• 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

1. Effective Practicing For Musician By Benny Greb. Practical steps with humorous stories. I love this book. 
2. The Musician's Way by Gerald Klickstein. For serious studious students with big ambitions. I love this book.
3. The Art Of Practicing by Madeline Bruser. A gentle wholistic approach
4. Technique Of Percussion By George Lawrence Stone. Classic Old School. Stories back to the US Civil War Era to the 1960's. 
5. On Piano Playing by Gyorgy Sandor. A classic out of print book on specific piano techniques for advanced students and teachers. I've a well worn copy.
6. The drummer's Lifeline by Peter Erskine and Dave Black. I usually avoid material with the words "quick fixes, hacks" etc. But I've made an exception for this fine book. 

David

My first demonstration of pedaling using the Midiculous software.

Mark Pritchard is with Patricia Pritchard.
5 September at 10:20  ·
 
"One of my friends asked "Why do you pay so much money for your kid to play the piano”? Well I have a confession to make; I don't pay for my kid to play the piano. Personally, I couldn't care less about what instrument they play.
So, what am I paying for?
- I pay for those moments when my kid becomes so tired they want to quit but don't.
- I pay for those days when my kid comes home from school and is "too tired" to do to their lesson but they go anyway.
- I pay for my kid to learn to be disciplined, focused and dedicated.
- I pay for my kid to learn to take care of her body and instrument.
- I pay for my kid to learn to work with others and to be a good teammate, gracious in failure, and humble in success.
- I pay for my kid to learn to deal with disappointment when she doesn’t get that recognition she’d hoped for, but still she goes back week after week giving it her best shot.
- I pay for my kid to learn to make and accomplish goals.
- I pay for my kid to respect, not only themselves, but their teachers and fellow young musicians.
- I pay for my kid to learn that it takes hours and hours, years and years of hard work and practice to play beautifully and that success does not happen overnight.
- I pay for my kid to be proud of small achievements, and to work towards long term goals.
- I pay for the opportunity my kid has and will have to make life-long friendships, create lifelong memories, to be as proud of her achievements as I am.
- I pay so that my kid can be creating something beautiful instead of sitting in front of a screen...
...I could go on but, to be short, I don't pay for piano playing; I pay for the opportunities that learning to play provides my kid with to develop attributes that will serve her well throughout her life and give her the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen so far I think it is a great investment!"

Here is the sport's version: “Why do you pay so much money for your kids to do all their sports”? – Wisconsin Wrestling Online (wiwrestling.com)

Interesting thoughts. 

​David

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

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

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

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

Sometimes we all need a break. Maintaining focused attention for the years it will take to master an instrument can be overwhelming.
How do I deal with it?
I take some time off to rest, contemplate and recommit to the project. My project is drumming, yours is piano. I seek out time for deep listening, exploring new perspectives, and solitary practice.
My solitary practices this summer is to master the work from the last year of lessons.
-------
I have rediscovered the joy of piano practice with my daily “breakfast piano minute” video series posts.
I am reading some novels, reconnecting with friends in our post Covid environment, and takings walks in the woods.
Some similar activities may help you too stay on top of things.
​
David

With the teaching schedule reduced over the summer, it is time to catch up. 

1. The “Breakfast piano minutes” video series has been a revelation. I’ve really enjoyed creating these short 1-minute videos for social media. Over the summer, with more non-teaching time available I plan to tackle more challenging repertoire. And learn to create multi-screen videos.
2. Practice the drums like crazy. I will soon be able to play in bands again. Here are some of the areas of focus:
   1. Snare drum studies and solos.
   2. Mastering and applying the material from the last 15 months of lockdown drum lessons.
   3. Learning new repertoire.
3. Update my music playlists.

​David

A rudimental etude I've been teaching drum students this year. 

​ 

1. Sight reading new material. Step outside your normal area of focus. Explore some new corners of Jazz and Classical music.
2. Written piano music, short pieces. 1-2 pages. Work up a few to performance standard. Builds discipline and focus. 
3. Listening to music in a focused way. Ask yourself, “what’s going on here?” Read a book on music jazz appreciation.
4. Jamming with friends is an ideal activity.
5. Reading about jazz. Downbeat magazine. Track down on YouTube the folks you read about in Downbeat. 
6. Start memorising your core repertoire. Using play along software, play the melodies with the app piano, then play the chords without the app piano, then add the hands together. 
   1. C jam blues
   2. Autumn leaves
   3. Killer joe
   4. Blue bossa
   5. Satin doll
   6. Summertime 
   7. Mac the knife

 
Autumn leaves: walking in 2 with iReal pro playing the piano chords and drums. You play the bass and the melody along.
 
See you in September.
 
David

A new student favorite that debuted at our zoom recital yesterday. 

Errors give feedback. As adults we understand errors present themselves in many ways. Sometimes they are hidden in disguise. 

The most effective way of dealing with errors of execution on the piano bench is to step back and listen again to your practice recording, Make note in the score of the problem areas, and then consider the following. 

1. Is it a fingering problem? If so change it.
2. is it a conceptual problem? Then consider spending more time listening to music of the same stylistic period. Study it, mark up the scores, try out ideas. Musicians understand that "we are who we listen to". 
3. Is it a technical problem? Have you mapped out the necessary movement or chorography in the score? If this step or concept is unfamiliar to you call me, I can help. 

​The picture above is from The Musician's Way, a book I highly recommend. 
​
Best, 

David

Background.
I learned piano in a rather haphazard way as a teenager. Berklee College piano teachers never talked about “playing” the piano only what to play.  In my professional work as a commercial musician the playing demands were not too strenuous.

Skipping ahead.
In my early 40’s I spent a summer with a small keyboard and a book of Bach WTC book 1 and Chopin Waltzes, in a Spanish condo on the Mediterranean. Santa Pola to be exact. Every afternoon after lunch while the world took a siesta, I would explore the music on this tiny 60 note plastic keyboard. It was magic.

Returning home, I started asking around for a piano teacher. Leon Karan’s name came up a few times, so I called him. He answered with his warm Russian accent. Yes, I will see you. An appointment was made.

1st meeting.
“Mr. Story, please play for me a c major scale.”
Gritting my teeth and tensing my body as hard as I could I dug in and roared up the piano. He looked at me sympathetically.
“Please play your piece for me.”
I’ve no idea what the piece was now but his reaction was one of concern.

“You are of course going to do your ARCT?”
“My what?”
“ARCT, you are a piano teacher. You have a duty to your students.”

In short, I got my you know what kicked and challenged at the same time.

Four years and 5000 hours of practice later, I graduated age 47. It was the most difficult and rewarding thing I’ve ever done as a musician. Truly a marathon. I felt like superman. 

David