​Do I have enough time to take piano lessons?

Given the demands of our over scheduled lives, most adults will have to give up something to make room for something else.
Search this "how many hours does the average adult spend surfing on their phones?"
Cutting that in half will free up enough time to learn anything.

Call me when you are ready.
​
David

Preparing to succeed is the first step. Here are some things you can do to prepare.

​1. Understanding how to use Zoom. Setting up the camera so that I can see your hands and you can see me as well. Most students set up the laptop on a table to the left side of the piano.
2. You need to create a realistic schedule for practicing. This may take longer than you realise. But with realistic thinking it is possible.
3. Organize and dedicate a practice space for productive work.
4. Fully understand the costs involved.
5. Tell all your significant others of your plans so that they can support you.
6. You will need to lean on your strengths when the going gets tough and life gets in the way. I'm a learner too, you can ask me how I organize my learning.
 
Here's to learning.
 
David

1. Listen everyday to the professional recordings supplied with your books. As the Bugs Bunny Theme song “This is it” says, “We know every part by heart.”
2. Record yourself playing. Video is best. Play, watch, make notes on what needs work, repeat the process. Evaluate your playing. No mindless repeating. No grinding: grinding just creates a pile of dust.
3. Play your technique with a metronome. Use a comfortable tempo. Make a note of the tempo played by date. Increase the tempo incrementally.
4. Memorise the music and technique at your earliest convenience. Theatrical rehearsals get serious when the actors are “off the book.” 
5. Spend one-third of your time on theory, ear training, and sight reading. The pillars of understanding and long-term accomplishment.

If I can help you, call me.
 
David 

The internet is full of hucksters telling you that learning to play the piano is easy. It's not, but it is fun. Every day I watch my students grow; the days turn into years. And, inch by inch progress is made. 

If I can help you on your journey, call me. 

David

Everyone understands that the piano is played with the fingers. But, not all students understand the role of the wrists, arms, and shoulders in piano playing. Here is a partial list of techniques introduced in my studio. They are tried and true, I've not invented any of them, and can be observed in the playing of fine pianists. Here is a starting list. There are many more. 

1. Fingers
2. Rotation
3. Forearm roll
4. Drop
5. Arm weight

Why all these techniques?

Mixing the techniques creates a kaleidoscope of colour in our playing. Modern piano teaching introduces each of these techniques at the appropriate moment. I wish my early teachers had spent more time on this when I was a kid. At age 30 pianist and music director Donald Himes introduced these to me and changed how I sound evermore. 

If you would like help, call me. 

David Story

Donald Himes: Music director/composer for the Mr. Dress-up show CBC. He played from the 1st show to the last. A fine pianist, great teacher and avid Francophile. 

1. Theory
2. History
3. Ear training

The three most neglected aspects of music study.

Theory: knowing what you are doing makes everything easier. The knowledge and application of theory allows us to discover and understand the notes which leads to insight and artistry.

• If you don't know what a ii-V is in Jazz or a cadence is in Mozart, artistry will be difficult.
• Theory knowledge brings new insights into why different artists play the way they do. 

Yesterday fourteen music students got together and played jazz. What a blast!

Lessons learned:

1. You cannot over prepare. 
2. Bring legible charts on brilliant white paper, lighting and/or print size is always an issue in a jazz club. 
3. Workshops and your cohort of fellow students is a good place to learn to deal with your nerves.
4. Keep it simple until you gain some experience. 
5. Play from memory for security on stage.
6. It was fun! 

Next up February, Covid willing. 

David

Playing the piano well is not easy, but it is possible with time, effort, and focus. Click on the photo to enjoy the whole story. 

​David

• I have no talent.
• My hands are too small.
• I tried teaching myself, that was a bust.
• I have no rhythm. 

Let me address excuse number 2 first. The doctor’s assistant told me today that her hands were too small. “See she said” as she extended her hand. (It was the same size as mine.) “How do you play with those hands?” “Easy, a teacher showed me.”

Number 3 is the saddest. “I tried teaching myself “. Trying to teach yourself from YouTube or a half-baked app is like trying to teach yourself to drive a car from YouTube. Let that sink in for a moment. A teacher will make you a plan, sequence the material for you, respond to your concerns, and inspire you.

Number 1 and 4? " I have no talent, I have no rhythm." I take ballroom dance classes with my wife. She is a natural and trained dancer. I’ve no talent or rhythm. But, I’m having fun every week. Nobody cares, not even my wife/dance partner. We are having way too much fun together to worry about my lack rhythm or talent.

If I can help your overcome the resistance, call me.

David Story

Keeping your positive attitude on your ability to learn the piano

• Good attitudes are maintained through focused effort and disciplined study in alignment with your goals and values.
• Good attitude is easier to maintain if you are sharing this journey with other people. Now that concerts are returning, consider meeting other adult piano students at professional piano recitals. Strike up a conversation with the person sitting beside you. Chances are good that only pianists and former pianists attend piano recitals and they'd be happy to chat about it.

David

It depends.

It depends on what musical skills and experiences you already have. 

It depends on what expectations you have. If your desires are modest, yes you can likely make some simple music from watching online videos. If some level of musical competency is desired, online videos are a trickier proposition.

Why? No feedback.

Teachers give feedback, sequence learning material, correct technique, inspire when the going gets tough, and make the journey fun through collaborative learning. 

If that sounds like what you need, call me. I can help.  

David

"Spending winters in the sunshine, reading, playing golf and socializing seemed a wonderful way to spend retirement.   With both of us being music lovers, our sound system is always on all day with great music ranging from Classical, Jazz and some pop.  But I felt something was missing and it wasn’t snow.  My wife encouraged me for years to take music lessons.  I was not too keen because my memory of lessons was the Nuns whacking my fingers with a ruler insisting, I keep my lazy fingers off the keys; that ended in 1958 when I got my Grade 8 piano.  But the seed was planted.  I decided to look on the net for a music teacher near Burlington and came across David’s website. This really looked interesting.  During our cocktail hour that night, I said – when we get back to Burlington, I am going to take Jazz lessons from this David Story guy.  On April 23, 2013 my life changed.

Of course, I thought I would be rattling off Jazz tunes within weeks; grief!  As time progressed, I realized how complex Jazz really is, especially soloing; how do they do that?   Practice, practice, practice every day and soon I started to see the tunnel – no light yet!  After a few years of toil and trouble, something that sounded akin to music emerged; I encouraged my cousin to take lessons from David.  Then, 4 years ago, David encouraged us to attend the Jamey Aebersold Summer workshop in Louisville.  There we were for 6 days: 2 old guys, jamimg in groups, attending classes and intense listening, from 7am to 10 PM.  Hardly time for a Scotch closer at night!  At last, all those lessons from David were clicking into place like a Rubik’s cube. We went back the next summer and did it again.  Then, David encouraged me to try and get a group together to Jam.  The pressure was on; my 2 songs would not cut the mustard.  More practice.  An advert in Kijiji did the trick; we ended up with an exceptional drummer, bass, guitar – and me.  We met every week for 3 hours until covid.

My lessons continue.  The Jam will continue after we all get our shots.  I am still amazed at what some practice along with amazing guidance and encouragement from David has done for my life and continues to do so.  Not bad for an 80 year old!"

​Gary.

Tomorrow Part 2. Learn more about Gary's jazz journey. 
​David

Short, charming, relatively easy, level 5 and 6. What can a harpsichordist teach pianists? How to pace the music, notice the subtle flexibility to the flow of the music. 

In the 2nd video the performer talks about the works. 

Enjoy, 

​David

The music. BACH JS 6 préludes (BWV 939-943).MUS (imslp.info)

The rankings follow the descriptions:
​

1. The Traditional Berklee College of Music Method
   1. Ray Santisi and Dean Earl, my teachers. I loved those guys. The traditional Berklee method emphasised theory, pencils, and paper. An old-fashioned approach for an old-fashioned music. It works though and is available in the Berklee Jazz Piano Book.
2. The Lenny Tristano Method:
   1. Singing solos by ear
   2. Comping approaches for left hand
   3. Repertoire
   4. Transposition of licks into many keys
3. The Jamey Aebersold Method
   1. “the answers you seek are in the recordings” Jamey Aebersold. Then he’ll sell you another book.
   2. Emphasis is on chord scale relationships and melodic patterning.
4. The Wynton Marsalis Method
   1. Learn your “damn instrument.”
   2. Learn the tradition.
   3. "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing"

In my experience of teaching jazz, I would rank these traditional methods in the following order:

1. Wynton. His emphasis on learning to play well is tough for casual players. Ten thousand hours of disciplined focused practice with great teachers is a near impossibility for most people. I’m a big fan though of his dictum to know the tradition. (I did have the opportunity to study with Ali Jackson, his drummer. It raised my standards immediately. And enlarged my idea what was possible for me as a jazz drummer. I  will reach 10,000 hours of focused, disciplined practice sometime in my 70s.)
2. Lenny, a close second. He offers specific ideas that will help anyone progress including.
   1. Learning to sing all or part of a solo through repeated listening is brilliant and obvious.
   2. Second playing licks in 12 keys. (This was transformational in my development as a pianist.)
3. Ray and Dino. As I’ve already stated, I loved these guys. They helped me connect with the greater jazz community as a teenager. They encouraged me to go for it. The Berklee book gives a general outline of the method but requires additional material from a teacher to really work well.
4. Jamey. I attended his camp 4 times! What a blast. I learned so much for which I’m grateful including meeting other adults as deeply committed to learning to play jazz as I was. So much intensity, dedication, and passion were on display. On the downside? Too much theory too soon in a player’s development. Students were overwhelmed. Too much reading from dull fakebooks with a narrow repertoire. Not enough emphasis on listening and analysis. (Though I was told to go home and get my drumming hands together. So, I have.)

Jazz attracts adults of a certain type. Likely just like you. Professionally successful, academically trained, and determined to figure it out. The kind of person who sets goals, allocates resources, makes time, gathers intelligence from books and the internet, and then applies focus to solve a problem or pursue an opportunity.

Alas the kind of learning traditionally associated with professional success can lead a student off in the wrong direction when learning to play jazz. First, music is a manual skill which requires many years of practice to play at even a basic level of competence. Second, playing jazz is an aural skill. Manual skills and aural skills are not traditionally part of most people’s education. So, a mindset shift must occur. Those professional skills will come in handy though; I’ll just help enlarge them.

(Authors note I own more than 100 drum books, I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of podcasts on drumming, I’ve subscribed in the past to a Jazz education subscription service promising great masterclass from my jazz heroes, and I live on YouTube. Furthermore, I own too many drum sets, snare drums, and cymbals. So, I understand.)

What can I do for you?

1. If needed I will help you learn to play the piano with more finesse.
2. Work with you on your aural skills.
3. Appropriately sequence the skills of jazz piano: repertoire, ear training, history, listening and analysis, theory, soloing, jamming skills and more.
4. Teach you how to practice.

In short, I will present material to you in a logical fashion based on your specific circumstances and provide weekly feedback. Old fashioned teaching in a modern 21st c. multi-modal manner. 

Call me.
 
David

How does a impatient student find the patience?

How does the piano teacher maintain the students enthusiasm while working with this constraint?

Good question. 

As long as we find time to work on core skills, it's great to explore repertoire way over our heads. We will have fun and learn a lot from the experience. But, if we neglect to cheerfully embrace the discipline of mastering core skills, we will grow bored and discouraged. In the end it's faster to learn the skills, embrace this discomfort of hard work than to jump all over the place. 

Core music skills: 

1. Technique
2. Aural Skills
3. Sight-reading
4. Theory
5. History
6. Repertoire
7. Etudes
8. Improvisation
9. Group music making: duets 
10. Music appreciation through concert attendance

Here is a short story from my parallel passion of drumming. I devote a large chunk of my practice time on the core skills and fundamentals of drumming. I spend hours a week on time and tone. Yep, left, right, left, right or LLRR or RLRR and LRLL. I listen intently to the results. I analysis my movements. And on and on. I've learned to be patient. I've made some real progress over the last decade of study.  I'm confident I will make more. 

​To learn more check this out: What do drum teachers practice? (superfundrumlessons.com)

Let me help you. 

Call me. Let's get started.

David

One week of piano among other pianists with 1st rate tutors, food, and wine. 

I'm dreaming.

​Click above for more inf. 

David

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