David Story, Online Piano Lessons from Toronto
  • Homepage
  • Tips, Ideas, Stories, Free Lessons
  • Adult Lessons
  • Jazz Workshop #9 May 7, 2022
  • Contact form, fees, calendar, policies
  • Philosophy
  • Testimonials
  • My Story
  • Student awards and compositions
  • Recommended resources and Free Music
  • Classical downloads
  • Classical outline for beginners
  • Jazz downloads
  • Jazz outline for beginners
  • Video Library of Piano Techniques
  • Breakfast Piano Minute

Tips, free lessons, and inspiration

When the going gets tough

4/26/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Some days and some weeks are going to be difficult. Here are some suggestions that immediately come to mind you might consider to dampen down the practice room blues. These comments are aimed at beginners. 

  1. Start on a high note by playing pieces you know.
  2. Next play your scales 5X each.
  3. Review your chords.
  4. Mess around on your DAW.
  5. Work on 4 measures of your new piece. Clap the rhythm while counting aloud, then play hands separately, then hands together. Record yourself, listen back. Repeat as needed. Stick with it until that short section is completed and secure. Remember start slowly.
  6. Finish with a favorite piece. 

If I can help you, call me. 

David

0 Comments

How to spend one hour practicing the piano

4/21/2022

0 Comments

 
One of my adult students was asking tonight for some help planning his practice time. He is preparing for his Grade 8 piano exam. He is an engineer, a spreadsheet kind of guy. I'm sympathetic. Here is what we discussed. 
 
Warmup with sight reading. Use a metronome! Get into the zone.
 
Now start practicing
 
Technique with a 2-minute timer. Switch activities every 2 minutes = 15 minutes
  • 1 scale
  • 1 tonic chord played solid and broken
  • V7 chord solid and broken
  • I and V7 arpeggio

Practice one short section to perfection =15 minutes

Theory =10 minutes

Ear Training = 10 minutes

Review completed piece or pieces 10 minutes 

BOOM! one hour of accomplishment

This may work for you. 
​
David

0 Comments

​Practice Tip: The power of exploration

4/19/2022

0 Comments

 
​Practice Tip: The power of exploration

Students who practice, diligently practice the “notes,” struggle with rhythm and continuity trying to get it “right.” This is all important. But I’d like to add a new idea.

Experimentation.
​

A short story in which I’m the hero. I’m learning to play the jazz xylophone. I started at Christmas; I practice every day. I’ve got a 100-year-old textbook, a stack of tunes I want to learn, video recorder and oodles of desire. Here is the process I usually follow.
  1. I have all my materials ready at hand.
  2. I decide on the goal of today’s practice. The goal is rarely more than a single minute of music. In other words, I don’t try to practice everything.
  3. I start the video recorder.
  4. I start slow and work out the stickings.
  5. I experiment with the stickings, dynamics, phrasing, licks, rolls etc.
  6. I slowly speed up the repetitions.
  7. I try out another set of approaches.
  8. I occasionally bang the sticks in frustration.
  9. I keep at it until I’ve got something I’m proud to post online.
  10. I’m done for the day.

The video below is an unedited version. Notice it took just a brief period of time to accomplish something because I didn’t try to do everything at once.
 
David

0 Comments

Wednesday, another day, another diverse set of pieces.

4/13/2022

0 Comments

 
​Another day, another diverse set of pieces. Someone stated that an average piano teacher teaches 600+ titles a year. I believe it. 
​
  1. Big My Secret from "The Piano" by Nyman. This was a dark moody start on a grey day. 
  2. Glasgow Love theme by Armstrong
  3. Sonata in G K283 by Mozart
  4. October by Tchaikovsky
  5. Sonata in A Major K 209 by Scarlatti 
  6. Decadent Sentimental Song by Manzano

​Up next: Music rehearsal with my friends, the pianist Jim Finlayson and bassist Rory Slater. I'll be drumming. We've been meeting every 2 weeks for years
. It is always a highlight of my week playing tunes from the "Great American Songbook". Lots of Porter, Corea, Hancock, and Ellington.

​Back to class


      7. Prelude in Db by Glière 
      8. Fantasia in D minor K397 by Mozart
      9. Pumpkin boogie by Faber
      10. Sonatina in C by Faber
       11. Drum rudimental warmups
       12. Never Going To Give You Up by Rick Ashley
       13. Theory class RCM 8 and Band Lab DAW

Now to the drummers

      14. Video game music
      15. 3/4 Scottish snare drum solo
      16. Free Fallin' by Tom Petty
      17. Rollin' in the deep by Adele
      18. Superstition by Stevie Wonder

































































































































0 Comments

A typical Tuesday in my studio

4/12/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Another day of teaching piano and drum set comes to an end. Here is today’s student repertoire.
​
Marching by Kabalevsky
Skating Waltz by Berlin
Love Me Tender by Elvis
Claire de Lune by Debussy
Les Baricades Misterieuses by Couperin
Chitlin’s Con Carne by Burrell
Etudes by Scriabin
Prelude and Fugue in Bb by Bach
Clementi Etude in E by Clementi
Serenade by Haberbier
Cancion by Mompou
Cottontail by Ellington
Kamado Tanjiro no Uta by Shiina and Ufotable
Watermelon Man by Hancock
Haunted mouse by Faber and Faber
Forest Drums by Faber and Faber
Dinah by Fats Waller
Never Going to Give you up by Ashley
Street of Dreams by Ella
Scottish ¾ March
It’s Only A Paper Moon by Nat King Cole
Meditation by Jobim
Night train by Forrest
Time for a beer. 
. 

0 Comments

​Summertime in 5 Keys: Jazz Piano Basics

4/9/2022

0 Comments

 
​Summertime in 5 Keys

Playing in different keys is an invaluable skill. Try playing just the melody in the following keys with the recordings. Modify your note and rhythm choices to fit in the best you can. 

  1. D minor: Preservation Hall Jazz Band https://youtu.be/6KJ7ZKXRNGk
  2. B minor: Ella and Louis https://youtu.be/LDF4_qVgbFU
  3. Bb minor: Nora Jones https://youtu.be/xJOtaWyEzaI and Billy Holiday https://youtu.be/uYUqbnk7tCY
  4. A minor: Student key
  5. Eb minor: Learning key, as notes but one on the black keys.
 
The assignment is to play and mimic the melody with the recordings. You will learn jazz rhythm, jazz articulations and phrasing. And how to manipulate a melody.

Have fun. 

​David

0 Comments

Three types of Fun

4/7/2022

0 Comments

 
​Level 1: Fun is guaranteed. Just show up and play. Playing in a community concert band or playing at the family Christmas party would be in this camp. On the lesson front, level 1, is leisurely and steady. Ten thousand hours spread over decades. 

Level 2: You are going to perspire. Lessons are intense. You audition to play in community groups. You may be preparing for an exam. Standards are assessed and maybe enforced. Lessons need an hour a day or more of preparation. Think of it as a marathon level of commitment. 

Level 3 is going to hurt, tears will be shed. But you are all in. Your daily focus is piano. You dream of Carnegie Hall. You have multiple lines of attack. You put yourself out there. You are preparing to be an Olympian. Many dream, few make it. But this doesn't deter you. Large amount of time and money will be spent. 

Weekend athletic parallels
1. Weekend running group
2. Marathon preparation
3. You might die.

Let me know where you stand. 

David
0 Comments
    You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.
    Charlie Parker

    Author

    I'm a professional pianist and music educator in West Toronto Ontario. I'm also a devoted percussionist and drum teacher. 

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Categories

    All
    Adult Piano Lessons
    Breakfast Piano Minute
    Buying A Piano
    Children's Piano Lessons
    Classical Piano
    Ear Training
    Goal Setting
    Hobby Overload
    How To Practice Scales On The Piano
    Jazz Chops
    Jazz Piano
    Learning Classical Piano
    Learning Piano
    Learning Resources
    Motivation
    Music Practice
    Piano Exams
    Practice Organization
    Practicing Piano
    Starting Piano
    Stories
    Summer Piano Lessons
    Technique
    Theory
    Time Management
    Virtual Piano Lessons
    What Students Are Playing This Week

    RSS Feed

                                                ©2022 David Story
                         Contact           Home         Mystery Link
  • Homepage
  • Tips, Ideas, Stories, Free Lessons
  • Adult Lessons
  • Jazz Workshop #9 May 7, 2022
  • Contact form, fees, calendar, policies
  • Philosophy
  • Testimonials
  • My Story
  • Student awards and compositions
  • Recommended resources and Free Music
  • Classical downloads
  • Classical outline for beginners
  • Jazz downloads
  • Jazz outline for beginners
  • Video Library of Piano Techniques
  • Breakfast Piano Minute