hobby. It gives him great pleasure and naturally he really good at it. Still, it IS a hobby, which could be defined as something you do for yourself. Another way to put this is that a hobby is a labor of love, not just of the wallet.

By this point, readers are likely examining their own lives - do they have any hobbies? Do they take any "Me Time?"

Tons of folk could add loads of happiness and healthiness to their lives if they started playing the songs they already love on an electronic keyboard. I've seen it and research confirms it. Too often, unfortunately, they have heard and believed lies about how you have to get started early, how you can't learn to play later, how you MUST have a piano. All of this is crap (as well as quite expensive) as I explain in detail at my website HERE. Go there, read it and get the truth, at least as I've seen it for the last 24+ years.

Really, you need "Me Time" to ensure you can go on helping your family, your friends, and your groups. I find much enjoyment in playing my keyboards. You can, too.

Not Playing the Way You'd Like? Read This!

2011-11-09T07:22:00.003-07:00

What is it worth to you to be able to play the way you want to?

How much money and time have you spent on lessons, internet training, etc. and find you still can't do what you want to. Would you like to learn to fix this? Then read on. However, if you are playing exactly how you want to be playing, you can skip this little essay.

You tell yourself that time will fix "it" and that "the way to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice." Even your teacher tells you this (if you have one.) However, what if they are wrong and the real problem will NOT be fixed this way? What if your teacher doesn't know what the problem is for the simple reason YOU don't know what the problem is and can't tell her/him? How do you fix the trouble you don't even know you have?

That was the question I had with my personal students. Sure, they came to their lessons but then they went home and practiced and that's where the real problems would start. One student would practice in a bad position but didn't know it was bad or why. Another would practice the wrong way but didn't know that wouldn't work, etc. Next week they would come to their lesson and fail and be upset. They couldn't tell me the reason for their failure and I surely didn't know as the reason was "invisible" to me. As good as I was at "reading between the lines" too many times the unknown bad habit or problem in learning defeated me. And them.

That's why I invented the Faster Progress to Better Music Questionaire. This is an extremely comprehensive checklist to be filled out by the player with the problem(s.) You do this at home and then send it to me. I evaluate your answers in depth so I can give my best suggestions on how to solve your troubles. After 24 years of teaching, it's VERY likely I already know what to do - once I know what those troubles actually are! That's what this Questionaire reveals to me.

How much is this? Well, it's I'll have to spend a couple hours reading the Questionaire, evaluating it for that particular player, and then sending them my best suggestions, via email or "snailmail" (whichever way they prefer.) I've decided to charge the same thing I charge my personal students. After all, this is teaching me teaching you, only at a distance. My rate is $50 per hour. Thus, your charge is $100. I've based this on the length of time it takes with my personal students.

Do the suggestions I provide actually work? If they did, what would this service be worth to you? Could you simply stop your useless current lessons? Could you bypass all that time on the Internet? What is the savings in time and money you might make? Only you can decide. Read this blog. Read my website. Those will help you make up your mind. However, if you want to take the Faster Progress to Better Music Evaluation, then email me directly. I'll tell you how to pay and what to do, step by step. My email is danstarrorg@yahoo.com.

"This Ain't Your Grannie's Piano!"

2011-10-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Modern electronic instruments are far better for learning and playing by ordinary folk.

I've taken to giving a free public lecture with the same name as the title. During this short (half hour) talk I demonstrate exactly why a DIGITAL piano beats the snot out of an ACOUSTIC piano for almost everyone except professional classical and jazz players. I'd go so far as to say that some of the improvements work for them as well, as I am a professional player and know which I'd prefer.

Allow me to give you an outline. Each topic is covered in depth (oh, oh - here comes a shameless personal plug!) in my amazon ebook entitled "How to Buy, Learn, and Enjoy a Digital Piano" available cheaply HERE!

Advantages:

1. Cheaper
2. Lighter
3. More Portable
4. You can use them with headphones for privacy
5. Many sounds (using different instruments is 1/4 of all expressiveness in music)
6. Build in metronome
7. Recording capability (let's you learn pieces of music more quickly and efficiently)
8. Use Auto-Accompaniment feature to add rest of combo, band, or orchestra by yourself.

Disadvantages:

1. Not yet traditional
2. Some folks don't like their looks
3. Not for the serious classical piano musician.
4. Learning curve needed in order to take advantage of features (buttons)

The above is true from my EXTENSIVE experience.. However, much yap continues to occur online and in person from elitist pianists (and others) which has convinced the public that only an acoustic piano will do. I've been writing an essay a week continuing what will likely be years of debunking the myths. See below in this same blog for these essays.

"What Will I Study?" - 5th and final "explanation"

2011-10-15T17:24:00.002-07:00

The simple, short answer is "the music you already love."

The other day one of my best students told me that he called me up (Thank Goodness - he really is a very fine student and now a friend) because of one line on my website - the one where I tell adults they will play the music they already love.

NOT the music I, the teacher, love.
NOT some idea I have of what music they, the students, ought to love.

I've seen this way too many times. Some "expert" thinks that their opinion is actually a fact, their taste in some art is some universal truth. Thus, all their students, regardless of age, have to learn the music the teacher prefers. Some adults will go along with it (at least for awhile) because they are used to "paying their dues" in education. Kids don't know any better so they simply follow directions. After all, they are kids.

Adults, once they recognize what is going on, make up some excuse and quit. This is what I hear too often - some music instructor lamenting that their adults don't stick around. My first thought, and it's proven to be right almost always, is that they are not giving the adults what the adults came for.

Why not? Why shouldn't adults play for their own enjoyment? Why shouldn't an adult have a happy hobby of making music they love, whether that's blues, jazz, showtunes, folk, country, whatever? And why shouldn't they spend less money by buying an electronic keyboard that fits their needs - way more than some acoustic piano that weight a ton and takes up much needed space?

What was that? Dead silence. There is zero good reason for the insistence that every student become a professional, that they learn to play for strangers (recitals), that they study the classics if they don't like the classics.

I thoroughly enjoy teaching adults to play for their own enjoyment, regardless of what music they will be enjoying. Isn't more music making better for people than less? If you agree, go to my site and learn more by going HERE.

It's NEVER "Too Late" to learn to play a keyboard! (Explanation #4)

2011-10-08T10:48:00.002-07:00

I've found too much false data about children and learning to play...

...and it sometimes keeps older folk from even trying. That's too bad for them (and for me - who might enjoy teaching them.) Now I've spend the last 24 years teaching students from 5 to 95 and I can tell you (with personal certainty:)

The average child is MUCH slower to learn to play than the average adult.

It doesn't take "rocket surgery" to understand why this is so:

Adults already understand music itself, having heard it for many years. Kids need an education in how music functions in our society in addition as training in how to make it. This makes for longer lessons.
Try explaining "an eighth note" to a kid whose math knowledge is only adding and subtracting. The very idea of fractions must be taught by the music instructor who must also teach math concepts.
The keyboard and piano are sized for adult hands and bodies. Kids are at a disadvantage.
Experience with the very subject of education is extremely useful. Adults know that persistence pays off when learning something but kids may just be learning that fact.
If an adult has trouble with something they just chalk it up to something they have yet to learn. A child too often just quits "cause it's too hard."

Had enough? There are other reasons that adults who are also parents surely know.

It's not like adults don't know these things- which leads me to wonder why so many adults I've spoken with say they think that kids just "sorta absorb" it all? I've got ideas and speculations as to where these erroneous ideas originated but such speculations honestly don't matter. What I have observed through real live work is above.

All of which is very good news to "older learners."

By the way, whatever instrument you own, I have further info on this HERE! Any adult who is even considering a new and enjoyable hobby should check out my website for a ton of useful material.

It Doesn't Take an "Hour a Day" of Practice! (Explanation #3)

2011-10-01T06:14:00.000-07:00

Adult keyboardists can enjoy making music NOW!

One of the goals of these essays (called "Explanations") is to do what I can to eliminate the false information out there about keyboard playing. I have enough background and experience to provide some reality - and the news is GREAT on all fronts!

If you are an adult, you can enjoy making music right now. You don't need some amazing talent or skill to enjoy yourself. You don't need to play as some wonderful level. You certainly don't need the usual "hour a day" of practice that so many poor piano teachers insisted their children follow.

You, as an adult, have serious responsibilities. You must provide for your family. You probably have a mortgage. You certainly have bills.Making music with a keyboard could be a excellent way to relax, even to do something for yourself for a change. But no - that "time factor" kills the idea, a time factor which came from lousy instructors that honestly didn't know any better but instilled this wrong idea anyway.

How do I, Dan Starr, know any better? Simple - I've taught adults full time for the last 24 years. I've been playing all sorts of music and situations for 40+ years. Additionally, I've written and improvised music in every style you might name and released 4 CDs of my own compositions in such styles. I teach almost anything that has a key on it. I DO know what I'm talking about (I hope my little "credentialing action" might have offered some evidence of that.)

Here are what I see as the facts:

1. You can enjoy making music right now, regardless of how well you play.- if you want to.
2. You can improve your playing to some degree in any amount of practice time.
3. Efficiency should be your goal in practice, not merely spending time at your instrument. Thus, if you can get the same job done in 15 minutes (instead of an hour) isn't that better?

A common question of my adult students is "how much do I have to practice?" I tell them "enough to succeed." And then I tell them that "success" is "enjoying making music." Honest, that's what it is. Now I can probably play better than most keyboard instructors and certainly better than my students. So what? That isn't the point - Beethoven could play piano better than I can and J.S. Bach could play organ and harpsichord better than me. Big deal. Who could say who was the happier man?

A VERY Cheap Hobby! (Explanation #2)

2011-09-20T16:50:00.001-07:00

Making music via modern keyboard proves to be a deal!

Thing I'm making this up? No. Let me spell out the financial costs for you. Frankly, it beats golf, tennis, bowling, pizza and booze all hollow.

By the way, this is the second in a series of "explanations" of why adults CAN and SHOULD make a better, happier life for themselves by making music.

There are three kinds of player:

1. A beginner - someone who doesn't know how to play any type of keyboard
2. A pianist - the largest category, someone who took piano lessons or knows how to play piano anyway.
3. A keyboardist - in most adults, this would be an organist (the smallest category, unfortunately.)

Obviously, the more you know the less you pay. Let me start with the cheapest item and go up. You'll see that "up" is very relative. Sure, you can spend much more, but do you really want to?

Those who learned to play the organ, Category 3's above, need only spend $200 - $300 for an inexpensive keyboard, a stand for it, a bench for your butt, etc. For this initial investment, you can make music pretty much free forever. That's because today's electronic keyboards are basically one manual electronic organs. 20 years ago that much money would buy you...crap. Today, it's vastly different. Even the "low-end" instruments are awfully good.

A Category 2 person, a pianist, often knows how to manipulate the "blacks and whites" just fine but knows little or nothing about those "other controls" - namely the buttons of the keyboard. Some think this is all too much and for those folks, the manufacturers have conveniently "defaulted" the instrument to start with piano when the "on button" is pushed. Great, but you are missing a ton o' fun by not learning.

Naturally, it's slower than what some want. Thus, it might be wish to take about three months or so of lessons from some teacher that actually knows what those buttons are for. This is what I call a "digital piano teacher" and they are tough to find. Still, well worth it, in terms of cost. You will need what a Category 3 needs, plus money for lessons and gas to get there. Can't tell you how much that is as the price varies depending on many factors, but it is usually a great savings in time and wasted effort.

Finally, the beginning player. You'll definitely need lessons. Now you can try to get everything online, but I simply don't believe that is adequate. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It's cheap, but you need quite a bit of guidance and a live digital piano teacher will be needed. At least I think so. Of course, you can make some progress without one, or some progress with "internet only" lessons. Maybe you'll save some money that way. I have my doubts after teacher 24+ years.

Yes, I've seen the ads, the books, the folios, the programs on TV. I'm not buying it. A quick search of this blog reveals why. Try using "piano lessons that don't work" as your search terms. I think the money for a really good live teacher is money well spent. And this brings up the final point...

It costs ZERO to enjoy yourself. You can start right now. Wherever you are on your keyboard journey, whatever Category you fit into. Why wait? Why not enjoy learning. Enjoy the journey. It never, ever ends. Even those folk like Beethoven or Mozart could have told another great player what they could NOT yet do. What they could do looks like they had nothing more to learn. They, however, knew this was not true. So, since one never quits getting better, why not begin to enjoy yourself right now. Costs nothing.

I offer a number of things you might be able to use:

1. My ebooks (20+ last count) for every Category and skill you might wish. Go to my site.
Nothing more than 19.95.
2. Private lessons for adults in the Tucson metro area. Again, go to my site. Cost vary, but are usually $100 for a month of half hours.

The VALUE of Making Music to an Adult (Explanation #1)

2011-09-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

Most of this value can be obtained by playing keyboard/piano!

Those of us who are actually mature humans - adults - know that everything comes with a price tag. To me it's almost the definition of maturity - the recognition that "There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch." Making music most definitely costs something - BUT what is the "cost/benefit ratio?" It's a fair question and one I intend to explore for a few essays!

The investment (if you will) of playing is:

1. Money - for an instrument, for lessons if you need them, or just electricity if you have a keyboard!
2. Time - time to practice, to go to your lessons, or just time to play the thing.
3. Energy - all of the above, only expending energy

I know from talking to music students that playing music is dear to their heart. Thus, perhaps we should add a fourth item - ideals, dreams, goals, something like that. Many folks have always wanted to play and only now have the resources. Too bad lying teachers and others tell such eager students that it's "too late" and dampen all enthusiasm. Certain people can also make it seem too hard.

Whatever you call it, the "something" a person gets from making their own music is very, very special. Doesn't matter that they are NOT a professional. I am, and honestly I wouldn't wish this life on somebody I actually liked! Hobbyists are most welcome. I can also attest, via 24+ years of teaching all ages (well, 5 - 95) that it is NEVER too late to enjoy making music. It is one of my basic beliefs that our society would be much better if more people made music for themselves.

Still, there IS an investment but one that I think is a terrific value at any time, but especially now, as we look for ways to keep a high quality life without spending too much treasure. That's where I'm going in these next few essays. I will attempt to convince you that you, (yes, YOU!) should be making music and that doing so would be a huge value for you. Let's use an economic term: "ROI" meaning "Return On Investment" and say, "Playing music on keyboard/piano is a very high ROI thing to do." There will be a new essay every few days for awhile. However, if you are already convinced, visit my website to learn what I have to offer. As you might expect, it's either free or cheap - www.danstarr.com

Hobbyist Music Teachers vs. Hobbyist Music Learners

2011-08-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

This essay will win me a few friends and many enemies. So what. It's how I see things.

There's no shortage of folks who would love to learn to make music. Some, hopefully, want to do this on keyboard or piano thus providing me with work. No matter, making music is a noble thing whatever the instrument. Studies show that this effort will repay the musician with a happier and healthier life, a nice return for people's troubles.

I try to let folks know a couple key points:

1. It's never too late - despite what you might have heard, you can learn to play at any age.
2. It's totally okay to play for your OWN enjoyment, using the music YOU love, and on YOUR personal instrument, whatever it may be.

These ideas tell us that such a person wants to learn to play but does NOT want to learn to be a music professional. Few do. It's a pretty hard life for those of us who obsess over making music. There are loads of rewards but they come from lots of effort. Essentially, most (I'd say at least 95%) of people wanting to learn to play want to be "hobbyists" at music making. It won't be something they will ever earn at living at. Their rewards lie elsewhere. This is not to say that such older students won't put a ton of effort, hope, time, and money into their hobby. That's the nature of hobbies, after all.

Why, then, do some many music instructors insist of having their older students play only music the teacher loves? Or play for strangers in recitals? None of these things has anything to do with what will please most adult students. However, it pleases the teacher enjoys it just fine. Adults somehow pick up on this and don't take lessons for very long - at least with this type of teacher.

Thus, it can be hard to make a living at teaching, even when the focus is not adults but children. One of "dirty little secrets" of teachers in my hometown of Tucson, Arizona, is that many of the private teachers have other jobs, perform for a living, or are married to someone who supports them. This means that they, themselves, are hobbyists. Now as I've told you, having a hobby is a great thing and if that hobby is teaching others, then that is even better. However, if that hobby is not respecting the desired hobbies of other adult humans, then that's not so hot. Of course, there are many other reasons why music teachers don't make a living at what they love:

1. Poor business sense on the part of the instructor.
2. Poor attitude on the part of those paying (parents, mostly.)
3. The instructor doesn't want to for one reason or another.

Still, I heard loads of horror stories from other teachers about adult students - such as they are few, they don't stick with it long, and mostly they won't do what the instructor asks of them, having different ideas of what will make them happy.

Now this might not apply to a particular music instructor reading this. Bravo. But if it does, you have a couple choices:

1. You can bitch at me, tell me how wrong I am, etc. or
2. You can discuss the issue with me and perhaps at least get a new opinion, maybe even convince me that you are right and I am wrong. Difficult but not impossible. Just present an alternate explanation backed up by new evidence and/or superior reasoning.

For the adult student, I'd say this, however - find an instructor that respects your goals and helps you achieve them. I've always tried to do this, ever since I went to my first piano instructor. I was already a professional musician only with the organ. I thought this dude would ask me about that and take it into account. Nope. He simply sat me down with other beginning pianists. Bad move, as I only took 4 lessons from this arrogant fool.

Learn to Play Piano Instantly - Just Not Very Well!

2011-07-09T05:44:00.001-07:00

To "Get Good" at the keyboard/piano takes some time!

I plugged into google the search terms "adult piano lessons" (with the quotations so all of the words would be part of the results in that exact order.) I clicked on the top result. I went to a site. The biggest print said, "Learn Piano in 30 Days." That inspired me to write this essay.

Now the site people are not lying. You almost certainly WILL learn to play piano in 30 days. Frankly, any human with fingers can play the piano INSTANTLY. All you have to do is push down a key and the instrument will make a nice, clean note for you. This is very different than the guitar, violin, flute, almost any other instrument that requires the player to do some work before a good note can even be sounded.

The problem, if there is one, is that you still won't be all that good in 30 days. Based on my 24+ years of teaching adults, that's probably not enough time to reach the standard that you'll set for yourself. How much time is enough? Who knows? Certainly not this website, nor any teacher, nor any piece of advertising that doesn't know YOU, the student.

Sure there are some methods that work better than others and bring results faster. However, a reasonable person should really ask themselves some questions - before they get their hopes up and invest their hard earned $$$:

1. Doesn't learning to play as well as I want to depend more on MY efforts than the quality of the training?

2. What type of playing will provide me the enjoyment I'm seeking - classical, blues, show tunes, folk, country, what? Does this method lead to that specific end?

3. How can they predict the speed of learning for someone they have never met, who might have time barriers, talent barriers, and/or more or less interest?

My own "take" is that all such predictions are optimistic at best. Each piano learner has different desires, needs, etc. and no honest teacher or method can tell you how quickly you will learn to play that particular music. Predictions of "10 days" "overnight" "instantly" 30 days" are all advertising hype. The person making the prediction can't actually know how long it will take for the simple reason that THEY DON'T KNOW the student!

Students are NOT clones, nor does "one-size-fit-all" when it comes to music lessons. So, be aware of this as you surf.

I've written many helpful essays, all designed to help older students in their musical quest. Visit my website here to find much more useful info.

What is "Individualized Instruction?"

2011-07-03T09:55:00.002-07:00

The needs of adults are VERY different, contrary to what is believed by some.

How do I know that this is true? Simple - I ask my prospective students what would bring them happiness when they make music. Allow me to give you some examples from my current practice:

Student 1: A doctor who wants to play piano and keyboard as well as possible. This student studies classical and pop, writes tunes, arranges them, has a huge grand AND an excellent digital piano.

Student 2: A retired lawyer who is interested almost exclusively in playing classical music on his grand piano.

Student 3: A retired teacher who loves folk and country and is interested in using chords to play from Fakebooks.

Student 4: An active lawyer who is currently learning to play piano but intends to switch to digital piano once he is competent with "the blacks and whites."

Student 5: An active sales person who play piano and entertains extensively for friends and family. He studies pieces and how to perform them for groups (the folks above don't wish to play for groups.)

Student 6: An active architect, he wants to play keyboard in a band of older players.

All the above are adults. Here is what some of my younger students (teens) want:

Student 1: Wants to write tunes her own material.

Student 2: A vocalist who want to know how to accompany herself on piano, has had tons of classical piano training but knows nothing about this aspect

The good music instructor would see that these students do need quite a number of similar skills and knowledge, but also have some very important differences in what they need.

A not very good music instructor would just decide that everyone needed the same thing all the way through and apply a "one-size-fits-all" approach. That's too bad, as so many interests don't get served.

As I can do almost anything a student requests: sing, play piano, keyboard, digital piano, write, compose, improvise, etc, but I simply can't teach long distance, I've written several ebooks which you can get cheaply to cover these things. Check them out at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_seeall_11?rh=k%3ADan+Starr%2Ci%3Adigital-text&keywords=Dan+Starr&ie=UTF8&qid=1309712065
Note that you can read and use these ebooks if you own a pc, a Mac, a Droid, an iphone or ipad, a blackberry, etc. simply by downloading the FREE software amazon has made available.

"For Your Own Enjoyment" - Why Play Keyboard/Piano as an Adult

2011-06-25T06:53:00.001-07:00

I've asked 100's of adults why they want to play - here's what they told me!

"I want to play for my own enjoyment." I hear this out of the mouth of virtually every adult student. Well, YEAH - doesn't everybody? But it's great when the student recognizes this AND it's one way adults differ from children who are too often there against their will.

Adult students have often added many of these statements:

"I don't want to be a concert pianist."
"I want to play for my family (wife, husband, etc.)"
"I've always wanted to play and now I have the time to do so."

I then usually ask my adult students why they want lessons with a live teacher. Here are some common answers:

"A teacher can make things more organized."
"I don't have a lot of time to make mistakes, correct bad habits, etc."
"I need some structure to make progress."

All this is true. Sorry I'm not there to give you lessons myself. Still, I've recently finished a number of cheap and effective ebooks on a very large variety of keyboard/piano topics. Click here to visit my website for all the details!

Recitals for Adults? I don't think so!!!

2011-05-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

The "Recital Question" helps keep keyboard/piano instruction limited to kids, I think.

I always interview prospective students before they begin. During this free interview, I ask about what each person is looking for in lessons and in a teacher. We discuss the type of music, the value of practice, many things. However, I would be hard pressed to find a more hated activity than the recital - not practice nor even playing for others - recitals. Almost all adult keyboard/piano students do not wish to play in such artificial circumstances. Those that have already done so seem to have no more wish to participate.

Now please realize that only very competent adults ever come to me for training. These are NOT stupid people. I get mostly doctors, lawyers, business folk, and scientists. Almost all are VERY smart so their "degree of intellect" is not an explanation for their dislike of the recital concept. Indeed, I think it's an explanation. Naturally, I've asked them why.

(By the way, those of you who really wish to discuss the issue will read on, even if you disagree. Those "teachers" and "students" and "pianists" who don't care to learn anything new can stop right now and not bother me with your comments. Frankly, I'm very tired of hearing from you - I've debated this issue extensively already with too many other musicians and none have shaken my faith in my own students and their "take" on the subject.)

My students, being the very capable people they are, are used to communicating with whomever they wish. They do this for work, with clients, etc. They usually decide who they want to talk with, either to sell something or to get something done. Thus, they reject the idea of being forced to communicate their art with total strangers in some recital set up by the teacher. They far prefer to "play for their own enjoyment." I would add that they also play for the enjoyment of their families and friends. I've seen it many time. Note, however, that each student gets to choose who is on the receiving end of their communication. I consider this the right of every human being - but that's me and my choice.

Of course, you could say that they are just scared and the benefits out-weigh the problems. Answer me this, however - how does playing for a room full of strangers at a time and place set by another person improve that student? Wouldn't it be more helpful to simply teach the person play music that makes them happy? (Note that if the student is being groomed to become a professional and needs to learn to play to rooms of strangers, then yes, it IS a necessity. This is NOT often the case, though.)

In short, lessons with me are all about helping each adult student learn to make music which they enjoy making. This can be show tunes, blues, classical, whatever. Adults almost always know what music "turns their screws." The instrument, even the music itself, is NOT an end but a means - a means of increasing the quality of the person's life because music-making is a part of that life. Recitals, however, are almost never such a means.

Why "Ebooks" are the Online Keyboard/Piano Student's Best Buy

2011-05-15T08:19:00.001-07:00

Looking for help in learning keyboard/piano online? Read on!

Lately, I've been spending more and more time writing ebooks. The reason is that many, perhaps most, students of keyboard/piano are going online to find assistance. Now I am convinced that without a "live" teacher a person is going to have a pack of trouble learning to play in the first place. Sure, there are loads of folks offering videos and such to teach you to play. Too many even tell you they have some new method which will teach you in no time flat. If you've been studying or wondering about these, please read my essay on this here.

However, if you already play you can find tons of help online. I've specialized in trying to fill those "holes" I've found in the standard teaching approach. In other words, many online learners want to learn things that the online teachers either do NOT want to teach or can NOT teach - things like "How to Sing and Play" or "How to Use a Digital Piano or a Keyboard." These are critical items for enjoying making music, yet somehow they have been sorely neglected.

Since I can do these things AND have loads of experience teaching them, I simply wrote up how the job gets done. Dedicated players can read my ebooks and learn how to do these things. There are two sources: amazon and my website. The offers are different with my website featuring the most service from me. Amazon is cheaper but you won't get any personal service. I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

I should also tell you that amazon offers FREE downloads which will let you read any of their Kindle books (ebooks) on your pc, mac, ipad, iphone, Droid, or Blackberry. Go to the link and scroll down the right side for that software. By the time you read this, there may be more.

Do YOU Have a "9 Second Attention Span?"

2011-04-17T07:21:00.002-07:00

It's going to take longer than that to get good at keyboard/piano.

Yesterday I was reading a new book on using social media to market one's "product." One of the writers quoted (and obviously believed) the following words from the BBC: "The addictive nature of web browsing can leave you with an attention span of nine seconds - the same as a goldfish." In fact, the writer's article was entitled "9 Ways to Fascinate the Goldfish" and took the BBC's conclusion as a given. It is NOT TRUE - let me explain why.

First, however, should you like to read the article, here's a link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1834682.stm

Now some common sense applied to prove that you need not worry quite yet. After I've calmed your fears, I'd like to explain why Internet lessons so seldom work. It's related to, but not caused by, the nature of the Internet.

1. The words of the expert quoted do not PROVE his scientific contention except in the mind of the gullible. If you don't know how science works, it seems boring, let me give it to you in a single paragraph (those of you with 9 second attention spans can skip this and the rest of the article.)

A scientist notices something interesting, figures out a reason (called a "hypothesis") about why that is so, designs an experiment to test his conclusion, does the experiment, examines his results. If those results don't prove his hypothesis in all ways it's back to the drawing board for the experiment. Once the experiment does prove the scientist's initial hypothesis, he publishes what he did in the experiment and other scientists try to duplicate the experiment and see for themselves if they get the same findings. If enough do, the hypothesis is accepted as a proven item. However, at any time, a new experiment may prove it wrong. This is as true about the latest diet info as for the so-called "Law" of Gravity.

That's actual, real honest science which is practiced everywhere except in the media. There all it takes is some "expert" yapping and that's all the proof they need. Duh.

2. How did the expert get that "9 second" figure? Might it not be 10 seconds? 11 seconds? Or 8 seconds or even a full minute, or or or...? I guess the BBC thinks their readers are too stupid to wonder.

3. They start the article with a picture of someone who can't seem to pull himself away from the computer. Isn't that evidence of a long attention span for the computer? I guess it depends on what you are putting your attention ON. See what I mean? No real scientific "rigor" (a word that means actual explanation of the details.)

All that being said, and you now feeling happier, let's see how this affects your use of the Internet to learn to play keyboard/piano. There's little doubt that society and especially the online world offers up loads much more stuff to pay attention to than decades ago. So many things strive for our attention in every increasing rates. Thus google, so we can sort through it to what we actually want.

Sorting is good and necessary but once you have found the exact match to your interests, it will be necessary to actually DO the thing you find you must. Learning to play is only at first a matter for the mind. That's the first step only. Once the mind grasps it, then the hands have to DO the actions. Unfortunately, the hands are loads more stupid than the mind. They don't immediately "get it." They must repeat the action, exactly and correctly, in order to master it. I've written many essays about this, one of the most important being this one: http://thedanstarrpianoblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/hand-are-stupid-and-lazy.html

And that's the real problem with the Internet - it's all too easy to only do the mind work and never get around to that hand work that will actually teach you to make the motions. Thus, Internet lessons, even when the teacher is saying the right things, will encourage another click, hoping that more mind knowledge will somehow translate to hand knowledge.

You can no doubt see the connection now - if you can't pay attention long enough to tell your hands what do often enough, those hands are not going to learn what you'd like. As an example, I've seen loads of folks who make lots of money from explaining to students' minds what chords are all about. Great - and easy. However, this still doesn't teach those students' HANDS to make those chords. Only repetition can do that. Sure, you have to know what to repeat - I've written many ebooks on various topics on interest, but I always tell you what your hand must learn.

Is Your Memory Failing You?

2011-03-08T07:49:00.002-07:00

I've been reading up on the newest scientific understandings of memory (and how to improve it, of course!) Improving one's craft is something a piano teacher should always be doing. New studies are constant and although a lot is known, much is not. Researchers continue to investigate. Of course, keyboard and piano teachers have observed memory in action for years. However, reading up on the subject can bring new usefulness to any teacher's observations. I highly encourage this.

As for adult students of the instrument, almost all feel that "creeping age" has a hold of them. I have folks in their 30's who can forget something and, unhappily for them, come to believe that they are entering into a period of senility. Let's not even talk about my actually old students! They can readily believe it, being 60, 70, even 80 years young.

However, as I tell them, their forgetting probably has much more to do with being a human being than being an OLD human being. Sure, some folks do encounter memory problems as they age and a few of these have serious troubles. Most don't. Chances are that the person reading these words is one of the vast majority, not the small minority. One thing I've discovered, and that is confirmed by my reading, is that human memory is "leaky" at best. It's only your computer that can recall things perfectly (well...as long as it doesn't forget EVERYTHING all at once!) so blaming yourself and your age is more than likely a mistake.

By now you are probably asking yourself what new things I can offer you to assist your memory. That is, of course, the real purpose of this essay, so here it is:

1. Sleep on it. Studies indicate that learning goes best when you learn a new skill and then sleep soundly that evening. Deep sleep (where you dream) seems to be necessary to really "set" the learning.

2. Repetition IS how to build keyboard skills. The technical term is "procedural learning" and this comes when you decide what you want you hands to learn and then actually repeat that enough times to teach your hands to do it. Simply reading articles on the computer won't work. Go to your instrument and practice! How much? How many repetitions? No one can say for sure, not I, not yourself. What I do tell my students is that the only SURE thing is that it will take more repetitions than you'd like it to!

Finally, here is a tip from my long experience with many students:

3. "Short-sessioning" means doing a particular action many times with time intervening. For example, let's say you are learning to play some scale. Play it five times per day, each time twice or three runs through. Total elapsed time could be 10 minutes maximum. However, make sure each play is a couple hours from the last. Why this works I still haven't haven't learned but I've seen it work with enough folks to feel very comfortable suggesting it as a practice method. That 10 minutes broken up into 5 sessions of 2 minutes each will probably produce more real learning than one grueling 30 minute session. Additionally, it's pretty easy to find that 2 minutes in between the actions of a busy day.

By the way, if you are at work most of the time, then simply buy a cheap keyboard and a set of headphones. The width of the keys is the important thing, not whether the thing has weighted keys. You don't need a piano to teach the hand most tricks and techniques. Also, don't use the excuse of the loudness of the piano as a reason not to practice. Cheap keyboards cost maybe $100 and a funky set of headphones will work for this purpose.

Piano Tone and the Piano Buyer

2011-03-02T07:41:00.001-07:00

Much has been written about piano "tone," some true, some sheer bias on the part of pianists. Music is a very personal subject and, unfortunately, it's human nature to confuse a bias with a fact. You could call it confusing subjective reality with objective reality -or you could simply say that different folks have different tastes.

Yesterday I played three different CD versions of a Mozart piece for one of my students. Same sheet music by the same composer but three strongly different "takes" on the music. I'm convinced that all three pianists, famous folk like Glenn Gould, truly believed in their renditions. However, even the untrained ear could hear the differences in such matters as tempo and touch. Are any of these great players wrong? No, not in my book, as I think different people can have different tastes in music. It is, after all, ART.

Here's a personal example that illustrates my point. Years ago I was performing my own works at a coffee house. I had a lightweight digital piano and a cheap amplifier. Personally, I did not like the sounds coming from that amp. Not because it was a digital piano but because it was a CHEAP amp and I was used to much better sounds from my home digital (too heavy to bring.) I cringed at every note but did not let on I was unhappy with the result. I played quite well. When I was done, one of my students in the audience remarked, "Amazing that such equipment can sound like a real piano." I simply smiled and said, "Thank you."

My recommendation is to buy a cheap instrument with a tone you can enjoy and then spend your extra money on high quality lessons. Once you learn to really play you can upgrade your instrument (if you so desire.) This is wildly different from the piano store's common mantra of "buy the best instrument you can afford" which is great for them but lousy for the player. Your original instrument purchase could be a low end digital or even a portable keyboard. That training is critical unless you are buying furniture for your living room.

Advantages of Knowing Chords and Chord Usage

2011-02-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Understanding chords allows us to "see the big picture" in the music we love. It improves our reading, memorizing, and appreciation of music. We come to understand that great composers and excellent songwriters use the same chords we do. However, their genius permits them to do amazing and wonderful things with the basic materials. When we know more about those basics, we can better comprehend both great geniuses and the music they wrote. We even begin to see all music as more than just a string of notes that somehow fit together. It's akin to understanding the meaning and purpose of a book rather than repeating individual words meaninglessly.

Another advantage we gain through an understanding of chord and chord progressions is what I call "analytical memory." This helps us recall our music. It backs up muscle memory and is used when muscle memory fails. Even our ability to read the music improves because we can process chords (groups of notes) instead of each separate note.

Students of popular music know that some arrangements are better than others. Knowing chords allows the player to not fall victim to any poor arranging. A chord player can arrange his or her own music to suit their musical tastes. This also keeps the arrangement within one's technical level, ensuring you can "make the motions" accurately.

Chord knowledge allows a person to play "fakebooks," those books which provide only a melody lines, lyrics, and chord symbols for each song. There are more and more of these lately as publishers realize such books are easy to sell. Folks that have portable keyboards and digital pianos with "Auto-Accompaniment" must have chord knowledge to utilize this feature which makes their instrument do the work of a full orchestra, band, or combo.

Finally, composing and improvisation are much easier with an improved understanding of chords and their patterns.

Life Gets in the Way

2011-01-19T10:54:00.002-07:00

What happens when a keyboard/piano student is sick for most of a week? How about when Aunt Edna visits and stays and stays and stays...? Or the college student has a week of final exams?

Any keyboard/piano instructor knows the answer - almost no practice gets done and when the student comes to their next lesson, little to nothing has changed.

So what does the teacher of adults and older learners do when life intervenes? Simple - you realize that this is a temporary thing and spend the lesson doing some of the many, many other things that usually go begging because of a lack of time.

Now this has implications in many areas. For instance, I have just finished reading the Studio Policies of a fellow teacher who mandates a certain amount of time spent in practice per week. I believe she is being, at best, overly optimistic. At worst, she is focusing the attention of her students on the clock ticking instead of the instrument playing.

I tell my students that a music student must practice enough to succeed. If that is 5 minutes rather than 50, well isn't that BETTER? Of course, I also tell them that zero practice is pretty unlikely to result in much gain and I also watch for those people that can't seem to find time to practice week after week. Those few folks are told that they are on the path towards failure and they should re-assess their commitment to learning to play. It isn't for everyone.

But a single week of no practice because life intervened? No problem, at least in my mind.

A UNIQUE Tool for Improving Your Speed and Efficiency

2010-12-07T06:11:00.001-07:00

Explanation of The Faster Progress to Better Music Evaluation

Would you like to play or practice more effectively? This action could be the exact thing needed. It's a serious instructional activity and it requires a serious amount of time, money, and effort. I've written a thorough explanation here which you will need to read all the way through.

Note: If you already have a trusted keyboard/piano teacher please bring your concerns up to them immediately. It's very hard to successfully teach an instrument if someone else is providing “hidden” suggestions. Let your teacher know something needs improvement and they'll help you sort it out. However, if you don't have a competent teacher at the moment, The Faster Progress to Better Music Evaluation can improve your situation. Read on!

Several years ago I realized that any keyboard/piano instructor's basic problem was the fact that most all the student's learning takes place with no instructor. Each student is actually his/her own teacher when they practice!

Folks find this uncomfortable. They worry that they are doing things incorrectly, reading the music badly, and/or gaining bad habits. A experienced instructor can recognize and help correct such flaws during the student's weekly lesson but, unfortunately, that instructor is NOT there. It's even worse when a student keyboardist/pianist is without any instructor, such when learning solely from the Internet. What if the student doesn't even know that there is a problem that needs correction? Or, if they do have a “live” instructor, what if that instructor is not aware that a problem even exists? Will unsolved and unrecognized troubles cause the keyboardist/pianist to flounder completely or make less progress than they wish?

I wanted a solution and I created one. I named it The Faster Progress to Better Music Evaluation. It's an EXTENSIVE and EXHAUSTIVE questionnaire - 149 questions over 18 full pages. The student fills it out in detail and sends to me. I examine the entire form very carefully to determine what is “getting in the way” of that student's optimum progress. I then email the student with a complete set of recommendations based on my 23+ years of teaching and helping adult students. When the student applies my recommendations that student's progress barriers disappear.

I've tried out this action on all my own students who showed any signs of difficulty. I found that the depth of the questions “unearthed” barriers I only suspected. A few years ago, I begin to send the Evaluation to students and players in distant parts of the world. I was able to help all of them. Here's an email from a pianist in New York City:

Dan may have been thousands of miles away but he was a huge help in getting me past a playing plateau that I'd been on for a few years. I've been playing piano for many years but I was stuck at the same level; I can read music rather well but I could never play well enough in my mind to play in front of other people and I played too slowly because that was the only way I could keep from making mistakes.

I've been taking lessons the past few years but I was making only minor progress. At Dan's suggestion I filled out his "Faster Progress Evaluation" and sent it to him for input. I was surprised that just filling out the questionnaire and checklist made me realize some of the things that I was missing in my piano lessons. After talking to Dan about the checklist and my responses he was able to give me additional suggestions and helped me see that I needed to be more vocal with my piano teacher about what I wanted to get out of the lessons and he pointed out a few areas for me to concentrate on for improvement.

In addition, I purchased his "How to Win at Piano Lessons" and found many new suggestions to improve my playing. The best one was how important fingering was when learning a new piece. That ONE suggestion and explanation gave me the breakthrough that I needed to take my playing to the next level. It was like a light had been switched on! During my many years of playing piano I'd heard teachers talk about fingering but no one had ever explained WHY it was important to plan out the fingering and use the same fingering each and every time. Dan's eBook told me the "why" and explained the "how" of fingering which gave me the breakthrough I'd been looking for in my playing.

In the past 6 months, since my "breakthrough" after getting help from Dan, I have felt confident enough in my playing to play for friends and family. This has been one of my main goals since I started playing piano. Thanks Dan!

Jenny Robbins

New York, NY

I was really encouraged by helping Jenny. Recently, I had another great success which might interest you. One of my best local students took the Evaluation (because I sensed something was not 100% with her) and I was able to dig out her root concern. She plays very well indeed but her enjoyment of making music was being hindered by a particular barrier which the Evaluation revealed.

My Faster Progress to Better Music Evaluation gets to the core of what is troubling the keyboard/piano player, be it technical, psychological, or otherwise. It can reveal a lack of knowledge or even poor instruction in the past.

Details are required for a thorough and working Evaluation. With adequate information, situations become obvious and I can make the proper recommendations. I've found that almost all players have common troubles which have standard solutions - tried and true methods of improvement. I've been teaching folks like you since 1987 so I have had a very large amount of experience. I love teaching and this is a way I can assist distant students, people such as yourself whom I will never actually meet.

Here's how you take the Evaluation:

1. Click on the “Buy Now” button at my site. This will take you to a secure paypal.com page where you can use your credit card or paypal account to pay me for the service.

2. Make your purchase. You will be directed to a page where you download the Evaluation. Do so.

3. Once you have this form, which comes to you as an “interactive” Word doc., fill it out on your computer. Take your time in answering every question. Provide that maximum amount of detail possible. After all, I've never met you face to face and all I know is what you tell me.

4. Send me the completed Evaluation attached to an email. I'll study it thoroughly, evaluate your situation, and suggest appropriate actions for you to take. None will involve purchasing anything else from me (although you are quite welcome to do so!) I will email you my exact questions if I need more information. I charge no more for this action of obtaining and then processing the additional info.

5. In the end, you will have my very best recommendations and suggestions, totally tailored to YOU and YOUR situation. It's not some “generalized statement.” This is the heart of the action - finding out what YOU need and want and suggesting ways YOU can get those things based on the time and interest YOU have to give.

6. However, I can NOT do the following:

A. Make you follow my suggestions, and

B. Make the impossible possible (such as make you a concert pianist!)

The Faster Progress to Better Music Evaluation could be the best time and money you have ever spent on keyboard/piano training. How much time and money? It will take you, the student/player, several hours to completely answer every question in detail. It will take me just as long to examine those answers and then compose a complete and thorough set of recommendations. You will then spend some time following my instructions. The price is $100 for everything. I hope I've explained the action and convinced you it will work for you and will be worthwhile. You can find the Evaluation by clicking HERE.

I'll leave you with another “testimonial,” this one regarding some “online lessons” I gave to a gentleman in Massachusetts:

I was first exposed to the teachings of Dan Starr through his books- “How to Win at Piano Lessons” and “How to Buy, Play and Enjoy a Digital Piano.” For an adult beginning or returning to the piano, I consider the first book required reading. If you are using a digital piano, the second book is a must read.

Prior to beginning my online lessons from Dan, he asked me three specific questions.

First: Describe my experience in playing the piano. (I am retired and have been playing for about three years.).

Second: Identify the type of music I’m interested in playing. (I want to play popular music for friends, family and fun.)

Third: Give a realistic assessment of how much time I could devote to practicing. (I practice, on average 45 minutes a day.)

From my answers to these questions, which were much more detailed than shown above, Dan laid out a series of steps, identified instructional tools and is providing the necessary guidance for me to achieve my objective. For example, he has shown me various techniques for improving my skill in the area of rhythm, which was high on my list of skills I had hoped to improve. He has also established benchmarks to assess my progress as I move forward and develop other skills.

I consider two factors essential if I am to play the piano reasonably well. Knowledge and Action (practice). The knowledge comes from the teacher. With his experience as a professional piano player and piano teacher of many years, Dan has that knowledge. I have been struck with his logic, clarity of presentation and explanations of not only What to do and How to do it, but the reasons Why it should be done.

The Action must come from me. While I continue to move at my own pace, with Dan’s encouragement and guidance, I’m beginning to “hear” the results as I advance from one lesson to the next. I highly recommend Dan as an online piano instructor, and believe he has developed a uniquely workable method for teaching adults who are willing to fulfill their part of the bargain- i.e. continuous and regular practice.

R.C. Atkins

Framingham, MA

The SUPERIOR Method of Learning

2010-11-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

May I recommend a method to use - one that works for beginners AND more advanced players?

I call it "The American Method" and have practiced applying it to my students for over 23 years now. These are students of all ages, races, both sexes, and every conceivable socio-economic background I'm discussing. It has worked for all of them. Thus, I think I can recommend it to you, the anonymous web surfer, with some thought it will work for YOU as well, no matter what your situation might be.

The American Method is quite simple. It is based on freedom of thought, freedom to create, and freedom to spend the minutes of your life as you see fit. That's the "American" part of it, as this is what my nation stands for. This method could be sub-titled "Fun and Fundamentals". The steps of this method are:

A. Write down, in as much detail as you can, what you would like to accomplish. Call this "Point B".
B. Write down, in as much detail as you can, what you can accomplish now. Call this "Point A".
C. Write down, in as much detail as you can, a full list of fundamentals you will need to go from Point A to Point B.
D. Write down, in as much detail as you can, fun ways of learning the needed fundamentals.

It should be obvious to any music lover that such lists are never identical. That's because no two people who love music ever love the same music in the same way. Of course, there are similarities. Pretty much every keyboardist/pianist is going to need to learn to read music. However, there will always be a few who do NOT need this.

The second thing that is likely to be obvious is that you could really use a teacher to help you make up these lists, especially those in C and D. This is where the problem comes in - finding a teacher who will help you learn what you want to learn. I like to say that The American Method isn't really a method at all, at least not in the sense of so many other "methods". These tell you what their authors think you OUGHT to learn. Of course, they don't know you personally so I guess these authors think everybody should learn the same stuff, like the same stuff, be the same person, find the same music enriching to the same degree, etc. etc. ad naseum.

I have written extensively about how to find the proper teacher and I'm not going to repeat myself right now. You can read that essay on my personal website here.

Reality vs. The Convenience Mentality in Keyboard and Piano

2010-10-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Smart folks on a fast Internet don't become good players - not without practice!

Sometimes I worry about how keyboard and piano education is proceding. On one hand is the "old school" style of European training which demands years of boring lessons to play even simple pop music. To counter this, certain folks have swung the pendulum all the way to the other side and produced "Instant" Piano, "Learn Piano Overnight," and "Ten Days to Being a Pianist." Having experienced the boredom inherent in "old-school," it's little wonder that many hopeful keyboardists/pianists fall for the "don't bother to practice or work" crowd.

I don't know which group is more wrong in their "approach" - those that try to make it harder than necessary or those that try to convince you it's easier than it really is (thus setting you up to fail miserably). Me, I'm actually on the side of the students - folks who just would like to make some music while they are busy living their lives. In other words, these are people who don't want to dedicate every waking moment to an instrument. They also don't want to pay for something that provides false assurances. They want a valid ability to play and are willing to work to achieve it.

So here's the truth, as I see it. I call my approach "The American Way." It's the result of teaching adult students the music they love, played the way they want to play it, on whatever instrument they wish. In short, The American Way is to give individual lessons to individuals. Let me describe it to you, as I think you're going to want to learn keyboard or piano this way.

You need to have some FUN. You need to learn your FUNDAMENTALS. And you have to remember that it is the BODY that plays the piano, not the mind. Thus, no matter how smart you are, you are going to learn the motions of playing as fast as your body can master them. In my years, I've met many VERY smart folks who were appalled at how stupid their bodies were. Hands are pretty dumb and even the smartest, most coordinated pair of hands still takes many repetitions to master some of the "moves."

Besides, do you plan on only getting pleasure from playing and none from learning to play and practicing? If so, why are you limiting your enjoyment? Practicing a new piece is at least as much fun as, say, Sudoku, and you should enjoy a challenge. If you don't, then find another hobby, one where the "practice" of the hobby gives you all the reward you are seeking. You can simply BUY keyboard and piano music and listen to it and enjoy it.

For the rest of us, the road is a bit longer, not impossibly, but not instant either. All FUNDAMENTALS and no FUN usually results in no music being played. All FUN and no FUNDAMENTALS? Same result. You need both, tailored to your interests, time available, etc.

Acoustic Pianos and Electronic Keyboards: Pros and Cons

2010-09-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

Defintions

Acoustic Piano (“Piano'): Two types, “upright” and grand, actually have strings.

Electronic Keyboard (“Keyboard”): Many types: digital pianos, portable keyboards, synthesizers, all of make sounds via electronics and plug into the wall.

Pros of BOTH instruments

Can be enjoyed as a hobby for a lifetime
Keeps the mind sharp and hands “supple” via reading music, practicing, and performing
Provides excellent background in understanding music which makes other instruments easier

Cons of BOTH instruments

Solitary - no social interaction
Although it teaches reading music, won't teach one how to find notes on other instruments
More difficult than most other instruments to master

Pros of Pianos - (things that ONLY a Piano can provide)

Traditional - pianos have been around for centuries and played by the best people
Very durable furniture so holds resale value, especially grand pianos
Perfect for classical music, the music written on and for the acoustic piano

Cons of Pianos

Large and heavy
Expensive
Only provides a single sound, no matter how good that sound

Pros of Keyboards

Cheap, relative to piano
Plug in headphones so no one else can hear and you hear no one else
Does many things via learning a single instrument so can prove more interesting to students

Cons of Keyboards

Not traditional yet
May not sound or feel as a trained pianist likes or expects
Usually must be replaced as student improves

4 Ways Modern Keyboards Improve Pianos

2010-08-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

“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.There are four reasons why the new electronic instruments are helping, NOT hindering, in the training of new musicians. I want to present and explain each.

1. Headphones
I hear from a local piano dealership that the use of headphones is the chief selling point for digital pianos. This is a “mixed blessing” to me, in that more sales means more students but the downside is that such students are not used to sharing their music. This goes against a basic human tendency. It also makes piano lessons difficult by making the students nervous to have the teacher hear their playing. The simple solution is to be nice, not “nit-pick” the player to death – in short, to be a good and kind music teacher.

2. Cost
In any times, let alone the current economy, folks would love to spend less and get more. Thus, improvements that allow for $100 keyboards are going to help families and others decide they can afford to buy an instrument. Sure, it’s not a “real piano” but does the beginner fully appreciate that? Can they even make use of the features found on the best pianos? Of course not. They can always trade up when their skills merit. Don’t bother to insist that youngsters must be exposed to “weighted keys” from the start. I started with the non-weighted keys of an organ and made the transition to piano later. So did JS Bach.

3. Portability and size
There are many more places for lighter, smaller instruments. Such places might even be a teen’s bedroom where they can play anytime they wish, regardless of their brothers and sisters watching TV in the family room (This is often where a full sized, “real” piano usually has to be located.) They can even take their instrument along on vacation or to the teacher’s home. No honest music teacher of any experience can fail to see the advantages here.

4. Electronic features
Every adult who doesn’t live in a shack in the woods knows that the younger generation loves buttons and high tech! Is there a music teacher out there who thinks that all those sounds are NOT useful in keeping their students “on task?” Kids love sounds and buttons on keyboards. Their very presence encourages experimentation, familiarity, and the sense that this is their instrument – all huge benefits to the teacher who chooses to utilize them.

Let me end this essay with a thought for my fellow music teachers. I advise you to give up on fighting the advance of technology – it’s going to win despite your best efforts. YOU, however, may fail miserably. Instead, find a way to “judo” advances in instrument design so that you can use the best of the new features to help the cause of teaching students to make music. May I suggest that built in metronomes, several different piano sounds, and the ability to record a practice session are VERY helpful new inventions – as well as the four items listed above? I even wrote a entire book on the subject.

Learning the Keyboard Instead of the Piano

2010-08-04T08:42:00.001-07:00

(Note: This is a copy of an essay I just posted to my site for piano teachers. I decided it was relevant to piano students as well, as many of you have keyboards - either digital pianos or portable keyboards. I'll be saying lots more about this is future posts.)

Keyboards are more than just "a poor man's piano"

Let me tell you a story which I think might help some piano teachers. (Those of you who want these new-fangled things called "portable keyboards" and "digital pianos" to simply go away can stop reading right now. This is NOT for you nor will you benefit from anything I might say.)

When I was a young man of 13 years it was the mid-sixties and my mother played the organ. You'll recall, perhaps, how lousy organs were in those days. Still, she had one and derived quite a bit of satisfaction from playing the standards on it. I thought this instrument was quite interesting, especially those various sounds and buttons. Still, I had no idea of actually playing the thing, until...

...one morning before school I heard a rock tune on my radio. The solo that their organist played was so interesting that it simply mesmerized me. I decided that I wanted to play the thing for myself. I began by learning as much as I could from the "self-teaching" course provided as a sales gimmick. Then, after I had convinced my mom, we found a great teacher. In two years, I was a professional organist. I played classics, rock, pop, standard, country, what have you. I've continued performing to this day, even though I discovered my obsession with teaching a few years later.

Now how many youngsters have had my experience, only be to be "turned off" by being told that their dreams could not be made real? Or, worse yet, SHOULD not be made real. "You shouldn't like that music. Instead, focus on what I, your teacher, prefers." Like that will work with any teenager with an ounce of individuality!

What did my teacher do instead that led me to actually master the fundamentals of the instrument (which includes reading THREE staves and learning to use one's feet immediately, learning chords and theory and improvisation and arranging and instrumentation, etc.)

Simple. She related everything to my dream of playing organ in a rock band and explained why I needed those other skills. Also, she was good enough to demonstrate HOW to play the way I wanted to. She did not invalidate my dream at all, just added to it and showed me how those other items related to what I already wanted. In other words, she took what she found and made the most of it. She did not mess with my goals. Instead, she added to them while making sure I achieved the very thing that brought me to a desire to play.

Did I mention that she was in her 50's and I was 13? It's not about age - it's about attitude.

She got behind and pushed in the same direction. She did not oppose me. She helped me. And that's a lesson I've used for the last 22 years in my teaching. I offer it to you in this time when new students are less plentiful. There's always some reason a kid wants lessons. Find it, nurture it, add to it, capitalize on it.

The Blues, a Primer for Pianists

2009-12-06T10:35:00.002-07:00

The Blues is a chord progression, a "form" every bit as formal as "sonata-allegro" form for a symphony. Any person at all familiar with western popular music has encountered this form many, many time, usually without knowing that it was form that defined "blues." That form is 12 measures long and goes like this

4 measures of the I chord in the key

(if you don't what is meant here, then study the "Diatonic Chords" until you do)
2 measures of the IV chord
2 measures of the I again
1 measure of the V
1 measure of the the IV

and finally either of these two (depending on whether you plan on repeating the progression)

1 measure of the I, followed by 1 measure of the V, or
2 measures of the I

for a total of 12 measures ("bars," in blues terms, thus this form is sometimes referred to as the "the 12 bar blues" and one passage through the 12 bars is usually called "a chorus.")

12 is an unusual number, as most verses and choruses are 8 or 16 bars.

A particular style of left hand bass line is not what makes something blues. It's the chord progression. There are many bases that could be done to this progression.

Note that Seventh chords have become associated with a blues sound in our minds. Thus, blues often uses these chords in a unique way. Instead of simply using the I, IV, and V chords, their sevenths are added to these and the progression uses the I7, the IV7, and the V7. This provides a "bluesier" sound.

Also, certain notes are used called "blue notes" which our society has come to associate with the blues. These notes added to the Major Scale used. They are the 3rd, 5th, and 7th of that Major Scale, only FLATTED. For example, in the Key of C, those blue notes are Eb, Gb, and Bb.

Often a new scale is used instead of the Major Scale. This scale is called a "blues scale" primarily because it always contains the blue notes. Two of these blues scales are common. The simpler of the two is this:

1, 3b, 4, 5b, 5, 7b, 8

In C Major, this would be the notes: C, Eb, F, Gb, G, Bb, C

The more complex Blues Scale is this one:

1, 2, 3b, 3, 5b, 5, 6, 7b, 8

In C Major, this would be C, D, Eb, E, Gb, G, A, Bb, C

Of course, the first is easier to play and jam with. Try it, using ONLY those notes. I guarantee it will sound VERY bluesy, as a full 50% of the notes are "blue notes."

I'd like to say a word about that bass line now. Often, the piano music called "boogie-woogie" uses the blues format. Boogie-woogie is a style of piano playing that uses a "basso ostinato" an "obstinate bass" or repeating bass pattern. It takes real left hand skill to be a great boogie-woogie pianist but it's a skill worth working at.

By this time I have defined what is and is not blues. If a piece uses the progression it is the blues. If it doesn't use it, it is NOT, although the introduction of blue notes can make pretty much anything sound bluesy! A prime example is the song Birth of the Blues which is NOT blues but rather ABOUT the blues. It sure sounds bluesy, however. You can even "blue up" Christmas carols by adding these blue notes in strategic locations.

Adult Students vs. Children - the VITAL Difference

2009-11-29T08:23:00.001-07:00

This week I was reminded of the essential difference between the teacher focusing on young (5 -10 year-old) piano students and the piano instructor, such as myself, who specializes in teaching "the older learner." Unfortunately, what I actually refer to is the different that OUGHT to be there but too frequently is NOT, resulting in unhappy and poorly functioning instruction.

This difference between piano students can be easily stated:

Teaching children requires giving orders.

Teaching older learners requires gaining cooperation.

It has been my observation that many piano instructors prefer the younger students to teens and adults and it is my belief that this difference is one main reason, perhaps the chief reason for some teachers. This makes the point worth clarifying. In a strange way, "gaining cooperation" is the first step for ALL piano students. It's just that younger students are more willing to follow the orders adults provide. After all, they know that they are uneducated in the area of music. Guidance, in the form of orders, becomes very welcome when you "know you don't know."

Later in life, however, after hearing and absorbing the music of our society, older learners find themselves drawn in a number of different directions. Simply determining what I call a "Point A" and a "Point B" and then charting out an effective way between the two points quickly gains the cooperation of almost any older piano student. In short:

Ask a prospective student what they want and then find a way to help them get it.

To further clarify, "Point A" is where this student is now, as regards piano playing ability, knowledge of music, all the parts of head and hand knowledge. "Point B" is a clear statement of what they wish to do at the piano. Once these two points are known clearly and thoroughly, then the savvy piano teacher can construct a "Skill List" which contains everything necessary to travel to that student's Point B. It's then simply a matter of putting the items on this list is an order in which they can be assimilated enjoyably and providing friendly, patient instruction as they do so.

Now there's no doubt that there's a tremendous amount of "overlap" between Skill Lists for different interests and different students. However, this degree of overlap is nowhere near close enough to create a "one size fits all" sort of piano method. The publishers of the best adult and older learner methods know that fact fully. Thus, they provide in their method books only outlines that depend on a smart piano instructor to modify as needed. Poorer teachers either are unwilling or unable to modify ANY method and thus lose the cooperation of the older learner at some point.

Children, of course, are almost all beginners, as well as having child mentalities and levels of experience. Here it makes much more sense to have a preset curriculum containing general skills. I'd say the key for the long term piano student is gradually shifting from one approach to the other at the correct rate. To produce a competent pianist out of piano student requires the teacher to turn over control of learning to that student a piece at a time.

Are You Confused?

2009-11-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

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.

A basic truth drummed into beginning business people is:

You cannot solve a problem until you can state it clearly

It's pretty plain why this is true. Without a clear statement of the problem, a person doesn't know WHERE to focus their efforts. Even if they did, there's no guarantee that any efforts are the once necessary. A person could be "solving" something is already fixed or even making the problem worse. Worse, the true error continues and letting it continue messes things up even more.

This second step is ...wait...SECOND step? Yep, the first step actually is this:

To solve a problem, first you have to be able to face up to it

That's VERY hard for some piano students. We could speculate whether this fear, this anxiety is the result of a bruised ego, bad childhood, past educational trauma, or a little of each. That doesn't change this basic idea - that having the courage to admit you have a problem is the very first step in handling it. You could call that problem "a confusion" but that, too, doesn't change the situation.

My personal piano students have an easier time of it. Once they admit to me they are confused (having a problem) they usually feel willing to have me help them solve it. It a basic trust of me, their instructor. This trust makes admitting to a problem much easier. This would be true whether the teacher is in the room or online. If you trust the teacher, you will find your courage to admit your troubles. Sometimes it takes awhile, but eventually....

Now that we have "come clean" about confusion/problems, we can proceed ! First we narrow down the trouble. Ask yourself these questions:

Is the problem in reading - or doing?

What line is it in?

What measure or measures?

Which hand (or both?)

Continue narrowing things down with such questions until you can state clearly and concisely the exact problem (note that it's now a exact problem in your mind, not just some vague and general feeling of confusion.)

It's been my experience that, once the problem is clearly stated, the action necessary to resolve the problem is rather obvious. I've also discovered that, if you have stated the real and correct problem, the resolution acts successfully and SOON. The reverse is true also - if your action of fixing the problem does not work quickly, chances are you have not stated the problem correctly, leading to the application of the wrong solution. Or, as the old saying goes"

The proof is in the pudding

Scale Practice for the Amateur Pianist, Part 3/3

2009-11-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

In this final essay regarding scales and scale practice, I'd like to answer the final (multi-part) question I posed in the first of these essays:

"Are all scales equally important?" meaning, "Which scales deserve the most attention?" and, "Are some scales not worth my time and effort?"

The simple answer to this question is "No" but such an answer doesn't help much or even inspire much confidence in its correctness. Let me explain.

The word "scale" essentially means "a ladder of notes." This definition is very generic, in that it says nothing about how many notes are in our ladder nor which specific notes we choose. Thus, a valid scale can be as simple 2 notes, C and G. One system of scale naming would call this a "duotonic" scale. Of course, music made with such a sparse scale would be totally boring. To the best of my knowledge, the smallest number of notes used in any world culture is 5, some sort of "pentatonic" scale. The number of notes (and, of course, their identities) can and does go up from there, with 7 the most common.

We are saved from studying 100s of possible scales by a simple fact of human nature - that we like the familiar the most. This had led us over time to prefer one type of scale over all others - the MAJOR Scale. This is so true that many newer piano students shorten the name and simple refer to this as "The Scale." Major really is MAJOR.

Major Scales form the basis of most western music. It's the scale programmed in our brains from our earliest exposure to music and it's the scale we choose most readily when composing. This is so true that the very names of the chords we use (such as Seventh Chord, Ninth Chord,etc.) are created based on Major Scales. I have found that understanding Major Scales gives more advanced students a point of reference for comprehending, even memorizing, other scales. Thus, music students should know about Major Scales. They are the musical "raw materials."

Turns out, however, that not even all Major Scales are equally important. Some are vital, some "semi-vital" and some almost useless. It's all based on the mechanics of a musician's instrument and what is easy to play and what is not. Readers are, of course, wondering which Major Scales they should study. Here's your answer, so far as I've found it valid over the course of my teaching:

Vital Piano Major Scales: C, G, F, D, Bb
Semi-vital Piano Major Scales: A, Eb, E, Ab
Almost Useless Major Scales: B, Db, F#, Gb, C#, Cb

I'm going to leave it you to decide WHY this is so. Hint: check maybe 5 normal piano sheet music books (NOT carefully chosen classical folios) to see which keys are most common.

Scale Practice for the Amateur Pianist, Part 2/3

2009-11-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

I began this series of essays by asking you to ask yourself three questions regarding piano scale practice:

"What will I, personally, get out of the effort that will help me play the music I want to play the way I want to play it?"

"If scales provide something I need, is there any other way to get the same skill/knowledge, perhaps in more enjoyable fashion?"

"Are all scales equally important?" meaning, "Which scales deserve the most attention?" and, "Are some scales not worth my time and effort?"

This essay deals with the first two questions, which are closely related.

Scale practice provides the following benefits to a pianist:

1. Increase manual dexterity
2. "Grooves in" to both the mind and hands which notes go together

They used to do one more thing - provide a sort of "pre-learning" for much of the material found in classical music. To clarify what I mean open any serious classical sheet music book. You will find that much of the music itself consists of "scale runs" up and down the notes in the various major and minor scales. When a pianist learned the scales, they could easily play this material when it appeared in the context of a piece.

This benefit is much less important today when so much of piano playing consists of renditions of popular songs, such as ballads, movie themes and show tunes. Of course, it still happens in much jazz music.

We have seen that scale practice DOES provide benefits, albeit fewer for the popular music player than the classical player. However, the "downside" is that many folks don't enjoy this practice and some simply won't do scales at all for any reason. For such players, the second question becomes most important and needs an answer: Can such hobbyists gain the benefits but avoid practicing scales altogether.

The answer is, "Yes!" and here's how:

Many, many activities produce manual dexterity and it really doesn't take a "rocket surgeon" to see that the particular brand of dexterity needed to play popular songs can best be produced by - playing popular songs! It's almost TOO simple. Do the thing you want to do and you will get better at doing it. All you have to be wary of is not realizing that this process means GETTING better, not just instantly BEING better. It takes some time, in other words. However, delaying full gratification is something most adults are familiar with, right? My experience tells me that some reasonable effort on your part will produce observable improvements that you will see and appreciate.

As for "knowing which notes go together, in both head and hand," the solution is the same - do what you wish to do with the scales you will encounter and you will learn those scales, in both head and hand. This means that you will learn that if there is a single sharp in the key signature of a tune that sharp is ALWAYS an F. You will very soon remember this fact and your hands will learn to include it automatically. Yeah, you can do this via scales, but you can also do this simply by playing tunes using that G Major Scale.

So the moral is to do what you want to do and you will get better at doing it. Just recognize that it will take some time.

Scale Practice for the Amateur Pianist, Part 1/3

2009-11-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I was surprised when my blog "analytics" (the statistics that tell me each week what folks have been interested in reading on the blog) told me that the "big draw" this last week 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. My advice will run this week and for two further weeks.

The first step in any process of change is to question. I'd like you to ask yourself this question first, "What is the purpose of scale practice?" meaning "What will I, personally, get out of the effort that will help me play the music I want to play the way I want to play it?" It's possible that many of you who faithfully work on your scales as just doing it because you've come to believe you should - after all, doesn't everybody?

Ummm...no, they don't. I've made a career out of playing the piano professionally, as well as teaching amateur pianists, and I personally haven't studied scales in years and years. My students, even the really competent ones, usually do not regularly practice scales either, and they love piano and have taken lessons for years. Gives you the idea that perhaps scales are NOT as mandatory as they are often said to be. I'll get into this more next week, but right now let the questioning continue.

"If scales provide something I need, is there any other way to get the same skill/knowledge, perhaps in more enjoyable fashion?"

There is indeed. More later. Now a final question:

"Are all scales equally important?" meaning, "Which scales deserve the most attention?" and, "Are some scales not worth my time and effort?"

The answer depends on what you wish to accomplish, but no matter, the starting point to getting efficient with scale practice is to ask yourself those three critical questions. If you already have and know the answers, well, stay tuned. If these questions are new, then you need to know your own personal answers for my further advices to make sense and work for you.

The 2 Steps to Achieving Piano "Flow"

2009-10-25T09:29:00.005-07:00

Older piano students seek REAL piano ability - naturally!

When I interview a prospective new student, I essentially ask them to describe two things: Where they are NOW as regards their piano ability and (most importantly) where they want to be. It's then my job as an instructor to facilitate the journey from their particular "Point A" to their desired "Point B." During 20+ years of such interviews, I've learned some things about adult piano students and their desires.

Adults primarily want to play for their OWN enjoyment, and

Adults want to play their favorite music FLUENTLY

Note the similarity of the words "flow" and "fluently." Essentially, these are the same thing, which in piano terms means to play with feeling, effortlessly, after a short amount of practice and familiarity with the tune.

As I said, I've worked at helping folks do this for more than two decades, people much like anyone else, some extremely bright, some not so much, a few VERY wealthy, most middle class - retirees, housewives, doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, businessmen, teachers, all sorts. Really, differences were rather minor, such as the kind of piano music they preferred and how fast they picked it up. However, this one similarity was striking. Almost all adults knew, almost instinctively, that fluent playing with feeling was their real goal.

Thus, it was little surprise to read from my blog "analytics" that many people were searching in search engines for guidance in achieving this piano goal. I'm writing an essay for these folks, because there are a lot of them - almost all adult piano students, in my experience.

Here is my 2-step solution, followed by some explanatory comments:

1. Learn the techniques relevant to your favorite music so well that they are second nature

2. Now allow your creativity, your passion to flow through this hard-won skill

This solution immediately tells you whether any particular course of piano study is right for you or not. If that course is ALL technique and no passion, then the cart is before the horse and the means have become the ends. If a course is all passion and no technique, then students suffer the curse of knowing what they want to express but lacking the physical means to easily express it. For details, see "Piano Methods that Work Poorly" just a few essays ago.

The proper program follows the two steps above, and with adults that is the work of only a couple years, perhaps less.

Piano Memorization - Naturally !

2009-10-17T10:15:00.002-07:00

Many, perhaps most adult piano students worry about memorization

One thing I've heard often in my career teaching adult piano students is concern about forgetfulness. This concern almost always extends beyond the piano into forgetting things in general and the usual fear is that one is "getting older" and suffering that inevitable loss of memory. In piano, the most common complaint is forgetting the same pieces of music the pianist worked so hard to learn just a few months prior. As they say, "I have good news and bad news!" about this subject. First the good news:

Your forgetfulness is NOT due to advanced aging (unless you are quite old, late 70's, early 80's maybe)

Now the bad news:

EVERYBODY forgets their pieces - regardless of age

But wait, I've got some more GOOD news:

You can EASILY get those "forgotten" pieces of piano music back

I plan on giving readers both the WHY and the HOW of this in situation.

Memorizing pieces is inevitable. Consider the sequence of events as you work on a new piece. First, you start with almost nothing, other than perhaps some mental recording of the pretty melody and the fact you like that melody and want to play it on your piano. However, you don't yet know the key, the notes, the fingering, very little in fact. You go through it once, sloppily. At the end of this, you do know something about that piece, some of the notes, the key signature, some of the fingering tricks. You work on it a second time and now those notes really come into focus and you have some idea where the easy and hard parts are located.

And so it goes...each time you work on the tune, you learn more and more. You don't EVER start in with that total lack of information you had at the beginning. In other words, you have memories of what went on in previous practices and you start each new practice with those memories and attempt to build on them. Everybody, at every age, works this way, naturally.

Of course, no piano student of any reasonable experience would think that 100% of the memories from the previous practices will be carried over into the new attempt. Human memory, anybody's, simply isn't that good. Some people are better than others (think prodigies!) but all humans suffer from some degree of memory loss between practices. It does NOT mean "early onset senility," as adult piano students often fear. It means you are a human being, NOT a space alien.

What to do about this is the proper question.

I recommend to my students three measures to minimize the memory loss effect when learning tunes or maintaining them as a repertoire:

1. Understand the naturalness of memory loss and cease to worry

2. Use memory "cues" effectively

3. Learn how to easily remind the hands of what they used to know so well

We have covered topic #1 in this post. Next two weeks I will cover details in topics 2 and 3.

When and How Much to Practice Piano

2009-10-09T10:57:00.002-07:00

The "timing" of your piano practice sessions can make or break your success.

(Note: I had intended to wrap-up my four part series from the last month "Piano Methods that Work Poorly" but upon re-reading the fourth installment, I find that readers were actually given "the punchline" and no further writing was necessary or useful.)

One of the most common questions of piano students and those who hope to be is "How much should I practice?" Another question, but an even more important one to ask, is, "When (meaning what time of day) should I practice?"

There are two simple answers to these questions, which I will provide. You will want to think about these and how they apply to you, your piano practice, and your success at learning to make fine music at the piano. I will also provide some additional explanation.

Q: How much time should I practice?
A: Enough time to be successful, whatever amount that turns out to be.

Your goal is to succeed, not spend time at the piano. If you were to practice an hour a day but get no better, then that would NOT be good piano practice, would it? If you can accomplish the task of improvement in less time than you expected, isn't that something to be treasured? Wouldn't you want to do more of that, so you could get on to other things, be they piano or live?

Q: When should I practice?
A: Whenever you are most "there," meaning awake, alert, focused on practice and not stressed out.

Are you a "morning" or "evening person?" It matters. When are you actually interested in doing the work of practicing piano, not just relaxing when you get home? What time of day do you have your best focus, your best attitude toward actual piano work? THAT'S when to practice for best success.

Powerful truths are almost always simple. Keep the above in mind to get the most from piano practice efforts.

Piano Methods that Work Poorly Part Four

2009-10-04T07:55:00.002-07:00

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 learn to play piano was made possible by years of grinding, boring, and frustrating "teaching" on the part of piano teachers who made 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.

Piano teaching, as I have seen it work with over 2000 normal human beings of all ages, is easy to sum up:

Fun and Fundamentals

Too much fun and not enough fundamentals and you don't learn to play, which is no fun

Too many fundamentals and not enough fun and you don't learn to play because it seems like work and not worth the trouble.

There must be a balance, a "sweetspot," between the two, a way to present the necessary work of teaching your hands to play in a fashion that makes making music rewarding. Luckily, there is.

The last three essays have dissected the "snakeoil methods" in detail, but we could sum up what's wrong with them by saying simply, "Too much and too few fundamentals." In a similar fashion, I'd convict the boring piano teachers of this world with this charge, "Too much fundamental with very little fun." The end result, interested, intelligent people who still can't play the piano, is the same in both cases.

Take scales, for example. Few non-musicians, and many actual musicians, really understand what a scale is, but most Americans I've spoken with know it's something musical and also something of a necessary evil. Somehow, either via Hollywood or conversations held with unlucky friends taking piano, the "conventional wisdom" has it that piano students play lots of scales - and that this activity is a whole lot of NOT fun. Would you be surprised to learn that scale work forms a huge part of the education of a classical concert pianist - AND very little part in the education of the normal piano student. Only some scales are useful in most cases and these can be learned in several enjoyable ways.

Unless, that is, you are the piano student of some "teacher" whose 19th century European methods force every youngster to suffer through endless scale practice, instead of spending that time playing short pieces that would interest kids at their age and level. Ditto excessive counting, exercises, etc.

Now I am NOT saying that a piano student must never do scales or exercises or counting or anything else that is necessary for them to play the piano music that makes them happy. I'm just saying that these fundamentals are too often made the basis of the entire training. Rather than a means to the end of enjoying piano at an amateur level, playing the music the student prefers, the teacher makes the fundamentals into the END itself, the very reason for taking the lessons.

This actually might be proper - IF the student wants a career as a professional classical musician. However, teaching like this has hurt the world of music instruction, by raising the bar too high and making learning to play piano a thing of work, pain, frustration, and suffering.

Let me repeat the formula which I've found actually works -

Fun

Fundamentals

You learn the fundamentals that apply adequately enough to have fun.

There - I've given readers some way to measure their lessons, their teachers, their methods, in fact every action at the piano they are doing right now. Next week, I'll wrap up this series in a way that will cement everything I've said, on "overview" if you will.

Piano Methods that Work Poorly Part Three

2009-09-26T07:37:00.003-07:00

Too many piano students do poorly due to ineffective piano teaching

What I call "the snakeoil methods" of piano "instruction" were the topic of my last post. As you may know, this is a reference to those scam artists of the past who sold strange liquids with strange names such as "Dr. Smythe's Snakeoil Root Elixir." Their victims were gullible and suffering folks who were led to believe that this "potion" (it turned out to be mostly drinking alcohol and/or some "feel good" drugs) could cure whatever ailed them. In other words, "snakeoil salesmen" were scam artists who made false promises and somehow avoided the consequences.

In the last ten years or so, and especially since the rise of the Internet, there has been a rash of such "teachers" who claim to cure the boredom and frustration of learning piano from some boring and frustrating "traditional" piano teacher. The only reason these folks have prospered, of course, is that many traditional piano teachers actually produce boredom and frustration in their students with their incredibly slow and incredibly NON-creative approaches to piano instruction. It's no real surprise that somebody decided to take advantage of the dis-satisfaction of adults for such poor piano teaching methods. Unfortunately, many who say a need waiting to be filled were of VERY limited teaching ability and also VERY limited morals. Thus, their "snakeoil root" cures for piano boredom.

As you can see, I don't like these people very much. The reason is simple. Their "methods" simply don't work. The purpose of this post is to describe the core of these methods and then explain why this is NOT the cure. Naturally, I'm going to tell you what IS, as well.

A single quote from a local snakeoil teacher provides an insight into the core of the problem. I've simply copied and pasted it from his site:

As any professional musician will tell you, "know your chords, and you can do anything!"

This all seems like good sense, at least to the piano beginner - that is, until you speak with an actual professional musician. I am one. Have been about 30 years. Played hundreds of "gigs" for thousands and thousands of dollars. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to being a pro - and I can tell you that there is a hidden trap in the statement, one that every piano student could fall into without guidance around it.

It's all in that little word "know." What does "knowing your chords" really mean? You see, with ANYTHING related to piano, there are TWO ways of knowing. I call them "head" and "hands." "Head knowing" means that you understand the concept of what to do at the piano. It's sometimes called "music theory." This is the most common way adults learn anything. They do thinking, problem solving, and mental comprehension. In other words, they do the "head work" related to the thing they are trying to learn.

The "fly in the ointment" here is that other way of knowing, "hand knowing." This means that your hands can almost instantly find the chord called for, and play it in a fashion appropriate for the tune you are working. This is PHYSICAL learning, learning done not by the mind but by the body, the arms, the hands, the fingers. And this learning must be close to perfect, as there is no time with music to stop and think about the matter. "The beat goes on," as we all know, and the pianist MUST be ready and then actually play properly at the moment needed to keep that music moving forward. This requires physical dexterity which is NOT learned in a lecture, but only from correct and adequate physical practice of the action.

That's why it take many years to make a competent professional. They have DONE the work needed. Likely, they understood what was necessary early in their career, but getting to the point where you can DO the thing, well that requires necessary experience, doesn't it? Besides, do you really wish to devote your life to the piano to the degree that the professional does? The vast majority of piano students simply wish to play for their own enjoyment, and perhaps that of friends and family.

Thus, if the method you are contemplating tells you that they have the "secrets of the professionals" and will teach you to play in little time by using them, well run for the hills, don't spend your hard earned money, and, above all, don't think that any failure to actually learn to play like a pro is YOUR fault. It isn't.

Let's be clear here - I'm NOT saying that the only way to master piano is that old boring and frustrating approach that old Mrs. Barcus down the block inflicts on unhappy children several days a week. I'm just saying that a successful method of piano instruction will mean some time spent DOING the work of piano. There is ZERO chance that some new and astounding method will cut the work done to almost nothing. Something for nothing - well, that should be your main clue. When anything offers that, you're being told a fib.

As a wise man once said, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."

What to do? Read this blog for starters. I've been writing it since 2006 and giving you the straight scoop from my weekly piano and keyboard lessons with folks just like you. I've included many workable approaches to practice and performance. It's all free. Read it and use it.

Piano Methods that Work Poorly Part Two

2009-09-13T10:29:00.003-07:00

Too many piano students do poorly due to ineffective piano teaching

Last week we began discussing what I call "snakeoil" piano lessons - meaning online "teachers" that promise the sun, moon, and stars to hopeful piano students by telling them they can teach them to play like a pro in some ridiculous amount of time and with little effort on the part of the student. I gave you three things to look for as identifiers of such methods, the first being some promise of a "new breakthrough" in piano teaching methods.

But how "new" is it, really? Allow me to fill in some background. Check out these quotes...

1."Shows how to supply a full, "swing" bass (left hand) to ANY piece of piano music, thus enabling ANYONE to play at sight ALL the latest Popular Songs in professional style."

2."You will learn in a short time how to improvise, harmonize, fill-in, to do breaks, runs, blues, etc., in the same manner as is generally employed by the best modern professional orchestras or radio artists today."

3."It's surely the greatest contribution to the advancement of modern piano playing ever published."

4."You will be amazed at the results obtained in the first few lessons"

Did I take these from the Internet a few moments ago? Nope. Here's the dates on these publications from my extensive collection of old sheet music and music books:

1. "Winn's 'How to Play Popular Music" Copyright 1928

2. "The Victor Lopez Piano Method" Copyright 1933

3. "Piano Improvising" by Art Shefte Copyright 1936

4. "Be a Piano Stylist" by Irving Kult - Copyright 1948

So, big time promises are nothing new, just the medium used to make those promises. What I have to ask myself is this, "If these wonderful NEW methods worked so well, why didn't they literally take over piano teaching and become THE way that interested piano students learn?" The answer, naturally, is that they were FALSE promises designed to sell both the method and the method's author.

Now I have nothing against the profit motive. It makes for folks trying their best, healthy competition which means choices for the buyer, and mostly a better life for everyone. However, here on Earth nothing is perfect, and now and then fraud rears its ugly head. The only way to avoid it is to keep in mind that old saying (old, because its all too true!):

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Piano Methods that Work Poorly Part One

2009-09-06T10:18:00.001-07:00

Too many piano students do poorly due to ineffective piano teaching

Over the years of piano teaching adults (and children, early in my career) I have heard hundreds of "horror stories." A "horror story" is a tale in which an eager young piano student tries to learn to make happy music on the piano but gets much less than they might have due to bad piano teachers and/or bad piano teaching methods. Naturally, the students coming to me still asking for lessons would be those aspiring pianists who DIDN'T succeed, but if you think this makes my points any less valid, ask yourself this: How many people do you know who play the piano? How many people do you know who had piano lessons when younger or wanted to play the piano? See how much failure there is out there? I guess it could be three things:

Not many people want to learn to play the piano or keyboard

People are just generally NOT able to learn to play the piano

The education method is not good enough for the average person to learn

I think it's choice #3 and this essay will explain why I think so. I also hope to encourage you to give it another try with a more efficient method.

There are, of course, two ways to not teach well -

make it too hard

make it too easy

Most people who had piano lessons as children encountered the first of these with the stereotypical "little old lady piano teacher down the block." I'll address some aspects of this in a later essay in this series. However, it's this second method of ineffective teaching that most concerns me, especially because Internet students are bombarded on website after website with this "teaching" approach. Although there are some things to recommend these "get it all with little to no effort" approaches, the majority of folks are not going to get very far if they stick with them. Let me explain why.

First, a definition of sorts. My use of the term "majority" reflects the people I have taught to play piano in my career, perhaps 1500+ adults over 22+ years. This group is composed of equal parts

professional people - doctors, teachers, accountants, nurses, engineers, businessmen,

retirees (my hometown is a huge retirement destination)

teens and college students

It's about 50/50 men to women, and, naturally, these are prosperous folks who can afford quality piano lessons. This speaks well for their drive and intelligence. My conclusion is that these are smart people with high talents in organization and their professions. Emails I've received tell me that most readers would fit right in to this group of people.

Earlier I spoke of teaching methods that are "too easy." You likely wondered how a method could be TOO easy and still be criticized. I stated it this way for effect, however - what I really meant was, "A method that PROMISES to make learning to play piano much, MUCH easier than it really is." Here are some clues that the method you are examining is such a too easy method:

Any method which touts a "new breakthrough" in piano teaching

Any method which promises to have you playing all your favorite songs in hours, days, or a couple weeks

Any method which stresses "learn piano by ear" even if they some day get around to learning to read sheet music and thus become literate as a musician.

I will address each point here in my next essay. Meanwhile, I'd like to hear from you. What have you tried and how has it worked for you? I really don't care if your results confirm my assumptions or not. Criticism is welcomed and will be put to good use in helping other piano students.

Practice Approach for Polishing a Piano Piece

2009-08-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

Once the basics are well learned, this method gives excellent results

I've written often about HOW to practice piano effectively. You should follow my guidelines – for the simple reason that they work. Once you have done this and know the fundamentals of the piece, you may want to polish it up. One way, not particularly efficient, is to play the piece over and over and over and.... There is a better approach to polishing piano pieces and here it is. However, use it ONLY after the majority of the music is already well learned.

1. Play through the piece from beginning to end at full tempo, noting any trouble spot in passing

This is radically different than your basic practice approach, where you carefully and slowly move through the music, following the fingering, working on technique, timing, etc. This should be your practice method only when you completed that more basic approach and the piece is essentially learned. This approach is about mastery.

You likely already know that each new practice results in two kinds of mistakes - trouble-spots that happen each time you play and mistakes that may happen today but not tomorrow (or even that happen this run through but not the next.) These two separate classes of mistakes are handled in the same fashion.

2. After playing through the piece, you return to the first trouble-spot and HANDLE it with the full intention that this ceases PERMANENTLY to be a “trouble-spot”

The trouble at this spot might be either one of the two types described above, either an “every stinkin' time I play I mess this up” type or a “I never make that mistake – how come I did this time?” type of error. It doesn't matter. The errors you make each time are sections of music that are not known at all. You've never mastered them. Those “every now and then” errors represent sections of music that are not as well know as those you never miss..

It's a matter of degree. Sections of piano music run from “totally mastered” to “mostly down” to “not down at all.” On your really good playing days, only those sections “not down at all” will be trouble-spots. However, on average or mediocre days, the “mostly down” sections often come apart on you. Frustrating, yes, but a reality. Learning these section more intensely will convert them to sections you can play half asleep, thus ensuring that such mistakes just don't happen.

After all, you don't want to be able to play only on your best days, do you? “Best” days are rare!

3. Handle each trouble-spot THOROUGHLY

There is a tendency of piano students to gloss over needed work. The most serious example of this is hitting a wrong note, stopping, going back, hitting the right note and then going on. Common sense will tell you that this is NOT a cure, just a band-aid.. You did it wrong once, you did it right once. Flip a coin for which way it will go next time, because you have a 50/50 of getting it wrong or right.

What if you figured out what to do correctly and then did it 3, 4, 10 times correctly in a row? Haven't you now “stacked the deck” in favor of getting it correct when you next play it?

Handle each of today's trouble-spots completely. I wish I could tell you that they all would “stay handled” but I can't. Tomorrow some of the same mistakes might recur. What I CAN assure you of, however, is that if you handle thoroughly every trouble-spot each day, eventually there will be NO trouble-spots.

Incidentally, these trouble-spots are NOT the same as those “random errors” I spoke of elsewhere, the type of errors which are caused by the fact you are playing piano with your body and bodies are fallible. However, I can also assure you that quite a few of so-called “random” errors really aren't random at all. Let's face it – the more you practice and the better you practice, the less chance of your body letting you down and causing a “random error.”

Six Steps to Better Piano Practice

2009-08-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Being More Efficient at Piano Practicing Means Better Piano Playing

Far too many piano students somehow believe that the AMOUNT of time spent practicing is the key to success. However, an hour of poor, inefficient piano practice is NOT solved by adding on another hour of the same bad routine. Instead, every piano student should stay focused on getting the most music from the least amount of effort. “Efficiency” should be the goal, not just passing time at the piano. I've written many essays about practice, since that's what piano students do as they learn new pieces and new piano techniques.. What could be more relevant?

In other essays, I've presented two fundamentals of successful practice:

Practice the hands separately, then together

Practice slowly to maintain accuracy then gradually speed up

Both are just as true now as when I wrote them, but, over time, I've found that more needs to said regarding exactly HOW to apply these principles so as to improve your piano practice.

First, let me simply list the “Six Steps to Better Piano Practice.” I'll follow that with guidelines on how to put them to use.

1. Practice the Right Hand (RH) slowly and steadily and maintaining accuracy

2. Gradually speed up the RH to full tempo while maintaining accuracy and steadiness

3. Do Step 1 for the Left Hand (LH)

4. Do Step 2 for the LH

5. Do Step 1 for Both Hands (BH)

6. Do Step 2 for BH

The first, and most critical guideline is JUDGMENT. These are not steps that work well without the piano student actually applying them using good sense and an aware mind. The pianist must watch the results of each action and tailor that action to ensure proper application. In other words, THINK with these steps and don't be a robot. Honestly, I doubt that there are any techniques or methods that successfully teach piano without the pianist using their brainpower.

The second guideline is understanding the exact meaning of the words in the steps.

“Steadily” means keeping a steady beat (using a metronome if needed) despite any hard parts.

“Accuracy” means hitting correct keys with correct fingers and making notes the correct length

The third guideline is to apply these steps appropriately to the degree of difficulty of the piano music you are learning. For example, an “easy” piece is one in which you might actually be able to skip one or more of the steps. A “challenging” piece requires each step be performed THOROUGHLY.

The final guideline is not skimp on Step 5. I've found that piano students often fail when practicing hands together because they practice too fast. Here's why - by the completion of Step 4, the student has played each hand successfully at full tempo. This leads the pianist to attempt practicing hands together at full speed. It almost never works since our nervous system is set up such that one hand influences the other when used together. Thus, the pianist will encounter certain problems ONLY when the hands are playing together. That makes it necessary to slow down in order to maintain accuracy and steadiness. Do Step 5 thoroughly if you want to succeed.

Piano Priorities: Vital vs. "Merely Nice"

2009-08-17T10:54:00.003-07:00

What is the goal of piano playing? To never hit any wrong notes? To be a "whiz-bang" pianist who impresses everybody? What is vital to you, the piano student, and what is "merely nice." After 40+ years performing for groups up to 4000 and 20+ years teaching adult piano students, I feel pretty comfortable setting these priorities:

1. The beat, steadiness of

Underlying music is a pulse, a steady beat. If you are unsure this is true, do some research into the musical practices of different cultures. Every one I've encountered starts with a steady underlying beat. The only exceptions are strange musical experiments that the vast majority of humans find plain old "weird."

Drums by themselves are considered music and in some cultures rhythm predominates. A listener may not actually know a particular tune but anyone with a heart beat knows if the tune is played well - it features a steady pulse.

Yes, for purposes of expression, the pace of the beat can speed up and slow down, but this something that makes sense musically and is conceived by the listener as an exciting exception to the rule - which is steadiness of the underlying beat. One way I explain this to my students is to say, "If it comes down to choice between missing a note and missing a beat, miss the note."

This piece of info affects you, the piano student, by telling you not to fall into that most common of traps - playing the easy parts fast and the hard parts slow ! If the chief goal is evenness of the beat, then you are left with only two options:

Slowing down the easy parts to the tempo you can make it through the hard parts, or

Isolating the hard parts and practicing them like crazy so they become easy parts !

My experience tells me that the second of these two options is the one most folks are willing and able to accomplish. That's how you should be practicing then - discovering your hard parts by keeping an even pace (use a metronome if you simply cannot do so) and then isolating and fixing those difficult areas.

2. The melody

The melody IS the music in a very real fashion. Whatever the piece, classical or Broadway, country or rock, when we think of that piece we think of its melody. Melody is part of the music we sing, hum, or whistle. Without being able to clearly hear the melody, there's nothing to remember. We may FEEL the beat but we recall the melody.

Want your music to be memorable? Give it a clear, clean melody which every listener can hear, identify, and recall. If you simply must worry about missing notes, worry about missing melody notes. One reason is that anyone who actually knows what you are playing has on file in their memory the sequence of notes which is the melody of that tune. Chances are, if you venture too far from their memory of "how the song goes" they will reject your piano efforts.

There are other aspects to music, certainly, the two most important being harmony and instrumentation. However, neither of these can hold a candle to rhythm and melody, although they may present the player with far more difficulty in technique.

I've heard from many pianists who obsess about harmony. These folks seem to love the sound of big fat complex chords and, for them, music isn't worth much without such harmony. "Fine," I say, "For you, but others may have neither the time nor inclination to bust their chops (pun intended !) learning to play these monstrosities. For most people, playing a clear melody over a simple beat is plenty of work and totally satisfactory."

To summarize my position:

Vital: Steady underlying beat supporting clear, clean melody

Merely nice: Complex subtle harmony and preferred tonal quality to instrument.

GOOD Piano Playing vs PROPER Piano Playing

2009-08-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

Should the Piano Student Strive for Good Music or Following Directions?

A moment ago, as I was practicing my piano, I had a startling realization. I suspect (since I cannot read minds) that many of my piano students are subconsciously striving to play their piano music “the right way.” This would be explain why they ask me to pass judgment on their piano efforts. I pass judgment on my own efforts simply because I'm listening to what I play and analyzing it based on the idea of “does it sound good?” This is vastly different than asking, “Is it proper?”

So many times I've had to demonstrate to a student that just because some publisher or editor placed some ink on a page, the sheet music isn't Gospel. It's not the Law. I do this by showing them another publisher's version of the exact same piece and pointing out the differences - differences in recommended fingering, pedaling, note phrasing, sometimes even difference in note identities.

I then point out that nothing matters if the music doesn't sound good. Following instructions to create bad sounds is more than a little silly. You have to ask what the goal of playing piano should be: to do as one is told or to make fine music.

Consider the student who plays very softly for fear of hitting a wrong note. This student may play the piece perfectly in a sense, but since none of the notes can be clearly heard, ALL of then are “wrong” from a good music point of view. Final grade is an F. I usually tell the student so in an effort to shock them out of this very bad habit. It almost always works, too.

I've known for years that the student who comes in and pounds on the piano is easier to handle than the student scared of making errors. A “passionate pounder,” as I like to call them, can learn control and finesse. However, the scardy-cat needs less control and must adjust their attitude, which is purest psychology. This also relates to the willingness to make mistakes, which I've written about extensively in other essays.

This idea, good music is the goal, is the key difference between the performer who strives please themselves (and/or their audience) and the student whose goal is mainly to please their teacher! Who are the lessons for, anyway?

Correcting Errors When Practicing

2009-07-26T06:57:00.004-07:00

What a horrible - and necessary - topic ! It's human nature to dislike and avoid errors, those moments when reality fails to live up to our intentions. Stupid reality! Fortunately, or unfortunately, reality is REAL and so are errors, and since we can't really avoid them we'll do the next best thing and correct them when they crop up. However, I've discovered that not all errors merit our attention. Some do and some don't, and knowing the difference makes for good and effective practicing. We all want to practice better, don't we?

Let all readers, perfectionists included, agree that errors are an inevitable part of playing the piano. Ask any performing pianist how many errors he/she makes in a three hour performance. An HONEST musician will grin sheepishly and reply, "Lots and lots." That's because an error occurs ANYTIME an intention doesn't become reality. We want this note a certain volume - it comes out louder. We want this chord a little snappy - it comes out kinda dull. And, of course, we want to play C and instead play D. You understand me?

ANY time piano reality fails to match musical intentions we consider it an error

Please note as well that the audience, those who are there to listen and enjoy, likely do NOT have a pianist's "ear" and hear almost none of these "lots and lots" of errors that the professional knows about. Also, the professional would never think of admitting to these errors. Can you imagine if a pianist suddenly stopped playing, turned to the crowd, and said "Hey, wait a minute, let me try that again." Ouch !

These inevitable failures of intention that plague all human pianists I call RANDOM errors. Everybody has them, and no amount of practice will completely eliminate them on a permanent basis. Do you think great concert pianists never make a mistake? Hah - they most certainly do and those very few other concert pianists in the audience know it - but only those enlightened beings. To the rest of us mere mortals, these genius pianists can do no wrong.

As I listen to my piano students, I hear lots of random errors. I do not nitpick nor correct nor even point out such things. Such errors come and go and will not appear in a second or third rendition. This drives some students completely wacko! "I never make that mistake!" they squeal. Well, yeah, cause it's a random error and they somehow thought that ALL mistakes completely disappear for the "good pianist." Nice, if it were possible, which it is NOT.

Sorry if this pops some bubbles here, but I speak sooth. Perfection is unobtainable here on Planet Earth. The person who keeps thinking they will become perfect has some serious disappointment ahead - frustration upon frustration.

However, there most definitely ARE types of errors that need the piano teacher's correction. These are not RANDOM in the least but rather caused by either the student pianist's misunderstanding of the written music or some basic inability or bad habit that absolutely must be corrected to ensure a steady progression of piano ability. Some examples:

The student doesn't understand the timing of the notes

The quarter notes are the length of eighth notes or vice-versa. Some measures are longer or shorter than others. This usually happens when the piano student has never heard the piece before, or is practicing the left hand alone and definitely has never heard that. The solution is, of course, that the student should count their music after the teacher has told them there is a timing problem.

The student keeps hitting the wrong note every time they play the piece

The student hits a note that might be correct harmonically but simply isn't the right one. Since it sounds okay he/she believes they are playing correctly. The teacher must point out the proper note.

The student hits the wrong note and can't figure out how to hit the right one

In this case, the student knows they have a problem and will bring it up to the teacher. The teacher watches and listens and uses their experience to recommend the corrective action. It's then up to the student to go over that section with the right action until the hands gets the hang of it and hit the correct note each rendition.

The student is trying to play a syncopated rhythm (ragtime, for example) and just can't get the hands to work together

Again, the student knows he/she has problems but has no idea on how to solve those problems. A definite job for the teacher, who must investigate, diagnose, and recommend the proper treatment (the "medical model" works great here) and explain or even demonstrate that treatment so the student applies it during daily practice.

I've given four examples of errors the teacher must correct, two in which the student knows help is needed and two of the more insidious errors in which the student is oblivious to the need for correction. The teacher must be on the lookout for both kinds and do the right thing to set the student on the proper path.

During this, however, there will be many RANDOM errors. My advice to piano teachers is to ignore them completely. My advice to the online student is exactly the same. Random errors, those that happen on rendition A and not on renditions B or C are not worth your trouble to correct. Focus instead - be the lookout for - put your efforts into finding and fixing those important errors that occur each and every time you play the piece.

Definitely, do not "nitpick" the student over random errors. A total waste of time and gives the entire action an air of failure and frustration. Correcting the important errors properly, however, gives the lesson a wonderful feeling of success and progress.

Practice Piano Less but Learn Music More 3

2009-07-19T06:49:00.001-07:00

The Fundamentals of Successful Practice are Simple to State

Successful practice at the piano requires two and only two things:

Enough piano practice

Correct piano practice

If you don't go to the piano, you won't learn. If you do go to the piano but then do the wrong things...well, you'll learn all right - the wrong things, that is ! And since learning the wrong things leads to a lack of progress and feelings of defeat and frustration, most pianists find themselves with even less desire to go to the piano. Thus, these two are really one and we can actually say that the ONLY thing necessary to successful practice is:

Enough CORRECT piano practice

Now that's simple enough, isn't it? This definition includes the factor of time, the one thing that almost all piano students think is the main factor.

Correct practice occurs when you are practicing with no mistakes. Why? Because the mind/body system learns whatever we allow it to do. When we allow it to make errors it learns those errors. After all, your hands don't know anything about music. They just learn to do what they are told to do whether correct or incorrect from a piano point of view.

When beginning a piece, your hands and fingers know nothing about the mechanics of playing that music. They begin their learning from their very first instructions, whether those instructions are right or wrong mechanically and musically. Thus, you must strive from your first efforts to

PRACTICE PLAYING PERFECTLY !

You must do everything possible to train your mind and body to follow your intentions in every detail and you must repeat these things enough to "groove them in."

DON'T LET MISTAKES HAPPEN AT ALL

IF THEY DO, CORRECT THEM IMMEDIATELY BY MANY REPETITIONS OF THE CORRECT ACTIONS

Practice Piano Less but Learn Music More 2

2009-07-12T12:36:00.001-07:00

Time is a Factor in Good Piano Practice Habits but NOT the Main Factor

Efficiency

Awareness

Analysis

Focus

These are keywords in making the most of your piano practice, which would mean getting the most musical effect for the least mechanical effort. Notice what's missing from this list? Time. The list says nothing about time spent in practice. Yet, "time" is widely thought to be the key element in pianistic success. An old joke goes:

New York City Tourist: "How do I get to Carnagie Hall?"
New Yorker Music Fan: "Practice, practice, practice."

Old saying: "Practice Makes Perfect" I used to have a sign up in my studio which read "Practice Makes Perfect IF You Practice Playing Perfectly." I now have one that says, "Practice SMARTER, not LONGER !"

Any fool can understand that an hour practicing piano incorrectly will not be cured by TWO hours practicing piano incorrectly! In reality, the situation will be worsened by the second hour because the student will have memorized her own mistakes.

The first thing to get out of your head if you wish to improve the results from your piano practice is to think that "throwing time" at a piano problem will make it go away, or that somehow, like a miracle, a your musical trouble spots will clear up if you just play them over and over and over again.

Honestly now...mechanical, monotonous piano practice creates worse problems. "Finding time" for more practice is NOT your answer, even when this is possible. Of course, you must put in a reasonable amount of practice time to get anywhere, but if you already are devoting, say, a half-hour several days a week, your efforts should be on improving your piano practice efficiency instead of finding more time (for inefficient piano work.)

This is very good news to busy adult students who want to practice and learn piano as a hobby. Such folk have a job, a family, and a mortgage. What they don't have is more time. My message is to focus on making the time you do have more efficient. Same effort, but with bigger rewards.

Practice Piano Less but Learn Music More 1

2009-07-05T17:09:00.002-07:00

Proper Piano Practice Accomplishes More Music with Less Effort

Do you want to practice piano more efficiently, that is, spend LESS time learning MORE music? One part of doing this is being appropriate. HA! Now I have the attention of every piano student in the world! This is something I say and say and say to my own piano students. Unfortunately, some resist and resist. One day, however, they actually try it, it works, and suddenly their practice is dramatically better. They enjoy time practicing piano MORE because they fail LESS.

Consider this - you hear a symphony by using your ears. You taste a meal by using your tongue. You play the piano using your hands. It's a "feeling" thing. Your hands are all about feeling things. It's simply not appropriate to use your eyes to guide your fingers. The sense of sight doesn't work all that well for this purpose. Yes, many of you THINK it does - but notice how you still make the same old mistakes!

I'm talking about a thing called "proprioception" and you should do a little reading up on it. Google it right now.

Let me pass on to you the words of another teacher, a gentleman well known 50 years ago, but almost unrecognized today, Guy Maier. He sums it up this way in this book The Piano Teachers Companion:

"Naturally, I don't mean that a pianist should NEVER look at his hands, but only contend that he ought to train himself to be much more independent of his visual sense in playing the instrument.... It goes without saying that you will occasionally glance at the keyboard. But if you do succeed in reading new short pieces without once looking down you have made gratifying progress not only in reading but in keyboard orientation and control. Playing without looking brings more security to the player than any other single item in pianistic approach: it develops concentration, accuracy, ease, confidence, intensified listening objectivity...indispensable qualities to a pianist, but difficult of attainment."

Confidence, security, accuracy - all those things piano students pine for. All any piano student, whether taking online piano lessons or lessons with a piano teacher, has to do is:

Quit watching your hands with your eyeballs.

Focus instead on how your hands FEEL

Do you know what keys are under your fingers at all times? How it feels to reach for an octave or six keys? If you don't, you have been using the wrong sense, an INAPPROPRIATE sense. That's easy to fix. Just grit your teeth, have a little faith, and keep your eyes on the music but your mind on your hands. And all will become a new reality in your playing. You'll make some mistakes at first but you'll easily and permanently correct them.

“Satan's Ticker” - The Metronome

2009-06-28T08:54:00.002-07:00

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.

What good is a metronome?

Metronomes are used to assist the pianist's rhythm. They do this by being completely objective. They are not thrown off track by any problems the piano student might have. They just keeping ticking along at whatever pace you set them. If your piano music is easy, the metronome can slow you down. If your music is hard, they force you to keep going. Thus, the metronome helps you avoid the most common rhythm problem of all - playing the easy parts fast and the hard parts slow.

What's that you say? You can't play the hard parts so fast? Well, then you had better set your metronome more slowly until you can keep up during the hard sections of your music. In this, the metronome is also completely objective. It has numbers which are “beats per minutes” and you simply find one low enough to be able to keep up all the way through. My advice is to pencil this tempo into your music. Next practice maybe you can beat it. Always keep track of how fast you are playing properly and eventually your “piano practice tempo” will be as fast as your would like to perform the music.

What to purchase?

Get a metronome that is loud enough to be heard clear over the sound of your piano. This is by far the most important consideration. Another thing to consider is the metronome's range of bpm (beats per minute.) A wider range is definitely better, but wider in the higher direction. For example, a metronome that will tick at 280 bpm is more useful than one that only goes to 220. Let me explain why.

Let's say you have piano music with a constant eighth note LH part. You could set the metronome so 1 tick meant (represented) a single eighth note. Thus, you might have 8 ticks per 4/4 measure, which is, in this case, much easier to follow than 4 ticks per measure. Since you will have twice as many ticks per measure, however, you need to set your metronome twice as fast to get the same tempo in the music.

Of course, if your metronome doesn't go that high, you are out of luck. By the way, don't be intimidated by the ticking of the metronome at a fast pace. Once you play the music you will see that it really doesn't sound all that fast, no matter what the metronome sounds like.

Electric, battery, windup - not important compared to these other items. Also irrelevant is any particular metronome's “definition” of tempo marks like "allegro." Did you know that various company's metronomes has DIFFERENT definitions of these. Use your own definitions.

When to Use it and When to Quit Using it

Use the metronome to do these two things when they are a problem

Force you to even out your tempo

As I said above, piano students, both those learning at home with online lessons AND those learning with a live teacher in private piano lessons, have a strong tendency to play the hand parts slowly and the easy parts rapidly. They practice this way and it becomes a VERY bad habit, one difficult to break. How do you know if you are playing evenly and keeping the beat? Easy. If you have a digital piano or portable keyboard, record your piano playing and then play it back. You'll hear it easily. If you don't have recording ability, get a family member or friend to clap along with your playing. It will soon become obvious if you have uneven playing.

If you do find yourself uneven, then try just starting the metronome and then turning it off. This develops your sense of evenness. If this doesn't work, then keep the metronome on for the entire piece. Makes it mechanical but it will be EVEN and that's an improvement. Once evenness is a "given" you can turn off the ticker.

Keep track of your progress in learn the music

I've had many piano lessons where I instructed the student to slow down and instead they played their piece at the same tempo. For various reasons, the student could NOT actually slow down. In these cases, I set the metronome and found the slowest setting they could keep up with and remain accurate. We penciled this into their books as their current state of success. I then gave them a higher tempo to strive for next lesson.

You can do this at home. It's very satisfying to learn this way, as you can see your progress each practice and know for sure that you are improving. Finally, you are at full performance tempo and the job is done. If you have no trouble staying even, then just start the metronome to get the feel of the current tempo and turn it off.

Piano Mistakes NOT to Correct !

2009-06-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

Mistakes at the Piano are Inevitable but not All Mistakes are Worth Correcting

Many folks are perfectionists by nature, and the adult piano students I teach seem to be part of this group. They all hate to make mistakes at the piano, especially in front of their piano teacher at their piano lesson. It frustrates them no end, and I've written extensively about this "problems at the piano lesson" situation. However, unless they are all "secret Mozarts" these pianists also make mistakes at home and when practicing or performing for others. I know I do, after over 40 years as a professional pianist.The difference is that such mistakes do NOT cause me upset. This essay, then is about what to do about mistakes made, mistakes which are inevitable.

To understand this properly, first we must be clear that a mistake, for a pianist, is when the reality of the sound you make doesn't match your desire. For example:

You wanted a G, but you got an A.

You wanted to use the second finger, but the third played instead.

You wanted a quarter note, but you held it a bit too long.

You wanted it forte (loud) but it came out mezzo forte (medium loud.)

You wanted a bit more of a phrase break, but you played too legato.

Your accelerando was a tad sluggish.

That sforzando chord could have been a bit more emphasized.

The certain sense of agitation needed for proper development was missing in the left hand, third measure, that F#minor arpeggio...

You can see how detailed things can get and thus how many opportunities there are for "piano mistakes." I purposely started with an example of what most piano students consider to THE mistake and moved towards subtle failures that many students never get to considering. For the professional pianist, however, the last few situations could be VERY upsetting. My point, obviously, was that some mistakes are bigger and significant than others. Not all piano mistakes are created equal.

Thus, your first decision is where to draw the line at mistakes you want to correct and mistakes you simply ignore or save for another day.. A good piano teacher does this automatically. When the student plays their piece, the teacher must choose what to correct and what to ignore. The piano student may have finally gotten the rhythm right but still has is still playing too softly. The teacher can either congratulate the student on their success or shift the focus to this new "mistake." I believe a caring teacher will "give the student a win" and move on, keeping in the back of their mind the need to soon approach this volume situation, but in due course.

Many of you are taking online piano lessons. Without a piano teacher to point out the things you do correctly and incorrectly, you likely wonder what mistakes should you worry about, and which should be left for another day.

Here's my “PRIORITY OF MISTAKES”

1. The fundamental mistake is learning music you dislike.

2. Right below that is playing with an UNEVEN tempo.

3. Finally we get to every piano student's favorite mistake - hitting wrong notes. Notice that this is only the third most important. Almost every piano student gets this one wrong and thinks there is no worse mistake than hitting a wrong note.

4. Using the wrong fingering, which includes playing with a really bad technique. If your fingering gets the note played but results in your hand not being in position to play the rest of the piece, what have you gained? What if you learn your music but also learn a new bad habit which will prevent you from playing other pieces of music?

Now there are LOTS of other things that could be called mistakes but I suggest that these are the realm of the professional pianist, or at least of the advanced intermediate played and above. Many of you reading this would be perfectly happy and your music sound perfectly wonderful if you only were able to correct those four types of mistakes listed above.

Adult Piano Students and Memory Problems

2009-06-16T16:30:00.002-07:00

Good News! Your Memory is NOT Likely to be Your Main Piano Problem

It's a sad day but an inevitable one for every adult piano student when they realize that the piece of piano music they studied so hard three months ago cannot be easily played easily today. They've forgotten much of it.. Many of my piano students, especially those over 50, fear that age and deterioration has set in. Thus, I give the following lecture during a piano lesson about once a month. You had better read on for you are going to feel better after you are done.

First, let me tell you that 22 years of teaching adult piano students and watching them worry and fret has shown me that their worries are unfounded in almost every case.

The fault is very likely HUMAN memory, not YOUR memory in particular

Everybody forgets pieces they have mastered and even memorized - EVERYBODY! Here is a quote by a famous piano teacher:

"Very few pianists have ever enjoyed so many multiple talents as these two. But they, too, could forget music they had carefully memorized and played hundreds of times. What they did not do, however, was panic."

Who is the "they", the "these two?" None other than Sergei Rachmaninoff and Vladimir Horowitz, two of the greatest pianists of all time. The author is Ozan Marsh, a concert pianist turned university music professor and the quote is from his wonderful book The Pianist's Spectrum.

Human memory itself is inherently fallible - age is seldom the issue

Children forget just as readily as seniors buy you wouldn't know that unless you taught piano to all ages, as I do.

Unless you continually refresh your repertoire you will lose it

I can attest to this. I am, at this moment, relearning my own compositions for an upcoming concert. I wrote many of these pieces in 2000-2001 and have relearned them at least 10 times since. Here I go again! But I don't worry about it, because I KNOW that the relearning process WILL happen as it always has - it just has to be done. The “how” of that process is on the next page.

As for your basic skills of playing the piano, do you remember that old saying about riding a bicycle, that once you know you never forget, even in old age? This is true with piano as well. To carry the comparison out a bit more, you may forget the exact route to ride downtown but you don't forget HOW to ride. Get me? The fingers might be rusty but they haven't forgotten.

Quit worrying. Do this instead:

1. Make a short list of pieces you always want to be able to play well, 5 to 10 such pieces. These will be your repertoire, what you play when someone asks or you just want play piano for fun.

2. Gather all the sheet music into one notebook.

3. Each day, run through as many pieces as possible. This is NOT practice, this is polishing and memorizing. It won't get done in a single day, nor even a single week, but if you simply ensure that you have refreshed your memory daily and perhaps made some improvement that day, it WILL get done.

4. Once the full list is being played well, then take the sheet music away. You will be VERY happy to find that muscle memory has set in and you and can play huge amounts completely from memory. Those parts you still need the sheet music for can be restudied. Eventually, all will be memory.

5. Now your task is to maintain this memory, which means you have to run over this about once a week.

6. Permanently.

Sorry I can't offer some magic approach to learning and keeping a piano repertoire. There isn't one, no matter what some “teachers” might say, but this, the tried and true approach, WILL work for you.

Finally, I offer this if you are still afraid that age dementia is setting in. Do you drive? Good. You'll be fine. My two students who come to my house, the 87 and the 82 year old, do just fine, thank you.

Dan Starr
Piano/Keyboard Instructor and Performer

Change Your Mind, Change Your Piano Lessons

2009-05-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

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, 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?

First off, It's possible that your ideas and considerations and self-imposed limitations might just be keeping you from being the pianist you'd really like to be. It's not what people usually call "talent" that often slows or stops a person, but their own "flinch" and fear at various aspects of piano practicing, and performing. "No so!" you say. "I simply don't have the TIME to become the pianist I'd like to be." My friend, even this is based on your attitudes, in this case, the fact that you've decided that other matters take precedence over your allocation of time. Can you see the truth that, even if you've made the sanest of decisions, it's still your DECISION? You could decide to spend more time practicing your piano !

Yes, this essay is about changing your mind to improve to improve your piano lessons. I'm going to list some specific changes you can make, if appropriate.

Don't be a person who will only be happy when they can finally play as well as they would like

Talk about a set-up for unhappiness! Adults learning to play the piano sometimes come loaded with ideas of what constitutes "good playing" which they have picked up from professional pianists. However, most aspiring pianists are hobbyists and in no way willing to devote years to perfecting the pianistic craft. Yet, amateurs often feel all sorry for themselves because their playing sounds like amateur playing and only professional skills will make them happy. Hobby, Hobby, HOBBY ! I can't say it enough. Enjoy your hobby for what it is. Maybe you aren't Mozart or Liberace or Jerry Lee Lewis or George Winston. Who cares? You can still enjoy making music at the piano

Don't be afraid of your piano teacher

Adults may have had some seriously bad experiences with past piano teachers - even teachers in general. They come to piano lessons with fear which doesn't help. Some piano students can get so afraid that they simply can't play. I once had a student so "on edge" that they played poorly and then ran out of my studio, never to be heard from again! If your teacher is scary, dour, less than positive, this just makes any fears you have worse. A teacher should be friendly, patient, and businesslike. Find one that is.

These are just two examples of self-defeating attitudes. There are others but one huge one deserves mention.

Realize fully that playing the piano is a PHYSICAL skill that results in MUSIC

You SAY you know this? Well, maybe, but week after week some of my adult students demonstrate that they don't really understand the concept. And, not understanding, they go about practicing all wrong, wasting much time and creating much frustration for themselves.

What happens when someone "plays the piano?"

1. They usually look at symbols (sheet music) that instruct them what to DO.

2. They then manipulate the levers of a complex machine using their fingers.

3. If these manipulation occur accurately, with the precise movements of the fingers, hands and arms, then notes are produced by the machine which the manipulator considers to be music.

4. A positive emotional reaction occurs, making the manipulator want to indulge in further manipulation.

A student once told me that thinking of it this way takes the fun out of it. Really? Do you watch "Dancing With the Stars?" Do you admire the moves of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Mark McGuire? What's not fun about being physical? Dexterity is a reward in itself, all in addition to the joy of music. And the feeling of rhythm coursing through the body? Ahhhh! Somehow piano students often miss the point of actually PLAYING the piano - which is that you have to PLAY it. It's NOT just about the music, but about MAKING the music. And if you don't enjoy learning how to quickly and efficiently MAKE it, then you are actually a consumer of music, not a producer.

How to Work with Popular Sheet Music

2009-05-25T06:21:00.005-07:00

Learn to cope with the differences between popular sheet music and your piano lesson books.

I suspect many, if not most, of you pianists and piano students have had the unpleasant experience of bringing home your brand new piano sheet music and then having trouble playing it well. Possibly it made you wonder if you had missed something in your piano lessons. Maybe your teacher missed some part of your instruction - or worse, maybe you are missing some talent. Today I have a positive message for you all - it's NOT your talent. It's your knowledge, which can be fixed.

There are a number of critical differences between the music in your piano lesson books and pieces of popular sheet music. It is these differences which are causing your troubles and once you know how to handle them, your troubles should end.

The piece of music you have on your piano music rack is just too hard

If you have just begun learning piano, chances are you will not be able to easily master much of any popular sheet music. It's not a lack of talent, it's a lack of training. Adult students possess vast musical knowledge from a lifetime of intense listening. Unfortunately, this exposure to music does nothing to give you the ability to manipulate the piano keys properly. This "gap" between the head and the hands can be painful and frustrating, and sometimes leads the beginning piano student to attempt to perform familiar music that is just too hard for their level of skill. If there is any one point in piano lessons where patience is needed, it is here. Keep at your lessons. Get better, and unless you have a deep affection for very hard classical or jazz, you WILL be able to play what you want - in due time.

There are, however, some ways to cut down this time.

“Easy Piano” Arrangements are easier

Many arrangers make their living helping adult piano students play favorite music by putting many of favorites in sheet music “collections” labeled “Easy Piano.” All have the words “Easy Piano” right on the cover. Please note, however, that “easy” is a relative term and even an easy arrangement might be hard work for a beginner. Also, each arranger and even each publishing house has a bit different idea of what skills are “easy.” If you find a specific person who does easy piano arrangements that work for you, stick with that arranger.

Popular song arrangements are usually easier than classical piano

The reason for this is that popular songs are written to be singable, and the human voice has a limited range. Classical piano music is limited only by the possibilities of the piano. This tends to make classical piano more difficult than popular song arrangements, especially easy piano arrangements. Naturally, there are exceptions but this is generally true.

However, a couple things about popular sheet music can cause the piano student enormous, perhaps unsolvable trouble.

Popular sheet music usually has no pedal instructions and limited or no fingering instructions

If you are used to just following the orders on the page and there no orders are available - well, you'll have trouble. This is a very, very good reason to insist that your instructor help you understand how to make up your own orders, at least as far as pedaling and fingering are concerned. You should know how to pedal any piece. Also, you should know enough about fingering that you can devise a fingering that works for you. A good piano instructor knows that the student must be made independent of written directions in pedaling and fingering.

You will probably have to do some arranging yourself, since nobody is actually singing the music

With a song, a very large portion of the music is the words and their meanings. When you play a piano arrangement of the song, you might find yourself playing each verse over and over and the music becoming monotonous because the lyrics are missing. The solution is to decide to only play so many verses, so many choruses, etc. Say the song has four verses (each with different lyrics) and three choruses (each with the same lyrics.) You, as a pianist, might just limit your rendition to two verses and two choruses.

No one will be there to play it so you know how it “goes”

Way too many pianists fooled their teachers into giving them the timing of the music by ear. Upon request of the student, the foolish teacher played the tune enough times so the student memorized the timing and then just repeated what they had heard. This might have succeeded in earning the praise of parents but did nothing to help make a pianist who can learn songs on their own. The solution is to make sure you know how to COUNT your music yourself and are fully willing to do so. This is one skill that every pianist who wants to play for a lifetime must have.

You can see that the key is to insist that your piano instructor ensures you have the skills you will need to play popular sheet music on your own. You must become an INDEPENDENT learner.

Refreshing your repertoire

2009-05-18T16:18:00.004-07:00

How to get your songs back quickly, easily, and enjoyably

You used to play "Stella by Starlight" all the time, but life has interfered for several months and you only now are getting back to the piano. What would be more natural than to pull out the sheet music and play your old favorite? Only something sad happens: you start to play and immediately start to make mistakes. Worse, you get to the middle section and you can't honestly play it at all. Horrors ! You've forgotten your old fave!

It happens to us all, even the truly great professionals. Unless we continually play our own "repertoire" we forget it, to greater or lesser degree. We need to refresh that repertoire, and any ideas or methods that would speed up the process would be very useful indeed. I am going to give you a quick and successful method, right after I've explained 3 things to you shouldn't be doing if you want to refresh your repertoire quickly, successfully, and enjoyably.

1. Don't spend time worrying about your memory.

Every human being forgets their repertoire and you are no exception. It's not a sign of creeping senility. The greatest pianists of all time played over their pieces incessantly. The fact is that humans forget things and considering that a piece of music has hundreds, if not thousands of notes, each with its unique fingering, duration, volume, etc., the real surprise that we could even play the thing in the first place. Accept that you're only a human pianist, not an ipod !

2. Don't confuse refreshing your repertoire and practicing a new piece.

Practice is what you do to learn the music in the first place. Refreshing is what you do to get it back. Different goals, and thus the means of accomplishing the goals are different, too. Let me restate this - "practice" is intense effort to learn the music and correct errors, while "refreshment" is finding ways of getting that learning back. Most complaints about slow refreshment of repertoire boil down to a person using the techniques of practicing instead of the techniques of refreshment.

3. Don't try to refresh music you never really learned in the first place.

Sometimes you try to "get back" a piece that you never really had. Maybe you could play the first few bars pretty well but struggled through the rest. In this case, you need to be applying the techniques of quality practice to eliminate the struggle. That, however, is a separate series of essays. The whole point here is that you will waste your time trying to bring back something you never really had.

WHAT TO DO INSTEAD !

1. Write up a list of the music you want to refresh. Keep the list to a reasonable length.

2. Gather up the sheet music and put it together in a separate folder so you can go from piece to piece.

3. Each day, play through each piece no more than twice.

4. If your hands make a mistake, stop and replay that area at the most a couple times, then move on.

You can expect day by day progress in remembering the music. "Remembering" - that's the key idea here. You already know the piece, but that memory, whether we mean your memory of WHAT to do or your hands' "memory" of HOW to do it, is still there and only needs to be recalled. Your action of playing each piece over and over is simply you reminding you, both psychologically and physiologically, of the "what" and "how" of the music.

It's important for this approach to work to remember that you are trying to improve a bit at a time. Ask yourself this at the end of each session, "Did I play my pieces better than I did last session?" NOT, "Is the music as good as it used to be?" See the difference? It's a matter of making the correct comparisons. If things are improving steadily, then quit worrying, since the trend is in the right direction - just keep doing what is producing the improvement and enjoy the process as it unfolds.

Also, note that if your renditions do NOT improve using this approach, likely the music was NOT well practiced in the first place, and you can't recall what you never really knew. This is a very different situation and you need to return to using good practice techniques. I cover these in detail in my ebook How to WIN at Piano Lessons: Successful Strategies for Non-Mozarts" which is available directly from me. Cost is $25, likely the best $25 you'll spend on learning piano, since I offer up the most successful actions I've learned from 22 years of teaching adult students just like you. Email me directly for more info: danstarrorg@yahoo.com

Learning Piano: What Works, What Doesn't

2009-05-09T07:52:00.003-07:00

I've been online, examining what is there, and I realize that I need to comment on the vast array of free lessons, videos, paid services, etc. designed for the Internet user. From this understanding, I have become aware that I've NEVER commented on the usefulness of any methodologies for learning the piano, despite having written two books and kept this weekly blog for the past few years. It's high time I did, from my perspective as a teacher of adult learners, an author, and a professional performer with several decades of real-world experience. Thus, this essay, which may prove controversial, since it will, likely, step on some toes. Note that I'm not naming names - if you want names (or my take on specific methods) email me separately.

Let me start this essay by saying that I am a disciple of what works. Theories of education, methodologies followed blindly, elaborate systems of study, mean little or nothing to me except as they accomplish goals. Additionally, any accomplishment should be real, not just in mind, and efforts to improve the system or method should be in the direction of getting goals accomplished more efficiently. "Goals" are the crux of the matter, and because they are, to determine "workability" you would first have to both state those goals clearly AND name WHOSE goals are we interested in making into reality. After 22 YEARS of asking adult piano students what their goals are and then working with those adults to make sure those goals do become a reality, I feel about 100% certain in stating succinctly THE goal of adult piano learners:

To enjoy playing on the piano music each adult enjoys.

DUH, you say, no surprise there. You would be wrong. The vast majority of the piano teaching world seems to revolve around the idea of teaching the student to enjoy the music that the piano teacher enjoys. Don't believe me? Do the same survey online I've just completed and see what conclusions you come to. Then simply ask 10 of your friends who had piano lessons as children why they quit.

The reason for this strangeness is children and the fact that the piano teaching world is still wrapped up in teaching the piano to children. Why would this be a problem for the adult who wants piano skill?

Consider for a minute this idea of teaching the child to enjoy the music the teacher presents. It makes sense in the case of the child. Children are almost always musically UNaware. Thus, the job of the piano instructor is much, much more than simply teaching how to play the piano. Instructors must teach the subject of MUSIC at the same time as teach the "instrument training" necessary to play it. The adult student needs no education in music. Adult piano learners have been listening carefully to music and enjoying its details and nuances all their lives. Now, what they wish to do is learn how to replicate the music they love on the piano and not spend a lifetime (that they no longer have) learning to do it. THIS is the source of workability in piano systems and methods - or the lack of it - for the adult piano student. Teaching an adult as if he/she were a child is not only unnecessary, it seldom works.

So what does NOT work? There seem to be two non-working approaches being presented at the moment. One system is too hard, takes too long, and often doesn't lead to the music the adult wishes to play. The other method represents an over-reaction to the first and promises everything with virtually no effort (except to pay the "teacher.") Somewhere in the middle is a "sweet spot" where proper effort pays off big for the adult learner. This is the spot I (and my students) believe I hit and which I have been describing in this Blog for the last few years.

The first, the harder system, is based, as I've said, on the teaching of children and in many cases is appropriate to them but not to adults. I got my first inkling of this right at the start of my career. I was teaching in a music store at the time and did some counter work when I didn't have students. One night a gentleman came in to look for adult oriented sheet music. He was an MD, a surgeon, from one of our best local hospitals. He had just come from his first piano lesson and was rather upset. His teacher had given him his first piano book. It was entitled "Teaching Little Fingers to Play." You can just imagine his reaction!

During the next two decades, I've heard countless similar stories from adults. I recall a few which stand out as examples:

The retired lady who wanted to play gospel music. She took six months of lessons from a relative who gave her nothing but scale work. No gospel.
The businessman who also got six months of scales before quitting and coming to me. In a few years, he was playing Billy Joel at the Billy Joel level, one of the best students I've ever had.
The doctor who had years of formal classical training yet had never written a song, never learned to use chords, never arranged a pop piece. Yet, very soon, she was doing all of the above and in a variety of styles. A very competent pianist who confided that she had never even thought she could do these things, but was happily surprised that she could.

I have heard literally hundreds of stories of failures brought on by stuffy, stodgy, teaching systems, utilized by people who are not particularly creative themselves, and utterly unable to inspire even children. Perhaps you, yourself, had such a teacher. If so, it's no wonder you have doubts and reservations about your own abilities.

The final proof I have to offer you of the abject failure of this "system" ("philosophy" or whatever you wish to call it) is the lack of players in this society. Yes, technological advances have made it easier and easier to simply be a consumer of music. However, the desire to be a producer remains as high as ever. Why aren't there more music makers? I believe the answer is that becoming a producer has been made way too difficult, thus discouraging even children from doing what comes naturally. And why? Simply put, the core of the system is a fixation on the teaching of classical music at a professional level, something almost no one really either wants or can achieve. Enough failure and the average person decides playing the piano is not for them.

For confirmation, I turn to one of the great masters, the composer Robert Schumann who said one of the wisest things I've ever heard, "Strive to play easy pieces well and beautifully. It is better than to render difficult pieces only indifferently well." Such a goal is completely in accord with the goal of almost all adult students and can be achieved by almost all of them without devoting most of one's time and efforts to the piano. In other words, even with classical music, you might not be able to succeed at Beethoven's sonatas but you certainly can learn "Fur Elise" - that is, unless your instructor gives you the impression that such a thing is not worth doing.

Which brings us to the pendulum swing now in vogue, which is also NON workable. That approach is to offer every skill and enjoyment that frustrated piano student wants with little to no effort. You can find this all over the Internet these days, with "teachers" making ridiculous claims about their successes at teaching thousands with their "revolutionary" new methods. This method is false and results in failure. I'd like to describe why so those who have hopefully taken up these "new" approaches and still been unable to learn are encouraged that they were not to blame for their troubles. As these "new" approaches form the new thing, I'd like to deconstruct them extensively. As boring as the "Child/Classical" teaching approach is, at least it works if continued. This "new" approach doesn't even do that. Let me tell you why.

First, how "new" is this? Consider these quotes, taken from my extensive collection of sheet music, with punctuation from the original source:

"Shows how to supply a full, "swing" bass to ANY piece of piano music, thus enabling ANYONE to play at sight ALL the latest Popular Songs in professional style"

"Every lesson follows in order, teaches you "How to Play" in the shortest possible time the most modern arrangements of popular songs. You will learn in a short time how to improvise, harmonize, fill-in, to do breaks, runs, blues, etc in the same manner as is generally employed by the best modern professional orchestras or radio artists today."

"...is a marvel in the field of instruction...no other book like it. It's the greatest contribution to the advancement of modern piano playing ever published."

Wow. And double wow. You'd think with all these advancements that everybody who wanted to play piano would now play. But...here are the dates on these claims, in the same order as the claims: 1913, 1932, 1936. I rest my case. No revolution occurred for some strange reason. So much for both "newness" and the validity of these past approaches.

Another claim is that you (yes, YOU!!!!!) will be able to do anything a professional pianist can do, easily, in almost no real time. I love this claim, as it's so smug and smarmy. In addition to being highly insulting to professional pianists who apparently missed out and foolishly worked like dogs to perfect their craft, this "something for nothing" pitch insults YOU, and assumes you are immature enough to think it just might work. What's next? Brain surgery for dummies? Rocket science for rest of us? C'mon.

In my 22 years of professional teaching, I've taught over 2,000 adults and I have to tell you that the majority were VERY smart, VERY talented people. Doctors, engineers, scientists, accountants, more than half of my students were professional people. Many were business owners who frankly could have bought and sold me, my home, everything I owned many times over before dinner, some out of their petty cash drawer. Capable people. THEY could not learn these "trade secrets of the pros" overnight. So, unless you are the best pianist since Mozart you will have to take more than a few weeks to get good. And the chance you will get as good as someone who has devoted their whole live to the subject is almost non-existent. Sorry, but I couldn't learn YOUR profession overnight, could I, even if I wanted to - plus, you'd always be ahead of me, a late starter.

Besides, that's not really even your goal, is it? Plus, as a sensible adult, you plan on spending some time at the effort. Also, isn't the action of learning part of what makes it interesting and keeps your mind and body sharp?

There's more to decry, but this essay is running way too long as it is and I've made enough points - except for one: playing by ear.

There's more and more of this out there on the Internet. Learn to play by ear. Don't bother learning to read music. Translation: being illiterate is a GOOD thing. Being UNable to communicate via written symbols will somehow make your musical life better. Put that way, you can see how silly the claim is. Yeah, having a good music ear is a good thing. I have one and I value it and use it as necessary. But I ALSO can get the information I need via the written symbol. I have multiple ways of learning what I need to learn. I can tell you that, properly taught, reading music is no big deal to either adults or children. Improperly taught it is a nightmare and if improper teaching has happened to you, no wonder you are looking for a way around that barrier.

The bottom line, then, is this: your goals are just fine and can be achieved, but it will take some work done effectively and for a period of time. There is no free lunch, but you won't have to spend every waking hour to learn lunch, either. There is a middle ground and that's what were are all about here.

Practical Piano Ideas #2

2009-05-03T10:02:00.002-07:00

Introduction: One aspect of successfully teaching adult piano is devising new and concise ways of expressing important ideas - ways of "putting things" that students will instantly understand and make their own. As the years go by, I note which phrases or statements seem to work best and these "sayings" or "maxims" are used over and over. In this essay and the next few, I'd like to give you with some of my best "Piano Maxims" (along with a brief explanation) the same way I'd present them during an actual lesson.

Practical Piano Idea #2:

If you are making mistakes, you are practicing too damn fast.

This is an another way to state that old truth "Practice makes perfect IF you are practice playing perfectly." And HOW do you practice perfectly? SLOW DOWN until you can get your hand or hands to do exactly what you tell them to do.

Hands have habits and sometimes these habits are not helpful to our piece of music. Left to themselves, the hands will simply do what they know best - only, in this case, that means hitting a wrong note, using a wrong fingering, making a troublesome motion, etc. You have to retrain your hands to perform the music as you'd like it. Allowing the hands to play at full speed kicks in the bad habit because it's all they have time for. Playing it slow allows you to "override" the hands' tendency towards the bad habit until the new, and appropriate habit, is well established.

You'll know this has occurred when your hands no longer wish to do the wrong thing but prefer to do the right thing. You will perceive it as the task getting easier and not requiring such concentration. At that time, you can ask your hands to do this right thing at a faster pace, then still faster, until you are playing at full speed - this time, however, with the hands doing the RIGHT thing, not the WRONG thing.

I really can't make it any simpler than that. The tough part is actually slowing down. Students don't want to, and some, even when they want to, can't actually do it. It's like they are "locked into" whatever tempo their memory of the song tells them is correct. I say to such students, "That's the PERFORMING tempo you are hearing in your head, and obviously you can't do that physically and correctly yet. You need to use a PRACTICING tempo to get it right in the first place."

The metronome helps enormously. I highly recommend it. First, figure out the tempo at which you can NOT perform the song correctly by timing it on the metronome. Now start over at maybe half that number. Likely this will force the issue on you and you WILL be able to perform it perfectly. Now up the metronome's tempo till you find a point that is a bit of a challenge. Master that through practicing perfectly. Then increase the metronome setting just a little more, and so on, until you are back at full tempo. Easy, and has nothing to do with how you "hear it in your head."

If you don't own a metronome, buy one. If you don't know how to use it, a single lesson with your teacher should solve it all. And your teacher will be very grateful for any good teacher depends on the metronome for problems just like yours.

Practical Piano Ideas #1

2009-04-27T07:59:00.004-07:00

Idea #1: "Get the maximum music effect with the minimum mechanical effort."

This is the very essence of efficiency. Decide what effect you want to create musically and then work out how to best create that effect. Too many pianist and keyboardists end up believing that quantity equals quality. They do far, far more than is needed, often sacrificing good music for the flash and fire of technique. As Mozart said in that famous movie: "Too many notes."

Like my student whose teacher had her doing six months of scales before ever playing an actual song.

Like another student who went to music school and learned tons of classical pieces when he really just wanted to write and play pop music competently.

Like many lounge pianists who bury a song's famous melody in a mess of runs up and down the piano, losing the beat in the process.

A composer/virtuoso as famous as Robert Schumann agrees with this idea. He said, "Strive to play easy pieces well and beautifully; it is better than to render difficult pieces only indifferently well."

This is really good news to the average person. You, too, can play "well and beautifully" without having to devote your life to the piano. Here's the short course on how:

1. Learn to play to an early intermediate level.
2. Choose easy pieces you love and which move you.
3. Perfect your playing of the notes.
4. Pour your affection for the piece into your playing.

Almost everyone can do it. Almost every adult has the talent and smarts, if they will stick it out for awhile. 22 years of teaching has proven this fact to my satisfaction.

A Story to encourage adult players

2009-04-13T11:58:00.002-07:00

Friends, let me tell you a short story and then draw some conclusions which should give you an emotional boost RIGHT NOW, as well as a good formula for piano success !

I went to a dinner party last night at a student/friend's house. I won't bore you with the story of the fine, fine meal or the even finer music we made afterward. No, the talk AT the dinner table was the highlight of the evening for me. My student's wife told me a tale of her childhood and of learning the piano.

Specifically, she related the utter stress and upset of having to play for "judges" whose word was law and whose tastes, apparently, were THE thing to be pleased. Fail and earn the strong disapproval and disappointment of your parents and peers. She explained that this "competition" occurred at the same time she and her fellow pianists were studying up for the exams to get into the college of her choice. However, they really weren't that worried about THAT - no, this musical thing was what had them concerned.

During our talk, I described how Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach were well known improvisers, understood chords, etc., much like pop musicians do today. She was astounded since no one (she's 60) had ever told her this. Seems like the whole idea back then was to follow directions, please the judges in your ability to do as you are told. Improvisation, like composition, was something only the true geniuses did. And since you obviously were NOT a true genius, why even bother.

Another point that struck her was what her future might hold if a miracle happened and she "went to the top of her class" in the piano. She mentioned the touring circuit for classical musicians as the GOAL of all this competition and, even at that young age, she could see that such a life was really no life at all unless you got your kicks out of having no roots, being always on the move, etc. Didn't appeal to her so she got the judgment over with and went to nursing school, got married (to my student who himself is 60) and raised 5 boys. All in all, a life to be proud of.

So. How many of you reading this had something like this happen in the early years? How did it make you feel? And what makes me wonder is -

WHY?????????????????????

Why do we do this to stiffle creativity. Why do parents tolerate and even encourage this behavior from self-appointed experts? Why do we insist that the only music worth studying is classical (which is, by the way, wonderful for what it is, but is far from being all there is to music.) And, I have to ask -

HAS THIS CHANGED???????????

Look adult readers. I've been at this for quite a while. I belong to a group online with over 1500 music instructors, the vast, vast majority of which specialize in teaching children. By the topics discussed, by the tone of the postings, I'd say we haven't changed our approach very much at all. Recitals are still done, much to the distress of children. (Don't believe me? Ask 10 friends who have taken piano in their youth what they felt about their recitals.) Materials are discussed that focus primarily on classical music. Perhaps some of my fellow teachers from the list are reading these words. If so, then you are likely one of the few exceptions who either already sees the truth in what I say or is beginning to suspect that there is something gravely wrong with piano teaching today, something that has been wrong for decades.

Adults, let me do something very weird here and quote one of the great masters. Odd, since I've have said a few negative things in that directions. But note that I was only decrying being fixated on the classics exclusively. The composer Robert Schumann had this to say about being a student pianist:

"Strive to play easy pieces well and beautifully. It is better than to render difficult pieces only indifferently well."

It has been my experience that playing easy pieces well and beautifully is very much possible for almost all piano students. Many of the classics, however, are NOT easy pieces. Yet students of the piano break their backs and destroy their enjoyment of making music by not being able to play them very well. Hey, you read fine novels but you don't feel any need to write one, do you.?

I recommend this approach - enjoy listening to difficult, complicated music Then enjoy playing easy pieces well and beautifully. You CAN do that.

Fix Those Left Hand Troubles

2009-03-30T15:38:00.002-07:00

Left hands: hard to read, harder to play. Anything that might help would be welcome, right? Here's what I have found to work.

Reading:

Ditch the "little sentences" if you are using them. Nobody can do that much mind work and still keep up with the beat of the music. Your memory works just fine, so long as you INSIST that it do the job. For instance, is there any good reason why you couldn't just memorize that a note that sits on the middle line of the bass staff means to play the first D to the left of Middle C (which is where you nose should be pointed!) Nope. Rote memory, just like the multiplication tables, capitals of the states, etc. is THE answer to any problems with LH reading That is the ONLY way to read any note identities well enough to read well - on either staff. Every other system is just too slow and too limited. FORCE your mind memorize by not allowing the use of the crutch of translating everything into letters first and locations second.

Think about it this way - knowing the correspondence between note location on the staff to that note's location on the keyboard will then give you the letter name of that note, but knowing only the letter name of the note will NOT give you the location of the proper key to play. Obviously, there are many keys named by the same letter and it does very much matter which you strike.

If you can memorize one location/location pair, you can memorize ALL the pairs.

See my book for additional help in reading, either treble or bass staff:
http://danstarr.com/pages/ebooks.html

Playing:

I'd bet your left hand feels to you like "a club at the end of your arm." In other words, you don't have very much trust in your ability to do dexterous motions using that hand and its fingers. Likely, you have good reason not to trust it. It's let you down many times and played the wrong note.

Unfortunately, your disdain for the left hand quickly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Since you don't really believe it can do the job, you tend to avoid using it. Thus, it stays incompetent. Many, perhaps most, pianists know that the hands must sometimes be trained separately. For too many, however, this often translates to "learn the RH and then add the LH to it." This works when the LH is simple. However, if the LH is NOT simple, the pianist all too often still doesn't do the common sense thing and practice the LH separately. More likely, he or she continues to go over and over the music with both hands hoping it will somehow resolve itself as a problem.

'Course, that just doesn't happen.

Now there is another factor operating here and that is the fact that the left hand is seldom the melody of the song. This means that, even if we play the LH perfectly, it "doesn't sound like the song." It's not supposed to. The LH's main purpose at the piano (there are, of course, exceptions) is to provide harmony and rhythm to the RH's rendition of the melody. It's an accompaniment to the main show - which is the RH melody. Modern man demands this accompaniment function to enjoy his music. Thus,we need to give the LH whatever time it needs, whether we like it or not, IF we wish to have the full sound we have come to expect from a piece of piano music. Few pianists are happy being only "a right hand pianist."

My advice, then, is simply this. Practice the RH till you can play it your sleep. Then practice the LH by itself till you can...well...play it in your sleep. I mean get really good at that LH part. Perfect timing, perfect note indentities, perfect fingering. Suck it up and do the work for real.
Then, and only then, will you have some chance to put the hands together well. I'll talk about that aspect next week.

Tips for the Adult Pianist

2009-03-22T06:19:00.005-07:00

This week I want to present five tips that can mean success or failure to adult piano students. Although short and "pithy," these items carry a world of value and are basically "make or break" concepts, valid for all levels, all ages, all styles of piano and keyboard work. Here they are:

*********************************

1. If you are surprised when you make a mistake, your music is mastered. If you are surprised when you get it right, you have a ways to go."

2. Practice Makes Perfect - but ONLY if you Practice Playing Perfectly.

3. If you are making mistakes when practicing you are practicing too damn fast.

4. There are only three things to do at the piano:

figure out the instructions,
teach the hands and fingers to follow those instructions, and
teach the hands and fingers so well that you can free your mind to play with expression and feeling.

5. There are only three reasons to play the piano: practice, performance, and playing for pleasure. Each works differently.

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I promise a new essay on that last point next week.

Adults vs Children - What’s the Difference?

2009-03-08T06:58:00.003-07:00

Friends, it turns out that there actually are other adult piano teachers in this big, wide, wonderful world we live in. Here is a fine essay from a friend and fellow teacher in Australia!

by Leah Coutts

Teaching adults requires a different approach to teaching children, and in this blog I would like to outline why. The focus here is on the general differences in characteristics between children and adults. Of course, there are always going to be students who are different to the norm, but by understanding the generalizations, we can use this knowledge to approach teaching from the student’s perspective. On top of these, you also have to consider each student’s background and experiences, but that will be addressed in a future blog.

If we look to psychological development of certain ages, children between the ages of 5-10 are more defined by their chronological factors than any individual peculiarities that shine through. Of course, each child is an individual, but their growth patterns can be determined by their ages. Adults are no longer governed by this, as they have reached maturity, and thus, their individuality becomes prevalent.

As children, students can learn technique after the basic reading and ear training has been achieved, and this is due to the fact that muscular control develops at the same rate as their cognitive pace. The early stages of playing are aided by relaxed and spontaneous motions, and as they are not generally very self-conscious, this helps them jump straight into trying things out. Adults, on the other hand, are very self-conscious when first trying new skills, and also naturally hold more tension in their movements. This is because generally, adults have not learned a new physical skill since they were young. Adults, however, gain greater muscle control quicker, and therefore, technical skills can be introduced straight away.

Children are using their imagination constantly, and have greater access to the ‘sub-conscious’. They also learn through experiencing, meaning new concepts must first be seen, heard, and tried, before fully understanding. Adults are rational, logical, and objective, and thrive on precise explanations. This makes them more apt to study theory away from the instrument. They also have larger attention spans than children, and more endurance for one activity. Children need changes of focus often to keep their interest on the task at hand.

Adults come to learn a musical instrument because they want to. They feel rewarded by progress itself, and are motivated by their own development. Children, on the other hand, need extrinsic motivators such as stickers, the enticement of playing a game afterward, and the like. They may wish to be taking lessons, but they also may be there because their parents want them to be. They can only focus on the immediate or short-term goals, whereas adults are capable of working towards short, medium, and long-term goals, and understand their importance.

Children have a greater capacity for musical memory in the truest form of the concept - they can listen, try, and memorize, without any logical explanations to guide them. Adults use intellectual cues, such as patterns in the music, chord progressions, etc, to give them stepping stones to memorization. While both children and adults hear and feel and can learn to appreciate the emotional side of music, adults also enjoy and comprehend the intellectual side to music.

The table below summarizes the different character traits of children and adults:

Characteristics of Children	Characteristics of Adults
Chronological Factors are dominant	Individual Peculiarities are Prevalent
Relaxed and Spontaneous motions	Hold more tension in movements
Muscular control develops slowly	Quick muscular control
Imaginative and access ‘subconscious life’	Rational, objective and logical
Learn through experiencing	Precise explanations
Constructive elements must relate to playing	More willing to study theoretical subjects
Impressionable and uncritical	Need justifications and explanations
Curious	Self-limiting to ‘comfort zone’
Less self-conscious and inhibited	Can be very self-conscious
Dependent on their environment	Self-disciplined
Driven by short-term goals	Short, medium and long-term goals
Driven by extrinsic motivations	Driven by intrinsic motivations
Shorter attention spans	More endurance
Capacity for greater musical memory	Need intellectual aids to help memory
Emotional connections to music	Also need to know intellectual side

How we use this knowledge to enrich our teaching and help our students utilize their strengths and learn in the quickest way possible is a topic that I will be covering in a future blog. I am very interested in the psychology behind learning and teaching, and I hope to share some of my findings with you in future blogs.

Posted in Teaching Tips |

About the Author

Leah Coutts is a private piano teacher in Brisbane, Australia. She completed her Bachelor of Music Studies in November of 2004, with Awards in Academic Excellence in each year, and is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. Having completed all grades in Electric Organ and moving onto pipe organ at university, under the internationally acclaimed Christopher Wrench’s direction, Leah is now completing the Associate Performance Diploma (AMusA) on piano. As well as private music tuition, her musical experience includes mentoring... [Read more]

How to Choose and Buy Piano Sheet Music

2009-03-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

It's a jungle out there - at the sheet music store. You'd think that going into your friendly neighborhood store would be fun and easy, but that's not the way it works out, does it? I thought this week I'd simply reprint the essay on this topic from my book How to WIN at Piano Lessons, and then follow it with some new material regarding purchasing off the Internet.

Incidentally, should you find my advice useful, there are 70 or so more pages of such valuable stuff if you'd care to actually buy the book and pay for the advice. It's available here and is a good way to support piano education efforts by myself.
http://danstarr.com/pages/ebooks.html

********Start Essay****************
Let's Go Shopping! How to Choose and Buy the Right Piano Music

The sheet music store can be a dangerous place for the piano student. That's because it's easy to spend way too much money on sheet music! There's sooooo much music we want to play that we tend to buy lots of it. Too often, however, we get home and find that we can't play the music we've purchased because it's above our level. Sometimes we can play it properly but it still doesn't sound very good because we've purchased a poor arrangement. There are other traps as well. The purpose of this essay is to make you a knowledgeable consumer of printed music who gets maximum enjoyment for minimal expense.

The first thing you should know is that not all recorded music can be purchased as sheet music. It's possible that the song you love from a favorite CD doesn't even exist in published form. Companies only publish what they feel they can sell. Older pieces which have become "standards" and new music at the top of the charts are safe bets. You can also likely buy collections containing all the songs on best-selling CDs. However, music from relatively unknown artists or local stars probably is not currently available and may never be. Only a knowledgeable music store clerk (more on these animals later!) can tell you for sure.

If your music does exist, you should try to find it as part of a collection of songs. Individual sheets currently (2006) cost $4.00 for a single piece of music. The exact same music often appears in a collection with 10, 20, even 50 other songs for $15 - $25. You do the math. These collections are usually theme oriented, such as "Love Songs of the 90's" or "Great Movie Themes" and will contain plenty of other pieces you will enjoy playing.

Another aspect of successful buying is getting good arrangements of your music. People tend to think that all versions of a particular tune are the same. This is far from the truth. A universally known piece like "Stardust" can literally appear in a couple hundred versions, some excellent and some terrible. It all depends on a guy called an arranger. This is the musician who takes the music written for a band or orchestra and converts it into piano music. It is definitely a special skill, one most musicians never learn. You didn't actually think that rock stars or pop singers sat down and wrote out the music to their hits, did you?

There are two types of arrangers. I call them "name-brand arrangers" and "ghostwriters." The name-brand arranger is a musician who makes his living by arranging music. His name appears on the cover of all the collections he has arranged. He releases new collections regularly, always under his signature. The ghostwriter is exactly what the name implies, a musician who never gets any credit or blame for his work. Sheet music with no named arranger is arranged by ghostwriters. These folks work for the publishing houses cranking out arrangements on salary.

I probably don't have to tell you that name-brand arrangements are seriously better than arrangements by ghostwriters! When your reputation and future income is on the line because your name is on the cover, you do a better job. A ghostwriter is neither complimented nor blamed for the quality of his work so the all-too-human tendency is to only do as much as needed to get that paycheck.

Let's name some names, shall we? Good arrangers deserve your sheet music dollar: Dan Coates, Richard Bradley, Dan Fox, John Brimhall, Denes Agay, Phillip Keveren - these are all excellent arrangers you should buy. There are others.

You will find that arrangements, even by the name-brand arrangers, are graded into three levels:

"Easy" (sometimes called "Big Note"),
"Intermediate," and
“Advanced”

I hope you will not be too surprised when I tell you that each arranger seems to have a different idea of what these three levels mean. You should examine the music quite carefully, no matter what level it says it is. As a piano student, you should be able to determine whether you can play the music easily (easy piano), with some effort (intermediate), or you will have to quit your job and work on it full time (advanced!)

Although, I've made a joke out of the idea of picking out music that is much more difficult than your current instructional pieces, choosing such music can often serve some VERY valuable purposes. Primarily, these pieces become goals to inspire students to maintain or even increase their training efforts. Secondly, a student will occasionally want to play something difficult so badly that they drop the rest of their assignment to work on it. These situations are very beneficial, a good thing. The student sweats bullets, for months sometimes, but in the process makes astounding leaps in ability. I would be the last one to tell someone that they absolutely can't succeed at a particular piece. The chance may be slim, but that chance always exists. Plus, even if the person finds that the effort is just too much, their look down the road at where they are going helps give direction to their current efforts.

Another thing to keep in mind regarding printed music is that it can be wrong. Anything printed, whether a Mozart Sonata, your local newspaper, or the latest Tom Clancy novel must be written and proofread, and even so typographical errors do occur. Additionally, each publishing house has certain practices regarding the editing and formatting of their music, practices which are sometimes just plain stupid. I won't go into here how one publishing house destroyed Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" (a disaster only recently discovered and rectified,) or how another publisher saved paper by printing music so small it was almost impossible to read, or how a third changed the works of Bach, Beethoven etc. without bothering to tell the buyer they had altered it, or.... Well, you get the idea. You can, and should, examine your purchase carefully, reading any introduction to see whether you like the publisher's concepts. However, there really is no way you can prevent buying music with typographical errors or editing alterations. Only someone who already knows the music would find them. Your music teacher might be able to pass judgment. Save your receipt!

Music stores have a "master catalog" which is published every few months and is supposed to contain details of everything that is currently available. You can look up a particular song and discover if it is available as a single sheet or which collections include it. You can also look up different composers and artists and find lists of all their published music. This is not to say that the store has any of this music in-stock. However, publishers and order numbers are included so your choice can be ordered, if the store offers that service.

Which brings us to the topic of service, quality of. As you would expect, this varies widely. The music store I shop at is manned by folks who have worked there for years, know music, and know their inventory. I could also direct you to a store where the clerks stand behind the counter mostly too unconcerned and/or uninformed to provide anything recognizable as help. The service oriented store has poor parking and is some distance from my studio and the other store is just across the street - but guess where I shop!

Music stores which are service oriented can help you find your music (if it exists), find the best value, or order your music and deliver it in a reasonable time. My store calls me when my orders come in and doesn't even ask for a deposit. They are always friendly. These are smart moves on their part. They've made huge sums of money on my students and I over the course of the 32 years I've been shopping there! You should find such a store and develop a relationship with it.

Finally, you may want a piece of music which is long out of print. There are folks who make a living buying and selling old sheet music. There’s no problem finding them on the Internet. Chances are that one of these folks either has your music or can tell you where to get it. Another source is local used bookstores. Many carry used sheet music. Both these sources have reasonable prices.

There you have it - a guide for the intelligent music consumer. Happy shopping and happy playing!

************End Essay**************

Now we get to purchasing from the Internet. The upside is it's easy and almost anything in print is in stock. Put in your credit card number and place your order. Soon it's in your mailbox.

The downside, however, is huge - what, exactly, did you buy? The online store can't very well let you see the entire piece of music before you buy it. Thus, you are buying what used to be called "a pig in a poke" meaning you are often purchasing sight unseen (a "poke" is an old name for a sack.) Even if the website displays one or two pages, what about that chorus? Is it going to be too hard, or even too easy? Or just badly arranged? You get to see some small part of the arrangement. It's what you don't see that kills ya.

Another drawback is that many pieces of online music are set up via some computer program, a program that works well for certain pieces in certain keys but not so well for some other pieces. Each "notation program" as they are called, has certain specifications that operate well in some cases but very badly indeed in others.

Piano sheet music stores usually provide a piano so you can try out that arrangement you want before you buy. No such luck online. That's the price you pay for convenience.

My best advice is to find a local store that actually has a large selection AND staff who know what they have and actually are musicians and can make recommendations. If you simply can't, then decide what is important to you and do that. I, for instance, can safely buy online since I can size up a piece of sheet music from having seen literally thousands of such things. Most of students cannot do it, even the more advanced ones. For them, local service is far better than online IF good local service is even available.

"Fluency" - What it is and how to get it

2009-02-22T09:22:00.002-07:00

Ahhhh, fluency ! To pick up a new piece of sheet music, sit down at the piano and simply play it as written, with maybe one or two small errors - at full tempo with a steady beat so it moves along as expected. THAT'S the most common goal of any adult pianist, whether that sheet music is a showtune, some blues, or a bit of ragtime.

"Fluency" is the ability to play your favorite music with little effort.

It's much like fluency in reading. For example, you pick up the latest John Grisham novel, sit down with a sandwich and simply start reading. Every so often there's a word you are unfamiliar with but context gives you some idea of the word's meaning. Even if it doesn't you don't sweat it and the word's unfamiliarity takes nothing much away from your enjoyment. In fact, as you read, you can see "in your mind's eye" the action, and even get an idea of how the characters look. That's fluency, and most adults have had lots of experience with it (except those poor folks who somehow never became literate.)

Of course, there are books that most folks are NOT fluent with - such as medical textbooks, detailed descriptions of the tax code, or the owner's manuals of musical instruments ! Those remain a huge challenge and require actual study to get throught. It's WORK and few folks read these things for pleasure. Fluency IS pleasure, no doubt about it, and we'd love to know any possible shortcuts to achieving this level - right?

Keep reading !

The first thing you need to know is that every pianist is fluent - at some level. I want you to think of this fluency thing as an elevator in a very, very tall building. Absolute beginners get on in the lobby and begin to move up to various floors, each floor representing some level of ability at playing the piano. If you play at all you have a level (a floor) at which you are challenged and a lower floor at which you are fluent. Now I don't want to stretch this comparison out too far, but I can still say that your "fluency floor" is always lower than your "challenge floor" and that by going higher in the building (raising your challenge floor) you automatically raise your fluency floor.

Enough of this building thing! You get the idea, so let's talk piano. There are pieces that require great effort for you to master and pieces that you can play just fine RIGHT NOW. Don't believe me? Pick up a kid's book and try some of those pieces. You'll be able to do them easily. The problem is that they won't satisfy your adult level of musical sophistication. This gives you the mistaken impression that there is no music you can play fluently. The accurate statement, the real truth is that you cannot yet play the music you love fluently and you so very much want to.

Now that we have stated the problem accurately, I can offer you two solutions:

1. Continue raising your challenge level. Do more and harder pieces and master them well. Some day (and no one can say for sure when) you WILL be able to play the music you now find challenging fluently. Of course, you will still have a challenge point, it will just "be on a higher floor."

2. Learn to "sightread" the music you most want to play. This is a job in itself, and requires much more explanation. As a matter of fact, this would be a very good reason to buy and apply my ebook How to WIN at Piano Lessons, since I cover this topic extensively in Chapter Six. If fluency is indeed your goal, it will cost you both the price of the book AND the effort needed to follow its directions. Unlike some piano "teachers" I will not tell you that any miracle cure exists. It does not. But learning to do the RIGHT effort sure beats wasting time with things that will not work.

You can find the ordering instructions for my ebook here:
http://danstarr.com/pages/ebooks.html

Why Piano Lessons are your Best Value in a Troubled Economy

2009-02-14T16:31:00.002-07:00

Well, here we are, in another recession. I think this is the fourth or fifth since I began teaching. We always pull out of them and come back stronger than ever. History, recent history, proves this. Anyone recall the down days when unemployment was in the double digits AND so was inflation? I do. So don't take this "worst economy ever" yammering to heart. I have a couple of students old enough to have endured The Great Depression. They laugh at all the recent hair-pulling.

Now don't get me wrong - things are NOT hearts and flowers financially. It's definitely time to curb excess spending and not buy things that are merely nice, things that are frivolous. May I take some of your time and explain why I think piano lessons should NOT be on your chopping block?

The reason is simple, and easily explained by a termed I borrowed from the financial world: ROI. That's "Return on Investment" folks, and piano lessons provide a tremendous ROI to each student. Here's how, using a kinda "balance sheet" to illustrate:

Cost of Piano Lessons:

Charges per lesson or month of lessons.
Cost of gas to drive to teacher's studio.
Cost of music books.

(I'm going to assume you already own an instrument. If you do not, however, please read next week's blog post which will cover what's out there, pros and cons. The bottom line (pun intended) is that you are much better off with cheaper instruments and better lessons. No, you do NOT have to buy a huge, multi-thousand dollar piano to gain the benefits of lessons, despite what piano store salespeople tell you. And hey, if you simply must ask me something about buying an instrument, then email me immediately and let's have a conversation.)

Return from Piano Lessons:

Personal satisfaction for something well done.
Free distraction from troubles at work or with money, all without drugs of any sort.
The deep down good feeling of doing something you've always wanted to do.
Free entertainment for your family.
Free entertainment for yourself.
Savings on going out to a movie, a show, to eat, mini-golf, whatever expenses you USED to use as family and/or personal entertainment. All those expenses - GONE !
Endless improvement.

Boy, how else and where else can you get all that good stuff for the cost of a restaurant meal a week? That food is soon gone but piano improvement lives on and on and on.

See what I mean?

More on "I Play so Much Better at Home"

2009-02-04T07:26:00.002-07:00

Ani, a reader, asked some great questions as a comment to my last post. Here's what she said:

"Nice article. I experience the same nervousness when playing for my teacher. Similarly, I am nervous when I film or record myself playing. I indeed tend to focus on not making note mistakes, rather than expressing all the dynamics and phrasing.

I even found out that playing my exam pieces three-in-a-row affects how I play. If I made a mistake in the first piece, I could still be thinking about it during the second piece (amazing how the brain can multi-task, albeit inefficiently), and lose focus, hence making mistakes in the second piece as well. Often, my mind drifts and my fingers suddenly forget what comes next. Then comes the puzzled look on my face,"What fingering did I use at home? I have forgotten now. I have practiced it for the past few months without errors, and now I can't remember."

I wonder what I should be thinking or focusing about when I play. If I focus on the sheet music too much, my fingers occasionally mess up. If I think ahead, with the music in my inner ear, I get a better chance of playing well, but at the same time risk playing in a hurried manner when nervous. What do you think about when playing?"

I started to write out a detailed response and realized that the answers should be shared as widely as possible and that they contained this week's new essay. So here it is, and I recommend anyone who ever performs for anybody read it and use it.

*******************************************

Ani, I, and every other pianist, knows what you are going through. Here are some answers:

The key is "muscle memory" which means your muscles' ability to recall the exact sequence of actions which will, in effect, play your music for you. You use muscle memory each time you drive or even walk. However, those skills, like playing a piece of music, require full mental concentration until the point they became "grooved in" to the muscles.

Thus the sequence in learning a new piece goes: Full mental concentration to command the hands and fingers in the exact sequence of actions necessary (this would be what we pianists call "the fingering" of the piece) followed by a diminishing need to concentrate, even though the hands are still making the right motions. At some point, there is literally no need to do more than command the hands to "start moving" for them to play the piece.

At this point, the pianist might still have the sheet music in front of her, but the symbols are not being processed in the same way as they were when the piece was new and no muscle memory was present. Instead, those symbols are serving as "cues" for the muscle memory. The eyes track the line of cues but the mind has no real need to focus, just let the symbols serve to cue the muscles to handle the playing of the piece. You are not really "reading the music" but rather just keeping your place as you play. (This, too, is a skill that must be learned.) In other words, the music has now been "memorized" by the muscle memory. It's the muscle memory that handles the details of fingering. The mind has done its work and isn't needed for this particular aspect of the task.

So what does the mind do, if it's not needed to command the hands and fingers in present time? It focuses on the overall, that is, the music that is sounding. It's in the context that the music lies, and this is what you think of and focus on. Another way to put this is that the instructions on the page of sheet music can be roughly divided into two types: MAIN POINTS: which keys to hit with which fingers and for how long (in other words, note identity, fingering, and timing) and FINE POINTS: how fast and how loud and with what phrasing, etc (in other words, tempo, dynamics, touch, etc.) Muscle memory can be depended on to handle the main points so your mind can focus on the fine points.

This understanding leads to an understanding of our problems and what to do about them. Here's what goes wrong.

We start a piece and, via our practice, get it thoroughly learned in the muscle memory. This means the muscles are responding to the training we have carefully given them in the past. We no longer need to command them in the present for them to work and work properly. This state of affairs usually occurs at home when we are calm and can allow this natural process to take place. Then we get to the lesson or the performance and, rather than allow the training we have carefully done to move the hands appropriately, we decide to try to take command consciously. It's like a vote of "no confidence" in the muscle memory.

Now the muscle have two commands working: one from their past training and one from our present conscious control. And these commands mess with each other and lead to mistakes. The pianist then thinks, "Ah ha, I made a mistake, and the best way to ensure I make no more is to increase my conscious, present time control of my hands."

wrong, Wrong, WRONG !!!!

The only thing that will save the pianist now is to get out of the way mentally and allow the hands to take control, just the way we did at home. But that seldom occurs. And the more nervous we get, the less we allow the hands to do their work. Nerves leads to conscious attempts to control which results in mistakes which results in more nerves...well, you get the picture. You could call it a "negative feedback loop."

The real difference between the amateur and professional pianist is that the professional pianist has learned to use the proper "system" to do the work: the muscle memory to handle the minute details of playing the music, and the mind to handle the fine points of the overall so those details fit together correctly and make very fine music.

When you "play so much better at home" it is because you are allowing the muscle memory to work for you. When you cease to do this, it all goes wrong. (Naturally, allowing the muscle memory to work when it not yet trained isn't sensible, so this presupposes that you have already practiced the music adequately to get the muscle to do the memorizing.)

Please feel free to continue this line of discussion, since we all have experienced this problem and solving it will help a whole lot of other pianists !

WHY You "Play so much better at home!"

2009-02-02T07:01:00.002-07:00

As my readers know, adult piano student "nervousness" remains a constant focus and problem. This week, I thought I'd share with you the exact psychology the underlies these cases, 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 students tell me about it several times a week, often using the exact phrase from today's title. I'll then give you some methods to improve the situation.

Before I explain, let me tell you that I, as your instructor, personally don't care that you are nervous and "play so much better at home." That's because I use your nervousness as a diagnostic tool to discover where I should help you. All I need to know is what you are nervous about - that's the thing that is weak in your ability set, the thing that has been troubling you so much. It's human nature to worry about something that has previously gone wrong and is still not fixed. That's exactly what your piano teacher needs to know about ! By observing "the object of your afflictions" the instructor can make up for the fact that almost all piano training takes place when the instructor is not around.

However, "lesson nerves" bother most adults and make their lessons something less than happy, so I keep looking for solutions. If I find such a "universal remedy" I'll use it and find another way to discover where my efforts need to be applied.

Okay, here as promised is the underlying psychology of lesson nervousness.

A person goes through life with intentions. You want something to happen, you want other things to NOT happen. Your mind, your experience, your education, your training, all of this is the way you try to make your intentions into reality. Often, very often, these intentions DO become reality. When that happens, the cycle, so to speak, is completed. The natural result is that you move on to other matters and forget all about that previous intention and its subsequent effort.

Ah, but what happens when your intention does NOT become reality? For instance, when you really wanted to hit the correct note and did NOT? With students, the natural impulse is to stop, go backwards in the music, and correct that note, thus completing the cycle. Now your attention can be placed on other things, like the rest of the music.

This impulse to correct then gets you into a mental conflict, because you know that good playing does NOT allow for this stop/start sort of activity. After a lifetime of hearing music performed, you know that a competent performance means getting started and going straight on through to the end with no back ups and corrections made. So your internal conflict is between A. the desire to correct and make things work out according to your intentions, and B. the desire to go straight through the piece.

Most of the time you give in to desire A. at least for a second, causing a glitch in the performance. The distraction this causes often results in one or more errors soon enough and these really add to your worry and finally it's time to start all over again.

So what's the solution? You have the ability to mentally make a decision that a mistake is nothing to dwell on. I often compare it to not making it through a traffic light when driving. You wanted to, tried to, but the light changed and you had to stop. Do you dwell on that? No. And the reason you don't is you realize that being stopped by a traffic light is going to occur over and over and over and it's really no big deal.

I'm here to tell you that incorrect notes are going to occur over and over and over and they really are no big deal. Folks, I've been a pro pianist for many decades. I make lots of mistakes when I play. I just don't make a big deal of them. They don't mean anything other than I'm a human being and not perfect. You think that really good performers don't make mistakes? Please. Get real, folks. They ALL do and the honest ones will admit it. Pros know, however, that it is the flow of music that is the important intention and make sure that this intention is fulfilled despite mistakes.

Which leads to my exact recommendation. Divide your time at the piano into three activities:

1. Practice
2. Performance, and
3. Playing for pleasure.

Decide when you sit down which you intent to do and then do that activity so that it produces its desired result:

1. During Practice you stop at mistakes and play them correctly MANY, MANY times in hopes that this mistake will become corrected for the long haul,
2. During Performance you never, ever stop at mistakes - you just continue forward keeping a steady pace (this is a skill that takes time to master, believe me, but is the key skill of the professional pianist), and
3. During Playing for Pleasure do whatever you want to do, stopping to make a correction a SINGLE time and then move on.

Students get into trouble when they do not realize the differences in these three activities. Sometimes they think that any time spent at the piano is practice. It isn't. Naturally, since they are not really correcting the mistakes for the long haul as practice demands, those mistakes do not disappear and the student wonders why their "practice" isn't helping them improve.

Each of these activities is fine, so long as you don't mistakenly believe that they are the same. Each has different goals, different methods of handling mistakes, and thus different results.

So why do you "play so much better at home?" Simple. You don't obsess about mistakes. Many times you either practice or play for pleasure. But when you get to lesson you have to perform. It works differently. A more accurate statement would be "I don't perform well."

How to fix. Practice performing. After regular practice, sit down, resolve to not stop at mistakes, and "practice" going through the song without stopping to correct. This WILL be very hard at first. Perhaps you can only do a little of this at a time. That's fine, work your way up to a full tune. And never use the thing you are working on for your next lesson as your piece for performance. That piece should be practiced in the normal manner.

I've said a lot in this essay. Hope it was clear.

Changed Focus on This Blog

2009-01-27T11:27:00.002-07:00

Friends,

Over the last month I've spoken (mostly via Internet) with many other piano teachers and have come to realize, even more strongly than before, that the vast, VAST majority of piano education is directed at children. Yes, there are some books out there for adults and most every piano teacher says they teach adults, but the majority of the teaching methodology is still based on teaching the untutored child, that small human being who is just now learning about his culture and its music.

As worthy a pursuit as this is, it still leaves millions upon millions of adults searching for adult-oriented piano education. "What, exactly," you rightly ask, "is ADULT oriented piano education?" I would say that it discovering what the adult learner wants to learn, what enriches that individual's life, and helping that individual gain the knowledge and skill to pursue their musical dreams. What it is NOT, again in my estimation, is telling adult students what they SHOULD want in terms of music making, trying to convince them that you have a higher and worthier goal than the goals they have. All too often this is the approach that is taken, an approach which is definitely appropriate to educating children (well, mostly) but certainly not to an adult.

Here's the big "secret" - most adults are searching for a hobby which fulfills them, not some course in appreciation of great music. That hobby may take the form of an interest in showtunes, the blues, jazz, torch songs, and, of course, classical. The point is that it a hobby and must be treated as such. And the piano instructor is the person who facilitates the pursuit of that hobby.

This is not to say that the teacher can be "permissive" and the lessons just a fun romp. This attitude is NOT part of an adult approach for the simple reason that it fails to deliver. Each and every piano student must learn their basics. The list of these fundamentals is fairly long and is the same no matter what genre of music the student eventually focuses on. Additionally, genres usually cannot be approached until piano basics are established. It's like doctors - they all take basic doctoring courses first and only then move on to study their specialties. Both the psychiatrist and podiatrist have the same foundations and this is true of the classical player and the showtune player.

Did you know the father of ragtime, Scott Joplin, was trained in the fundamentals of classical? A fundamental is exactly that. And playing by ear - do you really want to be musically illiterate?

My point is that the adult teacher should never lose sight of what "turns the lights on" for each individual adult learner. You teach to that, and that goal informs what you stress and what you ignore. Better teachers do this instinctively, adjusting matters as circumstances indicate. Along the way, you can often demonstrate to an adult other musical genres and activities that they may be interested in. But they set the initial goals, not the teacher, and their fulfillment remains the goal. It is INDIVIDUAL oriented, and thus society is bettered, for what is society other than individuals banding together?

The teacher of adults has a huge roll in re-establishing music MAKING in our society. It used to be bigger, before the advent of easy ways to experience music without having to make it yourself. But the person who only consumes music, although they might get a huge charge out of "their tunes" is still ignorant of the overwhelming joy of making the music yourself. We teachers can help that !

For all the reasons above, I've decided to make adult learners my focus. After all, I've specialized in helping adults for over 20 years and have only accepted older teens and adults as students for the last five of those. I do know some things to pass on which can be helpful.

Welcome to the NEW Dan Starr Piano Blog: Help for the Adult Pianist !

Cure your NERVOUSNESS !!!

2009-01-19T07:18:00.002-07:00

One of the biggest problems students have is being nervous playing during lesson. I have written extensively about this in other places, but recently a fellow piano teacher directed me to an article that provides a technique to combat student nervousness, perhaps even cure it. Here is the link to the article:

http://www.changethatsrightnow.com/toastmasters.asp

The article concerns itself with public speaking, but it's not much of a stretch to take that to public "playing!"

I've begun an experiment with my own students, asking them to try the technique presented in the article and report back on their success (or lack of it.) I encourage anyone reading this to do the same. You could try the method and then add a comment to this short blog post. You would really be helping your fellow pianists, no matter what your final level of nervousness!

Follow Your Bliss - Learn to Play Piano in 2009: Final Part: How to Get the MOST Bliss from Piano

2008-12-29T11:20:00.003-07:00

When I started this final series of essays designed to "kickstart" your piano work in the new year, I listed four topics. So far, I've covered the topics of choice of instrument and finding enough time. In this final essay, I will cover the remaining two topics:

3. Should I take lessons, and, if so, with a live teacher or online?
4. How do I get the most bliss out of my music making?

"Should I take lessons,etc..." is a huge question so I'm going to simply link to my extensive writings at my main website, writings which answer this question most thoroughly. I hope none of you are offended by the fact the site also promotes some of my services.
http://danstarr.com/pages/o_lessons.html

The final question is one I've also dealt with extensively, this time in my book How to WIN at Piano Lessons. Let me just reprint the key essay here.

******How to Enjoy Piano Lessons**********

There is only one purpose for taking piano lessons and that is to improve the quality of your life by making music a part of it. The details of exactly how this happens may differ. A very few students feel called to become professional musicians. Another few would like to exercise their creativity and write music. Most folks, however, are tremendously happy if they can learn to adequately perform the songs they know and love for themselves, family, and friends. This is certainly a worthy goal — there should be more such live music in this world.

It is extremely important to your enjoyment of piano lessons that you keep your goal in mind. Your purpose is NOT, repeat NOT, to play without error. Few and far between are perfect, error-free performances. Ask any honest professional musician how many times they have played with complete perfection!

Your purpose is to enjoy the presence of music in your life. Lessons simply help you do this.

If you become fixated on such things as:

• how rapidly you are progressing,
• how many notes you are missing, or
• whether you are progressing "normally,"

...you have lost sight of your overall purpose and set the stage for frustration and failure.

A fixation on mistakes has the effect of increasing the quantity of mistakes. Worry over errors breeds more errors, which increases worry which... well, you get the idea!

Learning, teachers, instruction, lessons, students, assignments — these things seem to be matters of stress to 99.99% of the people I have taught. I believe this says something extremely negative about the way our society has approached education. That may be true but try to rise above it by keeping your overall purpose in mind as you progress, day by day, week by week, month by month.

Incidentally, progress in a single practice session can be measured by the question, "Am I playing this better now than when I played it yesterday?" If the answer is, "Yes!" you have progressed, even if only a little. It is truly surprising how rapidly a series of little improvements can add up to major ability!

Create music as you would put together a jigsaw puzzle — find a little burst of pleasure with each new piece you discover. Enjoy yourself!

***************************************

I would be doing both of us an injustice I've I didn't recommend that you purchase the book containing this essay. Check it out there, the cost is the best $25 you've ever spent on your piano work.
http://danstarr.com/pages/ebooks.html

Follow Your Bliss: Learn to Play Piano in 2009 - Part Three: How do I find the time to practice?

2008-12-21T10:25:00.002-07:00

Time is a huge problem in the lives of all busy people. I've already written extensively on this and will just reprint my essay from my ebook How to WIN at Piano Lessons (see here to investigate the ebook further: http://danstarr.com/pages/ebooks.html

As an aside, I guess I am a bit too "blunt" for some. I try to inject truth into my essays, at least the truths I have, from observation, decided actually are true. I certainly am NOT trying to insult anyone in particular. Perhaps it's just that I'm not afraid to offend the "professionally offended." At any rate, one such individual asked off the free Newsletter after the last essay (the one concerning choice of instruments) with no explanation. I guess she was offended, but who knows. And the essay I'm reprinting here elicited some negativity from an employer. Hmmm...wonder why. Too much truth? I surely don't insult employers, simply make a statement about their priorities. However, you be the judge. Read the essay. If you think I said something offensive, then bring it to my attention.

*******begin essay*****************

Don’t Be a “Victim of Time”

Introduction: As your teacher, I am giving you this short essay as the last chance to change failure to success regarding your piano lessons. This is not intended to be a criticism of you. It is, however, blunt. It also contains the cold facts I have learned over 19 years of teaching. These points are not some theory of mine, just observations on how life works.

Are you a smart person? A competent person? Well, good, I have some happy news for you: you will definitely learn to play the piano......unless you decide you are a "victim of time."

What is a "victim of time?" Somebody who can't "find" the time to practice piano, who can't "find" the time to do something they want to do for themselves.

Week after week, some students tell me, "I didn't get much chance to practice this week." Real translation: "Other parts of my life have a greater priority than playing the piano, despite my statements to the contrary." Which is fine. A person has every right to decide what is important and how important it is compared to other activities.

What is not fine is a certain element of dishonesty in all this, primarily dishonesty to oneself. Blaming a nonoffending item called "time" for a lack of piano practice is just not honest. It is denying an unpleasant reality, namely, that playing and practicing the piano are simply low on your list of life's priorities, at least for that particular week.

Please. Let's be honest here and perhaps something will change. It may be that piano should be dropped, period. It may be more work than it is worth. Or it may be that you need to consider your life and see if you really want to sacrifice piano for the demands of job and family.

Regarding your job, it should be obvious to any adult with significant work experience that many employers will take as much from you as you allow. That is no complaint against employers, just a statement that they often are more concerned with their business than with your personal life. The ability to say, "NO" seems to be missing with many employees. Do you really think that you are that expendable? Do you really think that your work is valued so little? If so, you had better think about another job, since your position could be blown away with any little wind. Are you working for your own life or the life of your employer?

Regarding your family, is there any way that they could be persuaded to help you create more time for your piano practice, if you were to explain to them that this action makes you happy, and thus makes you a better spouse or a better parent?

These are really hard questions, but I have no choice but to ask them, since you paid me to help you learn to play the piano, and it is these things which are preventing your success.

Underlying any life situation, however, is your own opinion of whether you are in control or not. Are you a victim of time, of circumstance? Can you see any way to change this, maybe little by little? Is this piano thing just another example of a more general reality of being moved rather than being a mover? Maybe more than just piano lessons and piano practice is at stake here.

********end essay***************

There you have it. Hard, but realistic. I wrote that essay to actually help the student headed for failure due to a "lack of time." By the way, want my essays and observations, blunt or not, in your email basket? Then use the link at the right to sign up for the free weekly Newsletter.

Follow Your Bliss: Learn to Play Piano in 2009: What Instrument Should I Choose?

2008-12-17T10:33:00.003-07:00

For some folks, this is not much of an issue. They already own a piano/digital piano/keyboard and, since these are expensive items, what they already have is what they will use to learn to play (or learn to play better.) For such pianists and hopeful pianists, this essay will just be some fluff - sorry. For those or you who are seeking the right NEW instrument, you had better read carefully.

The first thing I'm going to do is reprint a short, short essay from my book How to Buy, Play, and Enjoy a Digital Piano.

************begin essay**********************

Which instrument is better for learning to play—a regular piano or a digital piano?

A digital. No contest. Digitals have lighter actions which are good for relatively weak fingers. Digitals have many sounds which make them more interesting than just a single sound, at least to most people. Digitals have built in metronomes, one of the best learning tools ever invented. And digitals let you record your practices and play them back, allowing you to critique your own work for its strengths and weaknesses. They are always in tune and sound the way you want them to sound. AND you can use headphones so no one has to hear your mistakes.

Plus, dollar for dollar, you get more with a digital. Exceptions to the above are:

1. Anyone whose main interest is a fine piece of furniture,
2. Anyone who is convinced that tradition is more important than enjoyment,
3. Anyone who is easily swayed by salespeople at the piano store.
4. Anyone who is easily swayed by traditionalist 19th century piano teachers.
5. Anyone more concerned about “resale value” than making music.

*********end essay**************

This is a heck of an opinion for a piano instructor/pianist, right? Aren't I supposed to worship Steinways and turn up my nose at anything that plugs into a wall? Sorry, folks, but practicality and experience tells me that digital pianos are best for the learner. I'd also ask you this - are you such a good pianist that you can actually make use of a superb acoustic piano. Most pianists are not, despite anything some sales clerk has told you.

This "acoustic piano vs. digital piano" really gets pianists into a fire-fight. For you, the prospective buyer, it comes down to who you are going to listen to: me, with 40 years of successfully public performance on hundreds of instruments for thousands of music fans, plus 21 years of teaching adult students just like yourself to play for their own enjoyment, or some stuck up music instructor or pianist who honestly has little more in the way of credentials than their own bias. Or, worse, a salesman who has every reason to "up-sell" you into something you don't really need.

You want a new instrument? Buy a digital piano. You won't be sorry. Plus, you really should buy and read the book I quoted from. Spend $25 and save hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars. Go here:
http://danstarr.com/pages/ebooks.html

Follow Your Bliss - learn to play piano in 2009 ! (Part One)

2008-12-07T08:00:00.006-07:00

We are rapidly approaching that time dedicated to the great American tradition of New Year's Resolutions. Many of you will participate, resolving to do this or that (or to NOT do this or that,) and, the world being what it is, you will go on to achieve some portion of your resolution. In these next few essays, I'm going to propose that you resolve to learn to play the piano in 2009. Or, if you already play, to get back into doing so and make it a happy part of your life - follow your bliss with the piano!

WHY is playing the piano such bliss? And exactly HOW do you make it a reality in your life? These are the topics I'm going to cover in these few days until New Year's. Topics will be:

1. What instrument should I choose?
2. How do I find time to practice?
3. Should I take lessons, and, if so, with a live teacher or online?
4. How do I get the most bliss out of my music making?

I need to get these onto the Blog by Jan 1, 2009 so expect more frequent postings, a couple each week, as well as more frequent editions of the Newsletter. You do get the FREE Newsletter, don't you? If not, and you would like these essays sent to your email basket, then click the link in the column to the right and sign up.

A Pianist's Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T11:00:00.002-07:00

On this day when I count my blessings, I give thanks, I am grateful for:

1. The joy that I feel when I practice music on my piano,
2. The joy that I feel when I master a piece of music on my piano,
3. The fact I can be joyous about both the destination (mastery) AND the journey (practice), and
4. The joy that playing for friends and family brings to us all.

What other hobby provides such rich rewards?

And even though on other days I am sometimes weak and become frustrated and irritated with the work piano demands, on this day of Thanksgiving I express my gratitude for every correct note, for every fine rhythm, for every beautiful melody, for everything that music study brings.

Thank you.

A Tool Called "The Piano"

2008-11-24T19:38:00.002-07:00

American Heritage Dictionary:

"Tool" ...#3: Anything used in the performance of an operation; an instrument.

Some would think it blasphemy to refer to a sacred object such as the piano as a mere "tool." What could I be thinking? Yet, that is EXACTLY what the piano (and all other musical instruments) are: ways of getting the work of music done. They are artifacts with a purpose - an artistic purpose, to be sure, but a purpose nonetheless.

Thus, it is not only valid, but critical to ask yourself, "What is the job of the piano?"

Essentially, there are two:

1. Playing for your own enjoyment, and
2. Playing for the enjoyment of others.

This is simple enough to state and accurately reflects the fact the people are in the mix. The piano is nothing without people. People must be considered when working with, purchasing, studying, learning, and using the piano, our so-very-useful tool.

Why do I bring this up? Basically, I am sick to death of the worship of this tool, and the accompanying exclusion of people themselves. This act of putting the piano "on a pedestal" has done more harm to music and musicians than just about anything. Honestly, I suspect that idiot musics and musicians that pass for quality in some circles wouldn't even exist if higher quality music hadn't been made out of reach by stupid "piano cultists."

Let me give you an actual example from my life, and the interchange that got me thinking about the issue. I have a video on youtube. Here's the link if you want to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC4alD2qP8U
This week some person made a comment that was complimentary in one sense but completely insulting in another. In short, they said, "....The only complaint would be that the sound quality really suffers because it is played on a digital piano. Real piano PLEASE! There is no comparison." Of course, this is pretty stupid comment, as he makes a comparison and then says "there is no comparison." Duh. But here's the rest. I personally chose the digital piano as my tool because it was the best tool I could have used for job. This guy is unhappy with me because I didn't choose the tool he thinks is superior. That's bcause he's a piano cultist. If I followed his lead, I'd not have made this video at all. Do you have any idea how much trouble it is to record a "real" piano? It's a hard tool to use for such a simple thing as a youtube video. I would simply have not gone to the trouble.

I guess, before you all think I'm just venting on my blog, that I'd better bottom line it for you.

When you go to choose a keyboard instrument you have many choices these days: a regular piano, a digital piano, a portable keyboard, an electronic organ, a synthesizer. Choose the tool that provides you with the means to do the job YOU wish to do. For many, many people, this tool is the digital piano. I wrote a whole book about why this is a fabulous tool for the purpose of making music for self and others. Here is some info on that book:
http://danstarr.com/pages/digital_keyboards.html

And please, if you think the piano is your God or THE ULTIMATE MUSICAL TOOL, suitable for all uses and all occasions, then just stay away from the rest of us normal folks.

What Might be Holding You Back as a Pianist

2008-11-17T16:57:00.002-07:00

Ouch - unpleasant answer (or so it seems at first):

You, your very own self !

It's possible that your ideas and considerations and self-imposed limitations might just be keeping you from being the pianist you'd really like to be. It's not what people usually call "talent" that often slows or stops a person, but their own "flinch" and fear at various aspects of playing, practicing, and performing.

"No so!" you say. "I simply don't have the time to become the pianist I'd like to be." My friend, even this is based on your attitudes, in this case, the fact that you've decided that other matters take precedence. Can you see the truth that, even if you've made the sanest of decisions, it's still your DECISION?

Then there is the person who will only be happy when they can finally play they want to. Talk about a set-up for unhappiness! Many adults undertaking the job of playing the piano come loaded with ideas of what constitutes "good playing" - ideas which they have picked up over the years from professional pianists. Unfortunately, such aspiring pianists are hobbyists and in no way willing to devote years to perfecting the pianistic craft. Yet, such folk often feel all sorry for themselves because their hobbyist playing sounds like...well...hobbyist playing! And, for them, only professional level skill will make them happy.

Hobby, Hobby, HOBBY ! I can't say it enough. Enjoy your hobby for what it is. Maybe you aren't Liberace. Or Jerry Lee. Or George Winston. Who cares? You can still enjoy yourself at your own level - if you will let yourself!

Also on the trouble list is the student who's afraid of their piano teacher. Adults have often had some seriously bad experiences with past piano teachers, or even teachers in general. They come to the study of piano with lots more fear than might otherwise be there. It doesn't help. A person can get so afraid that they simply can't play. I've even had students so "on edge" that they made a mistake and ran out of my studio, never to be heard from again. Of course, such a person really should be spending their money on therapy...

These are just some examples of self-defeating attitudes. There are others. Too many.

What to do? A self examination is sometimes called for. Or a long and frank discussion with a good and understanding piano teacher. If you don't have one, email me and let me suggest a course of action.

Lessons: Online? Live? How to Decide !

2008-11-03T16:44:00.006-07:00

2008 has been a very interesting year for me. I've spent these last many months experimenting with methods of teaching and advising piano and keyboard students online. My goal was to find out if I could achieve the same level of success with online students that I enjoy with my "live" clients.

This past year has also seen the enormous growth of "youtube" and other video websites. At these sites, tons of wanna-be piano teachers have posted tons of "free" videos supposedly covering every aspect of piano education. I've watched a huge number of these episodes, and, honestly, I've been quite appalled at how bad the vast majority are, either as videos or piano instruction or both. I guess you really DO get what you pay for!

Not wanting to add to this morass of totally poor teaching, I've tried quite a number of different online approaches. I knew I needed to find ways of solving piano student's problems as well as guiding their further piano "explorations" without ever meeting these folks in person. I'm happy to report I've created methods which do both quite successfully - with a few critical exceptions.

What I've concluded is that success with online lessons is definitely possible but not for everyone. Some piano/keyboard students absolutely need a "live" piano teacher to learn to play successfully. A determination must be made. Here, then, in convenient list format, are my recommendations for making that decision:

1.A live teacher is mandatory for beginning students. There're simply too many new things to learn, too many things that can go wrong, and too many good habits to be established (and bad habits to be prevented.) The ONLY exception are adults who simply cannot find even a mediocre piano teacher in their area What does a good teacher look like? Read my essay here: http://danstarr.com/pages/lessons.html#choose

2. However, even beginners who have found a competent live teacher will find greater success by buying, reading, and applying my book How to WIN at Piano Lessons: Successful Strategies for Non-Mozarts. Examine and purchase it here: http://danstarr.com/pages/books.html Make sure you tell your teacher that you are using my book so they can coordinate their instruction with my advice.

3. If you already know how to play and can learn new pieces, then online lessons should work very well for you. Your next step is to email me with full details of your needs and wants. I will quickly reply with my recommendations, along with costs, which will be very reasonable.

4. If you already play but are having problems learning new music, the news is also good. Many, perhaps most, of your piano problems are very "fixable" or "improvable" via online training. Some of these problems are:

A. learning new music too slowly,
B. not knowing what music or exercises to use,
C. not enjoying practice,
D.a lack of any real progress
E. technical problems (too many to list here),
F. difficulty reading music, especially the bass staff,
G. problems with the left hand,
H. problems putting the hands together,
I. troubles with timing,
J. fingering problems, and
K. not enjoying your lessons.

There are many more such items. When in doubt, email me with details. If I can help online, I will suggest a course of action and be clear about costs (again, very reasonable ones.) If I can't help, I'll tell you that as well. My email reply time is 48 hours.

4. Online lessons can be very useful in a very short time if you already play well but want to "broaden your horizons" by learning new styles of music. Have you noticed that so many piano teachers ONLY teach reading and playing classical music? However, you might now want to learn about using chords or improvising or learning how to get the most from your digital piano/keyboard. There is a whole host of things which can be successfully taught online. Again, email me with your details.

To wrap this up, online lessons work, but only when:

A. the online teacher is really understands both teaching and ONLINE teaching. That's what I've been working on this past year, basing my online methods on my twenty one years of experience as a full-time ADULT piano instructor,)

B. the online teaching format is done is a way which actually works. As I said, free videos are a great example of "getting what you paid for,"

C. the student already plays somewhat well.

Wonder if you could benefit? Then email me. I will let you know what I think would work for you, what it would cost, etc, all within 48 hours.

FAQs re Piano Practice 3: How Long Will it Take Me to Learn to Play?

2008-10-26T12:17:00.002-07:00

Simple answer (the most powerful truths are simple): Who cares?

Let me ask you a couple questions in order to answer yours:

What is your purpose in playing the piano?
Are you postponing enjoying making music until some specific goal is reached and only then will you be happy?

Unless you are a professional musician with professional needs, your goal ought to be to reap the maximum enjoyment from the time you spend at the piano or keyboard. This is easy to do, for you can enjoy learning a piece, and once it's done, you can enjoy performing a piece.

Notice that I haven't even dealt with the fact that the original question is too general to have an answer. Play WHAT - "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or Beethoven? How well? For whom, your dog or the President? Such things matter. But what matters more is your attitude as you work on those things. A calm, happy demeanor produces the best learning. Worry, stress, or an obsessive need to have it all NOW results in sloppy practice and poor ability.

Enjoy the journey AND enjoy the destination.

FAQs re Piano Practice #2

2008-10-19T16:36:00.002-07:00

FAQ2: What is the Most Important Element of Practice?

Simple answer: EFFICIENCY.

Surprise. Most folks think TIME. They probably have heard that stupid old joke about some guy in New York City. A tourist asks the New Yorker, "How do I get to Carnagie Hall?" The savvy New Yorker replies, "Practice, practice, practice." Dumb, both as a joke and as an approach - but people seem to pick up on it, one way or the other, and decide that the AMOUNT of time and effort are the key determining factors in piano success.

Too bad that nothing could be further from the truth.

Hey, think about it - one hour of bad, inefficient practice is not solved by a second hour of bad, inefficient practice. Put that way it sounds as stupid as it really is. Plus, this statement leads us to say something sensible:

Practice SMARTER, not LONGER

Your goal as a piano practicer (and that category includes pretty much every pianist, no matter how accomplished) should be to get the most music for the least amount of time spent. In financial terms, this means maximizing ROI (Return On Investment.)

Having troubles and wondering what to do?
STOP
THINK
What exactly are you doing wrong? What is the error in your approach? Don't just "do more" and hope, somehow, for a miracle.
THINK
REASON
Use the brain to guide the activity of the fingers.

And ignore the clock.

FAQs re Piano Practice #1

2008-10-05T07:23:00.004-07:00

FAQ 1: How much time must I practice?

Long enough to succeed (however you define success.)

For some hobbyists, "success" consists of sitting down and playing pieces for fun, regardless of how well or poorly those pieces are played. Frankly, I wouldn't even call this practice, but many folks do. To me, a piano instructor, practice occurs when your purpose is to succeed at improving your general skill level. I suppose some slight improvement does occur from simply playing for fun, but it is minimal and more of a side benefit.

Other piano students, especially those taking lessons, define "success" as mastering their music for that week. Here we can see how impossible it would be to actually specify an amount of time appropriate for each student. After all, their music that week might be hard or easy, plus they will certainly apply vastly different levels of talent to the task. Additionally, each student's idea of mastery is likely to be different.

To further complicate what seemed at first like a simple question, a new piece of music goes through many stages over many days before most pianists consider it mastered. No particular amount of time can be stated for each day's practice, since several or many days work will certainly be required. Perhaps a student will do more on Tuesday than Monday or Wednesday. There's just no way to say. The student must do what they have to do, whether the elapsed time be long or short.

Professional musicians have a totally different definition of success. They "play for their supper" and thus must reach a level of fluency which will please their intended audience. You might expect this to take even longer, but not necessarily, since the pro brings much previous skill to the task. He is learning a new piece,instead of learning to play in the first place, and that makes for a very different task.

Thus, our intital question cannot be answered simply by saying something like, "You must practice an hour a day, five days a week." This amount might, or might not, be adequate to provide the success. a particular pianist or piano student seeks. Here's what to do instead:

1. Define carefully what you intend to do with your efforts - in other words, how do define success for this particular task?

2. Resolve to achieve success, regardless of the time it takes, either in daily practice, number of days of practice each week, or any other arbitrary figure. FOCUS ON SUCCESS, NOT PASSING TIME.

3. Now figure out how to be as efficient with your time as possible. EFFICIENCY IS THE PROPER GOAL. Wouldn't most folks prefer to be successful in less time than more?

4. The more you focus on practice efficiency instead of practice time, the more you will achieve with less wasted effort. A second hour of bad, inefficient practice will not fix the first hour of bad, inefficient practice. Rather, it will make it worse.

I must close with a plug for my lessons, both live and online, and my book. Quality of practice, efficiency of action, getting more music with less wasted effort and frustration - THESE are the things I teach. If you were ask me about "my method," that's how I would describe it.

Tempo: How Fast Should I Play? #3

2008-09-27T10:46:00.002-07:00

So far we have examined this question from two ultra important aspects: How fast CAN you play? (the mechanical considerations of technique and physical ability) and How fast SHOULD you play? (the musical aspects of maximizing the artistic elements of your piece.) There are just a couple other vital things to say on this topic.

1. "Slow and steady beats fast and erratic everytime" This is a catchy way to express a basic truth about both what a piano student CAN do and SHOULD do regarding tempo.

Artistically, the fundamental assumption of every single listener I've ever encountered in 40 years of professional performance is that the underlying beat of music is STEADY. A listener does not even need to know that particular piece of music to know that steadiness is how it is supposed to go. Even with accelerations and decelerations, steadiness rules.

Technically, this truth sets the pace for your performance. No matter what your desire, good performance requires you to play the piece only as fast as you can keep the beat while not making errors. Pauses, wrong notes, confusion, stop and start; all these things indicate that you are performing too damned fast. Slow down. It is not relevant whether you like it or not. A good performance demands even playing.

It must be noted here that if your audience is ONLY yourself, then all bets are off. You are welcome to do any old thing that makes you happy. If you actually like a stop-start-redo type playing, then go to it. Do NOT, however, make the mistake of thinking anyone else does. They will find this performance sadly lacking in quality. Also, you personally will never get to enjoy the physical sensation of making music with good , solid, steady rhythm. If you don't mind making these sacrifices, then fine, but they ARE sacrifices you WILL make.

Additionally, this type of playing is not very effective practice, either. Think of it. You hit the wrong note - once. You stop and then hit the right note - once - and move on. From your hands' point of view, it's a 50/50 proposition whether the next run through you will hit a "correct" note or a "wrong" note. Want to improve your odds of always hitting the correct note? Then stop and practice hitting that correct note again and again. Only by grooving-in the action by sheer repetition can you increase your body's chances of always doing "the right thing."

2. Find the "sweet spot" between playing too fast to stay steady and accurate and playing fast enough to make the music 'make sense."

A person can play so slowly that the notes are simply too far apart to relate to each other. No actual music is heard, even though the fingers are hitting the right keys. This is a huge problem, as any piano student knows that the goal is to make music. However, without any music being heard and understood by the mind, the student has no model of how that music is supposed to sound. This leads folks to only play tunes they already know. We will discuss this concept of "modeling" next week. It's a huge deal which can both help and hinder if not done right. But this essay is about tempo...

I believe that any piece that must be played so slowly that you can't hear any music out of it is just too hard for you right now. You might fix this by separating your hands to make the job easier and thus be able to play faster while maintaining accuracy and steadiness. But if the notes STILL don't make music in your head, then find something easier until your technical skill is up to the harder piece.

It should be noted that digital pianos and keyboards fix this entire problem. Simply record the music slowly enough to get the notes and fingering correct and then, upon playing the recording back, speed it up with your tempo control until it sounds right. All current keyboards can do this, and have been able to do so for several years. Thus, you get the best of both worlds - the practice of correct action, done slowly enough to ensure accuracy and steadiness, and the model of how the finished piece will sound so you have that to guide your efforts.

I hope these last few essays have helped. I know this material has been enormously useful to my own students.

Tempo: How Fast Should I Play? #2

2008-09-21T11:47:00.002-07:00

Last week we examined this tempo thing by considering "how fast CAN I play?" In other words, what can I get away with mechanically based on how well I can play this tune and keep the beat. This week we will consider the musicality of a piece and approach the tempo question this way: "How fast SHOULD I play?' To really understand the answer, we are going to begin by viewing some musical history from the window of a high flying jet airliner, seeing only the broad shapes below us.

Way back in Bach's day, the Baroque Era in classical music, much of performance (including tempo) was left to whim of the performer. Few, if any, tempo indications were provided by the composer. If you have studied Bach, Handel, etc. and used any Italian tempo terms provided in your edition, be aware that what you are studying is NOT the work of the original composer but that of some editor, often a person not even named in the publication.

As time passed, the Italian terms most of us have seen came into use. It is worth noting that even these were intended to be generalities only, not specific indications such as are given the note identities themselves. After all, if "allegro" means cheerful, exactly how cheerful are you? Just a bit, or wildly enthusiastic? It matters. Still, the interpretation of the player was called for, just not as much as in the previous age.

The early 1800's saw the invention of the metronome (which I have semi-humorously dubbed "Satan's Ticker" in other essays!) For better or worse, it was now possible to give an exacting statement of tempo, down to a fraction of a second. This was used, and still is, by music teachers as a means to ensure a necessary degree of proficiency for their students. "You should be able to play this passage at 120 beats per minute, with each quarter note representing one beat." Of course, composers who really wanted performers of their music to supply renditions as close as possible to their wishes had now discovered a way to reign in the swings in performer interpretation.

Which brings us to today and my main point in all this. I believe that, metronome or no metronome, Italian indication or no Italian indication, it is the job of the performer to perform the piece of music at a tempo which brings it to life, which brings out its character, that make the music interesting and fascinating and moving and all those traits we search for in expression and interpretation. And who should judge what that tempo is? Why, the performer - whom else?

Factually, the performer is the ONLY person who can actually do this, since he/she is the only person whose opinion and taste in tempo can be KNOWN with certainty. Thus, in seeking to judge whether a particular tempo "brings the music to life," the only way to judge this is to look into oneself and find out. You can't be in the hearts and minds of any listeners, only yourself. If we could say one thing about what makes good music, it is that "good music is music judged to be good." For a performer, the only person's judgment you can surely know is your own.

I tell my students, and I tell everyone reading this, that they should IGNORE TEMPO INDICATIONS AND METRONOME MARKS when working on interpretation and simply play at a tempo that they think is optimum for the music. If it is good or even great music, that tempo WILL be appropriate. There are two huge pluses to giving this instruction:

1. It develops musical sensitivity in the student, and
2. It prevents the student from playing "under protest," meaning playing against their own wishes.

Naturally, this must be modified with children, who have little or no musical sensitivity. But how will they ever develop any if the teacher is continually forcing them into the tempo the teacher prefers? You must encourage creativity if you want to produce a musician. To do otherwise, creates musical robots, which might impress some and even win competitions now and then. But should that be the purpose of a teacher of an art form? I, for one, do not think so.

"Play so the music sounds good to you." This simple instruction does so much good it is just silly. Doing it only way the symbols on the page demand, in addition to often not being honest (as in Bach's works), creates clerks - musical morons. I oppose it, and so should you.

Tempo - How Fast Should You Play? #1

2008-09-13T11:13:00.004-07:00

The question of "the proper tempo" is a huge issue for many pianists and piano students. Thus, I thought I'd put down what I know, what I have observed in 40 years in the piano business, as well as my personal opinions on the subject, in a couple essays. Hopefully it will help.

"Tempo" refers to how fast the underlying beat of the music progresses. We take for granted - and should NOT- that no matter how fast or slow, this beat WILL be steady. Consider how much this steadiness is "a given" in any music you are likely to have heard; what if you had never heard a particular piece before,(classical, ragtime, pop, whatever.) You would not know the melody before hand and thus would NOTactually know if the performer was altering it. You would NOTknow whether this particular version was faster or slower that usual or pretty typical. What you WOULD know, however, is whether the basic beat was STEADY. You would assume it, just as the vast, vast majority of the world's population would do.

This creates for the musician a critical problem - namely, keeping things even. Some measures are easy, some are less easy, and some are just plain difficult and yet ALL measures must be the same size if the music is to be accepted and enjoyed. Naturally, the temptation on the part of the musician is to play the easy parts fast and the hard parts slow. After all, harder tasks require more time, don't they?

Not in music. We have created this problem for ourselves by demanding a steady beat in our musical performance. Those that do not perform this way are seen as the amateurs they are. One of the marks of the professional is the fact that he/she keeps the beat REGARDLESS of the difficulty of the piece.

Keeping this fact in mind can answer a ton of questions regarding tempo. I'll give you just two:

1. How fast should I play when I perform? No faster than you can do it right and still keep the beat steady. This tempo may be either more or less than you wish it was, or more or less than you were able to accomplish yesterday when you played the piece. Doesn't matter. It's what you can do RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE.

2. Shouldn't I play at the tempo of the original piece? Only if you can keep the beat at that tempo. I can absolutely guarantee you that a fast but uneven rendition sounds vastly worse than a steady rendition with a few bad notes. Try it and see if I'm not right. You will find yourself reacting very negatively to the stop/start/pause/repeat a wrong note version, and much more positively to the steady version, wrong notes or no wrong notes.

Actually, any professional, if they are honest, will tell you that the above is true. Those who don't know this are called amateurs.

Piano "Tone" - What's true, what's a lie?

2008-09-07T17:19:00.002-07:00

Here's a "copy and paste" bit from a piano site which claims to give the reader the skinny on digital pianos vs. acoustic pianos. Be aware that the site says lots of stuff, but I want to focus in this essay on what they say about "piano tone" as a lead in to a general discussion of the matter.

"What are the drawbacks [to digital pianos]?

"(1) Sound quality. No matter how well the piano sound is sampled, you can never truly get away from the "amplified", "digital" sound quality. As digital sampling technology improves, the gap between the acoustic and digital sound may diminish, but digital sound will never equal or be superior to those of an acoustic.

"(2) Inability to produce a "color" to the tone. In an acoustic instrument, by using various playing techniques, you can produce almost infinite kinds of "color" to the tone. Digital pianos can only produce sounds that were originally sampled (recorded), and thus very limited in terms of variety in the sound produced. For a very accomplished pianist, the limited sound produced by the digital piano can be disturbing. "

from the website http://www.allaboutpianos.com/digitalfaq.html#three

First, a definition is in order: "sampled" refers to the process in which a digital piano "records" the sound of an acoustic sample in order to play it back when you depress the keys. Sampling technology has come miles in the last few years, especially since computer memory to record all the intimate details of the sound has become so much better and so much cheaper.

Now that you understand these basics of sound production, that the acoustic piano makes sound via hammers striking strings and the digital piano contains "samples" of these sounds that playback when you depress its keys, we can dissect the rest of the statement. I think doing so will bring to mind various things you have heard about pianos during your life and perhaps set some of these falsehoods to rest, finally.

For falsehoods they are, and you don't have to be some "very accomplished pianist" to understand why.

Let me ask you - which would you rather own? A good digital piano or a lousy acoustic piano? Which do think would sound better? An out of tune acoustic or an in tune digital? It's not much of a decision, is it? Thus, to state categorically that, "digital sound will never equal or be superior to those of an acoustic," is just plain silly. Good digital sound beats the heck out of mediocre acoustic sound any day of the week. Want to confirm this for yourself? Go to a piano store and try various levels of pianos, both acoustic and digital.

I personally am a "very accomplished pianist." Since I began playing in 1968, I've likely played thousands of acoustic pianos. Some were truly fabulous, wonderful, amazing. Some, to put it bluntly, sucked. Common sense says that anything real has both good and bad variations and acoustic pianos are no different. Yet, here is this "reputable" website stating that acoustic always beat digital.

It does not.

Even if it did, why is the sound associated with an acoustic piano BETTER, in any real sense of the word, than the sound associated with a digital. Different does not mean better - unless you have a bias, a prejudice in favor of one thing over the other. And that, naturally, is exactly what the snobs who makes such idiot claims have - a prejudice in favor of the acoustic and against the digital. Yeah, it's not as nasty as racism or sexism but it's their smiley-faced cousin in the keyboard world.

Which brings us, finally, to that ultimate conceit, the so-called infinite colors of piano tone. Consider for a minute what some (many?) "very accomplished pianists" have done. First, out of all the music in the whole world, made in all nations with all instruments, they have limited down their world to ONLY piano music. However, that's not enough limiting for many. Out of the multitude of styles of piano playing, our very accomplished pianist has limited him or her down to CLASSICAL music. And still the limiting goes on, a further set of limits being classical piano music played on pianos of a certain valued tonal quality. You won't be too surprised when I tell you that it's not uncommon for a pianist to then limit themselves to one make of piano, and then to one model of one make, and, in extreme cases, to one individual instrument. In a world of music, how such limitation can produce "infinite kinds of color" is almost impossible to credit.

I also note that the vast majority of composer/virtuosos currently considered as the greats did NOT limit themselves solely to the tones of the piano. Although that instrument is THE instrument we associate with great composers, those same geniuses composed for entire orchestras and choirs, writing world class music for instruments they themselves did NOT play but understood and appreciated as their genius allowed. What, I wonder, would they make of the amazing repertoire of sound possibilities in a modern digital piano, where the touch of a button provides super realistic orchestral, band, pop, and purely electronic instrument sounds? I suspect they would have been both fascinated and gratified.

What does this all have to do with you, the amateur player? Well, the first thing I'd say is to appreciate what you have already, for unless you have a broken down, out of tune, nasty sounding low end acoustic, or some poorly constructed (and therefore cheap) digital, the quality of your tone matters much less than such considerations as whether you can keep a beat and then hit the right notes in the process. A wrong note on the world's best piano is still a wrong note, and superb tone won't make up for shoddy and unsteady rhythm.

Devalue this tone thing, and recognize it for the elitist obsession that it is. Focus yourself, instead, on playing music with a steady beat and a clean, clear melody. Almost anyone can achieve this, given some good training and the proper set of importances. Tone, schmone.