18 March 2015 How To Be A Better Piano Player By Improving Your Sight Reading Skills

How To Be A Better Piano Player By Improving Your Sight Reading Skills

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There are two kinds of skills when it comes to playing the piano. On one hand, you’ll find people that can play by ear. By listening to a song, and sitting down to a piano to feel the notes, in just a few moments they can play the song as if they’ve been practicing it for years.

Then there is reading music. In order to effectively learn how to read music, you must incorporate what you read from the notes in the music and transfer that understanding down into your fingers as they play.How To Be A Better Piano Player By Improving Your Sight Reading Skills

Reading music and understanding it takes time. That’s what practice is all about. Yet the better you get, the easier it becomes. Reading music becomes almost second nature; its something you can quickly transfer from reading to playing, without the necessity of practice to understand how it all comes together.

The concept of sight reading can be one of the most difficult concepts to master as a piano player. As a sight reader, you can take any piece of music, and by reading through it once can convert that knowledge into playing the piece at a fairly accurate level.

In the music world, sight reading is an important skill to have, especially when you’re working with new opportunities every day. In order to improve your sight reading skills, there are a few things you can do.

Practice Every Day
Just like your piano playing skills will improve with every day of practice, so to will your sight reading skills. Consider picking up sight reading music that will help you become stronger with your skills.

Become More Confident With Your Skills
As a piano player, you have two skills developing with every song you play. One is to read the music. Two is to connect the notes to your fingers and be able to play the tune without  hesitation. If you find yourself consistently looking down at the keyboard, second guessing your abilities, try playing in the dark to perfect your skills. It’s a great way to allow you to trust your playing ability, which will give you more confidence in connecting your reading and playing skills together.

Work With Other Musicians
Working with singers or other instrumentalists can bring your music skills together in a unique way. Having others to work with will help you create broader skill set and learn how to hear the music through several different channels.

Chunk Musical Elements Together
When you become a proficient reader, you learn to read based on words, phrases and clauses. You read quickly by seeing patterns and putting things together quickly in your mind. Reading music is no different. The more proficient you become at reading music, the more your eye will gravitate to patterns that appear again and again. Learn to recognize these and use your knowledge to help music flow easier, even when its your first time through.

Pick Up Traits From The Best
Listen to particular composers or genres. Then take what you learn when you pick up a piece of music from that composer or genre. Its not just about the notes; its also about the musical elements and style. Even when the notes aren’t perfect, if you can achieve the flavor of the period just by putting the right mood into the piece, you’ll be able to sound more like the real thing every time.

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14 March 2015 Tips For Teaching Piano To Young Children

Tips For Teaching Piano To Young Children

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When you send your child to school, you know his or her teacher will have the experience and knowledge necessary to teach a child of that age. They will understand what knowledge they already have in place, what skills are easy for them, and what they are capable of learning in the months ahead.

They teach in a style that’s best for the age of the child in the classroom.

Yet piano teachers have a different story.Tips For Teaching Piano To Young Children

They may be working with a 5 year old girl in the morning, and a 72 year old man in the afternoon. Two extremes, each requiring a completely different teaching approach to excel at the art of playing the piano.

As a parent, its important to realize that every piano teacher has his or her own unique talents. They have a strategy to use to teach their students to the best of the ability. To ensure their teaching style matches your child’s learning ability, its important to ask questions about the process before you begin.

As a piano teacher, its important to realize that every age requires a different approach. When you spend your time focusing in on one group, you can quickly discover the little tips and nuances that will make you better at teaching to that age range.

Young children require a certain style of learning. Here are a few things that meet their needs.

Only give them tasks they can succeed at
Children have short attention spans and bore quickly. If you give them too difficult of a challenge, they will quit. Instead, give them small challenges that are easier to achieve and build from there.

Teach by using phrases
If you’ve ever chatted with a child for any length of time, you know that by the second or third sentence, their eyes are wandering, they begin touching other things, they may even get off the chair and begin to dance around. Long lectures are beyond comprehension. They need things quickly to process. At a young age, you don’t need to lecture about the dynamics of piano playing; only provide the steps to achieve the tasks at hand. “Play that quicker” will be better received then a two minute speech on why the composer designed the song the way he did.

Let them think
When you ask a question, don’t jump right into the answer if they hesitate. Give them a chance to think it through. If they are struggling, offer clues to push them forward. Only provide the answer when you see it simply isn’t coming through. Then consider ways to make your questions more understandable in the future.

Play with their curiosity
Kids are naturally curious, and are more receptive to learning when it becomes a game. They like to play. They like to experiment. If you provide them with “what if” concepts, they will be more curious to find the answer. “What if we play these notes together” will press them to want to move to the next level every time.

Experience and reinforcement
Learning to play well comes with lots of practice on a regular time schedule. While a child may not retain all the fancy names for the different terms in music, they will remember concepts with a little practice. Focus in on how they play as opposed to getting the concepts down and being able to pronounce it. The concepts will come in later life; the only important thing today is to give them the love of music.

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12 March 2015 How To Keep Piano Students Motivated

How To Keep Piano Students Motivated

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Why do students quit piano lessons? Boredom. If they aren’t motivated to take action and practice every day, they will eventually reach a point where it no longer makes sense investing in lessons.

Before they reach that point, its important to understand what will keep them motivated, and change things up to keep them coming back for more.How To Keep Piano Students Motivated

Give them a balanced repertoire to work from
When people want to learn the piano, its usually so they can make music they are familiar with and are comfortable playing. When they dive into music they’ve never heard before over and over again, it can be frustrating because they can’t pick out the tune, and have no reference to the outcome. While its important to expand into a variety of genres, its equally important giving them something to strive for. Always ask for suggestions and find things that match their interests. You can find sheet music for every level of piano playing, in every genre imaginable. Pop music, jazz, soundtracks, new age – its all possible, and will help students stay on track.

Start an incentive program
Students can be motivated by a variety of things. And in some cases, bribes work well. While you don’t have to go overboard with promises, as you discover what helps motivate your student, use that to consistently take them to the next level. It can simple things, like a sticker for each level they achieve. Or highlighting their performance at an upcoming recital. Whatever motivates them, use that for all its worth.

Improve your own piano skills by taking lessons
A teachers job is to teach; its also to learn. With technology as advanced as it is today, if its been a while since you’ve taken piano instruction yourself, set up some time to work with an instructor and learn in a new way. Have you ever taken lessons via Skype? Have you used piano games online? With so many different strategies, take the time to review them and find out how you can incorporate some of the ideas into your own teaching methods.

Give students a chance to work together
Facing the same lesson style week after week can become monotonousness. If you have a variety of students working with you, consider bringing like-skilled students together for duets. If you work closely with other instructors that teach violin, cello, or other instruments that compliment the piano, you can introduce them to the world of playing together as well. This will help them understand how they can come together as a larger group and entertain not only themselves, but those around them as well.

Give them a chance to perform
A once a year recital for mom and dad is a great place to start, but the more active you can keep them, the more likely they will be to want to share their talents. You can find a variety of places to perform on a regular basis – nursing homes, senior centers, even local schools may welcome the chance to bring a little entertainment into their community. As their talents increase, opportunities may increase as well.

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7 February 2015 Piano Lessons: Private Piano Teacher Versus Learning Online

Piano Lessons: Private Piano Teacher Versus Learning Online

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Most people today buy their very first piano with one goal in mind: to learn to play the piano.

But once that piano is sitting in your home, ready to play, where do you turn to in order to learn your very first song?Piano Lessons: Private Piano Teacher Versus Learning Online

The Internet has changed the way we do just about everything in our lives, and learning to play the piano is no exception. Search the app store and you’ll find a variety of apps with the promise of helping you learn notes and scales. You can invest in quality games that combine hitting the right notes in order to gain points and ultimately win the game. You can watch thousands of videos on YouTube alone. And of course if you do a quick Google search, you’ll find even more sites promising you quick action and new ways of learning the task of playing the piano.

Is it true? Can you learn to play the piano like a professional simply by playing a game or following the advice of a few free videos?

There are, of course, pros and cons to both methods of learning. And when it comes to learning, people learn in many different way. There is never a “one size fits all” formula to deciphering the best learning style.

Private Piano Teacher

Probably the biggest advantage to hiring a private piano teacher is the ability to have one on one contact with a professional. Because they’ve had professional training, and have played the piano for years, they understand the nuances of perfecting your ability. They can hold you accountable for practicing each lesson, and help you discover where problem lie and how to overcome them. There’s something that helps you stick with it when you know you have a lesson coming up in the next few days.

However, when you hire a private piano teacher, you are agreeing to learn in the style they prefer to teach. If they prefer classical music, you will learn classical music. If you have ideas, they may not be willing to listen because it might not fit in with their method of training. You’ll also have to pay for the ability to have one on one contact; something you’ll continue to pay for for as long as you choose to take lessons.

Online Learning

One of the greatest advantages of online learning is access to unlimited possibilities. You can find hundreds of learning styles and thousands of applications to help you decipher the notes, scales, and theory. Yet this can also lead to its biggest drawback; if you aren’t motivated to keep regular practice intervals going, or if you can quickly become overwhelmed with the amount of possibilities, using online resources can push you to give up your dreams of learning to play once and for all.

While each style is unique, and only an individual can decide which is the best opportunity for learning, the Internet has opened the door to possibilities. In some cases using the two together can increase your knowledge, and help you pursue your music in your own unique way.

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31 January 2015 Can A Child Be Too Young For Piano Lessons

Can A Child Be Too Young For Piano Lessons

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As your child starts to grow, its easy to become overwhelmed at the possibilities that lie in front of you. You want them to have the best opportunities, be exposed to all the right things. So naturally you start signing them up for classes in order to expose them to the right things at the right time.

Parents know this. But so do businesses.Can A Child Be Too Young For Piano Lessons

Which is why you’ll find all kinds of activities being offered and promoted to parents, trying to capture attention at early ages and in more unique ways.

If a child can barely stand, you would never put them in a a soccer class. You would look for activities that help them be more coordinated and better balanced first.

But what about music? We’ve all seen the child prodigies that are playing Bach and Beethoven by the age of three. Can music be introduced at an early age and have it stick with a child?

While there are the prodigies in the world, and every child has his or her own unique talents, the answer is no. Some kids can take up piano lessons at the age of three and move forward in a big way. Others don’t take it seriously until they are much older, sometimes in their teens. And while there is no “perfect age” for starting to play the piano, there are some general guidelines you can follow.

There are two ways of learning piano: by ear and by reading music.

When a child plays by ear, they mimic a sound they are being exposed to. They can follow rhythm and even create specific tunes simply by hearing things and trying their best to recreate the sound. They love experimenting, and love to do so in an environment where others are playing too.

Children at this level can learn at any age. But being forced into one on one lessons probably won’t help them grow. Instead, they want to “play”. The more fun you make it, the more they will love the concept of making music.

At some point, a child begins to understand there can be structure to making music. They develop the ability to read, to understand letters and numbers, and understand the concept that letters make words that fill them with information. They have the ability to sit still for a story, and their focus can stay with a task for a few moments of time.

This can be as early as three for some kids, but for the majority it will occur around five or six. This is when reading music can become a part of their lives and have more meaning.

A child needs to understand the concept of “C”, then transfer that concept to a staff of music, realizing that the “C” also becomes a note that can be played on a keyboard. And not just middle C, but also the different octaves that create music.

A difficult concept to grasp. And if you try and force it too young, your child will become frustrated and possibly turn away from music forever.

Above all, remember music should be fun, not a chore. The more fun you make it, the more the love of the piano will grow. And that is where the true benefits lie.

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28 January 2015 Practice Makes Perfect … Or Does It?

Practice Makes Perfect … Or Does It?

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As a child, if you ever played an instrument or took up a new sport, you probably heard the old saying “practice makes perfect” more than a time or two. It’s a familiar phrase everyone seems to use to try and get the routine of practicing to stick and become a part of our lives.

But is it true? Does practice make perfect? Increasingly the evidence is pointingPractice Makes Perfect … Or Does It? towards the answer “no”.

Practice makes perfect. Lets imagine for a moment that your goal is to have your child play the piano. You want them to enjoy music and be able to carry that love throughout their lives. And of course it doesn’t hurt that you’ve heard it will make them a better student as well.

So you sign them up for piano lessons. But like most kids, they have other thoughts in their minds, and don’t love the concept as much as you do. They decide they “hate” going to lessons, and “hate” the chore of 30 minutes a day practice sessions that are forced upon them throughout the week.

In a case like this, no matter how much they practice, they will never perfect their skills. They may play a song better as time goes by, but it will probably sound mechanical, without the love and passion that makes a song have a strong voice.

The difference is in the approach.

Evidence now shows that practice doesn’t make perfect; deliberate practice makes perfect.

You can practice a scale over and over again, making it sound better over time.

You can play a song again and again, getting the notes perfect the more you play.

But the song, the melody, the voice of the music comes from feeling what you play. If you love playing the piano, if you deliberately practice what you play, it will stand out in the end.

If playing the piano has become a chore, its time to take on a new approach. Its time to find the love of playing, not just for the end results of being able to play a particular song.

If you love the outcome, the concept will be stronger from day one. And help you incorporate it into your life from this moment on.

Just remember, practice doesn’t make perfect, deliberate practice does.

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3 January 2015 How Piano Lessons Help Your Memory

How Piano Lessons Help Your Memory

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There is a lot of research and evidence going on right now around the concept that mental stimulation can improve your mental well being. Visit any wellness site or pick up a magazine targeting people as we age and you’ll find all kinds of “games” and other exercises that can help your brain get stronger, thus improving your memory.

And that’s what we’re all after, right? From the very first time we have a “senior moment”, we start questioning our future paths. According to the Alzheimer’s Association:

  • More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s
  • Every 67 seconds someone in the US develops Alzheimer’s
  • Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States

How Piano Lessons Help Your MemoryPretty scary statistics. And if you know someone who has Alzheimer’s, or feel your risk factor is above average, you’re probably spent even a little extra time worrying about your own future. Have you specifically tried something new, hoping it would improve your brain’s health?

While new games, exercising, even starting a new hobby can all help you keep your brain healthy, there is one activity that may have been on your bucket list for awhile that has long been studied for its brain boosting power: music.

Many neurologists have studied the impact playing an instrument has on the brain. When studies have looked at introducing children to the joys of making music, and have followed the study as they incorporate music into their lives, they’ve found the impact can have amazing effects:

  • Listening skills are improved
  • Language skills are improved, including reading ability, verbal fluency, memory, and second language acquisition
  • Music training improves the ability to stay focused on means and goals and see things through to fruition

Kids that continue on with music into their teens and twenties have been found to:

  • Be better at test taking
  • Score higher on tests like SAT and ACT
  • One of the top majors in college that move onto medical school is music

All of that adds up to motivating evidence showing the relationship between brain health and music.

If it can achieve those kinds of results in children and young adults, imagine what it can do for a person throughout their life.

Are you looking for activities to help keep your brain in top function? Playing the piano may be the perfect choice. From choosing the perfect piano, to selecting the right piano teacher, we’ve been helping customers all over Memphis for years put music into their lives. We would be happy to help you too; stop by or call today.

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7 December 2014 Piano Lesson Myths – Are They For Real?

Piano Lesson Myths – Are They For Real?

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We hear it all the time.

“I really want to learn to play the piano (or have my child learn to play the piano). But I’m just not sure how well I’ll do with the lessons. Should I really invest in a piano with so much uncertainty?”

Fear definitely holds us back. Especially when its something out of our comfort zones, like playing the piano. So instead of taking a step forward and doing it, we sit back and worry about the process. In most cases, they are all myths. Have you ever had one of these thoughts hold you back?Piano Lesson Myths – Are They For Real?

“The first few months of lessons are boring, playing notes and chords and classical songs. I don’t know if I can stick with it.”

Most piano teachers today realize their students don’t want to stick with the classical pieces they’ve never heard before. Instead, they concentrate on theory. Yes, you will have to learn the notes and the chords. But when it comes time to choose music, you can find music of all abilities in every genre out there. And in some cases, you’ll learn faster when you recognize the tune instead of picking out the notes simply because they exist on the page. Be sure to talk with a potential teacher before you sign up, and learn their strategies before you make your final selection.

“Children learn faster than adults.”

We hear this all the time from adults that have always wanted to play, but are afraid age will stand in the way. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, kids learn in different ways, and in some cases may seem to pick it up faster. But adults have a lot of advantages too. Adults are more aware of a wide variety of songs, and in some cases find it easier to play because they hear it. Adults also tend to have better aptitude to commit to regular practice. Because they’ve wanted piano in their lives, they are more likely to make it fit into their schedules, rather than be “forced” to practice on a regular basis. Adults can become more easily frustrated, however, and this is something you need to work with as you find a good teacher. Self-judgement and stress can easily come into play if you feel you aren’t picking things up quickly, or if you don’t sound like the concerts you attend at your local symphony. A good teacher will help you put your expectations into perspective, and help keep you on track.

“Piano lessons will be stressful. If I don’t keep up with expectations, my teacher will drop me.”

I think many of us remember the stress of being in school, with daily homework and tests to ensure you were doing things on time. Piano lessons aren’t like that. If you choose a piano teacher that works with adults regularly, they understand that things come up in our lives that prevent us from doing all we had planned. They understand if you don’t pick up things quite as quickly as expected. They adjust. A great piano teacher takes all this into consideration, and helps you through the lesson in a way that will benefit you the most. Maybe you need more work on chords, hand movement or eye position. Maybe you need a couple of weeks mastering the same tune. Piano playing is very personal by nature; a teacher’s job is to ensure you have fun and understand the concepts before moving on, no matter how long that takes.

“I must practice every day.”

Very few things make it into our lives every day. In fact, for many things, a daily routine can not only get monotonous, it can also make it less effective. Think of a workout routine. You would never lift weights in the same way day after day, right? Instead, you create a routine where you use weights several times a week, skipping days in between. You change things up. That’s to help your body recover, and for your mind to be present when you spend the time in the gym. Piano lessons work in a similar way. Rather than rushing in and playing for 10 minutes a day because you have to, if you spend 20 minutes every other day because you have the time and enjoy it, it will be much more meaningful to you. The key is to fit it into your schedule and be present.

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3 December 2014 How To Start A Successful Piano Teaching Business

How To Start A Successful Piano Teaching Business

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People start piano teaching businesses for a variety of reasons. But no matter what reasons you’ve had in mind, chances are two of the top are:

  • To help people bring piano into their lives
  • To make money

If you are in business, one of your top goals is to make money; without it you won’t have a business. But even the concept of making money varies widely from teacher to teacher. Some simply want to supplement their income with a little extra spending money, while others want a full time career.How To Start A Successful Piano Teaching Business

There are a few strategies that can help you bring success to your piano teaching business, no matter what goals you have in mind.

Planning

The end of the year is a great time to map out the following year. This helps you see how many clients you’ll need, what you’ll have time for, plan for vacations, and help you increase sales by doing extra things. How about a bootcamp for adults? Or a summer camp for kids? By mapping it out early, you can start the planning process for getting your marketing ideas together, and advertising it early enough to have a full house.

Budget

Its easy to add up the checks to see how much money is coming in. But that isn’t taking everything into account. How much is insurance, taxes, marketing, and other studio expenses … like rent? How often will you have to replace your pianos? How often will you buy accessories, music, tune your pianos, photocopies for recitals, etc? Be careful to estimate all of your expenses and budget accordingly.

Forward … Back

What worked well over the past year? Where do you hope to grow? In some cases, the best way to plan is to look back over the past year and find things that worked, as well as areas you wish to grow. Don’t just look at your actions, look to the numbers as well.

Grow

How big do you want your studio to become? Are you happy with spending money? Or do you wish to have a six figure income? Put numbers to it now so that you can see how large you will have to grow in order to achieve the results you are looking for. When you see that boosting your income only needs an additional 10 clients, for instance, it can change your perspective on what is possible.

Partner Up

You can’t build a business alone. If you don’t understand marketing, you may have to hire a consultant to help you put the pieces together. And when it comes to keeping your piano equipment in good working order, it also benefits you to have a trusted source at your fingertips. From regular tunings, to periodic repair, to complete restoration, or maybe purchasing a brand new piano, part of the process is having someone you can trust to be there when you need it most. What would you do if you had a major repair the day before a recital? When you choose a reputable piano company to have on board as a resource, you know you’ll always be at the top of your game.

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29 October 2014 Expectations Of The Adult Beginning Piano Student

Expectations Of The Adult Beginning Piano Student

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Bucket lists are great things. They can help you realize all the things you’ve wanted to do in the past, and put some urgency towards things you hope to accomplish in the future.

One of the most popular things to make a bucket list is learning to play the piano. And while it does take a lifetime to perfect your piano playing technique, there is no better time than the present to take action.

Just like as a child learns to play the piano, there are things that can help the adult beginning piano student be even better at the process.Expectations Of The Adult Beginning Piano Student

Start with a schedule

We all have busy lives, and too often things come up that stop us from taking action on the newest parts of our lives. Yet if you want to become proficient at playing the piano, regularity is mandatory. Commit to taking lessons on a weekly basis, and stick with the schedule if at all possible. Likewise, set up regular practice times between lessons and make them a priority in your day. Beginning piano students should expect to practice their weekly assignment for about 30 minutes a day, 5 days of the week in between lessons to ensure steady progress.

Choose the right teacher

When selecting a piano teacher, make sure you choose one who works with adults on a regular basis. Adults learn differently than children, so its important to choose a piano instructor that can help you achieve results in a way well suited for adults. A child has better coordination and can imitate and pick up music at a very quick pace. Adults may need to hear music at a slower pace, or need to practice in phrases rather than entire pieces at a time. However, adults generally can stick with something for longer periods of time, which gives them the advantage of being able to sit there and do it simply for the joy of potential completion.

Teaching approaches

Keep in mind that with every instructor, they may have a slight variation to the way they teach. There isn’t a “one method for all” approach to piano teaching. Some teachers may have you tap out rhythms as you are learning a new piece. Others may have you work on small stanzas at a time to perfect different rhythms in the song. While children like to “do”, adults like to know why. Always ask why you are doing different things throughout the learning process. If you know the why, the actual doing can be easier. Also keep in mind that if you don’t resonate with one instructor and don’t feel like you are learning, its okay to move to someone with a different approach.

Overall, adults add “piano playing” to their bucket lists for a variety of reasons.

  • They want a fun leisure activity they can do into old age
  • They want to learn to read music
  • They want the experience of writing and creating their own songs
  • They want to take part in a group activity
  • They want to increase their music appreciation

And of course a whole lot more. Whatever your reason for wanting to learn to play the piano, realize there is no better time than today to get started! Enjoy!

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