Classical piano Grades 1-2

Is it possible to make progress in 10 minutes? Of course. At some point longer practice sessions will be required, but with planning and focus you can accomplish a lot in a shorter time. Remember playing an instrument is fun when we succeed at it. And can clearly see our progress over time.

What practice is:

Learning through thoughtful repetition how to play our instrument so that over time we progress towards our goal however modest or lofty that may be. The goal is to accomplish a micro step forward each time we sit to practice. The size of this micro step varies on the time available.

What practice is not:

Messing around playing stuff we know is not practicing, it is playing. This is not a negative, but the reason we practice in the first place. In conclusion don’t feel guilty messing around, just don’t confuse it with practicing. Fool around without guilt. Have fun.

Session 1

• Turn audio recorder on
• One scale and chord set, metronome at a slow tempo you can comfortably manage, playing one note per click, listen back
• One short section of a piece
  • Listen first to the professional recording that comes with your book
  • One hand, then the other counting aloud, listen back
• Play a bit from a favourite piece if time permits

Session 2

• Turn audio recorder on
• One scale and chord set, metronome at a slow tempo you can comfortably manage, playing one note be click, listen back
• One short section of a piece
  • Listen first to the professional recording that comes with your book
  • One hand, then the other counting aloud, listen back
• Do all or part of a section from the sight-reading book.

Session 3

• Turn audio recorder on
• One scale and chord set, metronome at a slow tempo you can comfortably manage, playing one note be click, listen back
• One section of a piece
  • Listen first
  • One hand, then the other counting aloud, listen back
• Sing your assigned intervals

 
Have fun. 


David

The "breakfast piano minutes" are usually created in about 10 minutes 1st thing in the morning. 

Students often believe that I must have started early in life with lots of natural talent. Let me clear this up.

I am proof practice works.

1. I started playing piano in high school.
2. I resisted structure, changing teachers yearly. I was fired by more than one.
3. I loved to sight-read music, not practice it.
4. I played in one piano recital in my whole life. That was enough for me.
5. I played pop music 90% of the time.
6. I loved creating my own music.
7. I wrote for the school band.
8. I started bands by age 13-14. I was a sad self-taught guitarist in the beginning before I discovered jazz. Then I formed and wrote for an 8-piece band every week in our rec room at home. I was also now the pianist.
9. I was mediocre in high school band class.  I owe the saxophone an apology. 
10. I had a tin ear and could not hit a pitch on the piano. I've no idea how I tuned my guitar.
11. I was a very enthusiastic music student, just an undisciplined unfocused pianist, without the gift of self knowledge.
12. My ability to memorise music was at best rudimentary.
13. I had terrible stage fright around the piano for several years.

 
I made it into Berklee with 4 years of piano under my belt, but it included 2 years of professional gigging in rock and country bands in the North Bay region. A lot of gigs. Plus, my basement jazz band. That made the difference I figure. But who knows, recordings do not exist.
 
I got through Berklee as a composition major. I thought about being a performance major, but that required serious practice. Something I was not interested in. But I continued playing gigs during those years. A lot of gigs. Some exciting gigs. I was a busy journeyman. I could sight-read just about anything. I showed up on time ready to play. I was pleasant to be around. Where did that put me in the Berklee pecking order? Turns out near the top. I made it one year to the number 2 band.
 
So, when did I learn to practice?
 
Age 42!
 
Signed up for my Grade 10 exam. My very first piano exam ever. I couldn't fake it. I had to play it. I put a couple of thousand hours of focused practice in. I read every book I could find on how to practice. How many books? Chapters bookstore sent me Christmas present. That is how many.

• I tried implementing what I was reading.
• I did everything my teachers asked of me.
• I did not push back against a curriculum written in the 19th century!
• My life was transformed. I finally really learn to play well. It progressed further during my ARCT. 
• I can help you find your path too. Call me. 

 
David

1. Spend some time exploring the history of jazz. Here is a good place to start. The great courses can be found on https://www.audible.ca/ for $14.00. https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/elements-of-jazz-from-cakewalks-to-fusion.html 
2. Another exercise, listen to 3 different versions of a piece in your repertoire by 3 artists. Listen enough to each performance until you can sing along and mimic the performance of the melody on the piano. 
3. Someday my prince will come with Miles Davis: see attached listening sheet.
4. General piano skills. For sight reading try this. First page is free. https://www.musicnotes.com/search/go?w=Thanks+for+the+memory&from=header 
5. Play a chorus or two with Red Garland on C jam blues.
6. Functional jazz Skills

• voicings
• scales
• chords systems
• sight reading chords
• Repertoire

​Have Fun, see you in September. 

David

How many hobbies can one-person juggle?
 
Depends. I juggle one. I had two, but Covid19 put an end to that.

​I’ve students who try to juggle 3 or more while holding down jobs, spouses, children, and life. They often looked stressed. How do my less stressed students do it? Here are some tactics they follow:
​

1. They decide on just one hobby at a time. To paraphrase Ecclesiastes, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the sun.” They prioritise what to tackle based on where they are in life. Marathons in their 30’s, night school in their 40’s, piano in their 50’s, gardening in their 60’s. You get the idea.
2. Some give themselves permission just to have fun and take it a day at a time. If you are an old-fashioned type A driver this might be take some work, but it is possible. My other hobby was ballroom dancing until Covid19. Friday nights we would just show up and have fun in a low stress class. No practicing until the following week. It took 2 years to get to level 2. We were having fun.
3. They give up something to make room for something new.

BTW, my hobby is drumming. It is now becoming a business. There will be more to this story in the years to come.

Do you remember why you were attracted to piano in the first place? Put up a post it note on the piano to keep it front of mind.

Cheers,
 
David

A plan is great if you can find your materials when it's time to practice. A plan is great if you can have some quiet alone time to focus and have fun. 

Here are ten tips on one aspect of success: an organized workspace. 

1. A tuned piano
2. Good lighting
3. All books and music within reach
4. A pencil and eraser to mark the scores
5. A journal to make notes
6. Your teacher's notes from class
7. An audio recorder (your phone will do)
8. Phone is in airplane mode
9. YouTube is ready for reference
10. You've made a general plan on what needs immediate attention

Have a productive session.

​David

1. Listen to a classic piece of jazz to get in the mood.
2. With a metronome, warm up with scales, jazz chords both solid and broken, and for advanced players arpeggios. Don't rush this step, be logical and thoughtful.
3. Practice a jazz etude from a jazz theory book or YouTube video.
4. Play through your feel-good piece.
5. Practice transposing a simple lick into as many keys as you can.
6. Spend a little time analyzing a jazz standard by marking the form and the ii-V progressions on the lead sheet.
7. Pick a tune from your repertoire to focus on. Play the melody with a recording, trying to mimic what you hear. Better yet learn a melody by ear.
8. Play through the broken chords on each chord of the piece.
9. Practice the scales associated with each chord.
10. Mimic the recording again.
11. Practice comping the chords first with a metronome, then with the recording. Transpose as needed.
12. Listen to another recording of the same piece and mimic the melody. Note the differences from the previous interpretation you worked on. 
13. Sight read chord progressions from your fake book.
14. Finish by reviewing and recording your completed repertoire. Now have a listen. 
15. Don’t follow this list in order, bounce around.

To get you started, here are several recordings of Fly Me to the Moon. Imitate the melody, phrase by phrase. 

Have Fun,
​
David Story
 April 2023
 

Practicing in the times of the Covid-19 outbreak is going to be a challenge for some.

Some lucky people will use the extra time to jump right in. For this group I suggest ramping up practice amount slowly to avoid injury. The book, “The Musician’s Way” suggests increasing practice time 10% per week to avoid problems. Warming up before hand with a short cardio and stretching routine will also be beneficial.

For those too stressed to practice and/or focus try these tips:

1. Accept the situation, don’t beat yourself up. From March 15th to March 20th, I didn’t do much of anything except take care of this business. Last 2 days, I’ve started up practicing again.
2. Get off social media for a few hours and just listen to music. Reading the latest opinions of social media educated epidemiologists is going to make things worse.
3. Cut down on caffeine or ramp it up, you know what will work for you.
4. Approach your instrument and just sit with it for a few moments. Don’t play. Think about a happy moment you’ve had playing music in the past.
5. Start playing your favourite pieces, forget your assignments, have some guilt free fun.

Good luck,

David

“How good do you want to be?” Start with this question followed with: “how should I spend my time?” 

Success will depend on the depth and breathe of your practice. My most successful students have made peace with time and possibility. Yes, time counts, but patience and realistic expectations count for more.

Learning has piano follows a well trodden path. You just must follow it to succeed. There is no secret. Just time and hard work. We must be realistic with the fact that course correction will be needed regularly. Life is messy.

So:

1. Make some time
2. Find a teacher
3. Allocate your resources of time and money
4. Organize your practice space
5. Attend some concerts
6. Become a music student

Call me, I can help.
 
David

I've got happy students who practice more than an hour a day, others who practice an hour a week. Because their time matches their realistic expectations, they are happy. Could they all practice more? Of course. I could too. 

• Thoughtful, focused work over an extended period of time. 
• Access to resources: lessons, instruments, and  experiences
• Health
• Patience 
• Ambition
• Time
• Determination

My thoughts this week. 

David
Revised January 2023

"How good do you want to be?" A quick and snappy musicians answer. A gentler piano teacher question is, “what do you want to accomplish?"

Some benchmarks:

RCM levels 1 to 4: 45 minutes a day
RCM levels 5 to 8: 60 minutes a day
RCM levels 9 and above: 90 minutes plus

This amount of time is sufficient to cover all that needs to be done. 

• technique
• etudes
• repertoire
• theory or ear training on alternate days
• sight reading

Some musicians require more or less time. But all accomplished musicians have put in the time. 

Best regards,
David Story

PS: I'd like to thank my colleague Becky Yuan and former teacher Leon Karan for input on the numbers. 

​Becky Yuan: Mississauga http://beckyyuan.com/
Leon Karan: Hamilton http://www.leonkaran.com/

A quick coffee video on practicing from pianist magazine. 

A former student came by today of a lesson after a one-year absence. He played some stride piano. He sounded so much better than I remember. So, I start asking some questions about what he has been up to in the practice room.

He said:

1. I really wanted to improve
2. I practice with a metronome
3. I listen to great players
4. I practice a lot
5. I practice my scales and stuff

​Yeah student!

​Cheers,
 
David

What to practice? Hal has some great thoughts. Twelve minutes of wisdom from a modern master.

​If you are a classical artist, substitute classical sounds for jazz sounds. It's all the same. 

"art is supposed to teach yourself something about yourself you didn't know" Hal Galper

Best. 

​David

Expert musicians know what they are doing. Their experience comes from working on, maintaining, and mastering the skills in the following four quadrants of piano study. 

1. They've built a repertoire of music they can play. (Wise students review their repertoire on a regular basis. This builds their confidence to perform.) Bassist Lynn Seaton ends his practice by playing a 45 minute "jazz set" of tunes from his memorized list. He uses playing along tracks and software with the bass removed. 
2. They've learned to sight read. I've made a living as a professional sight reader for over four decades. First as a professional stage musician, now as a piano teacher.  
3. They understand theory and music history relevant to their area of concern.
4. They have developed exceptional aural skills which allow them to play what they hear. 
5. They have learned to enjoy practicing. As Wayne Gretzky remarked about his practicing. "I loved practicing every aspect of the game." Pavarotti talked about his "devotion" to practice. 

​If I can help you, call me. 

Best,

David Story 
revised 2023

1. Schedule your practice in your calendar and impress upon your partner, yourself, and/or children that this is important to you.
2. Go and hear a professional play once a month. Witnessing a live performance really helps to keep one's inspiration topped up. 
3. Collect and organize your equipment and practice space before you begin: Books, metronome, pencils, YouTube, and recorder ready at hand. Put the pets outside or locked up in another room.
4. Warm by stretching with some slow breathing exercises. Imagine the beautiful music you are about to play. Then play an old favourite to remind yourself of the work you've done previously and remind yourself of the challenging work it took to learn it. 
5. Play your technical exercises: Scales, chords, arpeggios. Or, whatever your teacher assigned. Play slowly, with the metronome, savoring the sound.
6. Pick a part in your new work to practice and then listen to the recording for a fresh impression in your mind. Resist the urge to play from the beginning to the end, stumbling as you go, and think you are practicing. Work in chunks and build the piece.  
7. Take a break, scan the internet for articles on how to practice the piano. Then...
8. Get back to work.

Cheers,

​David
Revised January 2023

What can you accomplish in one hour of daily practice? With a good plan you can accomplish a lot. Here is a sample plan. 
​
1. Warm up
2. Technique
3. Sight reading
4. Repertoire development
5. Reviewing completed material


Warm up: Best advice I ever got? Go for a brisk walk before practice. Work up a sweat. Then your brain will be ready to work.
Technique: Start slowly concentrating on playing with a lovely tone your assigned scales, chords, and arpeggios.  
Sight reading: Good sight readers read music like others can read a book. This is a skill that can be learned with practice.
Repertoire development: Attack those annoying bits in pieces in the following way.

• listen to a recording
• be sure about the fingering
• use a metronome
• play slowly, give your brain and body a chance

Reviewing completed material will keep your favorites up to date. I suggest reviewing a different piece each practice. Start slowly, then moderately, and then at your best tempo.

Away from the piano? Listen to the music you are playing or want to play. Go to concerts, be inspired.

Cheers,

David Story
revised October 2023

Who has all the time in the world? 

• Organization is the way 
  
• Patience is the key 
  

1. Warm up with some sight reading and technical practice. For piano that is easy. Fire up your tablet, go on line and head over to musicnotes.com. First pages are view-able for free. For technique consult your teacher's directions and get busy. Use about 25% of your time on these two activities. 
   
2. Now to the main pieces assigned. Three suggestions. First, listen to a professional recording of the piece while reading the score. An artistic impression of what the notation should sound like is very important; it will save you a lot of time and bother. You want to be able to answer the question: "how do I get that sound out of these notes?" Not, "what the heck should this sound like?" Second, follow the fingering. Many a wise student writes the fingering in on every note. Thirdly, practice in chunks, small bits, starting with the most difficult bit first. Remember the next lesson is coming soon ready or not. Be as ready as you can. Use about 50% of your time on this activity. 
   
3. Review old pieces favorites or not. This ends the session with some positive feedback. 25% of the time spent. 
   
   

Other effective practice routines can be created for different needs. Finally, listen regularly to the music you want to learn. Classical piano students listen to classical piano, Jazz piano students to jazz. 

Cheers, 


David Story

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/economics/cameron/success.html

A sampling...

The "A" Student - An Outstanding Student

• ATTENDANCE: "A" students have virtually perfect attendance. Their commitment to the class is a high priority and exceeds other temptations.
• PREPARATION: "A" students are prepared for class. They always read the assignment. Their attention to detail is such that they occasionally can elaborate on class examples.
• CURIOSITY: "A" students demonstrate interest in the class and the subject. They look up or dig out what they don't understand. They often ask interesting questions or make thoughtful comments.

The "C" Student - An Average Student

• ATTENDANCE: "C" students are often late and miss class frequently. They put other priorities ahead of academic work. In some cases, their health or constant fatigue renders them physically unable to keep up with the demands of high-level performance.
• PREPARATION: "C" students may prepare their assignments consistently, but often in a perfunctory manner. Their work may be sloppy or careless. At times, it is incomplete or late.
• CURIOSITY: "C" students seldom explore topics deeper than their face value. They lack vision and bypass interconnectedness of concepts. Immediate relevancy is often their singular test for involvement.

The idea is to conect technique and drills with the music at hand.





.............
Practice techniques
1. Use a metronome.  
2. Practice in small chunks.
3. Play your scales , chords and arpeggios in a focused musical fashion by varying the rhythm, dynamics, articulations and balance between the hands. 
4. The greatest shortcut is "Bench time". In other words, more practicing.
5. Never ignore correct fingering.
6. Posture and hand position are important. 
7. Be aware of your breathing.
8. Listening to music away from the piano. Try to identify the form, dynamics, articulations in professional performances. It really will help you to play more musically.
9. Record your practicing.
10. Enjoy the journey.
...............
Most neglected and overlooked by students
1. Fingering
2. Dynamics
3. Chunking
4. Connecting theory with the music
5. Slow practice
................
My top four activities in practicing
1. Ear training
2. Slow practice
3. Bench time
3. Technique

Cheers,

David Story
www.davidstory.ca

Practice makes perfect is we practice perfectly. But, perfect practice is a tricky business. The following article from Vic Firth outlines very effective practice tactics for drummers. I've added jazz piano addendums in brackets.

In a nutshell:

a) Warm Ups (some sight reading)

b) Rudiments – learning and application of (jazz chords, modes)

c) Groove & Fills (working on your jazz licks through transcription)

d) Learning a song (using a combination of lead sheet and recordings)

http://www.vicfirth.com/exchange/2014/03/20/the-practice-of-practice/

Enjoy,

David Story

1. Communicate with your teacher your goals and aspirations.
2. Do your homework, consider that the so called boring bits are the important bits. I know, I take drum lessons. The new teacher is trying to get me to play quarter notes properly with the good tone and arm motion. This is requiring hours of concentrated effort. But, the musicians I play with can hear the difference already.
3. Participate in recitals. Everyone needs positive, self esteem building events.
4. Explore music outside of lessons: Sight read, attend concerts, listen to music, buy a music magazine, watch Youtube videos, attend a summer camp. (I'm going to Louisville Kentucky and Oxford England this summer for music training in both drumming and classical music).
5. Read Time Power by Brian Tracy. The best book on time management I know. Amy Chua's books are an interesting read for both parents and mature music students.
6. Remember musicians live to practice, performance is just the icing on the cake. 

Cheers,

David Story
Piano Teacher and drumming enthusiast.

I can’t motivate anyone. But I can inspire! Motivation is the idea I can make someone like something they don’t. I can’t.

Inspiration on the other hand is the heart of education. An inspired learner is the joy of our profession.

Stay inspired!

1. Learn to practice. The joy is here. 
2. Attend concerts, show your support for those who have reached the pinnacle. You practice, you understand the triumph of their performance.  
   
3. Listen to the music you love, it presents a model to emulate.
   
4. Hang with other enthusiastic students of your instrument. Who we hang with is who we are!
   
5. Learn to compose, there's great satisfaction in creating.

As a drum student I watch YouTube video lessons each day. I read books and magazines on drumming. I play with others who play at my level, I practice, I take lessons, I have goals. You get the picture.

Cheers,

David

It depends on how good you want to be is the short answer. A thoughtful answer takes a little longer.

1. What are your goals?
2. Are they realistic with the time and resources available to you?
3. How detailed are these goals?
4. Are these goals your own or someone's else?
5. Do you know how to practice?

Let's break it down.

Realistic Goals: Are your goals in tune with the rest of your life? What would you give up to reach them? Piano takes time, lots of it. For example to complete my ARCT in 2007, I started Grade 10 in 2003. Five thousand hours later I graduated! (This 5,000 hours included my theory studies as well as my piano lessons.) I gave up the music business to do this.

If you goals are more modest, aim for 2 hours a week of practice to start. Without practice, piano is no fun! The caveat is this. If you are a recreational piano student with the goals of learning some tunes and having some fun, skipping practice is no big deal. We can do it together at lessons, I will supervise.

Whatever the depth of your ambition, I suggest strongly that you schedule piano practice into your schedule.

On the subject of practice, another blog post for that.

Cheers,

David Story

“Private Practice Determines Public Performance” Carl Allen, December 2011 issue
of Downbeat Magazine

 “Start with the end in Mind” Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Tips on Practicing

I just finished reading Carl Allen’s article in the current issue of Downbeat  magazine. Carl reviews his philosophy of drumming. Most of it is applicable to piano and guitar as well.

Inspired, I offer this.

• Listen to competent recordings of your pieces over a number of days to create a vibrant and accurate musical impression. This will give you to interpret the notation expressively and accurately. Without this, you may never be quite sure if you nailed it or not.

We play like we practice, so…

1. Practice mentally and emotionally engaged.
2. Remember, it must be in the so-called muscle memory to be secure.
3. Practice slowly, listen deeply, be patient, and pay attention to the minute details of the score: articulations, dynamics, phrasing, tone, etc.
4. Start slowly, the correct tempo will come later.
5. Imagine you must play publicly in a week. Then tackle the annoying bits first. :-)

Cheers,
David 
​Updated Feb 2023