I wish this had been available when I started playing piano as I was not a gifted ear player. In fact, I struggled. On top of this my teachers didn't stress aural development either. They were all readers first. So, my development was glacial. Thankfully, things have changed for piano students. 

How did I develop my sight reading and aural skills? In college I was given proper ear training. Later, I took up the drums, learned countless tunes by ear, and wrote them down. For the last decade I've been teaching online where I don't always see students' hands clearly. My ear learned to hear individual notes out of place. My sightreading developed early because I was a lazy student. It was more fun to read tunes than to practice them. Consequently, I became a professional sight-reader. I still am. 

If I can help you, call me. 

​David

What an exciting time of learning. I was able to experience live coding, VR sound, Ai developments in musical education and more under the direction of young and exciting researchers. It was just what an old goat needed, some fresh ideas. 

One thing that did strike me was how dated the synthesizer music was. The young musicians were in the thrall of the 1990s. That took me by surprise. 

The walk from downtown to Napier University was lovely and peaceful. 

I've been attending concerts for over half a century. That's a lot of concerts. Many have been completely forgotten, a few others can be recalled with some sort of prompt, and a small number remained seared in my mind. I counted seven concerts that changed me in some significant way. Here's the story of those concerts. 

1. Cecil Taylor, Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, late 1978. He brought his unit. I remember a drummer and a saxophonist. Again, a packed club. I had tickets to both shows. I retreated to a coffee shop after the first show, unable to go on. I was overwhelmed. It was my first experience with musical greatness.
2. Bill Evans, Jazz Workshop, Boston, 1978. I saw Evans twice. Both times I arrived early and got the seat closest to the piano. It was of course wonderful. I still have the autographs of the band in my copy of the Bill Evans songbook. It took decades to overcome the influence of those two shows on my piano playing. Lesson? Who we listen to will determine how we will play.
3. Steve Reich, Bottom Line, New York City, 1979. The club was packed with enthusiastic supporters. I didn’t have the foggiest notion of who he was, what the music was going to sound like, in fact, I can’t remember how I even ended up there. But there I was. Nexus, the percussion ensemble was set up and ready to go. Reich came out, the festivities began. I was completely and totally baffled. People were going nuts; it was like a rock show except the music was 1970s era New York City loft music. I remember being angry. This was my first experience with my limitations as a listener. I was criticizing art I didn’t understand. Yes, I was a teenage philistine.
4. Vladimir Horowitz, Symphony Hall, Boston, 1980s. Electric is the only word to describe it. It was beautiful, people cried, he played and played and played. He shaped every single note. Years later I earned my ARCT in piano pedagogy with the sound of that experience still ringing in my ears.
5. Miles Davis, Kix club, Boston early 1981. Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, and Wynton Marcellas sat in the front row. Miles came out with Bill Evans (sax of course), Mike Stern, Al Foster, and a bassist I don’t remember. Miles played trumpet and synthesizer. The place lost its mind. I was screaming like a 12-year-old at a Sky dome show.
6. Canadian Opera Company, "Wozzeck", Hummingbird Centre, Toronto, 2006. I went with a group of fellow artists. At the end of the performance, we sat in stunned silence. It was the saddest, cruelest, most pathetic story ever put to song. Horowitz taught me the limits of beauty, Berg, the other side. It was devastating.
7. Berlin Philharmonic, Roy Thompson Hall, 2016. Sir Simon Rattle at the baton. The first half was a mélange of Schonberg, Webern, and Berg. The second half was a Brahms symphony. During the 12-tone half, the guy beside me was humming along. If you know the music, you’ll understand how remarkable that is, and how funny. During the Brahms there was a pizzicato section. It sounded like a giant classical guitar. What did I learn? I’m not the only one who likes 12 tone music. Second, I fully appreciate why this orchestra is considered the best in the world.

David

     "I have been a student with David for the past couple of years. While my primary instrument is Trumpet, I decided to take piano to broaden my knowledge. I have never had music theory, either in school or private lessons. David is taking me there through the piano. He assured me that all the skills I would learn through theory and practice on the piano were transferable to other instruments. David has a way of simplifying theory concepts, making them easier to understand. 
     I had an opportunity to play Trumpet at a private service recently. Playing completely solo - no other musicians. One piece happened to be the one David and I were working on. Everything we had done came into “play” and those skills I have learned completely transferred to my Trumpet and I played the best I have ever played. 
     When you ask yourself, “Do I really need to know this?” I can honestly say, Yes! and it pays off in performance quality."

Barb

Thank you, Barb. 

A New Student's Profile
 
The new student is a young professional with a keen interest in learning to play jazz piano. They took piano and trumpet lessons in high school. They have a basic understanding of music theory. Aural skills are excellent.

Their program will include the following components:

1. Learning several simple jazz melodies by ear. This will give them something to work with as they learn to improvise. And they won’t be simultaneously working on a tune and trying to improvise at the same time. Using their ears to learn the melodies from YouTube recordings will teach them to articulate the melodies in an idiomatic way because reading melodies from the fakebook never does. Jazz is an aural art form not a visual one. Come to think of it, so is Classical piano.
2. They have started learning, by rote, the sixty jazz chords: Major 7th, Dominant 7th, minor 7th, minor 7b5, and diminished 7th chords. These are the basis of jazz harmony and jazz improvisation.
3. I recommended that they revisit written piano music to keep their piano skills sharp because jazz piano is notorious for “killing” the left hand of pianists.
4. First tune up is C jam Blues. (You can view this part of the lesson for free. No strings attached.) They began learning the different interpretations of that famous melody. Along the way they heard simple licks the pianists put in the music. These licks, learned by ear, are the beginning of their library of idiomatic phrases for later use.

If I can help you, call me.
 
David 

I'm finishing my first year with the Toronto Concert Band and what a thrill it has been. From drum set to piano, xylophone to tympani it has been a journey of intense rehearsal, thrilling concerts, private practice, and fellowship.

At the upcoming concert I will be playing: 

1. Vibraphone
2. Finger cymbals
3. Xylophone
4. Tympani
5. Crash cymbal
6. Triangle
7. Sharker
8. Drum kit
9. Glockenspiel
10. And... cowbell, lots of cowbell

Come join us and say hi after the concert. 
​
When: June 10, 2023 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Where: Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front Street West

Tickets: 2023 Spring Concert - Toronto Concert Band 

Angela Hewitt shares her tactics, strategies, and stories on how she keeps her musical memory strong. It is interesting to note that musical conservatories, like the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, have developed curriculums that prepare the ground for developing and helping to maintain musical memory. 

1. Logical sequencing of material.
2. Repertoire that must be memorized.
3. Theoretical knowledge and application.
4. Foundational skills of techniques and etudes.
5. Historical knowledge
6. Aural skills.
7. Sightreading
8. Score study
9. Assessment

Link to the article: ‘Like sex and religion, we don’t like to talk about memory’: pianist Angela Hewitt on how she keeps hers in shape | Classical music | The Guardian

​The teacher practices Jazz
 
Last weekend I went to my first jazz jam with my Vibraphone aka my Malletkat GS Grand. We were a quartet of Tenor Sax/Flute, Vibes, Bass, and Drums. I survived with my dignity intact, but I’ve a few discoveries and confessions to share.

1. My skills on the piano are not necessarily transferable to the vibes.
2. My four-mallet chord playing will need further work.
3. I was unable to execute the solo lines I could hear in my head.

On the plus side, I knew all the tunes from years of playing and teaching jazz piano plus my jazz time and feel is strong.

Here is the practice regime I began to follow to improve my jazz experience.

Tune: Satin Doll by Ellington/Strayhorn

1. I practiced the melody, by ear, with the original recordings on YouTube. I discovered that after 45 years, that I’m dragging some notes. They are now corrected; I’m locked into the sax melody.  
2. I reviewed the piano licks played on the head by Duke Ellington.
3. I figured out bits of his piano solo.
4. I practiced all the broken chords like I instruct my students and I quickly discovered that this took a lot longer than I anticipated.
5. I practiced what I’ve learned by playing along on YouTube. 
6. I’m ready for another piece next week.  My goal is to learn a tune a week for 52 weeks. 
7. I'm continuing with my mallet study books to develop my manual skills. 

If I can help you with your jazz piano journey, call me. 

David

BTW: In the era of Ai content generation, a human wrote this blog. 

This week an adult student came to class in a state of agitation. They were frustrated that they didn't have time this week to practice, and they felt embarrassed.

Five things to consider.

1. You do this for fun.
2. Sometimes the only practice that week will be at lessons.
3. This is not a race.
4. You are not a child.
5. I gave guilt free piano lessons. 

I said, "John, think of this hour as an oasis without responsibilities". That worked, he had a fun lesson. He even sent a thank you email after class. 

David

From whiteboard notes and exercises I sent to students this week. 

​David

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. 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. He's a great guy and a very skilled musician. When I grow up, I want to play piano like him. FYI.  I was in Rome studying jazz drumming with Greg Hutchinson. Greg played in Ray Brown’s last group. ​

I started part-time teaching in 1982 and in 2007 I went full-time. That is a few generations of students that have passed through my studio. What have I learned?

1. Young children are capable of artistry.
2. Not everyone is teachable.
3. Talent is overrated. Most students don't work hard enough to discover if they have "talent". 
4. I don't believe in talent.
5. Preparing and taking piano exams is an efficient way to learn quickly and thoroughly to play the piano. 
6. You can start music at any age and succeed with the right attitude and realistic goals.
7. Successful students know what they want and why they want it. They've then put aside time and resources to get it.
8. Impatience is a music lesson killer.
9. A young adult trying to catch up to peers with a 10–15-year head start doesn’t understand how it works. That being said, I started piano in high school, and I’ve been a professional musician for 45 years. I didn’t catch up, but I did find my own way. 
10. There is a direct relationship between parental involvement and a child's success.
11. The Dunning Kruger effect is real. Successful students trust their teachers.

If I can help you get started, call me.

​David

​Another day in the teaching studio and another diverse set of pieces. Someone stated that an average piano teacher teaches 600+ titles a year. I believe it. 
​

1. Big My Secret from "The Piano" by Nyman. This was a dark moody start on a grey day. 
2. Glasgow Love theme by Armstrong
3. Sonata in G K283 by Mozart
4. October by Tchaikovsky
5. Sonata in A Major K 209 by Scarlatti 
6. Decadent Sentimental Song by Manzano

​Up next: Music rehearsal with my friends, the pianist Jim Finlayson and bassist Rory Slater. I'll be drumming. We've been meeting every 2 weeks for years. It is always a highlight of my week playing tunes from the "Great American Songbook". Lots of Porter, Corea, Hancock, and Ellington.

​Back to class

      7. Prelude in Db by Glière 
      8. Fantasia in D minor K397 by Mozart
      9. Pumpkin boogie by Faber
      10. Sonatina in C by Faber
       11. Drum rudimental warmups
       12. Never Going To Give You Up by Rick Ashley
       13. Theory class RCM 8 and Band Lab DAW

Now to the drummers

      14. Video game music
      15. 3/4 Scottish snare drum solo
      16. Free Fallin' by Tom Petty
      17. Rollin' in the deep by Adele
      18. Superstition by Stevie Wonder

Revised August 2022

Another day of teaching piano and drum set comes to an end. Here is today’s student repertoire.
​
Marching by Kabalevsky
Skating Waltz by Berlin
Love Me Tender by Elvis
Claire de Lune by Debussy
Les Baricades Misterieuses by Couperin
Chitlin’s Con Carne by Burrell
Etudes by Scriabin
Prelude and Fugue in Bb by Bach
Clementi Etude in E by Clementi
Serenade by Haberbier
Cancion by Mompou
Cottontail by Ellington
Kamado Tanjiro no Uta by Shiina and Ufotable
Watermelon Man by Hancock
Haunted mouse by Faber and Faber
Forest Drums by Faber and Faber
Dinah by Fats Waller
Never Going to Give you up by Ashley
Street of Dreams by Ella
Scottish ¾ March
It’s Only A Paper Moon by Nat King Cole
Meditation by Jobim
Night train by Forrest

​
Time for a beer. 

Revised August 2022

I spent the summer of 2001 making music on the Mediterranean near Santa Pola, Spain in a small apartment overlooking the sea. I fondly remember the sun, the heat, the paella, the wine, the flowers, and the nightly walks along the seaside promenade. 

Now to the story.

I had had big plans of dragging my portable piano to Spain. At the check-in counter in Toronto the agent promptly rejected the piano in the lovely crate I had built. The airline won’t let me check it as baggage because they said it was as big and heavy as a coffin. Dejected I sent it home in an in-law’s car trunk. As luck would have it, I had another in-law in Spain with an old unused Casio keyboard of sixty-five keys, one pedal, a stand, and books of Bach and Chopin.

I set up that keyboard in a window with the ocean view. Then I started playing during the long afternoon siestas. Bach, Chopin, and I quickly fell in love. Apparently so did my new neighbors who, unbeknownst to me, heard me practicing hours on end through that open window.

Back in Canada I started asking about for a “Classical” piano teacher. A professor from McMaster University recommended Leon Karan. I set up a lesson. It didn’t go well. I banged through some scales and thumped out my Bach. Though I was embarrased and humiliated, Leon was kind. After I recovered, he said, “you are of course going to do your ARCT?” “I am?” Five thousand hours later I earned an ARCT diploma in piano pedagogy and won a national scholarship. Thank you, Leon, for your patience. You changed my life.

David

Revised August 2022

We all do it. So go for it. 

​David
Revised August 2022

I've fond memories of listening to New Orleans Jazz as a kid at home. Al Hirt, Louis Armstrong, Pete Fountain, the lot. Music that gives joy when you play it. and joy when you listen to it. 
​ 
​"Sugar" was released in 1926 by Ethel Waters, you can listen below. Over the Christmas break, I've been learning to play jazz on the xylophone. Who knew it was so much fun? This is my version on xylophone with piano accompaniment. 

If you would like to have as much fun as this on the piano, call me. 

​David
Revised August 2022

Yesterday fourteen piano students got together in a jazz club and jammed with a bassist and drummer. What a blast!

Here is some feedback from students:

1. You cannot over prepare.
2. Bring legible charts, on brilliant white paper, because lighting and/or print size is always an issue in a jazz club.
3. iPads have a nasty way of going dark at the worst possible moment.
4. Playing at workshops, in front of fellow students, is a safe place for dealing with your nerves.
5. No fancy arrangements or complicated charts; keep it simple until you gain experience.   
6. Playing from memory leads to more security on stage because you can look up for visual cues from the other musicians. Readers often have their heads down and are subsequently unaware of the clues and musical cues from the other musicians.
7. It was fun!

 
Next up February, Covid willing.
If you'd like to join us, call me. 
​ 
David
Revised September 2022

• 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 some 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. We are having way too much fun dancing to worry about my lack rhythm or talent.

If I can help you overcome the resistance, call me.

David Story
Revised September 2022

I practice piano and drums daily, except Sundays when I rest. Recently my student Barb asked me, "how do you practice?" Here is my answer. 

1. I prepare to practice. My music and instruments are at hand and ready to go. As is my metronome, recordings, audio recorder, and pencils.
2. If the piece is new, I listen to the reference recording before commencing.
3. I plan out how I will play the piece. I consider fingering, dynamics, articulations, and the appropriate motions required to realize my artistic vision.
4. I warm up and stretch. (Students should warm up with scales and chords played gently and rhythmically with a metronome.)
5. I usually work with a metronome when playing jazz, but only occasionally if I'm working on my classical piano skills. However, I use it all the time if I’m on the drum kit.
6. I record myself as I practice. First, it helps keep me honest. Second, it helps me decide what and why I'm repeating the passage in question.
7. I practice piano technique and drum rudiments because technique is like muscles; it must be maintained.
8. When I listen to music, I ask myself, “what’s going on here?” I often write out what I hear going on. To date I have transcribed 100+ drum pieces alone. And over a four decade plus career, I transcribed countless jazz, and pop piano excerpts. 
9. When learning a new piece, I practice slowly with dynamics and articulations in place. I don’t add these later after "I've got the notes".
10. I’m patient because I trust the process. 

Have Fun. 
​
David Story
Revised October 2022

This guy did the work and then fearlessly put himself out there.

David
Revised October 2022

Background.
I learned piano haphazardly as a teenager. When I attended Berklee College of music the piano teachers never talked about “playing” the piano, only what to play.  Later in my professional work as a commercial musician the playing demands were not too strenuous.

Skipping ahead.
In my early forty's I spent a summer in Santa Pola Spain with a small keyboard and a book of Bach WTC book 1 and Chopin Waltzes. Every afternoon after lunch while the world took a siesta, I would explore the music on this tiny sixty note plastic keyboard. It was a magical experience. Upon 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.

“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 recollection of which piece I played but I do remember his concerned reaction. I was humbled. 

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

Four years and five thousand hours of practice later, I graduated age 47. It was the most difficult and rewarding thing I’ve ever done as a musician. It was truly a marathon, but to mangle my metaphors, I felt like superman. 

If you'd like to feel like superman/woman, call me. 

David
Revised October 2022

"Spending winters in the sunshine, reading, playing golf and socializing seemed a wonderful way to spend retirement.   With both of us being music lovers, our sound system is always on all day with great music ranging from Classical, Jazz and some pop.  But I felt something was missing and it wasn’t snow.  My wife encouraged me for years to take music lessons.  I was not too keen because my memory of lessons was the Nuns whacking my fingers with a ruler insisting, I keep my lazy fingers off the keys; that ended in 1958 when I got my Grade 8 piano.  But the seed was planted.  I decided to look on the net for a music teacher near Burlington and came across David’s website. This really looked interesting.  During our cocktail hour that night, I said – when we get back to Burlington, I am going to take Jazz lessons from this David Story guy.  On April 23, 2013 my life changed.

Of course, I thought I would be rattling off Jazz tunes within weeks; grief!  As time progressed, I realized how complex Jazz really is, especially soloing; how do they do that?   Practice, practice, practice every day and soon I started to see the tunnel – no light yet!  After a few years of toil and trouble, something that sounded akin to music emerged; I encouraged my cousin to take lessons from David.  Then, 4 years ago, David encouraged us to attend the Jamey Aebersold Summer workshop in Louisville.  There we were for 6 days: 2 old guys, jamimg in groups, attending classes and intense listening, from 7am to 10 PM.  Hardly time for a Scotch closer at night!  At last, all those lessons from David were clicking into place like a Rubik’s cube. We went back the next summer and did it again.  Then, David encouraged me to try and get a group together to Jam.  The pressure was on; my 2 songs would not cut the mustard.  More practice.  An advert in Kijiji did the trick; we ended up with an exceptional drummer, bass, guitar – and me.  We met every week for 3 hours until covid.

My lessons continue.  The Jam will continue after we all get our shots.  I am still amazed at what some practice along with amazing guidance and encouragement from David has done for my life and continues to do so.  Not bad for an 80 year old!"

​Gary.

Update October 2022: Gary is still at it. He's been playing jazz, in multiple bands, each week now, for years. Go Gary!

​David
Revised October 2022