Brazil is a large, musically rich country. it is home to the Samba, Bossa Nova, Choro, and many other categories and sub-categories of music.

The first step is to immerse yourself in the Brazilian Jazz sound by watching YouTube videos and attending every opportunity to hear the music played live.

Next step is to pick one title to explore. I've chosen The Girl from Ipanema. Secure a modern lead sheet of the piece.  Musicnotes.com - Search Results for girl from ipanema

Now listen to the classic recording while following along. The first thing you will notice is that the male singer sings the melody freely. The female singer sings the melody closer to the lead sheet only the first time. On the repeat it is rhythmically freer. 
​

Next up I ask students to explore the guitar style featured in the recording. 

Followed by percussion

Ending with the piano

Now we are ready to make a go of playing the piece. You will now be able to hear more clearly the rhythmic moves and feel of the music. Start copying what you hear. ​

Day One 

1. Dust of the metronome.
2. Set it at 60. Also known as 60 BPM
3. Practice counting aloud to the metronome: 1-2-3-4, one number per click.
4. Continue counting aloud and clap measures 1 to 9.
5. Continue counting aloud and play the right-hand notes measures 1 to 9. Counting aloud is imperative for success. 
6. Add the left hand and repeat measures 1 to 9.
7. Move the metronome to 70 BPM and repeat the passage.
8. Call it a day.

Day Two

1. Repeat yesterday's steps with the whole notes
2. Reset the metronome to 60. 
3. Practice counting aloud to the metronome: 1-2-3-4 one number per click.
4. Continue counting aloud and clap measures 10 to 14.
5. Continue counting aloud and play the right-hand notes measures 10 to 14. Counting aloud is imperative for success. 
6. Add the left hand and repeat measures 10 to 14.
7. Move the metronome to 70 BPM and repeat the passage.
8. Call it a day.

Day Three

1. Repeat yesterday's steps with the half notes
2. Reset the metronome to 60. 
3. Practice counting aloud to the metronome: 1-2-3-4 one number per click.
4. Continue counting aloud and clap measures 15 through 18.
5. Continue counting aloud and play the right-hand notes measures 15 through 18. Counting aloud is imperative for success. 
6. Add the left hand and repeat measures 15 through 18.
7. Move the metronome to 70 BPM and repeat the passage.
8. Call it a day.

Day Four

1. You know what to do. 

If I can help you learn to count aloud while playing, call me.

​David

​Why use a metronome?

1. Learning to play to an external beat will pay dividends when you begin to play with others.
2. You will learn where and when you are rushing. Especially if you record yourself doing it.
3. Your sense of time will improve. Time is the flow in music. The metronome will help teach you not to rush or drag.

How to use the metronome.

1. Count aloud
2. Start slow
3. Record yourself and evaluate
4. Play one note per click, then 2 notes, then 3, and finally 4 notes. Keep counting aloud. No silent counting.
5. If you are having trouble, clap rhythm patterns from your pieces while counting aloud. Do this slowly.
6. If you can’t count aloud and play, ask your teacher for help. They will be thrilled you asked.

 
If I can help you learn to count, call me.
 
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 

​Helping kids to practice piano 5 Tips:

1. Take them to piano concerts. Be enthusiastic. Normalise the experience. If the child is learning Classical music expose them to Classical music. Same thing if they are learning Jazz. Play piano music at home and in the car. In short, expose them to music at an early age. Enthusiasm is contagious. Short story: I started playing music at age 13. But, in my home I've many memories of my mother playing classical piano and playing New Orleans music, Harry Belafonte, and Frank Sinatra on the record player. Years later I'm a professional pianist playing guess what? You guessed it.  Between those two experiences I earned a degree in Jazz Composition and an ARCT in Classical piano pedagogy. Alea iacta est.
2. Supervise their daily practice.
3. Help them organise their practice space. Everything in its place and ready to go. Many kids won't go looking for missing books and music. 
4. Work with and support the teacher. Let the teacher know about the child's musical interests. 
5. Have them participate in exams, assessments, recitals, and festivals. Meeting other kids creates a community, community creates buy in. And new friends with common interests. Bonus: The child will hear pieces played by other kids and will start requesting pieces at their lessons. Now the buy-in is complete. 

If I can help you and your kids, call me.

​David

Janice Legere, a long-time student, played her scales like this today. I approve. 

​David

Learning to love how we sound.

In the 1921 teaching manual “Principles of Pianoforte Practice” by James Friskin, he asserts that most students “simply do not hear all the sounds they produce”. I concur. Friskin would be amazed, I’m sure, at the technological tools available to students today, namely YouTube and phones. YouTube for inspiration, artist impression, and guidance. The phone for recording and evaluating their progress.
It would be interesting to discuss together what students continue to miss when they grind instead of plan. How they often bore themselves silly with endless repetitions, hoping for a musical miracle instead of exploring the range of interpretations on their pieces.

First level: Before practicing, listen to a professional performance. Then record yourself playing and listen back. How did it go? Jot down notes and annotate the tricky bits, like fingerings, into your score.

Second level: Before practicing, listen to a professional performance. Mark your score with notes on what you heard: Tempo changes, phrasing, articulations. All and everything you hear. Now, with the recorder going, play from your notes. Listen and analyse the results. Repeat.

Third level: Repeat level two working from a different performance/musician. Compare the different interpretations.
Sometime students don’t realize that the notation tells you what to play, but not how it goes. “How it goes” comes from experience listening to and witnessing great performances. “How it goes” also develops from our study of music history, harmony, and rudiments.

Now the hard part, learning to love how we sound. It takes a certain amount of fortitude to listen to ourselves. Especially in early music study. It can be discouraging. But push on in faith. You will be the first to hear improvement and progress in your playing. Over time you will accumulate hundreds, even thousands of practice recordings. (In 12 years of playing drums I’ve 248 Gigs of mp3 recordings) It’s fun and gratifying to hear how one sounded a decade earlier, or even last year.

If I can help you learn to practice effectively, call me.
​
David

I can help you avoid this problem. 

David
​#pianohumour

1. "Scales offer us a chance to practice playing beautifully" Donald Himes We can vary the tempos, articulations, and dynamics to train our ears and hands to respond to our artistic commands.
2. Scales teach us the pathways through different key centres. Not everything is only on the white keys!
3. Scales when practiced with a metronome improve our ear's ability to play in time. 

If I can help you with your scales, call me. 

David

It is possible to teach an old guy a few new tricks. This past week I had an improvisation lesson with my coach Jacqueline Ching-Ling Leung of Toronto. Topic: Modern improvisation. Thinking in post-Jazz, post-Classical idioms. 

Thank you for listening.

​David

​#Pianoimprovisation #Modernistart #postjazz #pianistdavidstory #pianopreludes #pianistJacquelineLeung #Improvisation

I'm learning to play the xylophone in public through social media postings. Real time feedback on the information, methodologies, encouragement and teaching that I do daily with my students. 

What have I learned?

• Practice works.
• Video feedback is quite helpful.
• Practicing until I get something I'll post really helps to focus my practice sessions. The goal is clear. 
• Jazz is rhythm first, notes second.
• Articulation and dynamics are key to expressive performance.
• You can't fake it. 

Best, 

David 

We all do it. So go for it. 

​David

​When the melody goes up crescendo. When the melody goes diminuendo. The change will be small unless the composer indicates otherwise. The other exceptions are clearly marked in the score. The last note in a melody before a rest is played gently unless the composer indicates otherwise. 

Please check out the following recording. 

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

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. 

Learning to sight-read well makes all aspects of piano study easier. Capable sight-readers take less time to learn new pieces. Capable sight-readers play music for fun.

I offered the following solutions to help a student this week.
​
1. Practice clapping and counting rhythm aloud. Verbalise, let’s hear you. Don’t count in your head. My drum teacher has me do this weekly, and I’m a professional musician. It really helps. For piano students I suggest the RCM sight reading books daily. VERY VERY SLOW is fine. Use a metronome. The idea is not to stop.
2. Practice the scales applicable to the key of the piece to be sightread. I suggested she spends more time on technique. Scales, chords, arpeggios played with joy and attention.
3. Dig in on theory. I showed her how I’m able to recognize the scale and chord patterns at sight. In the beginning, she could mark those in the score before playing. Good sight readers see patterns, students see notes.
4. Sight read with the metronome. No stopping. If things fall apart keep counting and come back later in the piece. Or drop one hand and continue with the other. I told her to imagine playing in an ensemble. No stopping is possible.
 
If I can help you, call me.
 
David

Sugar was 1st released in 1926 by Ethel Waters, you can find it on YouTube.. This is my 2022 version on xylophone with piano accompaniment.. Have fun and keep on swinging.
#tradjazz
#neworleansjazz
#xylophone
#jazzdancing
#nolatradjazzcamp

I've been learning to play jazz on the xylophone over Christmas break. Who knew it was so much fun? It is making me reconsider the advice I hand out to my jazz students on rhythm and improvisation. So far the advice is holding up. 

I've fond memories of listening to New Orleans Jazz as a kid at home. It stuck with me. If you would like to have as much fun as this on the piano, 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. 

Dr. Hugo Norden, professor emeritus, coached me in Baroque counterpoint and harmony as a young naïve overconfident private student. He was a wise man; he knew how to handle characters like me. 

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. 

Here are my thoughts for acquiring jazz chops.  
1. Learn and memorize tunes by ear. 
2. Join a band and play as much as possible. 
3. Transcribe like crazy. 
4. Record everything you do. 
5. Learn more tunes. 
6. Technique with a metronome. Various tempi. 
7. Play Bach, Debussy and Faure. 
8. Keep up your lessons. 
9. Join a second band that plays only original music. 
10. Write some original music. 

Bonus. Read and explore the history of jazz prior to school. 
 ​
If I can help you call me. 

​David

David

Winter is here, let's have some fun. 

​David