David Story, Online Piano Lessons from Toronto
  • Homepage
  • Tips, Ideas, Stories, Free Lessons
  • Adult Lessons
  • Jazz Workshop #Eleven March 5, 2023
  • Contact form, fees, calendar, policies
  • Philosophy
  • Testimonials
  • Children's Winter Concert 2023
  • My Story
  • Student awards and compositions
  • Classical downloads
  • Classical outline for beginners
  • Jazz downloads
  • Jazz outline for beginners
  • Video Library of Piano Techniques
  • Breakfast Piano Minute
  • Books, Apps, Websites, Music
  • Ear Training and Sight Singing Resources

Tips, free lessons, and inspiration

Why use a metronome?

2/27/2022

0 Comments

 
​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 timing will improve. 

How to use the metronome.
  1. Count aloud. If the music is in 4/4, count 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, etc. 
  2. Start slowly.
  3. Record yourself to evaluate how close you are to the beat. 
  4. Start by playing 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, slowly clap rhythm patterns from your pieces while counting aloud. 
  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
Revised August 2022
0 Comments

Five tips on preparing for your Grade 2 piano exam as an adult

2/26/2022

0 Comments

 
  1. Listening every day to the recordings, supplied with your books, prepares your ears for the task ahead. (Students often play a wrong note for an entire week, because they don't fully know how the music sounds.) 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 did and didn't work. This helps you avoid mindless repetition, also known as grinding. 
  3. Play your scales, chords, and arpeggios with a metronome. In modern music performance and production, the ability to play with a metronome is imperative. Try these suggestions if you are having difficulty: Use a comfortable tempo. Count aloud, starting with one note per click. Later, when you are comfortable, try two notes per click. Make a note of the tempo played by date. Incrementally increase the tempo.
  4. Memorise your pieces and technique at your earliest convenience. In the theater, rehearsals get serious when the actors are “off the book.” 
  5. Spend one-third of your time on theory, ear training, and sight reading. These are the pillars of musical understanding, interpretation, and memorization.
If I can help you, call me.
 
David 
Revised August 2022
0 Comments

​Helping kids to practice piano: 6 Tips

2/24/2022

0 Comments

 
  1. Enthusiastically taking them to piano concerts will normalise the experience of hearing music. If the child is learning Classical music expose them to Classical music. Same thing if they are learning Pop, Hip Hop, or Jazz.
  2. Play piano music at home and in the car. In short, expose them to music at an early age. Short story: I started playing music at age 13. But in my home, I was exposed, at an early age, to my mother playing classical piano and playing records of New Orleans, Caribbean, and Big Band music. Years later I'm a professional pianist playing guess what? You guessed it.  
  3. Supervise their daily practice.
  4. Help them organise their practice space so that everything is in its place and ready to go. Many kids won't go looking for missing books and music. 
  5. Work with and support the teacher. Let the teacher know about the child's musical interests. 
  6. Have them participate in exams, assessments, recitals, and festivals. Meeting other kids creates a community, community helps create a strong identity as a music student. Bonus: The child will hear pieces played by other kids and will start requesting these pieces at their lessons. 

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

​David
Revised August 2022
0 Comments

A new way to play scales

2/23/2022

0 Comments

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

​David
Picture
0 Comments

Learning to love how we sound

2/22/2022

0 Comments

 
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. I'm sure Friskin would be amazed at the ease with which a student can now record their practicing for self-evaluation. 

Now the hard part, learning to love how we sound. I'll be honest, in the early days it will take a certain amount of fortitude. But push on in faith. You will be the first to hear the improvement and progress as you accumulate and listen to hundreds, even thousands of practice recordings. (In 13 years of playing drums I’ve 248 Gigs of mp3 recordings. It’s both humbling 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
Revised August 2022
Read the 1921 book here.
0 Comments

Do I teach Beethoven's Fur Elise? Yes, almost daily.

2/21/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
I can help you avoid this problem. 

David
​#pianohumour

0 Comments

Why do we learn scales on the piano?

2/18/2022

0 Comments

 
What do scales have in common with push-ups?
​They are only effective when repeated, once is never enough"
  1. "Scales offer us a chance to practice playing beautifully" Donald Himes. Don told me to vary the tempos, articulations, and dynamics thus training my hands to respond to my 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
revised August 2022
0 Comments

Can everyone learn to play a musical instrument?

2/13/2022

0 Comments

 

Theoretically yes.

​Success means different things to different people. When the student is clear on their goals and can communicate these goals, lessons will get off to a great start.

Success requires a time commitment that aligns with reality. A wise teacher once asked a keen adult student what she was willing to give up to make room for lessons.

Successfully learning to play an instrument requires patience and faith in the process. At this point in time the process of learning to play is well understood by professional teachers. There are many successful approaches created by conservatories around the world that turn out competent Classical, Jazz, and Pop musicians. This curriculum covers progressive study in repertoire, etudes, theory, ear training, and history. And the opportunity of assessment and performances. All requirements for success.

Successful students do the work. In a world looking for shortcuts, this traditional course of action can be a difficult sell. The seduction of internet hustlers on YouTube selling the miracle of achievement without effort can be a self-limiting constraint on achievement.

If I can help you reach your goals, call me.

David

0 Comments

The Teacher Takes A Lesson

2/9/2022

0 Comments

 
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
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

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    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
    Blues Piano
    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
  • Homepage
  • Tips, Ideas, Stories, Free Lessons
  • Adult Lessons
  • Jazz Workshop #Eleven March 5, 2023
  • Contact form, fees, calendar, policies
  • Philosophy
  • Testimonials
  • Children's Winter Concert 2023
  • My Story
  • Student awards and compositions
  • Classical downloads
  • Classical outline for beginners
  • Jazz downloads
  • Jazz outline for beginners
  • Video Library of Piano Techniques
  • Breakfast Piano Minute
  • Books, Apps, Websites, Music
  • Ear Training and Sight Singing Resources