David Story, Online Piano Lessons from Toronto
  • Homepage
  • Tips, Ideas, Stories, Free Lessons
  • Contact form, fees, calendar, policies
  • Adult Lessons
  • About Me
  • Children Lessons
  • Jazz and Blues Workshops 2024 2025
  • Philosophy
  • Testimonials
  • Student awards and compositions
  • Classical downloads
  • Classical outline for beginners
  • Jazz and Blues Downloads
  • Jazz outline for beginners
  • Children's Piano Recital
  • Video Library of Piano Techniques
  • Breakfast Piano Minute
  • Books, Apps, Websites, Music
  • Ear Training and Sight Singing Resources
  • My YouTube channel
  • Chord Voicings for Jazz Standards
  • Long and McQuade Teacher Workshop 2024

Tips, free lessons, and inspiration

Cross Hand Chord Exercises

4/29/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
Download Key of A
Download key of c
Download Key of B flat
Key of A flat
Picture
Free Download in C
Free download in F
Free Download in g
0 Comments

Sightsinging, Aural Skills (aka ear training), Sight reading, Memorisation, and Musical Competency

12/11/2023

0 Comments

 
There is a relationship between sight singing, aural skills, sight reading, theory, memorization, theory, music history, and musical competency. For hundreds of years undergraduate musical programs have strengthened these skills and demonstrated the clear relationship between them and musical competency. 

Clearly, studying with a music teacher such as I will not take the place of undergraduate study. Nor, will spending endless hours on YouTube. However, I can prepare the student for those studies. And more importantly however, I can help strengthen those skills in my adult hobbyist musicians. To that end, I teach programs such as the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), Trintiy College, and other programs that systmatically tackle these areas with their well thought out curriculums.  

If I can help you, call me. 

​David
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

11/20/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
1. This chart illustrates the significance of note-taking during lessons because relying solely on the teacher's notes is not enough. Taking your own notes can enhance your memory of the class content.
2. This chart highlights the optimal time for practice, which is right after the lesson.
3. This chart underscores the importance of spaced repetition. Ignoring the science of forgetting leads to losing most of the learned information.
4. This chart shows that we tend to forget two-thirds of the material we practiced just the day before.
5. This chart should reassure you that your learning pattern is normal.
6. The Harvard paper mentioned provides valuable insights into memorization techniques.

If I can help you, call me. 

​David
Revised 2024

References: 

Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve | PLOS ONE

How Memory Works | Derek Bok Center, Harvard University
0 Comments

Learning to play with a metronome

10/10/2023

0 Comments

 
Tips.

1. Count aloud throughout.
2. Count one measure before you begin.
3. Practice counting and clapping first.
4. Record yourself clapping and listen back to evaluate your success or lack thereof.
5. Play one hand and count aloud. Record yourself playing and listen back to evaluate your success or lack thereof.
6. Play two hands and count aloud. Record yourself playing and listen back to evaluate your success or lack thereof.
7. Do this and similar exercises for the rest of your piano career.

If I can help you, call me. 

David
Picture
Free no question asked Download of the exercise
0 Comments

Preconcert Preparations

9/21/2023

0 Comments

 
How to prepare to attend a classical music concert.
  1. Review the concert program.
  2. Choose one piece to study.
  3. Search out background information on the composer and the piece. (On YouTube you will find experts speaking on well-known pieces. They may be worth a listen.)
  4. If the piece is in the public domain, you can download the score here: IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download
  5. Play a few of the themes of the piece. Violin I is a good place to find these themes.
  6. Watching the score scroll, on YouTube, as the music plays is fun. 
Below is an example.
Revised 2024

Beethoven's 5th Symphony Background

Talking Heads

Short explanation
This goes deeper
Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic (1977) with scrolling score
Free score and parts
The score and parts are at the bottom of this page. 
0 Comments

Can Ai Compose a Jazz Piece?

9/21/2023

0 Comments

 
I recently returned from Scotland where I attended, Mostly Audio 2023, an audio/music/Ai workshop and conference. This video summarizes all that's wrong with Ai generated music while missing the creative possibilities of Ai. 

My take aways from this video. 
  • It presents a new way to sound conventional. Whereas the old way of producing banal music took time and effort, this is much quicker. 
  • This is to music composition what paint by numbers is to art. 
  • The part I enjoyed the most was the human generated vocabulary of the introduction. It was dope!
  • The part I didn't enjoy was the voice over telling me what my reaction was supposed to be. A variation on a leading question. 
  • The latest con, that you too can be a musician without time or much effort. 
  • Thank goodness, the output of these musical geniuses will remain buried on YouTube. 
Musical skill, vision, and creativity will be paramount to overcome the limitations of this new medium. To succeed as a musician in the future, you will have to be better than this. As "this" will flood the market.  

However, this video does raise interesting questions for music education. The structure, delivery methods, and content of musical education will need to quickly evolve to stay relevant. But I have a few questions. 

Relevant to whom?
Do all students want to be creators or producers?
What will be the nature of musical collaboration?
Who will have time to listen to all this easily generated music?
Who will care?
Is the joy of making music in the work or the output?
How will this be monetized?
Did the "creators or producers" of this video have licenses to use the likenesses of John Coltrane?

David
0 Comments

Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel Study Guide

7/7/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
This is a perennial favorite of music students. Let's look at a few key terms and concepts. 

Canon is a melody that accompanies itself at a staggered interval. Row, row, row your boat is a well-known example. In this canon the melody, played by the violinists, follows itself in two measure intervals. 
Ground Bass is the violoncello melody that repeats its 8 note pattern throughout the piece.
Cembalo or continuo is the chordal accompaniment that is improvised behind the violins. In this video it is played by the organ and the lute. Notice that the cembalo left hand outlines the ground bass. 

Other notable orchestral canons can be found in J.S. Bach’s Musical Offering. The canons in that suite of pieces feature 2 violins chasing each other around accompanied by the continuo.

Have Fun. 

David
Original Score
Modern Score
1/4 Tempo chord track for practice
0 Comments

Intermediate Piano Warmup in A major

5/10/2023

0 Comments

 
You can vary the tempi, dynamics, articulations, and keys of the following warmup etude. 
​David
Picture
Free Download
0 Comments

The problem with YouTube Jazz Education Videos

11/30/2022

0 Comments

 
Super video demonstration but...

Let's consider the assumptions he is making about you the student/listener. 

  1. You can play your instrument.
  2. You have experience playing music in multiple keys. Though jazz is mostly in C, F, Bb, Eb, and Ab and related minor keys, he goes farther afield.
  3. You can play jazz.
  4. You can play by ear.
  5. You are familiar with the seminal recordings he references.
  6. You are familiar with the songs he is playing.
  7. You understand musical rudiments, including key signatures, intervals, time signatures, transposition, cadences and much more. 
  8. You have advanced solfege and piano skills so you can play bass lines and sing the melody over it.
  9. You understand harmonic theory and are able execute chord progressions in time, with a beat, and use the appropriate jazz facial expressions.
  10. You know of Ray Brown and his significance.
  11. You understand following terms and their musical significance: melody, bass lines, transposition, diatonic, tonic, major 7th intervals, root-7 root-6 movement, Bebop shells 3rd and 7th, the tritone, 5ths, half-steps, interval inversions, 5 in the key of G, lineage of the tune (?), perfect 4ths, non-diatonic ii-Vs, half diminished, 3 of a key, original "changes", "Miles, " Ab7#11 chords, keys, closely related keys, major 3rds, major scales, circle of 5ths, root movements, ii-V of IV, bridge, "key of music."
  12. In Peter’s defense, he offers practice suggestions around 9 minutes mark. 
  13. On the other hand, as all Vloggers do, he downplays the complexity of what he is doing. Sigh.

What is my job?

I prepare students to understand and execute what he is talking about. The first thing we will do is assess your situation and then we'll draw up a logical plan. 

  1. If needed, I will teach you to play your instrument. We will work through a solid canon of piano works that explore multiple keys. 
  2. I will teach you to play jazz.
  3. I will teach you to play by ear. Can you play jingle bells by ear? If so, great you are on your way. If not, I will help you get started. 
  4. The most important jazz recordings. I will introduce you to 100+ years of jazz recordings. If your knowledge is a bit spotty, start here: The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World | Jazzwise and Double Time Top 100 Historically Significant Recordings article @ All About Jazz. It is important to note the absence of early jazz recordings on these listings. Jazz has a history spanning 3 centuries, but jazz education seems stuck in, at best, a 30-year period from 1945 to 65. The first list has a number a modern recordings from the last 40 years. 
  5. I will help you get your theory together.
  6. We will do solfege together. I use both moveable doh system and the number system. Solfege is widely taught in Europe, but unfortunately not so much in North America. 
  7. We will study jazz harmony when you've got your theory together.
  8. Ray Brown is an important bassist.
  9. Working on steps one through nine will answer all the questions you may have from step 11 above.
  10. I will teach you how to practice.
  11. I will encourage you to get outside feedback and advice from other sources. 

Call me, 

David

BTW: in 2017, I studied with Peter Martin in Rome Italy at the ROMA Jazz Workshop. I was in Rome studying jazz drumming with Greg Hutchinson. Greg played in Ray Brown’s last group. ​Peter is a great guy and a very skilled musician. When I grow up, I want to play piano like him. 

Updated 2024
0 Comments

Beginner Blues Solos in Ab major

11/24/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
score download
Picture
Free Score for Cohen Blues Lick
What is the Blues?
0 Comments

Seminal recordings of Manhã de Carnaval (Black Orpheus)

10/10/2022

0 Comments

 
When learning to play Brazilian jazz it is best to go to the primary sources, the original and other seminal recordings recorded in Brazil, both past and present. At the end of this sample of Brazilian recordings is a fine recording by Kenny Barron, who it must be said, has listened to the original recordings.

Practice routine?

Spend an afternoon playing the melody with the recordings, mimicking as much as possible what you hear. Then add the chords.

​David
0 Comments

What a Jazz piano student needs to know, do, and practice before attending a Jazz Camp?

7/10/2022

0 Comments

 
Here is my top 10 list of skills to work on ahead of camp. You don't need to be an expert, but you will need some familiarity with the following skills and activities.​

1. Comping and voice leading chords.
2. Practice sightreading simple chord charts like blues in Bb and F, Summertime, Killer Joe, etc. Click out the Aebersold picture for some suggestions. By clicking on the image, you will go to a product page. I don't take a commission. ​
3. Play along with recordings. 
4. Record yourself and listen back. 
5. Practice playing louder because drums are loud.
6. Practice your right-hand broken chords for every tune on the Aebersold list.
7. Use a metronome on everything you play and practice.
8. Learn to clap and count aloud eighth note jazz rhythms.
9. Listen to jazz daily.
10. Sign up early to camp because piano spots go quickly.

What tunes should you practice?

If I can help you, call me. I've attended a dozen jazz camps over the years as a pianist and drummer. 

David
Picture
0 Comments

iReal Pro exercises for jazz piano students

6/6/2022

0 Comments

 
Lesson Plan

Materials needed:
  • Download the Bebop shell or Rootless chord sheets through these links: Rootless voicings click here.
Bebop Shells as taught to me by Sonny Stitt click here. 
  • In the iReal Pro app search "exercises" in the song list of iReal Pro. I suggest starting with the "II-V-I in 12 major keys" first.
​​Method:
  • Practice the chord voicings "II-V-I in 12 major keys" along with the app. Go as slow as you need to, and continue daily until it is automatic.

Have fun. If I can help, call me. 



​David
revised August 2022
0 Comments

Fingering patterns for triads

5/10/2022

0 Comments

 
Playing the piano is much easier when the scales and chords have become automatic in our hands. Below is the fingering chart for all 3 note chords like C major and G minor. Another name for a 3-note chord is a "triad". I've cropped this image from a student's notes.

If I can help you, call me.

David
Picture
0 Comments

New Technology for 2021-2022

9/8/2021

0 Comments

 
My first demonstration of pedaling using the Midiculous software.
0 Comments

How to organise your practice time. Tips for Jane

7/27/2021

0 Comments

 
Jane is learning how to play chords to her favorite pieces. This is how I've recommended she spend her time.

​Practice time breakdown

25% scales and chords with metronome at various tempos
25% review of old work
25% new pieces
25% sight reading tunes off the internet. Notice the search terms in the image below. Click on images and viola things to practice.

David

October 2022 Update: Jane is still in lessons. She is currently learning how to create and play walking bass lines in jazz standards. 
​
Revised October 2022

Picture
0 Comments

You've booked your child's first lesson, what comes next?

4/5/2021

0 Comments

 
I'll send you a Zoom link, a list of learning materials required for the first lessons, and suggestions from colleagues on setting up Zoom audio and a picture on where to set up your camera. 
Picture
Picture
See you in class. 

​David
0 Comments

New Idea: Online Duet Playing

3/31/2021

0 Comments

 
Musical Score
YouTube has many piano duets you can enjoy. You play primo. The score for this piece is available, free of charge and registration, through the link above.  Learn your part then put on headphones, or ear buds and play along. Remember YouTube videos can be slowed if required. 

Have fun 

​David
Revised November 2022
0 Comments

Interpreting Mozart: Things piano teachers read for fun.

3/3/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
I'm looking forward to the section on ornamentation in Mozart. Always a tricky proposition. 

​David
0 Comments

How To Practice Jazz and Other Folks Musics Four Hours a Day!

1/25/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
At some point in your musical development, you may have the opportunity to practice four or more hours a day. If you do, please don’t spend the four hours doing scales and other repetitive tasks. You will injure yourself.
Here is a list of activities you can pursue when you are not playing with recordings on YouTube or transcribing recordings on YouTube or creating roadmaps of tunes you are listening to on YouTube.

Repertoire
  • Learn new tunes.
  • Polish current tunes.
  • Review old tunes.
Musical maxim #1. Those that know the most tunes, wins.

Listening and analysis aka road mapping.
  • Form analysis: what is the structure of this piece?
  • Instrumentation: Who, what, when questions
  • “What’s going on here?” See my lesson on road mapping.
  • Watch YouTube videos of Jazz Transcriptions and try playing along with them.
  • Read a book on how to listen to music like, How to Listen to Jazz by Ted Gioia
Musical maxim #2. Folk music is played by ear.

Ear training
  • Transcribing licks. A lick a day transposed into different keys is a good place to begin.
  • Transposing tunes into different keys like C jam blues or Autumn leaves.
History
  • Reading about the history of jazz, blues, pop, folk musics and checking out the recordings on YouTube. Each month study a different decade of your preferred style. Research a musical history outline online and then listen to the historical recordings.
  • Watch YouTube videos of Jazz Transcriptions from a historical perspective.
How to practice?
  • Read a book on it. Better yet read all my blogs on the subject. My two favourite books are Benny Greb’s book and The Musicians Way. The point is to become a student of practice techniques.
Formal and Informal learning.
  • Pop, Jazz, Blues, and Folk music cannot be learned in a classroom. The classroom simply augments the informal learning that takes place when you jam with other musicians. Nobody, but nobody learns to play these styles by playing from scores or reading books and ignoring the recordings or passing up opportunities to play with others.
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. You can ask me for a recommendation based on my assessment.
Jazz Sight reading
  • General piano music: play simple stuff using a slow metronome or play along app.
  • Lead sheets.
  • Chords
  • Suggested materials: Open your fake book and play. Or use RCM sight reading books. Again, it all depends on where you are starting. You can ask me for a recommendation based on my assessment.
 Piano Technique
  • Memorize your jazz chord voicings.
  • Major scales
  • Bebop scales and other jazz 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. Occasionally I will play written jazz arrangements. Written music keeps 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 help, call me. 

​David
revised 2024
 
0 Comments

Listening Lists for RCM Harmony 9: The Baroque Dance Forms

1/23/2021

0 Comments

 
Being able to recognize the forms within a Baroque Dance suite, by ear, will be helpful. 

This will get you started on your listening journey. Enjoy. 
0 Comments

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

0 Comments

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

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

Picture
0 Comments

What I'm Listening To Today: Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Book 1

12/22/2020

0 Comments

 
  1. Scrolling scores
  2. Fugues voices on separate staves
  3. Sublime playing by a former weight-lifter Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka
  4. Sublime compositions

Bach's WTC would be one of the 2 music books I would take with me if I was to be exiled to an island. 

David
0 Comments

Deep Practice: Exploring behind the notes

12/9/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
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
0 Comments

What I'm sight-reading from today

12/3/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
I'm going to check out Yann Tiersen today. An artist I'm not familiar with. This book is a favorite with many adult students. 

0 Comments
<<Previous
    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

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    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

                                                ©2025 David Story
  • Homepage
  • Tips, Ideas, Stories, Free Lessons
  • Contact form, fees, calendar, policies
  • Adult Lessons
  • About Me
  • Children Lessons
  • Jazz and Blues Workshops 2024 2025
  • Philosophy
  • Testimonials
  • Student awards and compositions
  • Classical downloads
  • Classical outline for beginners
  • Jazz and Blues Downloads
  • Jazz outline for beginners
  • Children's Piano Recital
  • Video Library of Piano Techniques
  • Breakfast Piano Minute
  • Books, Apps, Websites, Music
  • Ear Training and Sight Singing Resources
  • My YouTube channel
  • Chord Voicings for Jazz Standards
  • Long and McQuade Teacher Workshop 2024