Practice Makes Perfect, And Nobody’s Perfect, So Why Practice?
Piano Practice – Is it Normal to Hate to Practice?
Is it normal for a student to hate to practice? Anybody else feel this way? Most people love music, but hate to practice.
It’s very common for musicians to say they hate to practice. One undesirable aspect of practicing is the simple fact that the musician must practice passages and techniques that are difficult for them to play. This creates frustration on the part of the musician and can make them question their abilities.
Some practice materials are designed specifically to develop technique and playing such materials can be quite tedious. For example, a violinist may spend most of a one-hour practice session concentrating on the proper way to hold the bow and draw it across the strings. In a case like this, no real music may be played for the entire hour. Progress can be slow, adding to the musician’s disdain for practicing.
Lack of motivation can cause the musician to avoid practicing altogether. For most, it takes years (and a great deal of patience and dedication) to become an accomplished musician. The ones that succeed are good at delaying gratification and developing the patience needed to succeed. It’s very common for a musician to reach a number of plateaus where they don’t feel any progress is being made. The patient ones eventually work through the plates and move on to a higher level of musicianship. Others may give up their instrument entirely. Read more
Time after time, I have come across pianists who cannot read music well and rely on memorization to save them. Do you admire pianists who can just pick up any piece of sheet music and play without stumbling? If you want to take your sight reading to the next level then check out the piano course "Mastering The Art Of Piano Sight Reading!"
Free Piano Music Playing Course
There are a vast number of piano teachers who offer their services and an overwhelming number of software and books available. There is also an incredible amount of online courses for you to choose from. But the problem is that not all teachers, software, books and online courses can teach you in a way that lets you really learn the material without it costing years of your time and a sizeable investment of money.
Some private piano teachers are very skilled at playing the piano, but their teaching methods leave a lot to be desired. They were trained to play the piano, not be a teacher. Most software and books are written to go hand in hand with private tutoring.
Without a teacher, you won’t grasp the instruction. Lastly, many online courses promise that their course is the best and they promise that you can learn piano well in a short amount of time. But when you purchase the course, you discover just the opposite is true – and every lesson in the course is a struggle.
With all of those options available, how can you choose the best course of action to take when you want to learn how to play the piano? You choose the product that will allow you to see exactly what they promise you up front. No hidden fees, no surprises. Few courses will let you see their material without a purchase, but Rocket Piano does.
Rocket Piano takes you behind the scenes with their six part mini course to give you a taste of the incredible instruction offered in their course. Why do they make such an incredible offer? It’s the difference between a love of teaching piano and only wanting to sell a product. Rocket Piano wants to share the beauty of playing piano with everyone who desires to learn. Read more
Jazz Piano History
There are different types of jazz music, each with their own origin and style. Jazz piano music is distinctly different from any other types of music and can be recognized world wide as having a uniquely American flair to it. Jazz had its beginnings in the United States but is now considered to have a fine mixture of African culture thrown in with it.
There are four distinct parts to jazz music that include rhythm, harmony, melody, and tonal qualities. No matter what type of jazz that you enjoy you’ll be able to find a club that caters to your tastes. There are many experimental jazz venues that are popping up all over the place, including many European cities where all types of music are welcomed and appreciated.
One style of jazz is known as the Work Song. This type of jazz is upbeat and rhythmically fast since it was often used to make the work day pass by quicker. The Work Song is repeated over and over in a rhythmic style that is not often heard these days. This type of jazz is often associated with African American music perhaps because of this rhythmic beat that has become the least popular of jazz styles today.
New Orleans jazz began in the early 1890’s. It started out with brass band performances highlighting marching and gospel songs. One of the most famous names from this period was William Basie. He became famous with his band, the Count Basie Orchestra. His music is still listened to and loved today. Read more
Improve Piano Hand Coordination
A number of you have emailed me, repeatedly expressing your frustration with the same issue:
“How do I make each hand play independently?”
“I never learned to use my left hand properly. It’s really underdeveloped compared to my right hand. Now, I need tips to improve the coordination in both hands.”
“My biggest problem is left hand independency.”
“My left and right hands always seem to want to do the same thing, at the same time.”
Can you see the pattern in these remarks? When I studied piano years ago, my hands would not listen to what my brain would tell them. Today, this problem occurs once in awhile, only when I tackle challenging pieces.
If this scenario sounds familiar, then I have an important message for you.
My friend Yoke Wong, a longtime music educator and accomplished musician and composer, has developed a one in a kind piano instructional home study courses called “Hand Coordination, Runs and Fillers.” This piano course is designed to help piano players tackle the issue of left hand independence and hand coordination.
After some gentle persuasion on my end, Yoke has agreed to offer some bonuses to any customer who would like to order this course, from this link.
Yoke will include the following bonuses:
- An online metronome study guide with practice exercises to improve technique.
- Carl Czerny virtuoso’s original exercise sheets. These are the same exercises that he used to get his fingers into fluid shape, with fast runs and daily warm ups.
Check it out now and get the bonus that will make the real difference in your music, “Hand Coordination, Runs and Fillers.” This is the time to build your skill. Don’t forget to share your successes with us once you start using these study tools.
Hands Up! The Biggest Mistake Beginner Pianists Make
The weary teacher often wishes she could make this demand at the point of a pistol, and thus insure results. The continual repetition of “hands up,” “wrists up,” is exhausting. Yet pupils do not realize the importance of this injunction. They continue to play with their wrists sagging below the keyboard, which not only presents a poor appearance but makes the playing weak.
The wrist should be held in a level line with the elbow and middle knuckles, for ordinary playing. Sometimes it should be raised higher when much force is required, and sometimes dropped to mellow the tone, as in chords. But the “standard” position is the level one.
Learning To Play Piano As An Adult
In order to alleviate some of the stress in their lives, more and more people are looking to take up hobbies. For some, they pick up a childhood hobby that always brought them pleasure. Others choose, instead, to learn something new. A hobby growing in popularity, today, is the piano. However, before you go out to buy yourself a baby grand piano, you should know that it takes practice and dedication to master this instrument.
The first thing you will learn is how to sit. Posture is very important when playing the piano. Make certain the bench is at the right height and your shoulders are relaxed with your arms parallel to the floor and your hands resting directly in front of you on the keyboard. Your elbows should be slightly ahead of your body, not tucked at your sides, and your feet should be resting on the floor. You want to have freedom of movement for your arms.
Discipline is also important. Set aside a regular time to practice every day and make certain you won’t be disturbed while you play. Start gradually, with fifteen minutes every day, and work your way up to longer sessions. You will find that, as you practice and get more familiar with the keyboard, your fingers become more flexible and you make fewer mistakes. Even if you can’t do an hour a day, so long as you do at least fifteen minutes your skill will improve.
Go to a music store and pick up several practice books. Even experienced piano players use these books to help improve their skills. not only will they give you exercises to help you learn the piano, they will also help teach you musical theory as well as help you understand chords, tonality and scales and how melodies and harmonies come together to create music.
These books will also contain music for your level of experience. They often have a chapter that explains the purpose behind the exercises, and techniques for you to learn, as well as a sample piece that will help you put everything together into an actual piece of music. Don’t expect to master everything at once. Try practicing each hand separately, at slow speeds, before you bring them together.
Some people will find that playing the piano comes easily to them; others may take longer to learn. Remember, though, that you are practicing the piano for fun. This isn’t a chore and it isn’t a race. Take the time to learn your fundamentals and master your techniques, and you’ll soon find yourself able to play your favorite songs.
A useful tool for many people who play the piano is the metronome. This device can help you keep time, from slow beats to fast ones, and everything in between. Even people who have an innate sense of timing may find themselves surprised at how easy it is to change tempos slightly when playing, especially when you’re enjoying yourself.
The piano is an instrument that has been popular for hundreds of years, and has continued to delight people even today. Just remember to take the time to practice every day, and make certain your hands are limber enough to play the songs you want to play. If you are looking for a great place to start, check out Rocket Piano today!
Prepare Yourself For Keyboard Lessons With These Drills
Does anyone really think that drills are fun? It is not likely. You have to do the same drills again and again … and then again and again. It is possible to make them more enjoyable, though. Once you have found a way to make them more enjoyable then the practice on the piano will lead to much better results. Some of the most popular and valuable drills that can be done when beginners take keyboard lessons are described below.
Arpeggios
While the name is fancy, Arpeggios are really great for beginning keyboard players. The hand-over-hand drills allow the beginning piano players some important benefits. The mastering of the Triad is the one benefit. This is key to the successes in piano playing. But, there is even more… The beginning pianists will also have the opportunity to use the keyboard with this exercise. Once this is mastered, more melodic songs will be next in the line of music to learn to play and they will use all five fingers to do it. Read more
Perfect And Major Piano Intervals
Intervals
An INTERVAL in music is the distance in pitch between two notes. The interval is counted from the lower note to the higher one, with the lower counted as 1.
Intervals are named by the number of the upper note (2nds, 3rds, etc.) with two exceptions: The interval between notes that are identical is called UNISON) also called a PRIME INTERVAL); the interval of an 8th is called an OCTAVE. The intervals below are all shown with C as the lower note:
Melodic and Harmonic Intervals
Intervals are called MELODIC INTERVALS when they are sounded separately and HARMONIC INTERVALS when they are sounded together. Because we are studying chords, we will be dealing with HARMONIC INTERVALS. When melodies are played, this involves the study of MELODIC INTERVALS.
Mary had a little lamb = E – D – C – D – E – E – E (Melodic Intervals)
C major Chord = C + E + G (played together, Harmonic Interval)
Side Note: As you will learn later, 3rd and 5th intervals make up the major chord. A lowered 3rd interval (minor interval) and 5th interval make up the minor chord.
Perfect And Major Intervals
The interval between the keynote of a major scale and the unison, 4th, 5th, or octave of that scale is called a PERFECT INTERVAL.
For example, the difference from C to G (in a C major scale) is called a Perfect 5th. The difference from C to F is called a Perfect 4th. The 8th note of the scale is referred to as the Perfect Octave. The difference between the same note is called the Perfect Unison.
The interval between the keynote of a major scale and the 2nd, 3rd, 6th or 7th of that scale is called a MAJOR INTERVAL.
For example, the difference from C to D (in a C major scale) is called a Major 2nd. The difference from C to E is called a Major 3rd. The difference from C to A is called a Major 6th and the difference from C to B is called a Major 7th.
This lesson is not even half of what the Hear and Play course covers on intervals! To see how you can learn intervals with tons of written and interactive exercises, along with 19 other lessons, please visit the link below:
Automatic Control of Piano Chords
* This is a guest post by Ron Worthy! If you would like to submit a guest post for consideration of publication to our site, please contact us.
CORRECT PRACTICE IS INDISPENSABLE!
Your success or failure at the keyboard may well hinge on how quickly and accurately you can memorize a new chord. To be really efficient at this you must use your eyes, your ears, and the muscles of your hands. You must learn a chord so that you can recognize and play that chord the next day without hesitation. Let me explain how to practice to gain this three-way control.
VISUAL CONTROL – After playing a chord, take your hands off the keyboard. Then return to the chord remembering visually where the fingers were positioned. Notice particularly the pattern that was formed by the black and white keys and the location of the melody and root notes. (No two chords look exactly alike.)
Repeat this procedure at least four or five times to learn a chord visually. And, as you are playing the chord, say its name OUT LOUD. You must associate the name of the chord with the actual notes you are playing, if the chord symbol is to have any real meaning later on.
TACTILE CONTROL – As you are playing the chord, try to feel it muscularly. Play each note of the chord, one note at a time, so that you use the muscles of the hand. You will develop a muscular memory for chords.
AURAL CONTROL – Listen to the chord. You’ll want to know its sound so you can instantly recognize and use it later on … “by ear“!
About The Author:
Ron Worthy is a Music Educator and Performer. His site offers online piano instruction for all ages. He specializes in Rock, Pop, Blues and Smooth Jazz Piano disciplines. Check Out Ron Worthy’s Website Now.
Am I Playing The Piano Fast Enough?
This seems to be the principal worry of many piano students. I do not, of course, dispute the fact that it is important to play certain pieces fast. Otherwise one cannot get the desired effects.
Still, it is a bad habit to try to play a new piece fast from the beginning. It only causes serious delays. Faults creep in that are not noticed and then are hard to eradicate. And worst of all, it ruins clearness, that virtue that perhaps more than anything else enables us to tell the artist from the novice.
Dear Students: when you take up the study of a new piece, do not worry about whether or not you are going to be able to play it fast enough. Play it slowly and correctly and let it work itself up. Remember what the great pianist, Harold Bauer, said, “If one catches the spirit of the music, it doesn’t make much difference whether or not it is played a few degrees faster or slower.”
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