Category: Piano Practice Strategy

Get Everything You Need To Start Piano With My New Ebook!

11/26/2019

EXPLORE MY RECOMMENDED Piano RESOURCES HERE!

Cover of my new Ebook about "everything you need to start piano right!" A practical resource for piano students, piano learners and piano wannabees.

Get MY NEW EBOOK: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW, HAVE & DO TO START PIANO RIGHT!

by Jenny Leigh Hodgins

🎹MY NEW EBOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE AT
HALF PRICE THROUGH DECEMBER ONLY!

I have exciting news for piano learners or those interested in playing piano! I have launched my first ebook,

What You Need To Know, Have & Do To Start Piano Right!

I’m excited to soon make this ebook available for purchase directly from my website! My upcoming ebook is the perfect holiday gift for anyone interested in piano playing!

I created this valuable resource for those who:

want to learn piano
are returning to piano after a long gap
have a child interested in exploring music

My ebook is a practical, down-to-earth, all-in-one resource and easy-to-read guide for anyone interested in getting started or returning to piano lessons.

Want to know if this is the right book for you, your family, or a musical friend?

Let me clarify my new ebook's content with an excerpt from the introduction,

“Throughout my 30-year music and piano teaching career, I’ve been asked the same questions repeatedly by those interested in playing piano. Beginner to intermediate piano students have asked these same questions again and again.

Even advanced players, lacking a foundation of good practice habits, and frustrated with how to pierce through a plateau or further progress in piano, exhibited a need to learn piano practice basics. Many of these piano learners did not lack piano skill. They were stumped by repeated mistakes or by their inability to breakthrough musical barriers. They simply did not know how to practice piano effectively for consistent progress.

In my experience with teaching privately, in small groups, and classroom school music classes, all my students, and their parents or guardians had the same need for answers to these questions about successful piano learning. I’ve combined their biggest concerns and most recurring inquiries in this ebook.

As a pianist and composer of piano-based music, I know well the rich benefits and joy of piano playing. The issues piano learners face, and their desire to get started, return to, or keep pressing on to reap the rewards of piano progress, are what motivates me to provide this ebook. My intent is to help piano learners keep breaking through to new levels of piano performance.

Though I’ve written blogs on these topics, many have expressed continued interest in starting piano or more successful piano practice results. My goal in writing this ebook, as well as my upcoming (2nd) ebook, My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Effectively, is to provide answers to these persistent questions in an organized, convenient way. I hope my books are helpful to those seeking successful or greater momentum for piano progress.

This ebook covers all the basics anyone needs to know about starting piano lessons, from how to find a quality instrument and piano method, to whether you need and how to find a good piano teacher, whether online tools for piano learning are valuable, what’s needed for a successful start to piano learning, and how to maintain continued piano progress.

I hope this ebook provides the answers you seek, and helps you successfully begin or continue your musical journey with enjoyable, confident, forward-moving piano advancement.”

My new ebook will be the perfect holiday gift:

for the musician in your life
for anyone interested in learning piano
as a foundation to prepare you for your child’s piano learning
as an all-in-one resource to get everything you need to start piano right!

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MY EBOOK:

"What a great resource for potential piano parents to have."
~-Krista Schupbach, PIANO TEACHER

"A great book that will inspire many people to take up piano lessons. It inspires me to continue playing and composing. Many people [will want] to start piano studies after reading [this] ebook. Looking forward to [the author's] next ebook."
--Alex Dawson, RETIRED PIANO TEACHER

"Excellent e-book! EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING PIANO. There is just about everything you can think in [this ebook], like a bible of what you should know. I also enjoyed previous articles and links from [YourCreativeChord.com] blog -- which only strengthens [the author] as an authority on piano. Great job!"
--Joshua Sohn, FILM & GAME COMPOSER

"Genuinely, this is a good resource, and a reassuring one to someone coming at the piano with some trepidation, intimidation, or wondering, Am I too old to start?"
--Tracie Callahan, COMPOSER, MUSIC EDUCATOR

Get your copy of my new ebook:

"What You Need To Know, Have & Do To Start Piano Right!"

Don't forget to show your awesome support by sharing/liking/retweeting the link! Subscribe for more updates!

Recommended articles:
My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1

My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2

My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 3

What Do You Need To Know, Have, Or Do To Begin Piano?

Find A Good Piano Teacher

Your Top 5 Best Tips From A Piano Teacher

What’s The Best Way For A Busy Adult To Learn Piano?

What Keyboard Do I Need For Successful Piano Lessons?

How Learning Piano Benefits Aging Adults

Connect with YourCreativeChord on
Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook!

What You Need To Know, Have & Do To Start Piano Right! Ebook

$11.98 $5.99

A practical, down-to-earth, all-in-one resource and easy-to-read guide for anyone interested in getting started or returning to piano lessons.

BONUS GIFT:

As my gift to you, with every purchase of my ebook, you'll automatically receive a FREE download of my original photo with a self-care affirmation.

Yes! I want this ebook NOW!

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What Should You Do If You Keep Messing Up At The Piano?

9/3/2019

0 Comments

GET MY New eBook, "What You Need to know, have & do to start piano right!

JOIN TEAM YCC & GET A FREE SAMPLE FROM MY UPCOMING EBOOK, "HOW TO PRACTICE PIANO EFFECTIVELY!"

What To Do If You Keep Messing Up At The Piano, B X W piano keyboard, yourcreativechord.com

by Jenny Leigh Hodgins

If you’ve been following my piano practice blog series, you know my strategy for how to spend time at piano for the most effective progress.

If you missed those, check out: My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1, My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2 & My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 3, where I walk you through my effective piano practice strategy in detail.

Continuing in your piano practice routine, you should practice each goal in this manner (as described in previous blogs above) for as long as you are able to muster full effort. Repeat the same practice process with your next goal, aiming to successfully play through several times in a row.

Stop if you make a mistake, or when you lose mental concentration. Remind yourself of your selected goal and reset back to the start. If you’re unable to keep your mind on things after awhile, or continue making the same mistakes, it may be time for a change. This brings us to decide What To Do If You Keep Messing Up At The Piano!

Starting anew without success after multiple attempts means you’re either doing something to block your progress, or you simply need a break to refresh yourself. If you simply didn’t achieve your goal, in addition to stopping and returning to the beginning, you must change your approach.

Take A Closer Look At The Problem
When I’ve chosen a specific practice goal, but continue having problems getting through the music successfully, I take a step back. By that I mean to take a closer look at the problem section. Analyze the trouble spot, looking for clues about what’s tripping you up. This often reveals a less obvious practice goal that you must focus on first, before moving on to your previously selected goal. In other words, you’ve taken on too much at once. Bite off only what you can chew, one morsel at a time.

How do you find the trouble to know what to practice? Ask yourself questions relevant to your music and piano playing level. If you’re a beginner, you may ask;

Can I play through this fingering?
Can I play with a fluent, steady beat?
Can I name the notes as I play?
Can I play this dynamic?
Can I play using both hands?

If you’re more advanced, you must ask questions relative to your level, too.

Am I able to play with proper finger touch, hand and arm motion?
Am I able to play with proper fingering with both hands simultaneously?
Am I using the pedal intentionally?
Am I cognizant of the harmonic progression as I play?
Am I aware of the form as I play?

Troubleshooting As A Target
These are simply examples of questions. You must look at your music specifically to break things down, one issue or item at a time, deducing where, within the music, you are completely confident you’ve mastered each aspect of your analysis. When you find a point where you are struggling to focus or answer a question, you’ve found a trouble spot!

An effective piano practice routine constantly involves this kind of reflection, and then zeroing in to practice only that section or areas that cause any issues. The way to accomplish more at your piano is determined by how much mental energy you’ve spent during your time at the piano. When you push yourself to be more conscientious of each moment and every phrase of your musical assignments, you will reap huge rewards with advancement as a musician.

But what if you’ve gone through this intense effort and you’re still having issues? I know how frustrating that may be, but there are two solutions that usually resolve any trouble areas.

Play It Slower, Sam
Most commonly, the solution to the problem is a slower tempo. Your next best step would be to stay focused on the originally selected goal, but play through your musical section at a much reduced speed. Playing music at a slower than usual tempo is often the most challenging kind of practice. Quite the opposite of most people’s impression that fast is impressive. (Though it can be, often piano players of fast passages easily find themselves relying on physical muscle memory, which, as mentioned earlier, is like a fragile house of cards!)

Sometimes we’ve made the mistake of relying solely on our muscle memory to play through musical passages. When the tempo is slowed down, that kind of false scaffolding is stripped away, leaving us to use our cognitive skills and tune in to refine our kinesthetic senses. This can feel like having the training wheels of a bicycle removed. We start off wobbly and lacking confidence or balance.

But when you slow the tempo, you allow yourself enough space in your brain to be fully mindful of each practice goal, whether it’s the notes, rhythm, fingering, dynamics or all these combined. If you’re able to play slowly enough to completely master each aspect of the music (whichever goals you’ve chosen to practice), you will gradually come away from piano practice with a deeper grasp of the music, both internally and physically.

But playing music that is familiar to us at a deliberately slower tempo can also cause us to trip up. This is even more basis for the argument to slow your playing enough to thoroughly choose and focus on one practice goal at a time until it is mastered.

Underwater Slow Motion Effect
One of the biggest problems with slowing down is that we’ve developed bad habits of playing at a tempo too fast. This tempo is stuck in our aural memory as well as our physical muscles. This makes for a tougher barrier to get through.

What I suggest is to look at your music through a new lens. Go to the extreme with your imagination. Pretend you’re playing through the musical phrase as if you are in an underwater film scene using a slow motion effect. Yes. That slow. Be intentionally and dramatically slower than the slowest tempo you can feel.

If it’s hard to keep the beat at that new tempo, set the metronome at the most ridiculously slowest tempo you can feel. Play the music along with the metronome. If necessary, count aloud before you play, clapping out or tapping the rhythm on your legs first. Then play through with this tempo using the metronome.

Once you’re able to sense the steady beat of this willfully chosen slow speed, go back through the passage following your effective piano practice routine. Stop if you make a mistake or lose mental concentration. Aim again to play at this slow tempo correctly three times in a row.

Discovering Your Musical Weaknesses
Typically, playing slowly in this manner will reveal problem areas you hadn’t discovered while playing at the faster tempo. Even better, playing slowly will allow you to more deeply and clearly master previously chosen practice goals. This kind of practice brings you much more quickly to the kind of cognitive engagement necessary for lasting piano progress.

Why? Because you’re finally going slow enough to allow yourself to fully think consciously and consistently toward your chosen practice goals. You may have thought you’d already surpassed this level of practice at your faster tempo. But the majority of the time, slower practice will take you further and, ironically, faster in piano progress.

What Should You Do If You Keep Messing Up At The Piano?
If you’re unable to keep your mind on things after awhile, it may be time for a break. This kind of prolonged, intensely concentrated effort cannot be sustained for long. Especially if you’ve just begun using this piano practice technique.

It’s perfectly normal and advisable to take a break when you’ve hit a plateau, lost your ability to pay attention to your set goals, or make mistakes repeatedly. Our brains need a moment to refresh.

You could choose to play through something without concentrating, just for the enjoyment of it. Choose something at a much easier sight-reading level, a previously mastered piece, or improvise for the sheer fun of it.

Play It Again, Sam
Once you’ve taken a short break, try again with renewed determination. You may find a burst of energy that helps you continue your intentional, slow tempo practice. You may notice already, a degree of improvement, fluency, muscle recall, or musicality emerging. This is a wonderful experience, bringing a joyful sense of accomplishment and newfound confidence as a piano player.

Enjoy that! It will keep happening again and again, each time you challenge yourself to give your all mentally to your piano practice sessions.

If you’re experiencing the opposite, unable to play without mistakes, or just can no longer focus at the practice goal with a slow tempo, you may need to leave the piano completely for a change of pace, scenery, a meal, drink, or even rest.

Celebrate and acknowledge your efforts no matter what! Each day, each hour, each moment that you’re forging your complete focus on piano practice in the way I’ve described in this series is an incredible accomplishment. You’re making progress step by step, sometimes without realizing it until you look back and see how far you’ve come in your musical skills!

I’d love to hear from you. It means a lot to me that my content is helpful. Please take a moment to join the conversation below to let me know if this blog is helpful to you, or if you have questions or suggestions!

If you’re a piano teacher, feel free to leave one of your favorite piano practice tips in the comment section!

Annnnnd...if you loved this blog don't forget to show your awesome support by sharing/liking/retweeting the link! Subscribe for more updates!

Recommended articles:
My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1

My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2

My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 3

What Do You Need To Know, Have, Or Do To Begin Piano?

Find A Good Piano Teacher

Your Top 5 Best Tips From A Piano Teacher

What’s The Best Way For A Busy Adult To Learn Piano?

What Keyboard Do I Need For Successful Piano Lessons?

How Learning Piano Benefits Aging Adults

What To Do About Piano Practice When You Have An Injury

DEVELOPING PIANO TECHNIQUE

TIPS FOR LEFT & RIGHT HAND COORDINATION

COMPOSING FOR PIANO

Connect with YourCreativeChord on
Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook!

GET YOUR FREEBIE FROM MY EBOOK, "HOW TO PRACTICE PIANO EFFECTIVELY!"

EXPLORE MY RECOMMENDED MUSIC RESOURCES HERE!

What You Need To Know, Have & Do To Start Piano Right! Ebook

$11.98 $5.99

A practical, down-to-earth, all-in-one resource and easy-to-read guide for anyone interested in getting started or returning to piano lessons.

BONUS GIFT:

As my gift to you, with every purchase of my ebook, you'll automatically receive a FREE download of my original photo with a self-care affirmation.

YES! GIVE ME THIS EBOOK ON STARTING PIANO RIGHT!

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My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1

7/2/2019

0 Comments

GET YOUR FREEBIE from my ebook, "HOW TO PRACTICE PIANO EFFECTIVELY!"

Explore My Recommended Music Resources Here!

Photo of Baldwin baby grand piano with original notation and pencil on music stand and light streaming from window behind piano by Jenny Leigh Hodgins

Photo by Jenny Leigh Hodgins

By Jenny Leigh Hodgins

This is Part 1 of a series offering my best tips on how to practice piano.

Do you want to make more significant progress with your piano practice?

Do you want to eliminate repeated mistakes in your piano playing?

Are you just starting piano lessons?

Have you always wanted to learn piano?

Do you want your child to learn piano?

Did you have a prior negative experience as a piano student, but still want to learn to play piano?

For all these scenarios, I have some useful suggestions.

Why Should You Believe I Know How To Make Piano Progress?
I’ve taught piano for more than half my life. Piano is a way that I best express myself, whether through performance or my original compositions.

I performed as a pianist (and vocalist) and owned a private piano teaching studio for 25 years. I taught group piano (Musikgarten methodology) to kids from 5 to 11, too!

If you’re interested in checking out my piano-based original music, or looking for proof to believe me when I say I know how to make piano progress, go to: JLMusicStudio.com

Or have a listen to: My Piano Performance of Clair De Lune.

Why Does Your Piano Practice Make You Feel Like A Loser?
I know from my early piano practice sessions what it feels like to be overwhelmed, or stuck, or frustrated by a particular musical challenge. I was familiar with spending chunks of fruitless time at piano, not being able to accomplish something.

I’d practice musical passages, scales, etudes, fingering, rhythmic patterns, or dynamics relentlessly and repetitively, only to hear myself play the same mistake after mistake.

I’ve had some great piano teachers, though, and one of them was quite instrumental (What? A musical pun here?) in teaching me how to make progress with learning piano. I finally learned how to practice piano effectively.

I’ve seen this dilemma from both sides. Having taught piano and music for 25+ years, I’ve met many piano students who felt overwhelmed by piano practice.

I’ve had students come to me with angst from their lack of progress with former piano teachers.

I’ve had adults come to me with feeble hopes after quitting piano lessons as a child.

I’ve had teenagers joining my studio initially complain that piano was boring and they couldn’t get any better at it.

How To Practice Piano With Confidence
I learned to practice piano effectively. My private piano students overcame issues with getting stuck or insufficient progress, too. They succeeded because the driving point I taught in each piano lesson was how to practice piano effectively.

Do You Know Where The Musical Magic Really Happens?
First, you need to know that the magic never happens in the piano lesson. You will not be illuminated musically by exposure to the brilliance of your piano teacher. Sorry, no unicorns here.

Piano improvement comes directly from the student.

So…

You.

You, as the piano student, or you as the parent of the piano student, are the key to continuous piano progress. The piano student has full responsibility for developing piano skills. Having that self-motivation is 90% of the musical betterment battle.

Of course, a quality piano instructor will be critically helpful as an experienced guide on your musical journey. A good piano teacher can inspire your consistent piano progress. Your piano teacher can help you avoid mistakes or break habits that stunt your piano development.

Your piano teacher can use your strengths to help you advance more dynamically, or help you polish your weaknesses into tools for improvement. But the real result is up to the piano student. Not the teacher.

If that has fully sunk into your brain, now you are ready for my piano practice tips!

Please first take a look at these blogs if you are just beginning piano:

What Do You Need To Know, Have, Or Do To Begin Piano?

What Keyboard Do I Need For Successful Piano Lessons?

How To Find A Good Piano Teacher

Necessary Steps To Achieve Your Most Effective Piano Practice
Having read through the blogs above, hopefully you’ve found a great piano teacher, have a quality instrument or a plan to upgrade to one, and have sorted out a regular practice routine that is supported by those in your home. Now you must begin to establish an effective piano practice strategy that produces progress within your regular practice sessions.

In my next blogs of this series, My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2 & My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 3, I walk you through my effective piano practice strategy in detail.

Why You Need To Choose A Goal Relevant For Your Level
Before you begin toward your daily piano practice routine, you will need to define the goals you will concentrate on. As you read through these piano practice tips, it will become evident that your goals will change and develop as you practice. Choosing and changing goals helps keep your interest and promotes the greatest progress while practicing piano.

The most critical part that will vary from student to student, or from one practice session to the next, is choosing relevant practice goals. The goals you select depend on your level of musicianship, and will vary from beginner to advanced levels of piano skill.

Beginner to intermediate level piano students will typically have a few piano goals assigned by their piano teacher to achieve before the next piano lesson. As you advance in piano proficiency, you’ll be able to use more self-volition in selecting appropriate piano goals.

As you advance, and with the guidance from your piano teacher, you’ll learn the art of narrowing your focus to what goals are necessary for your current piano playing level.

Before you begin, you must determine your specific goals for each piano practice session. You’ll need to break your weekly goals down into smaller, digestible chunks. Either using what your piano teacher has offered, or devising your own, make a list of targeted piano practice goals you will work on during your piano practice session.

In the next blog, I will offer a few examples of relevant piano practice goals.

Checkout next steps in my effective piano practice strategy in My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2, & My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 3.

I’d love to hear from you. It means a lot to me that my content is helpful and empowers you. Please take a moment to join the conversation below to let me know if this blog is helpful to you, or if you have questions or suggestions!

If you’re a piano teacher, feel free to leave one of your favorite piano practice tips in the comment section!

Annnnnd...if you loved this blog don't forget to show your awesome support by Liking the link, Subscribing for more updates and adding your comment below!

Recommended articles:
My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2

My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 3

What Do You Need To Know, Have, Or Do To Begin Piano?

Find A Good Piano Teacher

Your Top 5 Best Tips From A Piano Teacher

What’s The Best Way For A Busy Adult To Learn Piano?

What Keyboard Do I Need For Successful Piano Lessons?

How Learning Piano Benefits Aging Adults

What To Do About Piano Practice When You Have An Injury

DEVELOPING PIANO TECHNIQUE

TIPS FOR LEFT & RIGHT HAND COORDINATION

COMPOSING FOR PIANO

Connect with YourCreativeChord on
Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook!

GET YOUR FREEBIE from my ebook, "HOW TO PRACTICE PIANO EFFECTIVELY!"

Explore My Recommended Music Resources Here!

0 Comments

Get Everything You Need To Start Piano With My New Ebook!

What You Need To Know, Have & Do To Start Piano Right! Ebook

What Should You Do If You Keep Messing Up At The Piano?

What You Need To Know, Have & Do To Start Piano Right! Ebook

My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1

PIANO

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