Online Piano

While most students want to know when to play certain notes and chords, it’s equally important to know when not to play. For example, I had a student who knew how to improvise and play in the New Age style. What he didn’t know how to do was to allow for breathing space. I tried to teach him that you don’t have to play note upon note but allow for some pauses.

Eventually he got it. He learned how not to rush and that the pauses between notes are as important as the notes themselves - especially in the New Age style of piano playing. Listen to pioneer New Age piano player Steven Halpern to get an excellent idea of this.

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1. Why do you want to grow as a pianist?

My youngest daughter don’t like when I say that she is five years old. She replies that she is five years and a half. Children want to grow up even if we sometimes like them to remain the little cute beings that we are used to lift up and kiss and mess around with.

I guess this also is true with pianists like you and me. The act of learning new things on the piano, new chords, new melodies, new scales and other things is similar to the feeling of being alive.

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1. Why do you want to grow as a pianist?

My youngest daughter don’t like when I say that she is five years old. She replies that she is five years and a half. Children want to grow up even if we sometimes like them to remain the little cute beings that we are used to lift up and kiss and mess around with.

I guess this also is true with pianists like you and me. The act of learning new things on the piano, new chords, new melodies, new scales and other things is similar to the feeling of being alive.

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Some people think composing is this miraculous thing that only genius’s do. What a myth! It’s a skill that can be learned. What can’t be learned is the intuition that guides the creative force. What can be learned is the technique. And the most important part of composing technique has to do with THINKING IN PHRASES.

A musical phrase can be 2-bars long. It can be from 4 to 8-bars long as well. It is a unit of music that composers use, along with repetition and contrast to create ENTIRE SECTIONS OF MUSIC. There is no secret here people. It’s like building up a structure. That’s why music is often referred to as frozen architecture. It is built up. The building

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Did you ever notice how most people who start off at a young age taking piano lessons rarely continue past high school? Then, when these people grow into adults many of them will eventually regret their decision to quit. So much so that, many will actually seek out a new piano teacher and start all over again.

Why do most people quit? I don t think it s because they re not motivated or they don t like music. I believe it s because they don t realize why they re taking piano lessons in the first place. Sure they can tell you that music is important and they probably should be trying harder but the fact

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