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Tips, free lessons, and inspiration

Why do we practice slow to go fast?

5/26/2022

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Why do we practice slow to go fast?

Good question.

We all play like we practice. So, if we practice carefully, thoughtfully, and methodically our odds of playing expressively, confidently, at a steady tempo go up significantly. Alas the opposite is true too. 

Let's consider one aspect of this: Slow practice.

1. Starting slowly allows us to consider our motions at the piano.
2. Slow allows us to play steadier while learning. Remember playing quickly and stumbling about may make our stumbling get embedded in our playing. 
3. Speed up bit by bit as your skill with the scale, chord, arpeggio, etude, phrase, or piece increases.
4. To play fast, you will have to practice fast. It is good practice to have your moves together before sprinting through the music. 

David
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Sightreading Tips for Pianists

5/24/2022

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Sight-reading tips
  1. Title. The title will often give clues as to how to play the piece.
  2. Who is the Composer? Bach is played differently than Zappa.
  3. When was the piece written? Baroque music is played differently than Rock.
  4. Time signature?
  5. Key signature?
  6. Tempo: fast or slow?
  7. Dynamics: loud or soft? When playing with others this is especially important. 
  8. Look for funny business like clefs changes, hand over hand crossovers, 8vas, tempo changes. Don't get caught!
  9. Find the repeat signs, Coda sign. Search for similar phrases/measures.
  10. Look for rhythmic difficulties. If necessary, clap and count aloud. 
  11. Find the starting hand position. 
  12. Using the metronome will help prevent you from stopping and correcting.
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When the going gets tough

4/26/2022

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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

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How to spend one hour practicing the piano

4/21/2022

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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

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​Practice Tip: The power of exploration

4/19/2022

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​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

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Quick Tip

1/14/2022

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I found it very helpful over the holidays to practice with a video camera recording my progress. I played for 5 minutes, and watched 5 minutes. The camera was positioned so that the keyboard of the xylophone was visible. I was able to see and hear what was working and what was not and adjust accordingly on the next round of playing.


If I can help you, call me. 

​David
The above is the final take in ten takes over 20 minutes. 
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Three things to focus on for better results in piano study.

12/28/2021

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  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. 
How you think about the drum set, what you have heard, and what you understand about the musical past of the instrument determine how you play the instrument musically. Ed Soph, master teacher
​History: Different eras of music sound different. Why? The study of the history of your instrument and the history of music in general will answer that question and help your interpretations.

Now the big one.

Ear Training:
  • interval recognition
  • chord recognition
  • melodic playback and jazz licks
  • chord progressions
  • rhythmic clapback
  • Instrument identification
  • counting measures
  • sight singing
  • scoring what we hear

The list goes on.

​Some folks have it easier here than others, but I can confidently say I started with a tin-ear and over time developed it to a remarkably high degree. 

I can help you too. 

Call me. 



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Hope is not a strategy: Planning to succeed

11/30/2021

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Hope is not a strategy. This is a blog celebrating action in the practice room. The effective action that follows our careful deliberation and reflection. We are grownups. The time of fooling ourselves is over because time is up. 
 
I've been exploring this topic in some depth over the years. Feel free to join in.  

​Here is an interesting start to our explorations: Time management 

 
Premise: Practice time is precious and limited. It's limited by the limitations of our bodies and demands on our time from life. Therefore, wasting it with non-deliberate practice is counterproductive to our goal: playing as well as we can with the limitations we now have. 
 
Step one: Taking stock. "How do we spend our time when we are in the practice room? Do we carefully plan out the time, or do we jump Willy Nilly from one activity to another? It has been claimed that 90% music students play a piece through once, not even stopping to correct mistakes. 
 ( http://www.escom.org/proceedings/ICMPC2000/Sun/McPherso.htm ) 
 
Tactic: At your next practice simply record yourself on your phone. Just put the recorder in the corner and forget about it. Later in the day listen back. Ask yourself this: 
 
1. How did you spend your time? 
2. How focused were you? 
3. How do you sound? 
4. What did you accomplish? 
5. How did you really work on problems? 
 
If I can help you, call me.  
 
David 
 
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A tongue in cheek, "Epic Fail" moment to make an important point

11/22/2021

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Self assessment is nearly impossible. Our mind can play tricks on us. Research Dunning-Kruger effect for the science. 

Here is a partial solution for music students.  

1. Listen to professional recordings of your pieces. Frequently. You should know them as well as you know "happy birthday".
2. Record yourself and listen back to your efforts. Many students find this very difficult. I understand, but, push through the resistance. It is your best self assessment tool that you have. 
3. Take lessons. Professional feedback is priceless. 

If I can help you, please call me. 

David
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Ten things to do when learning a new piece of music

10/20/2021

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Ten things to do when learning a new piece of music that will simplify the process. 
​
  1. Listen to a professional recording while following the score. It is much simpler to read a score when you know what it is supposed to sound like. The music is not fully represented by the notation.
  2. Listen some more. “How do I get the sound in my head out of these black dots” is much easier than, “I wonder what this sounds like?” Notice the deviations from the score that the professionals present. Mark in any nuances with dynamics and phrasing you might hear.
  3. Observe the fingering suggestions in your score. I would only change the fingering in the cases of obvious error or small hands.
  4. Practice slowly at first.
  5. If the rhythms are difficult. Clap and count aloud the difficult passages.
  6. Explore the score further, marking the form and cadences. Notice how the professionals play a cadence. You will want to do the same. If this step is new to you call me, I can help.
  7. Practice with dynamics from the first reading. That way you avoid having to relearn the piece later. In my experience as a piano examiner, under stress candidates abandon the dynamic plan and resort to their pre-dynamic performance. I know this because I had the teachers score in front of us. Dynamics were underlined, high-lighted, and punctuated in these scores coast to coast. The more frantic and emphatic the marking the less chance the candidate would execute them.
  8. Practice in small chunks. That is phrase by phrase, or if the passage is particularly difficult, measure by measure. Consider:
    1. Fingering
    2. The required movement to realize your artistic impression: slur gestures, arm weight, rotation, and so on.
    3. Dynamics
    4. Balance
    5. Flow
  9. Record yourself. Many students find this uncomfortable. I say fight the resistance. The feedback one gets from hearing immediately your progress or lack thereof, will save you years of wasted effort. Step one above helps prepare us to evaluate our playing.
  10. Take breaks. My attention span is short, yours is likely to be short too. So, prepare a number of activities when practicing.
    1. Practice the scales and chords required for your piece.
    2. Listen some more to the recordings.
    3. Jump back in.
If I can help, call me.
 
David
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How do I practice?

7/14/2021

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I practice piano and drums daily, except Sundays when I rest. This summer I'm practicing bass. My student Barb asked me, "how do you practice?" This is what I said. 

  1. I prepare to practice. My music and instruments are at hand and ready to go. As is my metronome, recordings, recorder, and pencils.
  2. I listen to the reference recording before commencing if the piece is new.
  3. I plan out how I will play the piece. I consider fingering, dynamics, articulations, and the appropriate motions required to realise this vision.
  4. I warm up and stretch.
  5. I use a metronome most of the time. All the time if I’m on the drum kit.
  6. I record myself section by section. And, then listen back and adjust as required before moving on.
  7. I practice piano technique and drum rudiments.
  8. I listen attentively to music. No distractions. I ask myself, “what’s going on here?” I often write out what I hear. To date of transcribed 100+ drum pieces alone. And, countless piano excerpts. 
  9. I practice slowly with the all the dynamics and articulations in order. I don’t add this later.
  10. I’m patient. That being said, if you follow the 9 steps above, you may not need to test your patience. 

Have Fun. 
​
David Story
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​Finding time to practice, updated 2021

7/10/2021

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The pandemic appears to be waning. We have all enjoyed the extra practice time lockdowns gave us. Extra time was an unexpected consequence during these tragic times.

How will be hold on to this extra time when things move back to more normal times? Good question.

Here is some of the things I’m considering. Perhaps it will be helpful for your situation too.
  1. I’ve rethought my priorities. A lot of activities where not missed during the lockdowns, so I will do my best to avoid restarting them. Draw up your own list perhaps?
  2. I’ve once again put practice time in my daily schedule. Once that is done, I will book my students around these blocks of time.
  3. I will continue my own studies in drums and piano online, saving a few hours a week of travel time.

​Best regards,
 
David
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Mignon By Robert Schumann Study Guide

4/17/2021

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So much planning goes on before we play. 

Planning an interpretation
  1. Mark the phrases and label the cadences
  2. Mark the form
  3. Explore phrasing options
  4. Select the gestures
  5. Practice the gestures
I can help you learn to play beautifully as others have helped me. 

Call me. 

​David
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How To Practice Classical Piano For Four Hours

2/11/2021

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4 hours of practice: All joy, no grinding. 

Top 5 tips for practicing any musical instrument
​
  1. Have everything organized before you begin. Materials ready at hand. 
  2. Listen to the music you are learning to play. Mark your scores.
  3. Record yourself as you go along. Always know why you are repeating a passage in practice.
  4. Warm-up
  5. Auxiliary studies hold the keys to your eventual success: ear training, theory, sight-reading, score analysis. 
  6. Bonus tip: Find a supportive enthusiastic group of fellow students to hang with, either in person or on-line. 
Playing
  • Repertoire retention: Review a piece from your repertoire list.
  • Lesson homework
Listening to Classical Piano 
  • Form analysis: What is the structure of your piece? Is is in a Baroque Dance form, sonata form, Rondo, etc. Do a little research to discover the answer. Musical form - Wikipedia
  • “What’s going on here?” Mark in the articulations and dynamic plans created by professional pianists and compare. Next mark in tempi changes and fluctuations. You may be surprised with what you discover. 
  • Watch Youtube videos of professional performances of your repertoire and related pieces in the same genre or style. Deep listening is practicing.
  • Listen to some music appreciation lectures. Suggested materials: The Great Courses
Ear training
  • Playing melodies in different keys. Work up to complete pieces in new keys. Start simple. Work up to level 1 pieces.
  • “What’s going on here?” Mark in the articulations and dynamic plans created by professional pianists and compare. This is so important, I've listed it twice.
  • Suggested materials: Perfect ear App, Music Theory Pro and RCM online ear training. 
Classical History
  • Reading about Classical music history and checking out the recordings with scores on YouTube. Each month study a different era of music. Research a classical music history outline online and head for YouTube. 
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Theory
  • Key signatures, intervals, transposition, scale/chord construction.
  • Suggested materials: Music Theory Pro for drills, Alfred’s essential music theory is good as are the RCM theory books. But it all depends on where you are starting at. You can ask me for a recommendation based on my assessment.
Sight reading
  • A key activity of maintaining joy at the keyboard: Playing for fun. 
  • Clapping rhythms with a metronome
  • Suggested materials: Lower level classical piano music. If you play at level 6 (grade 6) sight read at level 4 or lower. Other options include RCM sight reading books. Again, it all depends on where you are starting at. You can ask me for a recommendation based on my assessment.
 Piano Technique
  • Scales, chords, and arpeggios. I love playing these, thoughtfully, carefully, and joyfully. With and without a metronome. I listen for evenness, watching the fingering, thinking about musicality. 
  • The RCM syllabus has good technique lists. Conservatory Canada has even better lists.  

If you would like some help, call me. 

​David
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How To Practice Jazz For Four Hours!

1/25/2021

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4 hours of practice: No Grinding.

Top 5 tips for practicing any musical instrument
​
  1. Have everything organized before you begin. Materials ready at hand. 
  2. Listen to the music you are learning to play. Mark your scores.
  3. Record yourself as you go along. Always know why you are repeating a passage in practice.
  4. Warm-up
  5. Auxiliary studies hold the keys to your eventual success: ear training, theory, sight-reading, score analysis. 
  6. Bonus tip: Find a supportive enthusiastic group of fellow students to hang with, either in person or on-line. 


Playing
  • Repertoire retention: Review a piece each practice from your list.
  • Lesson assignments
Listening to Jazz 
  • Form analysis: Who, what, when questions.
  • Instrumentation: What, what, when questions
  • “What’s going on here?”
  • Watch Youtube videos of Jazz Transcriptions
  • Suggested materials: How to Listen to Jazz by Ted Gioia
Ear training
  • Transcribing licks. A lick a day transposed into different keys.
  • Transposing exercise
  • C jam blues in 12 keys
  • Autumn leaves learn it in another key. Try in the key of F. By ear, or by writing it out.
  • Suggested materials: Perfect ear App or Music Theory Pro
Jazz History
  • Reading jazz history and checking out the recordings on YouTube. Each month study a different decade of jazz. Research a jazz history outline online and head for YouTube. See also Jazz History by Ted Gioia.
  • Watch Youtube videos of Jazz Transcriptions
General and Jazz Specific Theory
  • Key signatures, intervals, transposition, scale/chord construction.
  • Suggested materials: Music Theory Pro for drills, Alfred’s essential music theory is good as are the RCM theory books. But it all depends on where you are starting at. You can ask me for a recommendation based on my assessment.
Jazz Sight reading
  • Piano music: play simple stuff, use a slow metronome.
  • Lead sheets
  • Chording
  • Suggested materials: Your fake book: open and play. Or RCM sight reading books. Again, it all depends on where you are starting at. You can ask me for a recommendation based on my assessment.
 Piano Technique
  • Major scales
  • Bebop scales
  • Broken 7th chords: Major 7, dominant 7, minor 7, minor 7b5, diminished 7th in 12 keys. Play a maximum of 2 keys a day. SLOW IS FINE.
  • I play classical piano music to keep my hands in some kind of shape. You might benefit from this as well. Or, you could play written jazz arrangements for piano. The idea is to keep the hands alive, as jazz piano study is brutal on piano techniques because we spend so much time play single note lines and left hand chords. 

If you would like some help, call me. 

​David
​
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How I Prepare to Learn Or Teach A New Piece of Music: Haydn Sonata in C And Bourrée in F By Telemann

1/8/2021

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When I take on a new piece of music of any complexity I will go through some or all the following steps. My goal is to have a clear artistic impression of the piece before I begin. 

1. Compare the different scores available to me.
2. Seek out professional recordings.
3. Print the music as I will be marking it up. 
4. Study the form and phrasing of the work. Sometimes, as in the Telemann I will mark in the phrasing. 
5. I will consider the era in which it was written for clues on possible interpretations.
6. I translate any unfamiliar terms I find in the score.
7. I might consult other sources to explore the style and era of its creation. For the Sonata in C, I enjoyed re-reading the section on Haydn ornaments in the book below.
8. I will listen to multiple professional performances and mark on the score ideas of interest. I often will slow down a recording to hear how the artist plays their ornaments. 
9. I might consult with a colleague or my piano coach as well. 

In short, I will have a clear set of ideas, those I discovered and my own, to explore as I now start to "learn" the piece. I will share these with my students.

If I can help you discover intriguing world of classical music, please call me. 

David
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View the Score Here
File Size: 1340 kb
File Type: jpg
Download File

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View The Bourree Here
File Size: 881 kb
File Type: jpg
Download File

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Deep Practice: Exploring behind the notes

12/9/2020

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Links: ​Sound Ways of Knowing: Music in the Interdisciplinary Curriculum : Janet R. Barrett Claire W. McCoy Kari K. Veblen : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive


Know more than the notes. Exploring the questions of sociological context, compositional techniques, recorded history and more will add depth and sophistication to your playing and security to your memorization. 

Click on the picture for more, or for the "science" click the link. 

Here is a simple example:

1st Movement of Sonata in F minor op. 1

Who created it?
Beethoven, German Romantic era composer 1770–1827
When and where was it created?
1795 Vienna Austria
Why and for whom was it created?
Dedicated to his teacher Joseph Haydn. Apparently it was his first publicly published work.
What does it sound or look like?
Dramatic opening rocket type theme of the tonic, then dominant chord announces that there is a "new kid in town". Great dynamic contrasts throughout the movement keep us focused. A composition of a young man.
What kind of structure or form does it have?
Classic Sonata Form
What is its subject?
The interplay is between the 2 main themes in the exposition and their development through many key centers. 
What is being expressed?
Youthful exuberance, drama and compositional skill demonstration of the classical era style.
What techniques did its creator use to help us understand what is being expressed?
  • Sonata form
  • Tonic/dominant harmony
  • Melodic development

David
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Extreme Practice

1/25/2019

1 Comment

 
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Ten hours plus a week on your instrument. Is this possible? Yes, maybe. 

There are some adults and many teenagers who log more than 10 hours a week.

  1. J. practices drums 3 hours a day plus attends a jam or two a week. He is a business owner with a few dozen staff. 
  2. M. practices trumpet 2 hours a day. He works full time as a bar tender in NYC. He logs his practice. He is not married.  
  3. J., a teenager logs close to 20 hours a week. This includes music classes at school, afterschool bands and clubs, piano lessons and jazz jamming. 
  4. G, retired, practices piano 4 hours a day. His wife says it keeps him alive. Temporarily sidelined with some health issues, he looks forward to resuming his place on the piano bench.

They are united by an intense desire to learn and achieve. Their lives are organized around practice. They take lessons, they take responsibility, and they persevere through thick and thin. 

Some final thoughts.

If you want to ramp it up, do it slowly to avoid injury. Add a 10% to your practice time each week. Be sure to ask advice from your instructors. 

Best

David Story

1 Comment
    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. 

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