Today I’d like to talk about a common struggle that I’ve noticed in piano lessons, in the hopes that it helps others on their piano journey. I’ve noticed that the students who have the hardest time in piano lessons are the ones who wait for me to tell them if they’ve played their song correctly, rather than actively listening to themselves and trying to catch their own mistakes. Why does this happen? And what can we do about it?

I’ve spent some time in the past talking about why I think it’s important to choose the music you want to play before you start piano lessons. I still think that’s really good advice. Choosing music that’s going to motivate you is a really great way to set goals and to develop sustainable practice habits, especially when you’re first starting out.

But I also know that it can be difficult to choose music, especially at the beginning of your piano journey, simply because you can get overwhelmed with choice! So if you need some help choosing musical goals for yourself, this post is for you.

Now that we know a about what a key signature is, it can be helpful to learn a little more about how we use them. Here’s a video describing the difference between major and minor keys. If you prefer to read your content, here is a written summary of that video.

If your teacher is constantly telling you to slow down as you play your pieces or writing Don’t rush! in your lesson notes, I have an observation taken from years of teaching (and years of being a rusher myself!) that might help you.

If you’re interested in learning how to play piano this year but you know that you’re going to struggle with the routing of practicing every day, I have a suggestion for you that will not only honour your creative flow but is also backed by educational science.

Ready?

Rather than choosing a behaviour-based goal (such as practicing 30 minutes a day), instead choose a project-based goal (such as a song you want to learn next). Here’s why that works.

Over New Year’s, I published a video on social media asking people how I might help them in 2023. It seemed like a timely thing to ask, as I suspected a few people might have created New Year’s resolutions related to piano and I love to support people in achieving their goals.

Although the occasion of New Year’s prompted this question, I think it’s important for me to ask all the time, not just at the beginning of the year. Goals come up all the time, and I want to be available to support them anytime they do!

If you want to grow in your independence as a piano player, one of the best skills you can learn is the ability to isolate and identify the things that are bothering you.

For many people, this means resisting mental and emotional habits they’ve surrendered to for years.

Today’s post is for people who are supporting other people in learning piano, rather than learning piano themselves (so parents, teachers, etc.). The question I have for you today is, what kind of energy are you bringing to piano lessons?

Talking about “energy” doesn’t have to be spiritual woo-woo. I think we can talk about energy in an objective way if we think about it as the way that your unique combination of interests, values, goals, and expectations merge to create the attitude you bring to each new endeavour.

Sometimes when we want our music to sound a certain way, we need to use a combination of white keys and black keys. Notes that are written on a staff are always white keys by default. So how do we fix this?