 Cover of my new Ebook about "everything you need to start piano right!" A practical resource for piano students, piano learners and piano wannabees. by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
🎹MY NEW EBOOK LAUNCHES TOMORROW! I have exciting news for piano learners or those interested in playing piano! This Tuesday, December 3, 2019, I will launch 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:
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:
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 Watch for my ebook launch announcement THIS TUESDAY to get your copy of: "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!
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 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;
If you’re more advanced, you must ask questions relative to your level, too.
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!  CLICK PIANO TO SEE MY "HOW TO PRACTICE PIANO" PINTEREST BOARD! Photo by Jenny Leigh Hodgins by Jenny Leigh Hodgins This is Part 3 of a series offering my best tips for effective piano practice. Read Part 1 & 2 here: My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1 My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2 Why Zoning Out Won’t Get You Anywhere With Piano Progress Playing through the passage while zoning out mentally, immersed instead in the enjoyment of music won’t advance your piano progress. When practicing piano, you must be vigilant about where you place your focus. You must have a clear focus. That’s why setting goals for your practice week and having a specific goal to work on for each moment of your current piano practice session are the first steps to your piano progress. In My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2, I walked you through the fundamental steps necessary for effective piano practice. As part of that process, you will sometimes need to stop playing the piano. As mentioned, there are two reasons to stop; you’ve either made a mistake or lost focus on your specific goal. How To Evaluate Your Piano Performance During and after you play your selected musical passage with a goal in mind, you must learn to evaluate your performance with regard to whatever goal you are focused on. Evaluation, as part of an effective piano practice strategy, is the active role you take in the constant problem state of getting your piano skills from your current level to the next. In other words, you must engage your own thinking about your piano skills. Of course, your piano teacher will be of tremendous help in guiding you toward what specific things to be aware of, in regard to your current piano level. But you must be a proactive learner for greater momentum in your piano progress. Going back to your piano practice scenario, after you play through the selected passage, ask yourself, “Did I successfully accomplished my goal?” Be Proactively & Fully Engaged At The Piano Check yourself carefully here:
If so, it was not a successful run-through, even if you made no mistakes! You must be cognizant of what you are doing at the piano so that your mind and your physical muscles store the memory of your successful playing! Many piano students (I’m guilty of this myself) develop the habit of playing something correctly, but without truly spending mental attention on the music. This regrettably often results in moments of a complete blank when attempting to perform under circumstances that are different or involve stage fright symptoms. It’s great that your physical muscles remember the music! But if you rely only on the physical memory alone, without engaging your intellectual concentration, you risk having a complete memory lapse. Back to checking yourself on whether you’ve played through the selected passage correctly:
In both these outcomes, making a mistake or losing mental concentration, you must return to the beginning and follow the practice strategy laid out in How To Achieve Your Most Effective Piano Practice in My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 2. When A Mistake Is NOT A Mistake However, a word about mistakes. Be flexible with making a mistake if it had nothing to do with your selected goal. Let’s use the example of attempting to play the fingering correctly through a four-measure musical passage. If you played a wrong note, or stopped the fluency of the beat, or played too softly when the dynamic marking indicates a louder dynamic, but you still played the correct fingering, any of those mistakes are not necessarily worth noting. One Thing At A TIme, Not Multi-Tasking If you played the correct fingering despite those other mistakes, it’s a victory. You met your goal. Especially for beginners, the ability to focus on one thing at a time while playing is the most important practice habit. After playing through the passage with correct fingering a few times, you could then select the next goal to include one of the things that tripped you up earlier, such as playing:
How To Assess The Problem Or Unlock A New Approach At this point of your piano practice routine, you’ve evaluated your attempt. You either were successful at the initial goal and have been able to play through correctly three times consecutively, or, something went wrong. This is what you must think about:
This is what it takes to forge your ability to assess your piano performance and adjust yourself accordingly. How To Choose Your Next Best Step If you were successful with playing your chosen piano passage through three times successfully, you must then choose a new goal. Perhaps, practice something that gave you trouble as mentioned earlier. Your next piano practice goal will depend on what you need to master, or what is giving you trouble. Goals will also vary based on your piano skill level. Your previously established weekly or practice session goals will be your reference point for next steps. Some common piano practicing goals could include playing through the passage:
You should try to continue practicing each goal in this manner for as long as you are able to muster full effort. When you begin to lose your ability to concentrate, remind yourself of your selected goal and reset back to the start. If you are unable to keep your mind on things after awhile, or continue making the same mistakes, it may be time for a break. Stay tuned for my next blog in this series on effective piano practice, What To Do If You Keep Messing Up At The Piano! 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! THANK YOU FOR SHARING this with a friend on social media or email! Recommended articles: My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1 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 You can also find me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook!  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.
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!  Kansas Piano Teacher, Dawn Ivers. Photo courtesy of D. Ivers. by Jenny Leigh Hodgins
Today’s Piano blog features five best piano practice tips from Veteran Piano Teacher, Dawn Ivers, of Kansas. I recently featured Ivers in my blog, What To Do About Piano Practice When You Have An Injury. Ivers runs a successful piano studio in Kansas. She includes online lessons and technology as part of her piano pedagogy. 1. What are your top piano practice tips for beginners? Frequency, Chunking Goals & Finding Tricky Spots For beginners, Ivers suggests practicing piano frequently in small chunks throughout the week. She recommends setting small, manageable goals for each practice session. She suggests learning how to identify your tricky spots and work them carefully. 2. What are the basics for someone who wants to begin learning piano? Quality Instrument, Family Support, Interest In Learning Piano Fundamentally, Ivers recommends that beginner piano students have "an in-tune instrument to practice on, parent support, and an interest in learning piano." She accepts students as young as three for piano lessons, "because we can teach skills like counting and finger isolation (fingering) through music. As long as the student is interested and able to follow simple instructions, piano lessons can begin." 3. What are your thoughts on online learning for piano? Ivers considers online learning a terrific option, whether it be for regular lessons, or an inclement weather or sickness option. Flexibility Plus Responsibility “Online (piano) lessons provide flexibility of location for the student, and with video chat technology being what it is, piano teachers can accomplish the same goals with only small variations to their usual methods.” “In my own piano studio, I started offering online piano lessons after I moved across the country and several of my students in my former area wanted to continue on with me. So I tried it out with students ranging from age 7 to 16, mid-beginner to advanced piano levels, all have continued to show consistent (piano) progress and lessons continue to be fun and engaging.” “One added bonus is that a few of my online piano students have really stepped up and taken ownership of their music and learning process because there is a little bit of added responsibility when a student participates in distance learning.” 4. Do you have any technology you’d recommend for piano students? Metronomes Ivers says she recommends “every student have access to a metronome, be it a traditional one, a beat generator like the Super Metronome Groove Box app or just telling their Google/Alexa to set a metronome.” Apps, Games, Notation Software, Accompaniment = Engagement “Besides that, there are a lot of excellent technology-based resources like music theory apps, sight reading games, music notation software, backing track generators, etc.” “While I don't think any of these are the single secret key to becoming a well-rounded musician, anything that helps a student engage and enjoy the piano learning process is worth investing in.” “In my (piano) studio, I use a combination of the resources mentioned above so students are getting to use them in lessons. When they go home, they are not required to have access to them (though many enjoy the apps or notation software so much, they do download them for practice purposes at home).” 5. What are your thoughts on time and schedule routine for piano practice? Set Weekly Piano Practice Routine & Reminders Ivers says the details of this are “going to vary by family and individual schedules and situations. But generally, I recommend that students look at their weekly schedule, and set the times throughout the week they are going to practice (piano).” “Set digital or visual reminders if necessary for these set times, and then stick to it.” Practice When Inspired “Students should also practice piano when they're feeling inclined to in addition to the scheduled times, and with this combination of following a schedule and allowing inclination to bring them to the piano, they'll get plenty of practice each week.” Ivers' blog on four ideas for scheduling practice time goes more in depth on this topic. For more information from our featured piano teacher, Dawn Ivers, her piano studio and informative blog, click here. 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! THANK YOU FOR SHARING this with a friend on social media or email! Recommended articles: My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1 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!  Hobbyist Pianist Tommy Doyle, of Manchester, United Kingdom Tips For Adults Who Want To Learn Piano
by Jenny Leigh Hodgins In my quest to see if what I’ve learned in 30+ years as a pianist and piano teacher is in sync with other piano teachers and pianists, I’ve checked out Facebook piano groups. This is where I engaged in a thread on piano practice with hobbyist piano player, Tommy Doyle, of Manchester, United Kingdom. Doyle’s website, https://tommyspianocorner.com is where he shares his journey as someone who studied piano in his youth, left it behind for many years due to ‘adulting,’ then returned to the piano as a hobby. His blog offers his insights on how to approach learning piano while juggling the working adult’s non-music-related daily responsibilities. Although not a piano teacher, hearing from Doyle’s personal journey with striving to fit in his love for piano minus the hyper-ambition of a classical piano career gets at the heart of what many aspiring pianists want to know. I asked Doyle five questions that are useful for those wanting to progress at piano playing. The first sentence of his first answer hit the essence of my philosophy and teaching strategy for effective piano progress. YCC: What are your top piano practice tips for beginners? DOYLE: My top tip for anybody wanting to learn to play piano is to learn how to practice piano. This might seem a self-evident thing to say, however, the reality seems to be that many of us never learn the art of practicing. In my experience, we often find intuitive ways of doing things and in these cases if we just repeat a few times, we soon acquire a new skill. However, when we don’t find that intuitive means, we have to find a way to learn a new skill. This is where practice techniques play a big part. If you’re unable to do something, then just repeating it incorrectly isn’t going to help. I found a couple of really useful resources in this respect that I’ve talked about numerous times on my blog. YCC: Doyle specifically recommends the Practicing The Piano ebook series by pianist/educator, Graham Fitch. Fitch is highly qualified as a graduate of London’s Royal College Of Music who continued his piano studies in the USA on a Fulbright Scholarship, and travels as a performing pianist and lecturer on piano and music. I haven’t personally used Fitch’s series, but on first glance at the preview on Amazon, some of his top tips for practicing include; choosing a specific fingering, attention to practice only correct notes or rhythms, isolating hands separately before playing hands together, choosing a slow tempo for new repertoire, and using soft dynamics for a loud section. Each of these methods is something I’ve used myself and in teaching others, and resonates with my teaching and practicing approach to focus on mastering one goal at a time, and to eliminate practicing mistakes robotically. Doyle especially likes the ebooks for their direct links to audio and video demonstrations as part of the piano learning process. This is in sync with both how my piano teachers taught me, and my approach as a piano teacher to model for students so they may grasp concepts aurally, physically and visually. Today’s online capabilities can be a useful source of help for piano students. For more information on the series, Doyle himself reviewed it here. YCC: What are the basics you recommend for someone who wants to begin learning piano? DOYLE: I highly recommend that anybody start by getting a teacher. I’m not saying you can’t teach yourself with sufficient research and trial and error, with the myriad of resources now available online. It’s definitely possible. However, I think there’s an absolutely massive learning curve at the beginning (depending on your starting point). Not only is there the issue of actually playing the instrument, there’s also the question of learning to read music. Finding a good teacher to get you over these two massive initial hurdles is to my mind a well worthwhile investment. A teacher is there to help you master the very basics - how to sit at the piano, how to hold your hands, how to play the notes. You teacher can also explain what those odd dots on the page actually mean and give strategies for absorbing the ability to translate these into notes at the piano. A good teacher will also help you get to grips with lots of the basics you need; Scales, Arpeggios, 5-finger exercises and the like. Learning how to do these well gives you the absolute essential building blocks for the rest. Your teacher will also help you with choices of pieces (music repertoire) to learn that are both within your grasp but also in terms of styles of music you enjoy. YCC: What are your thoughts on online learning for piano? DOYLE: I’m a firm believer that we should embrace the possibilities that the new online world offers us. Starting with YouTube, there is an enormous wealth of quality tutorials for people of all levels. YCC: Doyle has his favorite channels, but mentions the importance of checking into the background experience of videos to confirm credentials of expertise. He recommends Josh Wright, who is both well known on YouTube, has a doctorate in piano, and is an experienced teacher. Doyle doesn’t use apps himself, but “as a supplement to a proper teacher, I’d imagine they’re a great extra source of learning and certainly a very fun way to approach piano. Of course, claims that you can go from ‘beginner to pro in no time’ are total nonsense.” Doyle quotes Vladimir Horowitz (considered the king of classical piano) the piano is “the easiest instrument to learn in the beginning and the hardest to master in the end.” YCC: Do you have any technology you’d recommend for piano students? DOYLE: Technology is one of my pet subjects. I even created a category on my blog for this. What I find amazing even now is the absolutely amazing ways technology can be used by pianists now. I have an iPad Pro that I use as an integral part of my piano routine. This one piece of technology has replaced my need for sheet music (I download directly to my iPad), for a metronome (I use a free a metronome app). I keep my practice diary on it. I use it to record my practice so I can self critique. It’s pretty much always on my piano music stand. You can use it for things such as streaming music services, watching YouTube videos, reading magazines, the list goes on. You can even record your own orchestra into your computer and play along. I think that sometimes we more ‘mature’ learners fail to embrace what technology makes possible and stick with the ‘old way’. It’s a bit like my dad, who refuses to use a SatNav (GPS), just because he’s never used one and, on that basis, would never need one. It’s not about whether we need something, but about whether it makes what we’re trying to do easier. If technology can make things easier, then why not embrace it? When I used to play piano publicly, I needed to carry two massive plastic bags of music around with me with all sorts of photocopies and creased and wrinkled books. Now, on my iPad, I have all of my music organised, with the added advantage that I can search and find a piece in seconds rather than needing to sift through a lot of paper. YCC: What are your thoughts on time and schedule routine for piano practice? Doyle shares that reading Play It Again: An Amateur Against the Impossible by Alan Rusbridger inspired him to create his weekday before-work practice routine. He says he gets up an hour earlier in the morning so he can practice. DOYLE: I found that before I started doing this I had two major problems. The first was that it was always in the back of my mind that I still needed to fit in my practice at some point. Secondly, work would frequently take over, and by the time I actually got home from work I was too tired to sit down at the piano. My practice routine before was pretty much sitting and randomly working through things, which quite often was not actually making me any better. YCC: Doyle says his research into piano practice taught him the importance of having a proper plan. He says having defined goals and strategies for every practice session is a “real game changer.” Doyle emphasizes that “piano is an amazing hobby open to anybody. It’s definitely a lot of hard work, but the rewards are more than worth it.” Click here to read more about Doyle’s approach to piano practice. 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! THANK YOU FOR SHARING this with a friend on social media or email! Recommended articles: My Best Tips On How To Practice Piano Part 1 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! TIPS FOR LEFT & RIGHT HAND COORDINATION Practice piano by isolating one hand at a time. by Jenny Leigh Hodgins Single-Minded Focus Learn to play piano with both hands based on a single-minded focus on goal-oriented, multi-step tasks. Approaching piano practice in this manner has proven highly effective for me. One Hand Only For example, choose one hand to work on at a time. Isolate the bass part in the left hand. Then, break down your left hand practice into feasible chunks; work on only playing the correct notes for example. Practice the left hand part while fully focusing on the first selected goal (correct notes). Don’t worry about the rhythm, the fingering or any other aspect other than what you’ve chosen to focus on practicing (correct notes).  STOP. Evaluate. Stop. Evaluate. After you play through the section with full focus on that one goal, stop and evaluate. If successful at playing that particular section with no hesitation, move on to the next goal and repeat the process. Multiply Your Focus Then add the first two goals together (correct notes and rhythm) and practice that until you are able to play through successfully without any hesitation. Add the third goal, and so on. Repeat Procedure With Opposite Hand Switch to the opposite hand and repeat the process of focusing only on one goal at a time, stopping to evaluate, then repeating until you master each section and goal. Then repeat until you are successfully able to master multiple focus goals with the musical section chosen for that hand. Put Both Hands Together Finally, choose a small section, one goal (correct notes) and play both hands together. Do not jump to this part of practice until everything prior to this point has been successfully mastered. The same process applies when practicing hands together. Handling Mistakes If you make mistakes, stop immediately and evaluate why, then go back and practice until that issue is resolved. For example, if you played through a few measures correctly and then made mistakes, determine what happened. Usually the problem is that mentally you dropped the ball. Were you daydreaming about lunch? Were you distracted by someone walking past your window? Refresh Focus Go back to the trouble spot and refresh your single-minded focus on the practice aspects you’ve chosen. Once you achieve success, play through a larger section, or the entire musical composition. Be sure to apply the exact same practice strategy and address any mistakes immediately. Otherwise, you may make the common mistake of practicing your mistakes repeatedly, ingraining them further into your mental memory and making things more difficult to correct. This is how many students typically practice and defeat progress! One Last Note (heh heh) Practicing piano with clear goals, one hundred percent mental focus, evaluation and troubleshooting issues is an incredibly effective way to progress as a piano player. However, if you run into difficulty, besides lack of focus on a particular goal, the most common culprit for difficulty in piano practice is practicing too fast! If you are having problems with the above-described practice strategy, SLOW DOWN and try again! Most of the time, slowing the tempo resolves the problem. Many students have difficulty slowing their practice tempo. Use a metronome to set a defined, slower tempo. This enables you to reset your pace at a manageable speed. When you slow down, it allows you to master your goal of choice without repeatedly making mistakes due to a faster tempo. If you are still having problems slowing down, change your mindset about tempo. Students often are deluded that a faster tempo is equal to mastery. The opposite is more accurate. Playing purposefully at a slower tempo while focusing fully on one specific goal takes greater concentration, discipline and patience. Use Imagery Make setting a slower tempo an exciting new mission, to frame your attitude around it. Practice deep breathing in sync with your metronome as you set your inner pace with the new, slower tempo. Envision yourself playing under water in slow motion as a fun way to switch gears from playing faster to embracing a slower pace. From there, it can be amazing to see how simple and easy it is for you to master your chosen practice goal. 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! THANK YOU FOR SHARING this with a friend on social media or email! Recommended articles: 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 Learning To Be Creative You can also find me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook! |
PIANOIn my PIANO blogs, you'll find ways to overcome boredom, get past musical and mental blocks, explore the creative process with piano, and improve musical progress through piano teacher recommended best practices and effective piano practice tips. Archives
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