18 June 2022 Change It Up This Summer With These Fun Piano Practicing Tips

Change It Up This Summer With These Fun Piano Practicing Tips

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The different seasons give us a break from the normal routine. What sounds fun and exciting in the heart of the winter can feel repetitive and boring as we enter the warmest months of the year. 

That’s why some parents find it difficult to keep their kids practicing the piano all summer long. They get a break from school, so why not from the piano too?

Studies show that taking a break can set back their learning skills enough they might choose not to continue at all. 

Studies also show that by changing the routine, you can give your kids renewed interest in a skill that will last a lifetime. 

Teachers have a host of ideas for keeping your kids motivated and playing all through the summer months. But you can approach them and find options that you know will work for you. 

Maybe your child would benefit from playing with a group? Do they have a friend who loves playing the violin? Or is taking up playing the flute in school? How can you incorporate practice time together? 

Maybe your child needs a change in what they are playing. The school year is all about following a natural rhythm to learn music and comprehension. But the summer is for fun. What kind of music would they like to play?

  • Movie or television themes
  • Broadway show pieces
  • A classic rock song
  • Modern day pop music
  • A favorite country song
  • A jazz piece with a funky beat

You might be surprised at what your child takes an interest in when you introduce them to different options. 

Want to go even deeper? Explore music summer camps. Ask your piano teacher for guidance, or do a search using Google. You might be surprised at the music camps in your local area. For older kids, you might even explore weeklong camps in other parts of the world. They can grow immensely from discovering how music impacts our world. 

And it keeps their love of playing the piano alive and well. 

What activities have you found work well to keep your kids practicing the piano all year long? 

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10 June 2022 Should You Take a Summer Break From Piano?

Should You Take a Summer Break From Piano?

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June is a time for winding down lessons and practice and getting ready for vacations and relaxation. It’s a time for kids to take a break from busy lifestyles, and change up their daily activities. 

But as they step away from the school halls, does that mean taking a summer break from piano is a good thing too?

Summer camps and outside activities may take center stage. But does that mean you should put piano lessons on hiatus? 

There are a few reasons why you shouldn’t. Piano playing isn’t the same as taking tests and studying hard. Piano is a lifelong activity that has many benefits to your lifestyle. 

Certain skills should never be put on hold. That’s why teachers provide reading lists for the summer. It’s a way to keep comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and critical thinking active every single week of the year. 

The same applies to an instrument. If you stop playing the piano, a child can quickly lose interest. Too long of a break can break motivation and reduce skills enough, making starting up again less enjoyable. 

That’s why a change in the summer routine may be a better approach. 

Change up the schedule. During the school year, it may make sense to practice when arriving home from school. During the summer, try a practice schedule in the early morning before the day’s activities set in. 

Use different music. Make it more enjoyable. Is there something your child has wanted to play? Your piano instructor may be filled with ideas for creating an environment filled with fun. You can also find a variety of ideas online to help change up the routine. 

Use this time to create an atmosphere of self-discipline and self-discovery. Music should bring enjoyment and relaxation into your life. Playing the piano is all about stress relief and enjoying the process. 

What can you do to encourage your child to build a stronger love for the process? What will have them enjoy the process of creating music rather than looking at it as a chore?  

Summer break is here. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to step away from the things that bring enjoyment. What works to keep your child active and interested in playing the piano?

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21 May 2022 3 Tips For Memorizing Piano Music

3 Tips For Memorizing Piano Music

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Do you have a recital coming up soon? Many people aren’t as afraid of playing in front of people as they are of forgetting the music. 

Memorizing piano music isn’t something that comes easily to everyone. It can leave you feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. What if you sit down at the piano and forget everything? What if you simply can’t remember the song?

Memorization techniques aren’t something you’re born with. Instead, memorization is a trained technique that anyone can learn. 

What kind of learner are you? 

Not everyone learns in the same manner. 

Visual learners learn best through sight. They like seeing and observing through pictures or demonstrations. 

Auditory learners learn best by listening. They want to hear what the music sounds like before they play it. 

Reading learners prefer the written word. They love to take and review their notes. 

Kinesthetic learners learn best through experience. They love to dig in and experience it all at a touch. 

One of these methods probably jumps out at you when looking at these four methods. Once you’re aware of how you learn, you can put your energy towards finding tools to help you use that method more effectively. 

Practice memorization using these three methods

Memorization requires three steps:

First, record the new memory in your mind using your preferred method. You might read through the music without playing, listen to someone else play it, or play it yourself. 

Next, work on retention. This is where practice comes into play. It requires you to play it enough to move it from short-term to long-term memory so you can recall it later. 

Finally, it requires using recall to ensure you can bring the information back out and put it into practice. 

Repetition

Recital dates are spaced months apart to give you time to work on memorization. When you work on a piece repeatedly for days on end, it stays in the front of your mind. Ensuring you can recall it requires moving it to long-term memory. You can do this through spatial repetition. 

This requires you to work on a piece, then set it aside and move on to something else. After a few days away, pick up the piece again and start working with it. Do this in your preferred learning style. 

You can also review your music at different times of the day. If you always play at 3pm, change it up and practice in the morning or before you go to bed. Adding a little newness to your routine can change how you absorb the music process. 

Memorizing piano music doesn’t have to be a complex process. The key is giving yourself the time to learn the piece, and recognize your best approach. 

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28 April 2022 Understanding Humidity and Your Piano

Understanding Humidity and Your Piano

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Understanding how humidity affects your piano starts with understanding how humidity impacts wood. 

Wood products that are subjected to high amounts of humidity will be susceptible to expansion due to excess moisture in the air. As moisture penetrates the wood, it causes it to swell or expand. If they are exposed to an excessive amount of moisture for extended periods of time, they may not return to their original size. 

Your piano is made up of thousands of pieces crafted from wood, felt, wool, and metal. If any of these materials receive too much moisture, they will all change accordingly. But what happens if any of these parts do change?

Pitch and tone

The first part impacted on a piano will be the soundboard, the single largest structure of the piano. Think of this as the speaker of the piano, the part required for producing proper tone. It’s designed to have a slight curve. But if the curve changes due to humidity, it can have a profound impact on the tone. If humidity drops and the soundboard shrinks, it can flatten out the tone. If it absorbs too much humidity, it can swell and allow the pitch to go sharp. 

Action

There is a complex inner working of parts to have the keys connect with the strings to produce sound. This process is called the action. To ensure this process stays in good working condition requires regular adjustments called regulation. If humidity changes the structure of the piano, precision is lost in the action. If it’s not regulated regularly, it can change the action enough that replacement is the only way for correction. 

Keys

Each key is placed precisely into the keyboard to keep it working well. Humidity can change the space between the keys, causing them to become tight and not fit very well. If they stick and have trouble playing, it might be because of humidity. 

Noises

As humidity impacts wood furniture, it causes squeaks, rattles, and other noises as you open drawers, close doors, and move the item around. Pianos work similarly. As parts are impacted by moisture, they no longer work as designed. This can cause a host of noises that run counter to the music you’re producing. 

Corrosion

It’s not just the wood that will be impacted. The strings on your piano are responsible for producing the sound. With humidity changes, these metal strings can rust and corrode. That means they won’t move as designed, and won’t hold tuning. 

If humidity is a problem, and impacts the inside of your home regularly, there are ways to regulate humidity levels around your piano. 

Ask us how!

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28 March 2022 Give Your Child The Gift of Music – Start With Learning Piano

Give Your Child The Gift of Music – Start With Learning Piano

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You want what’s best for your child. You want to give them tools they can use for a happy, healthy life. 

That’s why many parents place their kids in a variety of extracurricular activities, looking for things that stick. Will your child be the next athlete? Scholar? Musician? Each activity can add to their character and help develop a strong personality. 

The gift of music is one thing they will take for life. 

Music often starts at a very young age. You can help kids develop a sense of rhythm with simple instruments. A drum. A xylophone. Even simple hand-clapping and singing easy songs. 

As a child grows, their curiosity grows right along with it. This is a perfect time to introduce an instrument. Learning the piano is a natural progression because piano brings melodies to life. If they have a favorite song, the piano allows them to create the music they love. 

The gift of music comes from both listening and playing. Listening helps you develop culture, gives you a sense of community. Playing offers a variety of benefits, from promoting creativity to enhancing brain development. Studies from all around the world show that playing an instrument helps with:

  • Hand-eye coordination
  • Increasing test scores
  • Fine motor skills
  • Memory skills
  • Listening
  • Foreign language retention
  • Concentration

Learning the piano is a foundational instrument, which can help build music skills that can be transferred to other instruments. Because you learn both melody and harmony, it often retains interest longer, and pushes kids into wanting more. 

Looking to give your child a gift they can enjoy throughout their lives? Consider the gift of music. 

It’s the perfect skill to help them develop stronger personalities, for life. 

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24 March 2022 Playing The Piano – What To Do When Frustration Hits

Playing The Piano – What To Do When Frustration Hits

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Do you imagine yourself playing the piano in front of friends? Starting a band? Being in a rock band?

Yet when you sit down to play, the only thing you get is frustration. You’ve been practicing for months! When will you be able to play the way you imagine?

Before we give you some tips to overcome your frustration, it’s important to note that every piano player goes through frustration from time to time. The important thing to remember is never to give up. 

If you want to improve, keep going. Whether you want piano to be a hobby or a career, there will always be periods of frustration, where you don’t seem to have the skills you want. 

The process is different for everybody. But when you find a way to step around your frustration, keep that in mind as you continue to improve your piano skills. 

Find your motivation – with every hobby you start, it’s important to find your why before you begin. Why do you want to play the piano? When you focus on that, it will help pull you out of moments when you question why you’re doing what you do. You can tell yourself that in your darkest moments. 

Do it anyway – don’t feel like playing? Do it anyway. Instead of working on a frustrating piece, play music you’ve learned and enjoy. That’s why instructors usually have several different tactics during each lesson. You may start with the basics, work on new music, and finish with a favorite song. It gives you a wide variety of things to work on over your playing time. 

Learn the language of music – there’s more to music than playing your favorite songs. Dive deep into piano to discover new things. Understand chords. Read classical music. Listen to several different genres. The more you expand into the art of music, the more you’ll appreciate all it has to offer. 

Get better equipment – if you’ve started on a hand-me-down keyboard, maybe it’s time to upgrade to an acoustic piano. When you have better equipment to practice on, it can sometimes make all the difference in how you play. This is especially true if you have a “toy” keyboard or one that doesn’t have the characteristics of an acoustic piano. Upgrade to one with weighted keys, a full 88 key range, and dynamic sound, and you may find your love for playing the piano all over again. 

If you’re frustrated with playing the piano, maybe it’s time to do something different. Stop by today, and we can show you our entire line of pianos. Whether you’re just starting out, or are considering piano as a career, we’ll help you discover the perfect piano to suit your needs. 

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21 March 2022 What If I Can’t Play The Piano With Both Hands?

What If I Can’t Play The Piano With Both Hands?

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At first, it can seem like a frustrating problem. You have the desire to play the piano. You’ve invested time and money towards your new hobby. Yet no matter how many times you sit down to practice, you just can’t seem to get it right. 

What if you can’t play the piano with both hands? What if they simply won’t work together? And trying to read music at the same time? Forget it. 

Before you give up, read on. 

Learning to play the piano with both hands is one of the biggest learning curves of a beginning piano player’s training. 

Playing the piano with both hands takes concentration and practice. Ever tried to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time? It takes thinking and coordination to get your brain to tell your hands to each do something independently. 

That’s a similar tactic for piano playing. You’re not alone if you’re frustrated. It takes practice. And it takes time. You just have to wait for your coordination to catch up. 

Instead of letting your frustration win, you can practice through your frustration and give your hands a chance to figure out how to work together. 

Start by practicing each hand separately. Practice the piece with your right hand and learn it well enough for comfort to set in. Then let your left hand catch up. Practice it until you get comfortable with what both hands need to do to complete the song. Not put the two together. You’ll hear what both sides need to do, and have a better chance of putting them together. 

Focus on the rhythm. Clap it out if you need to. Get the 1-2-3-4 rhythm down, and build that into your mind before you start playing the song. Feel the beat. And let that come through to both your right and left hand. Using a metronome may help too, so that you can have the constant beat in the background. Slow it down if you need to. 

Choose music you know. It’s sometimes a lot more challenging to play a song you aren’t sure of. If you pick music you know, you’ll have an easier time letting both hands find the right beat, and pick out the right notes. It can allow you to look at the music differently. 

Keep trying. You don’t have to play a song perfectly the first time you sit down. Maybe you can practice a few lines at a time. Or play small sections until you get it right. Skills grow if you commit to fully learning the song over time. Keep it up, and you’ll eventually play it well. 

And you’ll have the skills necessary to start on a new song!

Filed Under: Piano Playing
10 March 2022 Learn To Play The Piano Now – Why Learning Is Better as an Adult

Learn To Play The Piano Now – Why Learning Is Better as an Adult

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There are many times in our lives where we sit down and create lists to help us find our passions. We may do it as we enter college. As we become more secure in our jobs. When New Year’s Eve rolls around each year. As we retire and have more time available to find outside interests. 

It usually starts with a wish: I wish I could …

What’s your wish? 

We often give our kids the gift of music. We push them to start piano lessons, or join the school band. 

But what about as you age? Are you too old to start up something new? Is it too late to learn to play the piano? 

Not at all!

In fact, it may be even easier to learn to play as an adult. 

Why? Because as an adult, you have more drive and determination. As a child, a lot is vying for your attention, and it’s easier to get pulled into different directions by a lot of outside influences. There isn’t enough time for a child to do every after school activity they wish to do. Something has to give. And it might be making music. 

But now, your focus has changed. It’s not a race. It’s about following through on something you choose to do. 

Stop worrying about if it’s possible. It is! You just have to sit down and play, and move forward one piece of music at a time. 

Purchase a piano and place it in an area that is conducive for playing. 

Don’t think of it as practice. Simply enjoy that you get to play the piano every day. 

And set small goals. Move from the first level of piano playing into the second. Find things that entertain you, and help you keep going. 

But most of all, do it for you. 

Because that’s really the biggest advantage of learning anything as an adult. You have what it takes to set goals and see them through. 

Why not start playing the piano today? 

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28 February 2022 Remember When It Was Fun To Play The Piano?

Remember When It Was Fun To Play The Piano?

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Studies show playing the piano can bring back fun into our lives, reduce stress, and help with anxiety. Could it be the release we need as we move forward? 

We’re only beginning to understand the implications the pandemic has had on mental health. 

Statistics show that 4 in 10 adults have reported anxiety or depressive disorder symptoms, up from 1 in 10 during the same time period pre-pandemic. For young adults ages 18-24, the reports of symptoms are even higher, at 56 percent. 

The pandemic has also taken its toll on kids, with more than 25 percent of high school students reporting worsening emotional and cognitive health, at a time where pediatric mental health care coverage is declining too. 

Where do kids retreat to when they need time to relax and unwind? For many, they turn to music. It’s an integral part of our culture, and an emotional communication method that grasps us throughout our lives. How many times have you heard a song and instantly been transported back in time? 

Those feelings further increase when you connect with the song. Playing the piano allows you to connect in a way that listening can’t. You put fingers to the keys, and feel the emotion in your arms as you play. 

Learning the piano is more than tapping out the song on the keyboard. Learning the piano helps you understand every aspect of music, providing both rhythm and structure to how you look at music. 

It’s a gift that allows you to open up and look deep within yourself about how music impacts the world. It’s an outlet for creativity, an emotional expression that once learned, never leaves. It gives you a way to destress and calm down even after your busiest, most stressful days.  

If you’ve ever learned to play the piano as a child, remember how much fun it was to be able to create music? To sit down and relax without the stress of the outside world?

Why not give that gift to your child now when they need it most? 

Learning to play the piano might just be the best activity you can give them as we move forward in this world. 

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24 February 2022 Why Headphones Can Help You Be a Better Piano Player

Why Headphones Can Help You Be a Better Piano Player

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Thinking of investing in a new piano? Ensure you select one that accepts headphones. Headphones can actually help you be a better piano player. Here’s why. 

More practice – one of the greatest challenges of practicing is finding the time and place to do so. In a busy household, you may have to wait until some are through with homework, or another is off a conference call. With headphones, you’re the only one who will hear your music. That means you can get more practice at a time that’s convenient for you. 

Hear a fuller range of tonal quality – have you ever noticed you hear music differently when it’s on a car radio compared to when your headphones are in place? The same works when you’re playing the piano. You’ll hear the little nuances that make up a song while you’re playing it. 

You’ll be less distracted and get more out of practice time – what makes a better piano player is higher quality practice sessions. With headphones on, you’re less likely to be distracted from outside noise, or conversations of the people around you. You’ll pay more attention to what you’re doing with your music. 

Use the piano anywhere – headphones are now available on a variety of instruments, from acoustic to digital pianos. By being able to plugin headphones, you can place your piano anywhere and listen to the music you create. 

Alone or together – headphones aren’t just for individual practice. They can be used to help refine what you play. Many classrooms now manage more refined training by having each student wear headphones to help create a unique learning experience. It allows students to be more focused on their own training, while learning on a larger platform. 

If you grew up with an older acoustic piano and never learned the benefits of having headphones as an option, come in today and see what they can do for you or your child’s piano playing ability. 

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