Piano Fun

Tip 10: Identify your weaknesses. (And address them.)

2011-09-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

For years I was an undisciplined musician. Or more accurately, I would hover between discipline and otherwise. I'll exclude my days taking piano lessons as a child, because back then everything was orchestrated by adults. The grown ups determined who I'd take lessons from (and when), when and for how long I would do my practicing, what pieces I would learn to play, what I would do for my recitals, etc.

I was just a kid, and my passion for learning music hadn't kicked in yet. Discipline was not an option.

When the music bug finally did kick in, it hit me hard; and it wasn't the piano that kick started it, it was guitar. I started learning guitar about the time the folk music craze hit the culture, circa 1961. So here I was between 14 and 16 years of age, when Peter, Paul and Mary stormed in. Pete Seeger was a big influence. Bluegrass. Old Timey. Irish. I just soaked it all up. Then Bob Dylan came along, and I was mesmorized.

I played guitar constantly. I'd rush home from school, get the homework out of the way as soon as possible, and spend the rest of the evening in my room with my old Silvertone acoustic. Nirvana.

That alone doesn't mean I was disciplined. Obsessed, yes. But not always disciplined. But sometimes I was. I recall about a three month period where I was determined to learn three-finger picking. I was painfully learning it out of Pete Seeger's Folksinger's Guitar Guide. It was days of obsessive pain. The days turned to weeks, the weeks to months. I wasn't really getting it, but I was determined to stick it out.

Then one day, all of a sudden it came to me. I could three finger pick. I was a three month overnight sensation.

That was an example of discipline. But here's the kicker. Unfortunately I did NOT progress much further on guitar for a long time, and here's why. Once I hit the three-finger picking plateau, I kind of coasted. I was happy with my achievement and became complacent. I had attained a certain level of achievement with my guitar playing. And that's what I played. I reinforced my strengths, through continual playing in my new comfort zone. And that's a good thing.

But had I been really interested in improving my guitar playing, I would have addressed myself to my weaknesses (of which I had plenty). I didn't acknowledge my weaknesses. I was in total denial. Although I had plenty of role models to listen to, I did not make much of a conscious effort to play like them. I just kept with my three finger picking.

If you are a piano player (or any kind of musician), it's up to you to decide if you want to get better. Human nature is such that almost all musicians I've ever met, and I've met quite a few, wish to become better musicians. Insane? Maybe. But that's the nature of learning music.

Others might worship you as a musician, based upon your current skills. But you know you can do better. And it kills you, because we all know what it takes to become a better musician, right? Practice, practice, practice.

Actually, there's more to it than that. It's not just practice. It's knowing WHAT to practice. I tell my beginning students that there is no reason ever to practice the piano. Of course they are astonished to hear those words coming from a music teacher. But then comes the punchline. "Just play," is my frivolous follow up. Okay, that's kind of a joke with a little truth thrown in.

The real truth, however, is that making music is a combination of practicing and playing. We PRACTICE so that we can PLAY better. When we PLAY, we have a natural tendency to play to our STRENGTHS. When we PRACTICE, however, we need to practice to our WEAKNESSES. We need to address the areas of our playing where we are weak, and devise a prescription for making ourselves stronger.

So how do we go about that? A good music teacher (make that a VERY good music teacher) can assess your weaknesses AND find ways of addressing them. My hunch is this works better in the field of classical music than in pop, owing to the relative dearth of pop piano teachers and their almost non-existent formal training, especially in the field of pedagogy. In absence of such a teacher, you're going to have to find and correct your weaknesses yourself. Here we go.

It's not easy to distill the essence of musicianship into a finite number of categories. There are just too many subtlties. But for the sake of illustrating the point, let's look at just five:

technique
repertoire
rhythm
improvisation
theory

Chances are if you're like me, you could use some work in all five areas. In that case, you need to prioritize. So take a careful look at your piano playing. Record it. Analyze it. See if some of these symptoms apply to you.

Symptom	Problem Type
hit a lot of wrong notes	technique
don't feel comfortable in certain keys	technique
don't feel in control	technique
not able to predict chords	repertoire/theory
get lost in songs	repertoire
can't take requests	repertoire
just have trouble memorizing	repertoire
tempo slows down	rhythm
tempo speeds up	rhythm
stop and go	rhythm
tied to the sheet music	improvisation
sounding dull/boring	improvisation
lack of intuition	theory
trouble with keys	theory

So once you have listed a few symptoms, you can refer to the chart above to try to pinpoint the problem. And then you can go about working on the solutions by using the chart below. Here are just a few ideas.

Problem Type	Solution
technique	Hanon exercises
	scales
	exercise books
	your own exercises
repertoire	learn x songs per week
	different composers
	different styles/rhythms
	different keys
rhythm	work with metronome
	work with recordings
	rhythm instruction CD's
improvisation	work with recordings
	play along instructional media
	record yourself and play along
theory	study theory books
	learn more songs
	analyze music

The point is, don't just do what's fun to do unless it doesn't bother you not to make progress. We get weak in certain areas, because we neglect to work in those areas. And the reason we neglect to work in such areas, quite possibly, is that it's not very fun to do so. So we end up trapped within a vicious circle of stagnation.

These suggestions are just examples. There are many other areas of music in which we can work and improve. Recording yourself can help a lot. So can getting the opinions of others.

I mentioned that there are resources out there to help you learn. We have a lot of good stuff for sale too. But remember that it's just information. It's there for you when you want it. But first it will be of real benefit to do the prep work and discover what's wrong with your playing, find the right information to help you solve what's wrong, and then do the work that it takes to make the corrections.

Of course when you do discover your weaknesses, it will be very helpful to write everything down in a log. Indicate your weakness, write down the name of the source of information you plan to use to fix it, write a specific game plan for working on the weakness (specify that you will spend exactly x minutes a day on this problem), and finally set a target date for when you will evaluate your success.

Then take the plunge. There is even a chance you'll discover that the sessions spent at the piano addressing your weaknesses will become fun after all. That's called success.

This is the 10th installment in our series of articles on hidden or obscure strategies for improving musicianship. These strategies are not intended to be a substitute for (I dislike this word) "practicing." To the contrary. Spending time playing your instrument is mightily important.

But think of these 22 ideas as strategies you can use in addition to your time in the woodshed. How does one find a label for these strategies? Subconscious? Metaphysical? Whatever word you want to use, go ahead. It's just that these ideas are not often presented to you as part of a musical instrument learning regimen. For earlier articles, check our blog archive.

Tip Nine: Play the best you can afford.

2011-06-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is the ninth installment in our series of articles on hidden or obscure strategies for improving musicianship. These strategies are not intended to be a substitute for (I dislike this word) "practicing." To the contrary. Spending time playing your instrument is mightily important.

It stands to reason you want to select a high quality instrument, both as a beginner and an advanced musician. This is more critical for some instruments than it is for others.

Take the guitar. You don't want to start a student on a bad guitar. Some guitars, due to warped necks and a host of other problems, are simply unplayable. They physically cause pain to the finger tips. They don't sound good.

And the worst thing is, a beginning student doesn't know the difference. We teachers understand that music students need to be motivated or they won't advance. The musical challenges are great enough as it is, we don't need extra roadblocks like a subpar instrument to derail a student's progress.

A quality instrument doesn't guarantee a student will become successful, but a bad instrument can adversely affect even the most gifted and motivated of students.

The guitar may be an extreme example, but the same principal applies to piano students. A bad piano may not directly cause blisters and carpal tunnel syndrome, but it could have some serious negative effects.

So do you need to run out and buy your six year old a nine foot Steinway? The Steinway salesman may disagree, but the answer to that is no. Then how do you tell a good piano from a bad one?

Everything else being equal, a grand piano is usually better than a vertical piano. Start with that. What, you can't afford a grand piano (or you don't have the room)? Okay, a vertical will do. Now the rule is, the longer the strings, the better. Thus, (again, all other things being equal) an upright piano would be better than a spinet. In fact a spinet should be your last choice (but don't completely count it out).

There are actually a couple of sizes in between spinet and upright. Just above spinet is console. A lot of the smaller Japanese pianos are in this category. Above console is studio (these are institutional pianos, made mostly for schools, churches, libraries, and the like).

The next consideration: how well has the piano been maintained over its life? Was it tuned once a year like it should or once every three presidential administrations? Is it in tune now (reasonably)? Do all the keys work? Any obvious flaws with the frame or the sounding board?

Then there are the subjective evaluations. How does it sound? How does it play? If you are not a piano player yourself, you'll probably need to get an outside opinion if you're shopping around.

I myself started on a crappy spinet. It was all my parents could afford. I still have it. Then as an adult I got an old used upright. Later when I turned pro I got a really nice (for a spinet) spinet. I got that so I could move it around, and take it to gigs. I still have that one too. Then I finally got a nice medium sized grand piano which I really love.

But the grand piano spoiled me. I go back and play the two spinets, and I wonder how I ever survived playing them. People know me as being really cheap in a lot of areas. But I never cheap out on a musical instrument. They are just too important.

So if it's for your child, get the best instrument you can afford. They won't appreciate it early on, but they'll be statistically more inclined to stay with music with something of quality to play on. And they'll thank you later.

As for yourself. You're going to want the best if nothing else than for pride of ownership. Psychology 101 tells us the bigger the investment, the more you'll play. The more you play, the better you get. The better you get plus the better the quality of the instrument, the better you sound overall.

A more expensive instrument may even be more economical in the long run. If you compute the cost in terms of dollars per hour spent playing, a more expensive instrument may actually be cheaper than a cheaper one. Of course there's things like resale value and trade in value to consider too, but we don't even need to count that.

Buy the best. You and your children deserve it.

Piano Camp Frequently Asked Questions

2011-06-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q. What is Piano Camp?

A. It's a two day experience of classes, workshops, guided practice, and personal coaching in the art pop piano playing.

Q. Is it for beginners?

A. There will be two tracks, one for beginners and one for those beyond the beginning stage. Absolute beginners are encouraged. The second track (Beyond) is designed for those students who have taken the Instant Piano Workshop designed by Robert Laughlin or those who already have a little background in pop/chord piano playing.

Q. Who is behind it?

A. The workshop is presented by the New School of American Music. They were founded in 1982 and have directly or indirectly been responsible for teaching hundreds of thousands of students nationwide in their One Day Workshops. These workshops are given primarily in college non-credit programs, in almost all 50 states and in Canada.

Q. Who is teaching it?

A. Over 300 piano teachers have been trained to give these workshops. However the bulk of the sessions at Piano Camp will be taught personally either by the designer of the course, Robert Laughlin or by his wife Pam.

Q. What do I need to know already?

A. Nothing really. However, if you wish a head start you can download a pamphlet to study at www.pianofun.com/newsletters.html

Q. Will there be pianos for everyone?

A. We will have four or five keyboards available for campers. And there will be ample time for practice. But I can't guarantee that there will be a keyboard available for everyone all the time. Therefore, I encourage you to bring a portable keyboard with you, if you have one. If enough people do that, there won't be a shortage. But it's the only way I can guarantee you will have an instrument to play 100% of the time. If you cannot bring your own instrument, I will guarantee you'll have access to one of our instruments at least SOME of the time.

Q. How effective is the curriculum and staff?

A. Robert Laughlin, the designer of this program and lead teacher at Piano Camp, has personally given the basic Instant Piano workshop to almost 25,000 students over a span of almost 30 years. The course has been consistently rated as one of the best courses offered by the dozens of college non-credit programs in which it has been taught. This is not just an idle boast. We have thousands of evaluations in our files, and we get unsolicited praises about the course on a regular basis.

Q. Will classical music be covered too?

A. No. Just pop.

Q. What's the difference in teaching or learning classical vs. pop?

A. Classical music revolves around reading music notation, which is a long process with a steep learning curve. Pop music revolves around chords, a much easier system.

Q. Will there be private instruction?

A. The instructors plan on helping everyone out with their individual needs during the guided practice sessions. There you will have one-on-one contact with the instructors.

Q. What is the deadline for the tuition discount?

A. June 22 at midnight.

Q. What about sleeping arrangements for Saturday night?

A. Sleeping is bunkhouse style. The bunk houses have about a dozen single cots with mattresses. You bring your own sleeping bag or bedding. The bunkhouses are segregated by sex. If you wish, you can opt for a private room upgrade for yourself or your family. Those come with a semi-private bathroom. Again, bring your own bedding. More info on facilities and what to bring are at the Walker Creek Ranch web site. Be sure to read the list of essentials before leaving for camp.

Q. Where is Walker Creek Ranch located?

A. Less than an hour north of San Francisco and less than an hour from the famous Napa Valley wine country, the ranch is located on several acres of pristine natural foothill topography. It's currently used as a nature camp for the Marin County school system. Aside from the wildlife, you won't see any neighbors. It's really beautiful and ideal for short hikes and explorations during your free time.

Q. What about meals?

A. You will get lunch and dinner on Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. It's all served cafeteria style and is actually pretty good. Vegetarian meals are available and they can accommodate special needs. Be sure to inquire ahead of time.

Q. Where can I get more information?

A. These links.

Walker Creek Ranch: http://www.walkercreekranch.org/newpdfs/confguestinfo.pdf

Registration: http://www.pianofun.com/camp/orderform_pc.html

Pianofun Piano Camp Schedule

2011-05-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

Here's the Piano Camp agenda. Note there are two tracks. Campers are free to take either of the two tracks. Or skip around between the two. Or combine the piano sessions with the VIBO Family Camp sessions where they will offer guitar, percussion, violin, cello, ukulele, woodwinds, vocals, dance, and more. That schedule will be published shortly.

For one low price campers can take up to 11 sessions over the two days, and it includes the Family Song Circle, Faculty Concert, Jam Session, and Talent Show.

Also great food, great people, great environment, fresh air, close to the wine country, and the over all wonderful vibes one gets from an event of this nature.

As you read the schedule keep in mind that the Basic Track is designed for those who have not taken the Instant Piano workshop from Robert. The Beyond Track is for those who have taken Instant Piano and want more information of this kind or those who have a background in chord piano already.

July 23 - 24

Walker Creek Ranch, Marin Co., California

Info on the location.

http://www.walkercreekranch.org/newpdfs/confguestinfo.pdf

Cost and Registration

http://www.pianofun.com/camp/orderform_pc.html

Piano Camp Schedule

	Basic Track	Beyond Track
	(beginners)	(intermediates)

10-10:45 am:	Reading Notes	More notation skills

11-11:45am:	Intro to Chords	Super Exercises

12-1pm: Lunch

1-1:45pm	Keys, Time, etc	Adding Pizzazz

2-2:45pm	Guided Practice	Guided Practice

3-3:45pm	open	open

4-4:45pm	open	open

5-6pm	Q and A	Q and A

6-7pm
Dinner

7:30-8:45pm
Family Song Circle

9-10pm
Faculty Performances

10pm
Jam Sessions

Sunday, July 24

8-9am: Breakfast

9-9:45am	Beginner Issues	Int. Issues

10-10:45am	Arranging Demo	Arranging Demo

11-11:45am	Guided Practice	Guided Practice

12-1pm: Lunch

1-1:45pm	open	open

2pm
Family Talent Show

Piano Camp 2011 Costs and Reg Form

2011-05-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Click on the link below to view all the costs of Piano Camp. They're all in the Registration Form.

http://www.pianofun.com/camp/orderform_pc.html

To quickly summarize, the cost to attend camp
(tuition) will be $150. That's for a total of 12
sessions over two days, plus the song circles,
faculty recital, jams, etc.

In addition there is a cost for food (of course)
and lodging. See the form for all the options and
details. But it's really reasonable. And the food
is good. I can attest to that.

There will be eight full sessions in Piano Camp
(just devoted to piano), plus dozens of other
courses offered through the Family Camp. You are
welcome to take any courses in either of the two
camps. It's all included in this one price.

Now for some good news. There is a 20% discount
for children and very young children attend free.
And I managed to finagle an early bird discount
for everybody else. If you enroll by June 1 (next
Wednesday) you can take the entire camp for just
$118. After that it goes back up to $150.

You could easily pay $118 just for two or three
private piano lessons. But here you can soak up
two whole days of nothing but piano. Or you can
mix these piano sessions with the other sessions
from family camp.

The camp will be very informative and very fun.
The bulk of the sessions will be taught by yours
truly.

More info shortly. But now here is the
registration link.

http://www.pianofun.com/camp/orderform_pc.html

Other Info

Dates of Camp: Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24

Info on the location.
http://www.walkercreekranch.org/newpdfs/confguestinfo.pdf

Proudly Announcing Pianofun Piano Camp

2011-05-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

This is the most exciting thing we've done in a
long time. Maybe ever. I'll send you detailed info
very soon. But this is what I can reveal now.

The dates: Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24
The location: Walker Creek Ranch, near Petaluma in
Marin County, Northern California.

The agenda: Eight sessions of just piano, over a
two day period. Includes guided practicing with
one-on-one coaching. Two curricula. One for
absolute beginners (including children) and the
other for those who have studied the Instant Piano
Course or who have some previous experience with
pop chord style piano.

Lodging and meals provided (or you can opt to take
care of that yourself).

Held in conjunction with the Vibo Music Family
camp where you and your family members can opt to
take other courses in topics such as guitar,
ukulele, percussion, dance, jazz vocals, violin,
cello, from a staff of first rate teachers.

Plus you are welcome to participate in family song
night, listen to a faculty concert, participate in
a community band, and an evening jam session. All
of this in a safe, nurturing environment, in a
beautiful, natural setting, just minutes away from
California Wine Country.

I'll get you more information very soon. In the
mean time you can reserve the weekend on your
calendar.

Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24

Info on the location.
http://www.walkercreekranch.org/newpdfs/confguestinfo.pdf

Oh. And the cost will be very, very reasonable. So
reasonable you'll be able to bring the entire
family.

Here are some of the features of just the Piano
Camp.

Two Basic Tracks: Beginner and Beyond

BEGINNER TRACK
The beginner track is for those who know little or
nothing about music or the piano. We also welcome
those who have studied only classical (notation
based) piano and who want to learn the chord
system from scratch.

Goal: To enable the beginner to play any song on
the piano with two hands by the end of camp. (Yes,
you heard that right. Any song, two hands).

BEYOND TRACK
The "Beyond" Track is for those who have already
studied the Pianofun Instant Piano method or who
have had some basic background in chord style
piano and want to hone their skills.

Goal: To learn strategies to improve your piano
playing skills and knowledge of chords. We will
also explore many of the tricks, techniques, and
sneaky little secrets used by pro piano players.

There will be a total of eight sessons on just
piano out of the 11 slots the camp offers. There
will be a minimum of two piano instructors, one to
handle mostly the beginners, the other to work
with mostly the intermediates.

Campers are free to combine Family Camp classes
with Piano Camp classes and participate in the
Family Song Circle, listen to the Faculty Recital,
the jam sessions, the ensembles, and everything
else the camp has to offer.

It's actually a great opportunity to learn more
about piano while your kids (or grandkids) take
some really fun music and dance lessons from the
skilled instructors.

And best of all, there will be NO ADDITIONAL COST
FOR PIANO CAMP. It's all included.

So mark your calendar: July 23 and 24.

Info on the location.
http://www.walkercreekranch.org/newpdfs/confguestinfo.pdf

Thoughts on Note Reading

2011-02-20T17:10:00.000-08:00

Question: I'm getting frustrated with learning to read music. Do you have any hints on how to solve this problem?

Spend a few minutes a day, just reading music. I know it's a struggle at this point. If you work on it extensively, it will get better. Progress may seem slow at first, but it will get better.

At the same time use your other senses to figure out a melody. Your memory is one. Repetition is the key to that. Play the same song ten times a day every day, and in a few weeks it should sound close to perfect. You're learning it.

I assume you are only trying to play songs that are familiar to you at this time. Familiarity is another one of the senses. If you know the song, depend on your familiarity when trying to recreate it on the piano. Remember that reading music is just a tool. Don't get hung up on the fine points of deciphering notes on a page. That isn't the goal. That's just a means to an end. Curtail the reading, and start using your heart.

Your intuition is another sense you can use. Take a guess. And if you hit a wrong note, don't react to it. Just keep going. It's much better to protect the integrity of the flow of the song than to micro manage the correct playing of each note.

This too gets easier and more accurate with time.

Some noted jazz players will tell you there aren't any wrong notes. There are just ways the artist controls the contrasting dissonance of the melody. This concept isn't as New Agey as it sounds. But it will be a while before you get to this level of controlling dissonance.

Here's something else you can start to do in about six to nine months. Begin learning the major scales in all twelve keys. Volume Two of Hanon or any scale book can help you with that.

You are at the beginning of your journey. And you have a long way to go. And you'll never arrive at your destination. You just keep getting closer to it. Make sure you have plenty of fun along the way.

Resources:

Free Pamphlet on Note Reading:

http://www.pianofun.com/downloads/notes.pdf

Free Newsletter Subscription:

http://www.pianofun.com/newsletters.html

Instructional CD and booklet:

http://www.pianofun.com/catalog/detail_NTR.html

Tip Eight: Play Music You Hate

2011-01-13T15:55:00.000-08:00

Tip Eight: Play the Music You Hate

This is the eighth installment in our series of articles on hidden or obscure strategies for improving musicianship. These strategies are not intended to be a substitute for (I dislike this word) "practicing." To the contrary. Spending time playing your instrument is mightily important.

When put into the context of Tip Seven (Play the Music You Love), Tip Eight might seem contradictory. But it makes sense. Here's why.

Let me give you a personal example. I started learning the piano (for the second time) when I was about 23. Unlike when I started the first time at age six, I knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish. A large part of what I wanted to learn was blues and boogie woogie.

Later I took a liking to some other styles, so I guess I was somewhat open minded.

But there was one thing I wasn't so open minded about. And that was the key. And you get three guess as to which key I favored. Of course, the key of C.

Now my teacher was OK with that. My teacher wasn't exactly a music teacher and had no training in pedagogy. I just showed up every week, told him what I wanted to learn, and he showed me. If he had any ideas as to what he thought I SHOULD be learning, he kept them to himself.

So I pretty much stayed in the key of C with my blues and my boogie and my country and my swing and my improvising. And I got pretty good at it after a year or so.

As long as I played in the key of C.

Eventually I got good enough to play in a band. And guess what? Did the guitar player play everything in the key of C? No way. All of a sudden I had to learn to play in a vast assortment of keys. Strange, exotic keys. Guitar keys, like E major and A major. And I was required to modulate (change keys in the middle of a song) sometimes.

In a way it was like starting all over.

But of course mastering all keys is something every musician has to do. I hated it at first, but avoiding it was no longer an option. So I made the adjustment (somewhat at the expense of my audience).

I had the same sort of experience with some specific songs. Being someone with more than his share of opinions, there were some songs I truly detested (don't ask me to name names here please). But a lot of these same songs were big favorites of my audience. Again, as a working musician in a band, I no longer had the option not to play them.

Here's the fun part. I discovered a lot of the songs I didn't care for were musically similar. I never really noticed that until I was forced to play them. And then I had the "aha" moments.

"Aha Moment No. 1" was that the songs I didn't like often shared the same attributes.

"Aha Moment No. 2" was that by avoiding these songs, I was not exposing myself to certain specific musical experiences (such as certain particular chord changes).

"Aha Moment No. 3" was that by playing these songs I had heretofore avoided, I was learning and growing musically.

I still might not care for these songs to this day. But now I know what's in them, and I play better overall from the experience.

So the lesson? Hard keys can be your friend (although I still avoid F sharp like the plague). Crappy songs (subjective opinion) can take you on musical voyages you would never find on your own. And music can have a lot of surprises that you can learn to like.

What's Easy. What's Hard.

2010-12-14T22:37:00.000-08:00

I talked last time about learning to control difficulty in the playing of music. As musicians we have choices as to how we want to approach playing a song, and how difficult we want it to be.

As a teacher of pop piano, I find it interesting to realize I teach very conflicting concepts. First I show people how easy it is to play a song. Then I challenge them by making it more difficult. (If only I could make up my mind.)

But we should also acknowledge that individual songs themselves have an intrinsic level of difficulty to play. Many provide barriers to learning.

Generally speaking, the more chords a song has, and the faster the chords change, the more difficult the song is to learn to play.

Some argue that some songs have "difficult" chords, but that's not exactly true. I always maintain that all chords are easy to play on the piano. But if a chord is unfamiliar to you, then it's intrinsically going to be difficult, because you don't know it yet. And your hand doesn't know it yet.

Here's some examples of what I mean. Silent Night. Very easy. Just three chords and most pop piano players, even the beginners, know what those chords are.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is more difficult. It has maybe up to 18 different chords. Some of them (like the major sevenths) are challenging, because you may not know them yet.

Now consider The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire). Very difficult. Lots of different chords coming at you a mile a minute. And the song changes keys several times, adding more challenges. It's a real killer of a song to try to learn.

But one really cool thing is that as a piano player, you have some great opportunities to exert your control and influence. It's always possible to take an easy song and make it harder. And it's always possible to take a hard song and make it simpler. The former strategy is for beginners. The latter for experts.

When you make the transition from one strategy to the other, you have matriculated from beginner to expert.

Sometimes you find a song that you just cannot seem to be able to master no matter what. When you do, don't despair. Just give up (for the time being) and move along. There's no rule that says you have to be able to play everything. You can always come back to it later.

Control the Challenge

2010-12-11T14:45:00.001-08:00

I played a couple of gigs recently. Last week it was a piano gig accompanying a singer. Then yesterday my loving spouse and I played Christmas songs at a local Christmas tree farm owned by some friends. I played guitar in that setting, while she covered clarinet.

I got some insight from those two very different experiences, and I want to pass it along, because I think this insight could be of value to all aspiring musicians.

The lesson is: control your challenge.

The fact is, all music can be played simply. It can also be played complex. You get to choose how you do it.

Case in point: At the Christmas tree farm gig I was reading out of a book of Christmas carols that I had just received a week or two earlier. Unlike the scope and presentation of my own book of Christmas Carols, The Season, this new volume is a fake book that was edited by some real jazz fiends. And I'll admit many of the songs were a real challenge to me in that form, even though I'd become very familiar and comfortable with the same exact songs with easier versions.

The main challenge lay with the fact that the chords were often advanced and unfamiliar, and the changes came at a furious pace. I had to use all my concentration and technique to keep up with it.

Now there was a third person who joined us for a few songs, a beginning clarinet student my wife teaches. She (the student) had only been playing clainet a few weeks and was at a very beginning level. But she struggled through, and played very well.

And then I realized I was kind of a beginner too. Even though I've played guitar for over 45 years, I was very much a beginner as far as this advanced book was concerned. I was just a beginner at a more advanced level.

The upshot? We gave it our best, revealed our flaws, and in general made a lot of people happy with our music. Luckily the gig was very informal, nobody got paid (well, we did get a free Christmas tree), and the environment was very forgiving.

Thus, we felt more relaxed and were more open to taking chances and exploring new things. A win win. Had the gig been more formal (like the piano gig a few days earlier) I would be less enthusiastic about pushing the envelope in public.

No matter what the occasion, be it a performance, or jamming with friends, or just playing by yourself, you can adjust your risk threshold accordingly. The more formal it is, the fewer risks you take. Control your challenge. But be sure to take the risks at home when you are just playing for the fun of it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beatles

2010-11-17T15:53:00.000-08:00

Did you catch the news this week? Apple iTunes seems to have worked out its differences with the Beatles and is now offering The Beatles record catalog for downloads. It's been a long time in coming, but this is an amazing example of how people have a way of ironing out their differences when there is several million dollars at stake.

All cynicism aside, it's quite a newsworthy event. And if you are any kind of fan of The Beatles at all, you'll want to see some of the video Apple is making available as a part of their promotion.

Of particular note is a film of The Beatles' first US concert, presented in its entirety. The concert was given two days after the boys' historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, and took place in Washington, D.C.

Even though the concert was a sell out, it was in front of an audience of only 7,000. That's paltry by today's standards. And some of the technology involved in staging the show was laughably low tech, as you will see when you view the footage. Go see it by logging into the apple.com web site or the iTunes store. See it now, as it probably won't be up forever.

If you are fortunate enough to be under 55 years old, you probably don't remember the hysteria that accompanied The Beatles' first US tour. I do remember it, and it was unbelievable. There was nothing to compare it to, before or since. No one else in show business ever created such a buzz. Not Elvis. Not Sinatra. Not any of the pop stars to come along since, blond or otherwise.

I was just a teenager then, and I remember that not a day went by without a front page story on The Beatles in the San Francisco Chronicle. It was all anyone could talk about.

It was reported that during that hour of the Ed Sullivan Show, not a single crime was committed in all of New York City.

And this was all before anyone knew The Beatles were good. Or at least we had no idea how good they were to become. But they kept on proving themselves, reinventing themselves, and then burning out, almost as rapidly as they came on the scene.

If you are over 75, you probably didn't care for them when they hit the scene. I know my parents didn't nor did any "old people." (Def.: anyone over 30). That hair. They don't even sing in tune. Too loud.

They (the old folks) were proven wrong ultimately. We young uns, 11 to about 18, had it right. How did we know? How did we create Beatlemania, and how did we get the media to blow it completely out of proportion?

I don't know. But I don't think we'll ever see anything like it again. But now at least we get to relive those heady days of Beatlemania.

Enjoy the downloads. I know you will. Even if you're under 55. Even if you're over 75.

P.S. Feel free to comment and/or leave your own remembrances below. I'd love to read them.

Tip Seven: Play What You Love

2010-11-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

Tip Seven: Play What You Love

This is the seventh installment in our series of articles on hidden or obscure strategies for improving musicianship. These strategies are not intended to be a substitute for (I dislike this word) "practicing." To the contrary. Spending time playing your instrument is mightily important.

Understand that these ideas are in no particular order, either of chronology or importance. In fact this one may be among the most important of the 22. So here it is.

Actually, I'd like to start this by posing a question. Why do piano lessons fail?

I'm talking mostly about the teaching of children here. Those of us who are 50 and older were much more likely to have had childhood piano lessons than are members of the successive generation (whose parents had to think up alternative forms of child abuse).

So if you were one of those who took lessons as a child, let me ask you this. Why did you stop? What is the reason you are not performing in the major concert halls of the world today?

Here's a wild guess. It wasn't fun for you. Think about practicing. Was it something you wanted to do, or was it something you had to do? Did you look forward to giving piano recitals? I didn't. Nor did I know of anyone in my group who did.

Yeah, it wasn't fun for me. I hated to practice. And I finally wore my parents down and was able to quit. You know what happened then? Interestingly, after the obligations of piano were dismantled, I found myself spending hours at the piano just fooling around with it, playing what I wanted to play, unencumbered by the pressures of weekly judgement and the fear of recitals.

Radical concept: Playing music is supposed to be fun.

Adult learners can spend hours and hours, learning, improving, perfecting, striving do it because at some point, there is an emotional payoff. Certainly accomplishing goals musically is incentive. But I doubt most adults would put the time that it takes to accomplish those goals if doing so did not bring them *pleasure at the moment*.

We all play because it's fun to play. Even when things are challenging and frustrating, we work through those frustrations, because we enjoy the process.

So why is that? Why did I spend hours every day as a teenager teaching myself guitar, when just a few years earlier I had to whine and whine in order to get out of taking piano lessons?

Here's my theory. Music is fun to play when you are playing music that you like. And of course the more you like it, the more you want to do it; and the more you do it, the better you get. It's basic economics, the incentive principle. Being able to choose the music you play makes it fun to do.

Now think about childhood piano lessons, if you had them. Did you get to choose the songs you had to learn each week? Probably not. Your teacher assigned them to you. In fact you didn't even get to choose the genre of music you had to play, did you? Chances are it was mostly, if not entirely, classical music.

Classical music is great. I love it. Sometimes. But I don't recall any of my own kids ever voluntarily playing classical music on the radio or CD player when they were growing up. It wasn't their thing. Thus, I suppose, being limited to a steady diet of it wouldn't have been much of an incentive to learn an instrument.

Perhaps if they had teachers who could teach them to play the stuff they were into, it would have been a different story. Who knows?

But how is this relevant to us?

My piano students are all adults. They come to my seminars, not because their mothers make them do it. Nor will they "practice" because their mothers set an agenda.

My students come to the seminars because they think they have a shot at learning the piano, whether it's their first attempt or their umpteenth. Since I myself got a late start, I know that their success will be shaped by how much time they spend sitting on the piano bench. And that won't be determined by their mothers. That will be determined by their own enthusiasm.

My promise to my workshop students is that they will learn how to play "any song, in any style of music (except classical)." Seems like a tall order that completely flies in the face of conventional wisdom. But it's really not so hard.

I strive to provide students with the information it takes to understand the concepts of playing music. The reality is that the internal structure of all songs is the same. You basically have a melody and chords. A piano player plays melody with the right hand, and plays the chords with the left. Easy concept.

However, information alone is not enough to insure success at learning the piano. The concepts may be easy, but then you have to condition your hands to make the right moves.

One needs to work things out at the piano, to be sure. But you don't need a coach all the time. You mostly need the time to go over things repeatedly, and work things out. By giving you the power to choose your own songs, your own repertoire, your own direction, I think that's the best thing I can do to help insure you will spend time at your piano.

Then you've got to deal with things like key signatures, time signatures, note time values, accidentals--all mostly music notation issues. So we address that, and usually come up with some great shortcuts. Once you understand that music can be broken down into this idea that its all melody (one note at a time) and chords (one or two chords per measure) you are essentially empowered with the wherewithal to play any song you want. Of course you will be playing it at your level of accomplishment, but you get to choose the playlist.

So that leads us to this tip: Play songs you like. Play songs you love. You get to choose, so play songs that will inspire you to play more. The more you play, the better you get. Who wants to argue that one? Once you learn the basics, you are free to choose the songs you play. And nobody knows what those songs should be better than you.

So that's Tip Seven: Play music that you love.

Coming soon, Tip Eight: Play songs that you hate.

Seriously.

Tip Six: Get Connected to Others

2010-09-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is the sixth installment in our series of articles on hidden or obscure strategies for improving musicianship. These strategies are not intended to be a substitute for (I hate this word) "practicing." Spending time playing your instrument is mightily important.

But these 22 ideas are strategies you can use in addition to your time in the woodshed. How does one find a label for these strategies? Subconscious? Metaphysical? Whatever word you want to use, go ahead. It's just that these ideas are not often presented to you as part of a musical instrument learning regimen.

Understand that these ideas are in no particular order either of chronology or importance. In fact this one may be among the most important of the 22. So here it is.

In a word: interact.

That's right. Play music with other people. Does this mean form a band? It could. Don't laugh, playing in a group may be easier than it seems at first glance. And it has the potential to accelerate your learning by orders of magnitude.

There are two types of people in the world. There are those who play music better than you, and there are those who do not play as well. That's it. The trick is to find both types of people to play with. But although you will be picking from both groups, try to choose them as close to your playing ability as possible. If you play with people who are incredibly better than you or worse than you, there will be frustrations.

You want to be among a group of people you can teach to as well as learn from.

Keep in mind a few of the ground rules for ensemble playing.

1. Everyone will play a lot fewer notes than other wise. The more people in a group, the fewer notes each person plays.

2. You need to pay closer attention to dynamics (loudness). Remember that two people playing softly together could produce the same decibels as one person playing moderately.

3. Have an idea what the outcome should sound like. Perhaps have a recording and get everyone to agree that the goal is to sound like the recording.

4. Try to have at least one person in the group who has some experience in group playing. Sometimes groups consist of musicians who solely read music notation. But just as often that's not the case. You may find yourselves playing from a lead sheet (like a fake book). So you need to know what it is your instrument is supposed to do. Just as each player on a football team has a very specific job to do, so is the case with the player in a band. If the music is written out note for note, it's clear what everyones part is. But if you're playing from chord sheets, it's not so cut and dry.

If you are the piano player, you need to understand that you won't be playing too many melodies, if at all. The piano player in a group is usually part of the rhythm section, which means you play chords. Sure, it's not that simple. But basically, that's what a piano player does. Chords, chords, chords.

5. Strive for a variety of different instruments. What if your quartet consisted of four piano players? Or four drummers? Or four tuba players? Not good. Each different instrument has a particular function in a group setting. Diversification and balance is what you want.

6. Find your unique spot. This may be tough to explain. In an effort to diversify, there is a place within the music that is just for you. To find it, you must first listen to what other instruments are doing. Is there a rhythm guitar player strumming chords in a certain pattern? Let him have it. Find your own pattern. Don't try to double down his. Is the bass player playing a boogie woogie pattern? Then you lay off. Find something else to do with your left hand. There will be a place for each member of the ensemble. It might be good to discuss the over all strategy with the band ahead of time. Gently make (and graciously accept) suggestions.

Here's the most important lesson of all. Playing with other people forces you to depend and develop that part of the anatomy that is typically most neglected. Your ears. Playing solo is always better when the musician listens. Although many times they don't, it's still doable.

When you play with other people, however, listening is essential. You have to listen to everybody all the time. And it's hard to do sometimes.

Look at it this way. As a part of a group, your job is to make the over all music sound better. Don't add notes to the ensemble just because you can. Your job is to make things better, not louder or busier, and you can only do that if you are constantly monitoring the sound the group as a whole produces.

I can't give you specifics on how to listen better. But the more you play with others, the better you get at it, assuming you are striving for a better group sound and not just playing for the benefit of your own ego.

How do you find people to play with? An ad on Craigslist is a good place to start. A 3 by 5 card in a music store or some community bulletin board. Be sure to indicate what kind of music you would like to play, and give some examples. There's no place for a Led Zeppelin guitar player in a polka band.

Indicate your musical experience, perhaps the specific musicians you're looking for, and your desired goal. Whether the goal is "fun, friendship and mutual admiration" or to win Grammy Awards, just the simple act of playing together is THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO ACCELERATE YOUR PLAYING SKILLS.

Quote me.

Tip Five: Reverse Goal Settling

2010-07-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

This is the fifth installment in our series of articles on hidden or obscure strategies for improving musicianship.

You may have heard this one before. It's almost a cliche. All the personal improvement gurus talk about this one. Earl Nightengale espouses it. So does Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins. All of them. It's a powerful tool, if you use it right. Does it work for learning music? Yes. But I've got a little twist for it.

I'm talking about goal setting. All those human achievement gurus are always harping on goal setting. You've probably heard it all before. Set a specific goal: "I will double my income in 12 months." That's a perfect example. You have a specific goal with a number attached to it and an allotted time period in which to get it done.

Then you must write the goal down. That's what they tell you. And read it on a regular basis. Every day. Then you do the visualization. That's all a part of it. You actually imagine the aroma of the leather seats in your brand new luxury autombile that you will own once you have doubled your income in 12 months thanks to your careful goal setting.

Aaaahhhh. Smells beautiful doesn't it?

So does all this goal setting, visualization, affirmation stuff really work? I think it does. Or at least I think it can.

Does it work for learning an instrument? That's another story.

First, it's a little more difficult to quantify a goal as far as musicianship goes. "I wanna be a lot better," is kind of vague. So is "I wanna be able to improvise." Or, "I wanna play like Oscar Peterson."

Those are tough goals to attain, even if you write them down.

What makes it harder is that your progress comes so gradually, and it's very hard to measure progress in music. I suppose you could use a metronome and measure success in terms of how fast you can play "Donna Lee" or "Tico Tico."

But there's a lot more to music than playing things fast. We all know that.

So how does one set goals, get them on paper, and measure progress?

By doing everything backwards.

To evaluate your progress, instead of writing down how you want things to be in a year, instead, chronicle how things are now. And then store it in the archives.

For example, pick out three tunes you're working on right now, any scales or exercises you're working on, and perhaps a representatve selection of the chords you now use. Assemble all these things at your piano. Now comes the scary part. It's scary, but it really works, so listen up.

Get a recording device of some sort, click the "record" button, and spend the next several minutes playing those songs, scales, exercises, and chords into the microphone. Try to relax and goof around a little too while the tape is rolling. (I know they don't use "tape" anymore, but try to humor me here.)

Just get a good representation of how you play now, warts and all. Then file the recording away for at least six months. Make it six months to a year. Then after that time period has elapsed, pull out the old recording device again and repeat the process. Three new songs, whatever scales and exercise you're working on, chords, goofing off. Record it and lock it up.

But. Don't forget to play the recording you made the year before. Peer into the past to listen to how you sounded back then. You won't remember otherwise. If you play a little every day, you'll be so much better in a year. But you'll never know it until you actually play your archived recording of yourself.

Now you'll see, hear, and experience the goal. "I wanna be a better piano player in a year." You'll actually see those results, once you review your original recordings. Repeat the process once or twice a year to get the best results.

Like I said, it's a little scary to record yourself at first, but you can get used to it. All serious professionals do it.

Of course, have goals. We can't peer into the future to see what we are to become. But we can peer into the past to see from whence we did come. And that often can provide you with the impetus, if not the downright inspiration, to keep on task.

Try to learn a new song every week. New scales. New exercises. Explore books. Take a private lesson every once in awhile. Enroll in a music camp. Play in a band. Do any or all these things, and put in 20 to 60 minutes at your piano every day.

And have fun listening to those old recordings to see how bad you really were compared to how good you are now.

P.S. To get a glimpse of my 18 month master plan for learning pop piano, click on the link and download the Study Guide (Success Manual) that comes with the Integrated Home Study course. It may inspire you to set up a few goals of your own.

Tip Four: It's About Time

2010-06-29T09:55:00.001-07:00

This is the fourth installment in our series of articles on hidden or obscure strategies for improving musicianship.

Obviously, spending time playing your instrument is extremely important in developing your talent. However, these articles explore some of the subtler more psychological angles to gain musical advantage. Sometimes you have to trick your mind or body into acquiring the behaviors you need in order to reach the musical goals you want.

So here is Tip Four. It's all about time.

You need to find the Golden Time. You need to carve out that little segment for your piano playing each day, and make it a sacred priority.

Here's the trap. You decide to pick up a new hobby, learning piano or whatever. So making time for this new activity is something new to add to your already busy schedule. You don't have a busy schedule? Yes you do. Everybody has one.

So now you've got to squeeze an extra 45 minutes into your daily routine. So what do you do? You tell yourself, OK after the day is over, after the chores are done, the dishes are washed, the kids are in bed, hey that's going to be my ME time. And I'm going to spend my ME time practicing the piano.

Wrong.

Doesn't work. When day is done, your body is programmed to go into shut-down mode. Your brain is starting to disengage. Resistance is futile. That's not the time, not if you have a busy day schedule for tomorrow.

You need to find a special, specific time to do the ME time. And then make it your priority. So when is that going to be? That's the challenge isn't it? The answer will vary, depending in part on how dedicated you are.

We've heard about would-be authors who decide to write a book, so they set their alarm clock for 4 am instead of 6. And they spend those two hours every morning writing their manuscript. The rest of the day is as usual. Work, family, social, etc. But they carve out their writing niche. And two years later their novel is done.

You want to play piano on cruise ships in two years? That's one way to do it. Set that alarm clock. (How counter intuitive for a musician)!

I look back on the early days of my piano studies and I see how powerful this time management stuff can be.

I've told the story repeatedly about how I got hooked on playing the piano when I was 23. And I started taking lessons then. The part of the story that you may not know is that at the time I started these piano lessons, I didn't even own a piano.

I was working full time as a clerk in a camera store in East Oakland and lived in a little one room hovel that was attached to a garage. We're talking tiny. And I had no piano to play. But I was paying for weekly lessons, and I was determined to succeed.

So for the first six months, every day, six days a week, I drove to my parents' house just to do my 45 minutes of practicing. It was a perfect situation. I got to use a piano, they got some attention from me, I got dinner every night and a chance to do my laundry once a week. And the money I saved on meals and laundry helped pay for my piano lessons. And I was saving up to buy a piano of my own some day.

The point is I had to make a concerted effort EVERY DAY to drive the five miles to the parents' house just to make my piano commitment. After a few months I knew my passion was real, and I saved up $85 and bought my first piano at a yard sale. But the pattern was established, and that 45 minutes a day became sacred to me.

Can you find your time? Even if it's just 15 minutes a day, that's enough to get yourself into a pattern, which then becomes a habit, which then becomes a routine, which then becomes your desired behavior. Playing piano.

Two True Stories

2010-06-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of very short true life stories.

Short Story One

I retired from "show biz" a long time ago. But I still like to play music, of course, and I like to play with other people, which sometimes results in playing out in public.

Last night my little band had one of our gigs at a local restaurant. This is a real specialty band. We play exclusively Brazilian tunes that were written like between 1920 and 1960. It's not samba, it's not bossa nova. It's a precursor to those styles. The style is called choro. Pretty obscure stuff.

The music is all written out, kind of like classical music, except with chords too. I prefer to memorize the music. I have more fun if I don't have to worry about following along in sheet music.

But the chord changes are really hard to learn. There are so many of them. But there is a tool I depend on for memorizing these songs. It makes things easy.

Short Story Two

Same location, the local restaurant, same time, same characters. Pam, my spouse, plays in this band too. Clarinet. She's good. In between our regular choro sets, we had a special guest join us o the band stand, Pam's father. He's going to be 92 on Monday, and he still plays guitar every day. We got Buck to join us for a few songs. He came up, 92 years old, plugged in his electric guitar, and wailed away.

Pam and I accompanied him, and one of the songs he chose to do was a song I had heard of, but had never played before. And I had no music. Yet I was able to play the chords as if I had the music right in front of me. There was a tool I used that enabled me to do that. Same tool.

What was the tool? It was the Circle of Fifths. The trick is in knowing how to use it. Anyway I couldn't wait to write out these stories, and send them to you.

Click below to find out more about this tool, and to order my special presentation for less than ten bucks, no strings attached.

http://pianofun.com/circle/promo_OF.html

Comments on Your Comments

2010-06-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

All right, we're getting blog comments now. The way it should be. And since recent comments from the community have had a common thread, let me see if I can address them all in this one entry. Most of what I'm saying here pertains to comments posted on the previoius blog entry: Tip Three-What's Important

It's true a large part of mastering pop piano is getting over the hurdle of learning chords. With 12,000 chords (or more) to deal with, which ones are essential, and which ones can wait?

I already addressed part of that question in my previous comment. Learn the 12 majors, 12 minors, and 12 sevenths. That prepares you to play any song as long as you have the Chord Simplification Flow Chart that is in the back of the book you get when you take my Instant Piano three hour workshop.

Then I suggested learning the 12 basic chords that lend themselves best to the key of C. You can find those in my previous post as well as in my book How to Play Piano by Ear.

Here's another strategy. Learn new chords as you learn new songs. Make a list of songs you want to have in your repertoire. Then make a pact with yourself to learn one new song a week.

Go through each song and make a list of the chords you don't know from that song. Then do the research and learn the chords.

Play the chords with the left hand in the order they appear in the song. Chords may be difficult by themselves. But learning to change from chord to chord is even more demanding. So do this exercise for 15 minutes a day, and you will probably be able to keep up with your one-song-per-week goal.

As for the question of playing everything in the key of C. That might work as a short term strategy. But don't jump to the conclusion that C is the most important key. It isn't. But it's the easiest. And that makes it easy to fall into a "key-of-C" bias. Not good.

The Master List of 12 important chords (The Top Twelve List) I listed in a previous comment only works for the key of C, by the way. But in the course I teach how to transpose that list into other keys.

As I was learning piano I played almost exclusively in the key of C for the first five years. Nothing to be proud of. But I got good. In the key of C. Then I joined a band. The guitar player liked to play everything in the keys of E and A. I was pretty lost for awhile.

Once again, if you learn one new song a week, and you don't just choose them because they are in the key of C, then you will learn to play in all the important keys pretty fast too.

Hayden, you mentioned the Study Guide being only available to those who have the 18 month course. The fact is anyone can download that from our web site for free. http://pianofun.com/catalog/detail_HSC.html. But it doesn't help too much unless you also have the course (unless you just are curious about what you learn in the course.) Go ahead and download it if you want.

Now here is the best way I know of learning the basic chords, because it helps you with not just the chords themselves, but with changing the chords, AND in recognizing the most common chord progressions in life.

It's called the Circle of Fifths. Or the Circle of Fourths. Same thing. If you've taken my "Piano by Ear" workshop you have that chapter in the book. And more importantly you have the CD called "Circle of Fourths Practice."

If you have that, and you have gone through it, I'd love to hear your comments about it here on this blog.

If you have it, but haven't gotten around to it yet, maybe now is the time.

If you don't have it........ Hummm. Let me think about that for awhile.

Play on, and thanks for the interaction. Tip Four is coming up soon.

Tip Three: What's Important?

2010-05-25T14:53:00.001-07:00

Time for Tip Number Three in our series of 22 not-so-obvious, outside-the-box ways to improve ones musicianship other than practicing ones butt off. One of the biggest drawbacks to this crazy Information Age in which we currently live is that there is simply too much damn information. The problem is not that we have a hard time finding information. It's that we have a terrible time trying to manage it.

The key to information management is to know what information is important and what isn't. It's to prioritize. And this is very true when it comes to learning the piano or any other instrument. There is so much one can do. Where do you start? Do you learn scales? If so, which ones? Do you try technic exercises? What songs should you learn? What helps, and what is just a waste of time?

You can easily obtain a catalog of over 12,000 chords. But you can't learn them all at once. Which ones do you learn first? Which are the most important?

But with so much information now at our disposal how do you sort the wheat from the chaff?

Making this decision is one of the primary roles of the piano teacher. A teacher (or anyone who has already traveled the road that you want to travel) can be qualified to make those decisions. One could argue that music teachers might be superfluous. It's true that many great musicians are self taught.

But a teacher (or some authority) can be very valuable in helping you sort out the "important" pile from the "not-so-much."

Of course employing a teacher to help you sort things out, in and of itself, leads to an opinion too: the opinion of the teacher. That's why it's so important to choose a teacher very carefully, if you choose to use one.

So now the question would be, how do you find the right teacher? Here's what I think is important.

1. the teacher knows the information you want to learn

2. the teacher is able to perform the music you want to learn

3. the teacher has excellent two-way communication skills

And this last one is the kicker. Two way communication skills. Yes, the teacher must be able to transmit information to you. But he must also be able to listen to you, to find what you want to know, to discover what you already know, to know what gaps you have and how to fill them.

In other words, the teacher needs to know what it is you don't know, and then remedy that by providing the information that's important and only the information that's important. We just don't have enough years in our lives to fill in all those gaps with random, unstructured information.

My own piano education is kind of unusual, I guess. When I was 23 I found a pro piano player (age 18) with whom I studied for a year. Then he moved. Since that time I've had lessons with dozens of different players. With a few I studied for several months. But with the overwhelming majority of them I just had one lesson. Maybe two at the most.

And one super positive benefit I got from taking just one lesson from so many people is that I uncovered a few choice beliefs that they all shared. A consensus. And those beliefs constitute what I consider to be the "important" things in music.

And these beliefs form the central core of what has come to be known as my teaching system: the workshops and the coursewhere. I haven't got the time to learn everything there is to know. And I certainly don't have the time to teach everything there is to know.

Some things musically just don't matter as much as others.

And knowing which is which is half the battle.

Tip Two--Have Role Models

2010-05-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

How do you become the musician you've always wanted to be? Of course there's the old Practice Practice Practice route. You've heard that before. But are there some hidden strategies that can make you better, besides putting all those hours in the wood shed?

Last time we talked about cultivating enthusiasm. Today the secret is...have a role model.

Sure you want to be a good piano (or something else) player. But that's a pretty vague goal. Here's a more targeted goal: Who do you want to sound like?

Pick a person, and start striving.

Hopefully you're not going to choose Bill Evans or Oscar Peterson if you're a beginner. Their stuff is really hard to approach. But there's got to be someone out there whose piano stylings resonate with you. I cannot tell you who to pick. But I can give you an example from my own life.

I was in my early twenties, fresh out of college, when I decided to learn to play piano. (No, music was not my major in college.) I happened to have a chance meeting with a guy who played bass in a band that was playing regularly, once a week, in Berkeley, California. It was a six piece western swing outfit that had a piano player. At the time I had no idea what western swing was. But I immediately fell in love with the sound the band had and found myself coming to their gigs every Thursday night at the Longbranch Saloon on San Pablo Ave.

I loved the sound of the piano player so much that I decided I wanted to learn how to play like him. Yes, I found a role model. So one evening during a break I introduced myself to the guy and asked if he gave lessons. The answer was no.

OK. So I asked him again the following week. Same response. And then I asked again and again until he finally relented. I showed up for the first lesson. He gave me a book of Hanon exercises to play. I thought he was pretty sure I wouldn't show up the following week.

But I did. And I kept coming back every week for a year, until the band finally moved to Austin, Texas to find their fame and fortune. So I had my mentor in Floyd. I was his only student for one year, and I had one year to find out everything I could from him during that time.

Over that period I acquired several role models to emulate. The first, I believe, was Jerry Lee Lewis. You could spend a lifetime learning to play like Jerry Lee perfectly, but his music was simple enough to understand and to try and mimick. Sometimes it was just three chords per song. At least that's what it was in his early rock n roll days.

I soaked up all those old rock n roll songs from a Jerry Lee Greatest Hits LP, with guidance from Floyd. Then I bought everything by him that I could lay my hands on. By then Jerry Lee was doing mostly country. OK, so now we had songs with four or five chords. But I voraciously devoured the music. I listened to the recordings morning, noon, and night.

I played along with them. I asked Floyd how to do certain stuff, and figured out certain stuff on my own. But I'm positive that just by listening to the records, some of Jerry Lee's playing style crept into my playing style.

Months later in a similar fashion I latched on to the music of Count Basie. It would be folly to imagine that I could acquire Basie's technique (chops) in my first year. But after buying tons of Basie records and soaking them up, I was starting to pick up his nuances a little bit. A few months later I got to see the Count and his orchestra in person with special guest Ella Fitzgerald. Wow. Even more incentive.

As an interesting side light, my teacher's band recorded a Count Basie song on their second album and Floyd picked up his first Grammy Award for his effort.

So on it went. I've had a lot of these role-model/mentors over the years. Some of whom really influenced my playing. Others (such as Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson) I've listened to a LOT and unfortunately never picked up anything from. (Or if I did, it's subtle. Very subtle).

But whether or not you learn directly from your CD mentors, just surrounding yourself with the music as much as possible can give you some incentive to hit the piano every day and dare to play along. And if you're playing, you're learning.

So who do you want to sound like? Whoever it is, try to soak up as much of that one artist as you can. Listen, listen, listen. Get ahold of the charts to their songs, and spend equal amounts of time learning from the paper and learning just by listening to what they play. At the end of the day, all of us use the same basic chords, chord progressions, forms, rhythms, and melodic structures. It's all learnable. It's just that learning by listening can be a lot more fun than from sheet music. Try it.

Mastering Piano without Pain: First Tip

2010-05-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

Practice Makes Perfect. That's what they tell you. Do you believe them?

Certainly time spent at the piano is essential for growing your skills. There is no doubt about it. But there's more to learning music than just practice. And how are you going to remember to practice? And what are you going to practice? And what about the quality of your practice?

I believe there are a lot of key factors that help insure the time we spend at the piano is profitable, and that we learn the most in the shortest amount of time. I jotted 22 of these factors down last week, and I want to cover them for you one at a time.

These are the hidden strategies. The inner game. The zen. The a-ha.

Tip One. Be Enthused.

What if you're not enthused?

Then get enthused.

Music might be the most emotional force in the human race. OK, the second most, but it's still very powerful. Think of how music influenced your life between the ages of 16 and 22. Think of the records you bought, the concerts you attended, the music videos you watched. Were you ever obsessed? Good.

What drove that? Emotion. Time to harness that emotion and to put it to work for you. OK how?

When I give a piano workshop, I promise the participants that after the one session they will be able to play any song they want. So I suggest they start making a list of the songs they want to play. This would be a list of songs THEY want to play as opposed to a list of songs that I want them to play. See the difference?

It's just the opposite of how piano lessons worked in the old day when it was the piano teacher who chose the songs you were supposed to learn. I realize that those who come to my seminars are not there because their mothers made them come. And their moms aren't going to make sure they practice 30 minutes a day.

My students are only going to grow as piano players if they play consistently. And they are only going to play consistently if they genuinely want to be playing at the piano. And they are only going to want to play if they are playing music they enjoy. Chances are that music has at some point had a strong influence.

So what songs, artists, groups, or styles of music have had a strong, positive, emotional influence on your life? It may have been a long time ago, but if it was there then, it's probably also there now for you.

Make a list. If it isn't classical music, chances are I can show you what to do to be playing these songs in a very short period of time. Three and a half hours is what it takes me to do this at the workshop.

Get emotional.

See you next time.

Coming Soon: (At Least) 22 Tips for Successful Learning of Piano

2010-04-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

I tell my workshop students that I started to learn piano when I was 23 years old. It's true. That's how old I was when I decided I WANTED to learn about the piano and found someone who could teach it to me.

In actuality it started much earlier than that. My music lessons probably started the day I was born. That was the day I first heard music I'm pretty sure. Don't ask me exactly what was the first music I heard. I don't remember.

But there must have been some radio on somewhere in the nursery at St. Mary's Hospital. Or if not, I'm sure my mom must have started singing to me within hours if not minutes of my birth. The fact she was a professional stage singer had nothing to do with it. We naturally sing to our children. We can't help it.

So that was my first music lesson. Day One. And I've had a music lesson everyday since. I believe we get a music lesson every time we hear music played. Maybe it's just the subconscious mind that gets the lesson, but that counts.

By the age of four I learned to play records (78's I'm afraid they were) on the folks' Packard Bell phonograph. I still remember my favorite records. Tex Williams (Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette), Jimmy Durante, Spike Jones, Chico Marx, Oscar Levant (Malaguena).

Formal piano lessons started at six. They started again at seven. Then I started over again at seven-and-a-half. Then eight-and-a-half. By age 10, my piano career was over when I finally persuaded the parents that piano was not for me.

After all that time and with all those teachers I managed to conquer John Thompson's Teaching Little Fingers to Play, and got as far as page 19 of the John Thompson First Grade Book. Not exactly protege material.

Toward the end I was barely practicing 10 minutes a WEEK. Or maybe it was 10 minutes a MONTH. Piano was not what I wanted to do. So I was allowed to quit.

A funny thing happened after I stopped taking formal lessons. From then on you could not pry me away from the piano. I was playing around with it all the time. No direction, no lessons, no formalities, no practicing. Just play play play.

Later my attention turned to guitar and shortly after that to girls, but those basic years until about age 10 or so were very influential. And were very important to me.

What's the point of this?

By the time I was 33 I figured out how to present the one day piano workshop to adults, and since then I've taught the class to over 36,000 people (I think). It stands to reason that over that time, some people would come to regard me as an expert in the field of piano teaching.

Whether that's true or not is up for discussion.

But over that time, I've come to recognize certain key factors that contribute to ones development and success at the piano.

Earlier today I was staring out the window daydreaming when I decided to see how many of those key factors I could write down. Within three minutes I got to 22 of them.

So if you're interested, I'd like to share these factors with you over then next few issues. I'm sure that by the time I'm done I'll think of several more. These factors are often so subtle that we don't think about them. Yet they are very powerful. And often very simple.

Some of these key factors will surprise you. Maybe all of them will surprise you. And not a single one has to do with "practicing" as we know it. Stand by.

A Warning About Fake Books

2010-02-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

I talked about fake books in the last newsletter,

and I mention them in all my workshops. I even

encourage people to go out and buy them, as they

are great motivational tools. I mean with 800

songs on your piano's music rack, why bother with

television? (OK, there's all those curling matches

going on in the Olympics right now, but they will

be over by next week).

But there's a warning that needs to be sounded

regarding the fake books. Warning, warning,

warning. DO NOT buy any music book that is

intended for B flat or E flat instruments, fake

books or otherwise. It will say right on the cover

if it does.

Oh Lordy. Now I'm going to have to explain this.

This is tricky territory. If you play trumpet or

clarinet or tenor sax or soprano sax, you will

want the B flat version of a music book. But B

flat is not for piano players. Why not? OK. When

one of the above mentioned instruments sees a C

note in the music and fingers a C note on the

instrument (what he has been told is a C anyway),

the note that comes out is a B flat.

And why is that?

Oh rats, I knew you would ask. See what I started

here? I've got to put an end to this inquiry.

"Because it does."

There, that's all you need to know. And likewise

when an alto or baritone sax (there may be others)

fingers a C, out pops an E flat note.

How did this happen? I'd rather not even think

about it. I know it's insane. But using the B flat

and E flat versions of the music is the only way

these particular instruments can read the music

and still be in the same key as everyone else.

So look for the label "For C Instruments." That's

you Mr. or Ms. Piano Player. Or if there is no

indication at all on the cover, then you're

probably going to be safe.

Maybe we'll chew on this topic in a little more

detail later, if anybody is interested. In the

mean time, please direct your questions, comments,

responses, etc. to the blog page so that everyone

can benefit.

Fake Books and iPhones

2010-02-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

Do you know what a fake book is? About half the students who end up taking my Instant Piano workshop do not. I explain that it's a book of music that has only the single-note melody line and the accompanying chords. Thus a fake book is a perfect source of music for people who learn my method.

It pretty much eliminates the need for anyone to have to learn any but the simplest level of music notation reading. In fact, one of the secrets of my method is that it avoids the student having to take years of lessons in order to read.

Fortunately, fake books are now quite abundant. You can find them in most music stores, on line, in libraries, and even in large book stores such as Borders. But I just learned of another source.

The most famous fake book for jazz players is a volume that is paradoxically titled The Real Book. It's the bible for jazz musicians. For years it was underground, only available through the shadiest of sources because, in the tradition of early fake books, there were no licenses granted to publish the songs, thus no royalties were getting paid, and a lot of people and lawyers were unhappy about it.

Then Hal Leonard publishers came along a few years ago and published a legit version of this iconic tome. But here is what I recently found out. There is an iPhone app for the Real Book. And it only cost $8, and it comes with hundreds and hundreds of songs. Plus it has a lot of other features such as the ability to transpose these songs into any key.

Now get this. Last month in Hawaii, Pam and I were jamming at a restaurant with this band we had me the week before, The Hot Club of Hulaville. They have a big repertoire of gypsy jazz songs, but someone requested a song the band didn't know. So all four members got out their iPhones (that's right, they each had one) and looked up the song and read it right from their phones.

That concept was unimaginable 10 years ago. But it was pretty funny.

If you have an iPhone, you can get the program from the Apple App Store. Be aware, there is no melody line in the songs so it isn't like the real Real Book. Chords only, so you need to know the song pretty well in your head. Still. A must have for jazz players.

If you're in the SF Bay area, I'll be presenting my Instant Piano workshop this weekend and next.

Feb 20, College of Marin, 415-485-9305

Feb 21, Solano College (near Fairfield), 707-864-7115

Feb 27, College of San Mateo, 650-574-6149

This is very short notice, so you better call today if you're interested.

More info on the web site.

http://pianofun.com/seminars.html

Mexico and Its Music

2010-01-15T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well we just got back from spending two great weeks in Mexico, and of course a large part of that trip involved listening to music. I know very little about Mexican music, but I like to listen to it, and I often think about it.

Mexican music is so recognizable and is so much a part of their culture. I have to smile when I see a young Mexican man driving an ultra spiffy muscle car down the boulevard, with all the windows rolled down, and the car stereo at full blast. And what you might hear, even if you're a block away, is the sound of an accordion blasting away to a 2/4 polka beat. How funny is that.

I've been to Mexico enough times and have traveled to enough places to be able to recognize some of the different styles of Mexican music according to the region of origin. The accordion/tuba laced norteño music of Northern Mexico is quite different from the horn and violin flavored mariachi music of Guadalajara, which is very different from the harp influenced music of Vera Cruz, which is in turn much different from the music of the Yucatán.

But it's all distinctly Mexican. And it's so cool that there seem to be dozens of standards that everyone knows and feels free to sing along to.

It makes me wonder why we don't have something similar in America. I mean our American culture has contributed to more than its share of music, but there doesn't seem to be one style or group of songs that we all relate to. But upon further thought, there are some exceptions.

We all seem to know the classic Christmas Carols, for example. And there are at least two regions of our great country that exhibit their own unique musical tradition. One is Southern Louisiana (not just New Orleans, but the bayou country as well), and the Cajun areas around Lafayette. And the other is Hawaii.

Hawaii is full if music, and once you get beyond the tourist layer of "Tiny Bubbles" and the like, you get a rich collection of tunes that all the locals seem to know and love. We've been very fortunate to have been invited to participate in many Hawaiian jam sessions. The songs are fairly simple to play and to pick up by ear, having only four or five chords at the most. But they are really soulful, and the locals treat them with reverence.

I'm thinking about that because we will be in Hawaii starting next week, and will no doubt get to re-experience these jam sessions. If you are lucky enough to live in Hawaii or are lucky enough to be there over the next couple of weeks, consider taking my Instant Piano workshop. I'd love to meet you.

I'll be holding the workshops in Kona, Hilo, Honolulu, and Kaneohe. Also How to Play Piano Piano by Ear at every location except Kona. Find the schedule here.

http://pianofun.com/schedule/Laughlin.html

Aloha and mahalo,

Robert

Is My Piano Worth Repairing?

2009-12-10T15:35:00.000-08:00

Here's a letter I recently received from one of my subscribers who had a question about getting her piano tuned and repaired.

I have one of those uprights (wurlitzer) that hasn't been tuned in about 7 years. After reading your article, should I even bother with calling a piano tuner? I'm trying to make a decision whether to buy a new piano.

I don't want to just throw my money away on getting this one tuned if tuning turns out to be futile. So I do need some advice.

I love to play and want a nicer sound. What is frustrating is I've talked to those in the piano business, and they will charge me to send a tuner out whether or not the piano is even worth tuning.

My Answer:

The over all answer to your question is "it all depends." How old is the Wurlitzer? Is it a true upright, or a studio, or a console, or a spinet? These are all designations of a vertical piano. It was tuned seven years ago. How regularly was it tuned before that? (That's the big question). How much sentimental attachment do you have for it? How much could you get if you sold it now, and how much of the cost of a replacement piano would that cover?

Most of these questions could be answered by a piano technician.

I would guess that most piano technicians are honest and would be willing to talk to you on the phone and answer some of your questions. A tuning runs about 100 bucks these days, which includes some regulation. Major regulation might cost another hundred. As for major repairs, the sky is the limit. Major problems could include a warped or cracked sounding board, a weak pin block, restringing, cracked harp, refelting, and numerous possible problems with the action.

I recommend calling a tuner and ask what he would charge to come over and give you a consultation. Ask if that would apply to any tuning or repairs if you plan on going in that direction. Give him the serial number over the phone. He should be able to look it up in the Piano Atlas and tell you lots about the instrument right over the phone.

Call at least two and maybe three technicians before you make an appointment. Make certain the tech is a member of the Piano Technician's Guild (or just "The Guild" as I don't know the exact wording of the name). Get a recommendation from a music store as they would tend to feel they have to stand behind anyone they would recommend.

Also do some homework yourself. Find a copy of The Piano Book by Larry Fine (not the same Larry Fine who was one of the Three Stooges, in case you were wondering). There's a lot of good advice in there about buying pianos, both new and used.

Be aware that some instruments, due to a combination of quality, age, and neglect, simply cannot be tuned. Others SHOULD not be. But many will last several life times if taken care of properly. It's worth a shot.

Report from Brazil Music Camp

2009-09-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

Just returned from Brazil Camp, our third and final
music camp of the summer. While the other two were a
fun mix of very eclectic music classes and a lot of
jamming, Brazil Camp was serious business for very
serious musicians.

It was fun, don't get me wrong. But it was a serious
challenge. But people ask me, "Why Brazil Camp? What's
the deal with Brazilian music anyway?"

Many people associate Brazilian music with the Bossa
Nova. Certainly Bossa Nova is a big part of Brazilian
music, but it's only a part. Here's what make Brazilian
music so special to me.

Consider the music that was created and has developed
in the New World. The influences come from two primary
sources, Europe and Africa. A little after the time of
the discovery of the New World, European music was
beginning to become very rich in harmony (think
Bach/Beethoven/Mozart). But it was pretty anemic
rhythmically. The meters were mostly 4/4, 2/4, or 3/4,
and syncopation was almost non-existent.

Contrast that to the music of West Africa which there
were almost no tonal instruments to create harmony, but
whose rhythms were so glorious, they defied European
musicological examination.

As music developed in North America, it borrowed from
and modified the European models of harmony and even
adopted some of the simpler African rhythms. But to
this day, the rhythms of the music of the Americas are
pretty simple compared to those of Africa.

Except for Brazil.

Here in this music you have extremely challenging
rhythms side by side with some of the most
sophisticated jazz harmonies you've ever heard. The
result? Jazz with a Brazilian flavor. It's rich and
complex, yet from a listener's point of view, very
approachable. It's exciting, but not self absorbed or
over analytical. It's music you want to stay and listen
to or get up and dance to. But unless you're well
versed, don't try to play it.

Brazil Camp, however, was very forgiving to a newcomer
like me. I was either in class or practicing seven
hours a day, and I actually got a chance to be included
in spite of my limitations. And I was inspired to try
hard to "get it."

And some day I will get it. I've got plenty to work on.

Keep playing (it all comes back to that).

Robert

How to Accompany a Singer

2009-09-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Since the word got out that I taught a piano course for
accompanying singers at music camp, people have asked
me if I have a training program for that topic so that
people could learn at home. Surprise. I do not.

But as I went through the course over a period of seven
days, one thing became very clear. Almost every aspect
of piano accompaniment style relates either directly or
indirectly to just about every other aspect of playing
piano. (With one important exception which I'll reveal
in just a moment.)

For example, using the piano as an accompanying tool
will often incorporate elements of the blues, left hand
and right hand variations, the Circle of Fifths,
playing by ear, introductions, endings, power chords,
and various piano style.

Yet it's on the whole easier to use the piano to
accompany a singer than it is to play solo piano. And
this brings us to the important exception I mentioned a
second ago. When accompanying a singer, a piano player
does not play melodies. That's the singers' department.
Much like a guitar player, a piano accompanyist
"strums" chords. And that's something that can be done
with just one hand on a piano.

If you play guitar, imagine how much easier it would be
if you could make chords by using just one hand instead
of two. But that is indeed what it's like with the
piano.

Of course there is more to good piano accompaniment
than merely playing chords with one hand. But that's
the basis of it. So will I ever write a book about
accompaniment? That's yet to be answered. No immediate
plans. But I will continue to educate people on the
fundamentals of chord piano. And remember, the
techniques are all applicable in one way or another to
piano accompaniment as well as solo playing.

And I do plan on repeating the class again next summer at
Lark Camp. (www.larkcamp.com)

Robert

Letter from Summer Camp

2009-09-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.

Music Camp was fun. The days went mostly like this.
Wake up...breakfast...take a one-hour class...take
another class...prepare to teach a class...teach the
class...lunch...break...accompany the vocal
class...teach another class...dinner...find people to
jam with...jam...off to bed by 1:30 (hopefully).

Repeat that routine for seven full days.

Notice there was a break in there. That was for a nap
sometimes. The rest of the time it was for playing
music.

After a week of that routine it was total exhaustion
for us, so we rented a little cottage in Mendocino
where we could recuperate for the weekend. So what did
I do on my "day off?" I went and took a 90 minute piano
lesson.

What is it about musicians? Are we all insane? All that
work, practice, study, rehearsing, learning. For what?
And the weird thing is, this insanity appears to be
universal. One thing that struck me when I was studying
anthropology in college is that all cultures have
music. Primitive, advanced, ancient, modern. Music is
one of the things that actually helps define what it
means to be a human.

And that point was emphasized at this camp inasmuch as
you could find classes in Irish music, Middle Eastern,
South American, Mexican, Balkan, African, Hawaiian,
French, Galician. You could learn to play marimba,
kalimba, hurdy gurdy, oud, bombast, ukulele, slack key
guitar, swing guitar, gypsy jazz guitar, piano,
accordion, fiddle, pandeiro, and every kind of bag pipe
imaginable. Plus you could learn all kinds of dances
from contra and square dance to hula and cajun, to
jitterbug and tango, to English country dances done to
bag pipes at 4 am.

Is that work or is that play? Is that a vacation or is
it professional development? Is it rational or is it
insanity? I don't know. But I'll tell you what it was.
Fun.

This one was called Lark Camp. But there must be
hundreds of music camps for adults around the country
every summer. You might want to check one out this year
or next.

Robert

About Playing by Ear

2009-07-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

Some things can't be taught. You're born with an ability, or you're not. They say perfect pitch is one of those things. Can you hear a musical tone and instantly identify the note? Only a very small percentage of our population can do it. They can't explain how they do it, they can't teach it. They can
can only do it.

Playing music by ear was once thought to be unteachable
(or unlearnable depending on your reference point). In
fact many people are still convinced that playing by
ear is an inherant trait. Ask an "ear" player how they
do it, and they're likely to tell you, "I don't know, I
just do it."

Well I'm here to tell you that not only can anyone
learn to play by ear, it's actually quite easy once you
know a basic thing or two about chord playing. And most
of it is intuitive. Let me show you.

Start with the note C on the piano, and try to play
"Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Just experiment. Trial and
error. Make a mistake, hear it, and correct it. That's
all it is. Start on an E note and play "Mary Had a
Little Lamb." Start on C and play "Frere Jacques."

Some melodies are more challenging than others, so if
you're doing this exercise on your own, be prepared for
inconsistent results. But any melody is ultimately
learnable, using this trial and error method.

This little exercise is exactly what I try to do in the
first few minutes of my How to Play Piano by Ear
workshop. I will choose a student, put him/her at the
piano, give them a starting note, name a tune, and ask
them to do the rest.

And in the course of 25 plus years, I've only had a
handful of students (about three, actually) who could
not pass this simple test. It was easier for some
people than it was for others. But virtually everybody
got it.

Interesting side note. Guess who struggled the most.
Total beginners? No. It was those with years of
traditional classical piano studies that seemed to have
the hardest time with this.

Why? I don't know. But most of them, when I asked,
revealed to me that during their years of study they
were never encouraged by their teachers to play any
music that wasn't actually written down in music
notation format. They never tried to play by ear. They
were never allowed to.

The story does have a happy ending, however. Once they
were given "permission" to touch the piano on their
own, the classical veterans got comfortable with the
idea, and started to pick things up very quickly.

So that's a start to playing by ear. Chances are you've
done it already to some extent. If not, you should give
it a try. The next faze of the process is learning to
add the correct chords to the melodies you play.

Some people believe there is some magic formula that
has the song's melody dictate what the chords should
be. But that's not how it works at all. There is a
method for learning to add chords to a melody, and it's
not that difficult. But perhaps we'll leave that for
another time.

In the meantime, why not give the musical side of your
brain a challenge, and try learning a few tunes on your
own by ear. Here's a help. I can't tell you what the
starting note is for every song. But it's likely to be
either C, E, or G, and that will make it so that the
rest of the notes will be primarily white keys on your
piano. Go ahead, and give it a try.

[photo credit midiman]

Spilling the Beans, Part Two - More on Music Reading

2009-07-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

Last time we talked a bit about some of the secrets
that go into our Instant Piano seminars, and why the
method is effective. One such secret is the fact that
our method reduces the emphasis on note reading. And
that, I believe, requires some further clarification.
Namely:

1) There is nothing wrong with knowing how to read
music.
2) Knowing how to read music will enhance your
musicianship at almost every level.
3) Reading music can be a shortcut to learning.
4) But there is a steep learning curve.
5) And it can also be a crutch.

I believe that for popular music of all kinds, learning
to play by ear is superior to note reading. And the
worst part is that using your note reading skills, if
you have them, can suppress the development of your
ear.

Look at it this way. As a piano player (or as a
potential piano player) what's more important to you?
Creating beautiful music? Or demonstrating your reading
skills? They aren't the same skill, especially the
farther you get away from classical music.

With a lot of classical veterans, reading the music
notation quickly, accurately, skillfully seems to be a
larger concern than making the piano sound good. I
remember being caught in the trap in my younger days.
Then I learned I could listen to a piece of music and
start to recreate it. I began to rely on listening more
and more.

I found that when I came back from a piano lesson,
having the lesson recorded on a cassette tape was much
more valuable than what the teacher wrote down on a
piece of music paper. And that's one of the major
points I try to get across at my workshops.

Maybe we'll revisit this subject at a later time, but
in the mean time, if you have a question, comment or an
observation about reading versus listening, please
click on "comments" below.

Spilling the Beans

2009-07-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a question I get all the time. How can you teach
classrooms full of people how to play piano in just one
afternoon? Learning to play an instrument is supposed
to take years.

I don't often reveal the answer to that question. Until
how the answer has remained a secret that I only reveal
when students take my workshops. Actually there are
several secrets involved here. But a lot of people
never get a chance to take the three and a half hour
workshop from me, so I've decided to reveal some of
these secrets here. If you're curious, read on. It's
time, finally, to spill the beans.

The first secret concerns learning to read music
notation. I avoid it as much as possible. It's learning
to read music that takes a huge amount of time and
dedication. If we take that out of the equation, we can
go directly to "playing the piano."

"But isn't it necessary to read music before you can
play an instrument?"

No.

I can read music somewhat, but I seldom do when I play
piano. And I know a fair amount of good piano players
who do not read music at all. Not a single note.

Note reading does have its place. There have been times
that I've found it helpful. But it's not essential. You
don't learn to read before you talk, do you? For the
same reason, you don't need to master note reading
before you play an instrument.

Why do most piano teachers insist on teaching reading
from the very beginning? Maybe it's because that's how
they were taught.

Now let's clarify a couple of points. What I've just
said about reading music is not be true for learning to
play classical music. Since "classical" is the genre
that is generally taught by typical music teachers, I
guess that's why reading music in general is emphasized
so much.

But we want to be able to read somewhat, don't we? Yes
we do. And all the important parts of music reading are
covered in the first three pages of our basic book,
Popular Chord Style Piano.

And you can get roughly the same information by
downloading a pamphlet from our web site, no charge.
You may have already done this. The pamphlet gives you
all the essentials, but none of the fluff. And you can
get through it in under 30 minutes. Pamphlet download.

So are there other secrets? Yes. Maybe we'll talk about
them later. In the mean time, it's play time for me.

Summer Music Camps

2009-05-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Summer for the Laughlin's tends to revolve around music
festivals and camps. This year is no exception, but we
will be leaning less toward the festivals (watching and
listening to music) and more to the camps (learning and
teaching music). Here's what's on our agenda for this
year.

In July we're going to Sweetsmill outside of Fresno,
California. The camp has been going since the 60's but
this will be the first time for Pam and me. We have
heard so much about it, yet we really don't know what
to expect. So we'll report back from it.

More familiar to us is Lark Camp in the Mendocino
Woodlands of Northern California. This will be our
seventh (?) year of teaching and learning there. The
staff consists of experts in Celtic, Balkan, Americana,
swing jazz, and just about every type of ethnic music
you can imagine. Classes run all day for seven days,
and at any given hour of the day you have a choice of
about 20 different classes you can take. Total
beginners are welcomed and encouraged.

This year I will repeat my gypsy jazz guitar class and
my duties as piano accompanyist for the swing vocal
class. But I'm putting together a new piano class that
I'm pretty excited about. It's called "Piano
Accompaniment for Vocalists."

Wife Pam will be giving her workshop in elementary
jamming. When the classes are not in session, there are
dances and monster jam sessions. Tons of fun. Last I
heard there were still some openings which is very
unusual for this late in the year. More info at
www.larkcamp.com

Finally in September another new one for us. Again in a
beautiful spot in Northern California, this time by the
Russian River. Brazil Camp. We'll be participating in
samba, bossa nova, chorinho, dance, language and
culture classes. It goes for two weeks, but we'll just
be there for the first one, this time as students only,
not as teachers.
http://www.calbrazilcamp.com/overview.html

So we've picked up a couple new events, but then again
have had to let some others go. Not enought time to do
it all. But it just goes to show the richness,
abundance, and diversity of music instruction. And of
course none of that would happen without demand.

I know it's tough for music in many public school
districts right now. That's really too bad, and I don't
know what to do about that. But over all I would say
that demand and supply of music information is alive
and well.

Now here's a request. If you know of similar kinds of
opportunities for music instructional camps in other
parts of the country, leave a comment here so that
others can be made aware of them. And then I'd like to
see some feedback on these places if you have any first
hand knowledge of them.

And if you happen to be at one of the camps where we
are, please say hi.

FAQ's Popular Chord Style Piano

2009-05-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

Our book and CD combo titled Popular Chord Style Piano
has sold tens of thousands of copies and is used in our
One Day Piano Workshops nationwide. We will soon be
having a sale on this program exclusively for our
Newsletter Subscribers. Here is some information on the
courseware.

Not a subscriber yet? Visit www.pianofun.com.

Q. What will the product do for me?
A. It will fulfill the same basic promise I give to all
my students when they take my live seminar from me.
Namely, you'll learn to play any song, any style, any
key with two hands.

Q. You do all that in a three and a half hour class?
A. Yup.

Q. And the students actually learn to play?
A. Yup.

Q. How do you know?
A. By the time the class ends, students are in a frenzy
to get home to try my techniques on their own pianos. I
have to remind them to drive safely, to obey the speed
limits, etc. Also I get evaluations. I'll post some so
you can read them. Also I follow up with students, and
they follow up with me. Some of my graduates are
actually playing piano regularly in public now.

Q. You aren't doing any workshops near me. Why not?
A. I can't be everywhere.

Q. So what can I do?
A. Learn from these materials. Although I'd love to
meet you in person, this is how you can take the course
without having to leave your home. And at a fraction of
the price. If you were able to attend one of my
workshops, this would be the book and CD you would get.
It's essential for home practice and additional study.
This courseware can be used on its own, without a
workshop, as it covers the same material. What you will
be ordering is the exact product the workshop students
get and take home with them.

Q. Why is there a CD?
A. That's one of the secrets as to why this system
works. You will learn to play the piano the same way
you learned to speak your native language as a baby. By
listening and imitating and "jamming." You will
actually "jam" the language of music with me on the CD.

Q. So it's going to work?
A. Yup.

Q. You say these half price books are damaged. What
kind of damage?
A. Various things. Maybe an ink smudge here, a stain
there. Most commonly a corner might be bent. But you
will get a clean, fully functional product. And the CD
is most likely going to be brand spanking new.

Q. I'm nervous about ordering something that may be
damaged. Is there a guarantee?
A. You may return any part of the courseware within one
full year for any reason for a replacement.
Imperfections in the book may not even be noticeable.
However, since we're trying to clear these out, we will
not issue refunds. Only exchanges. But we're very easy
to deal with. We want you to be happy.

Q. Hey, I'm a total beginner, I don't even know where
Middle C is. Will this still work for me?
A. The first three pages of the book are for total
beginners. It covers all the basics. You should read
the pages carefully. Anyone who has some basic music
background already can skip these pages. No one gets
left out.

Q. But my wife has had years of piano lessons in the
past. And she still plays. But she can only play
classical music and can only play with music in front
of her. Will this program help her? It sounds kind of
simple.
A. Your wife learned to play the way most people learn
to play--by reading notes. The sad thing about that is
that reading notation is really only appropriate for
classical music. And the student can't play a note
unless the music is specifically written out. With this
course she will learn the basics from the ground up and
will be liberated from the confines of classical music
notation.

Q. When can I order it?
A. Soon. Very soon.

How to Listen to and Record Piano Night on Your Computer

2009-04-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

New Orleans Piano Night is set for this coming Monday,

April 27, starting at 7 pm Central, and continuing on

into the wee wee hours. In the last letter I suggested

(for those of you who won't be running off to New

Orleans to attend the event in person) that you listen

to it and perhaps record it from the live Internet

broadcast. Here's a little tutorial on how to make this

happen.

What you need:

1. A computer. One with a reasonably fast CPU.

Anything, Mac or PC, made in the last seven years

should suffice.

2. A fast Internet connection. DSL or cable. Dial up

MIGHT work, but could be frustrating.

3. Any web browser. I use Firefox or Safari.

4. iTunes. This is a free download from apple.com

5. Click on the WWOZ web site at:

http://www.wwoz.org/new+orleans+community/piano+night

Once you are there, click on "Listen On Line" and

select your connection speed. You may have to

experiment a little here.

This should be enough to get you tuned in to the live

broadcast.

As for recording it. You will need some software for

this. Although I've never used it, I hear that Audacity

works well for this. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

I personally use Wire Tap for my Mac, but that's not a

free download.

Audacity works for PC, Mac, and Linux. And it's free.

Read the documentation and record the presentation on

your computer hard drive or on an external hard drive.

I suggest chosing mp3 as the file format for best

fidelity and smallest file size.

If that doesn't work, PLEASE do not ask me for help on

this. I've told you all I know. I can't fix individual

computer problems. Sorry. You should be able to find

lots of help on line.

Let me know how you like the show.

Tune In Piano Night This Monday

2009-04-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Every year I make this announcement because I think
it's of real interest to anyone who has more than just
a passing interest in real Americana piano music. It's
Piano Night, an annual event that runs in conjunction
with the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, set to
start on Friday.

Piano Night, however, is this coming Monday, April 27.
It seems there are no real super star headliners this
year, but the performers are all first rate. And if you
have a fondness for this style of music, this is the
annual premiere event as far as I know. You might want
to put it into your calendar right now.

You can get more information on the web site as well as
tune in and listen live on your computer on Monday,
April 27 starting at 7 pm Central time.

In past years I have recorded the broadcast right on my
computer and transfered the files to my iPod. It's
great stuff to listen to and provides opportunities for
learning as well. A lot of the music is HIGHLY
influenced by the Twelve Bar Blues.

Here's the link to the Piano Night Web Site. Enjoy

You can click on "Listen Online" when the time comes to
hear the event broadcast live.

More Blues Analysis

2009-02-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Here's the next article concerning the Fats Domino, et
al clip that you can find at http://tinyurl.com/dgwh6w

Last installment you learned about the Twelve Bar Blues
Chord Progression. I mentioned there were 17 full
choruses of the progression played. Here's a rundown of
who played what.

The clip started with just Ray Charles and the rhythm
section. Ray played three full choruses by himself, and
then Jerry Lee came on about 56 seconds into the clip.
You heard Jerry Lee play one full chorus of piano
improv. Then he sings the next chorus. The chorus after
that, he's back to taking a piano solo. If you look
carefully, you'll see him pound the keyboard with his
foot.

Better take your Suzuki trained children out of the
room when that comes on. After the "shoe" chorus he
plays another chorus that demonstrates a redundant
style, playing the same short phrase repeatedly, not
even changing it when the chord changes. Talk about
tension.

I believe on the following chorus Ray takes over on the
solo duties. It's hard to verify that for sure since
the camera moved around a lot, and it wasn't in stereo.
Finally, Jerry Lee comes back in for another vocal
chorus, "Lord I Love to Boogie."

And that sets everything up for Fats entrance. We have
just heard nine choruses of the Blues Progression. Fats
starts on chorus 10. He will go on to play five
choruses before he starts singing. Again there is an
ambiguous sound situation, and I'm not sure I hear Fats
until his third time through. After the five
instrumental choruses, Fats starts to sing, "I ain't
gonna be your low down dog no more." Then he does
another chorus of ooooohh oooooohs, and the song ends.

So that's the general road map to the sequence. If you
are enjoying these posts, please comment, and if there
is interest, I'll continue with the analysis. It's fun
for me, and who knows, you could soon be playing along.

Analyzing the Fats Domino Video, pt. 1

2009-02-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

All right let's talk about the Fats Domino/Jerry Lee
Lewis/Ray Charles video clip I mentioned last time.
Here is the link to it once again.

You might want to watch it again if you're interested
in learning what's going on. In fact, you might even
want to try to play along with it.

Don't laugh. It may be easier than you think. Let's
examine the first song first.

To begin, how is it that all these musicians can play
the song together? No one seems to be reading any
music. What gives? Did they memorize the sheet music?

No.

Some of them most likely can't even READ music. And the
song may not even have a name. It seems to be 95%
improvised.

What they are playing is arguably THE most common chord
progression in all of music. By far. And all musicians
on the pop music side of the fence learn this chord
progression by the time they're two years old. Or at
least by the time they've been playing music that long.

It's called the Twelve Bar Blues progression. It's easy
to learn, and like the name implies, it's only 12
measures long.

Actually, this chord progression (with all its possible
variations) can be played in any key, so there are
actually 12 of them. The musicians on the video chose
to play the first song you hear in the video in the key
of C. Damn lucky for us.

Ultimately you will hear 17 choruses of the song
played. That means they play the 12 Bar Blues
progression 17 times in a row. A quick trip to my
calculator tells me that you will hear precisely 204
measures of music played in the first example. Don't
bother counting the measures. But you might want to get
a sense of what a single 12-measure chorus sounds like.
Then you can verify that there are 17 of them.

So what are these chords?

According to the book "How to Play Blues Piano Styles,"
the world's most authoritative blues piano resource
that also happens to have been written by me, on page 5
you find the twelve measure progression to have the
following sequence of chords.

Actually the C7 could be substituted for the C, and the
F7 could be substituted for the F. This is the basic 12
Bar Blues Chord Progression. This is almost what you
hear throughout the song, but not quite. This tune uses
a common variation of the progression which substitutes
an F (or an F7) in measure 10. Everything else is
exactly the same. So it actually looks and sounds like
this:

This variation is mentioned on page 26 of the
aforementioned book, by the way. Now try to understand
this. If you just memorized this simple chord
progression, you could play along with theys guys. Or
at least play along with the recording.

So that's the lesson for now. Memorize the Twelve Bar
Blues chord progression. If you know the chords
already, you can actually play the progression. (Works
for guitar too, by the way). Then see if you can get a
feeling for the beginning and ending of each chorus.
Try to verify that there are 17 full choruses played in
the song. Then we'll connect next time for further
insights.

Your comments are encouraged on our blog.

Robert

P.S. There is a bonus to this. If you learn the Twelve
Bar Blues Chord Progression, there are about a million
and a half other songs you can play along with too.

Our Workshops Promise a Lot

2009-01-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

But Can They Deliver?

Dear Friend of the Piano:

As you may know, what makes us different from other
piano teaching businesses and web sites is that we base
our teaching system on a three and a half hour
mini-seminar or workshop. That makes us more than
different. It makes us unique.

When I first launched the workshops in January, 1983, I
was told by nearly everyone that learning to play piano
in half a day couldn't be done. (Hey, I just did the
math. That means we're starting our 27th year.)

Now, some 200,000 students later, we're still going
strong. I personally have taught the classes at over 50
colleges in nine states. And I have trained quite a few
piano teachers to present the workshops in most of the
rest of the states.

What do you learn in the Instant Piano Workshop?
This is what I tell my students at the beginning of
class.

"By the time we are done this evening you will be able
to take the sheet music to any song, in any style, and
in any key, and play it with both hands."

Even beginners? Even beginners.

Of course NOBODY believes it. But by the time we're
done, that evening, they become believers.

Perhaps, there's a workshop to be given near you, and
you can see for yourself. You can look at my schedule
by going here.

http://pianofun.com/schedule/Laughlin.html

And you can look at other workshop leaders schedules by
going here. Click on your area of the country.

http://pianofun.com/seminars.html

And if you are a complete beginner, download a little
prep pamphlet by going here. It should only take you
about half an hour to learn these basics, if you don't
know them already.

http://pianofun.com/downloads/notes.pdf

Basic facts about the workshops.

Cost: Set by the colleges or agency that sponsors them.
About 50 bucks.

Materials: Another $25 for basic book and CD ($5 off
retail price).

Length: 3 1/2 hours

Audience: Adults 16 and over. Average age, about 50.

Fun Level: Extremely high

Payoff: Any song, any style, any key with both hands.

Income potential of professional piano player: About
$40/night.

Hope to see you.

Robert

P.S. If you've already taken the Instant Piano
workshop, consider enrolling in How to Play Piano by
Ear.

Our Gala Christmas Issue

2008-12-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

Holiday Greetings:

Looks like I won't be going into the office today.

Last night Pam informed me that we have to go to Costco
today to finish our Christmas shopping.

"And start it," she added.

Not looking forward to that. I love the giving part.
It's getting to that point that I don't care for all
that much. I never took too kindly to shopping.

But I'm looking forward to later in the day when I get
to give without having to go through the crowds and
lines. Pam and I will bring our instruments to the Work
Training Center to play Christmas songs for the
clients. I love being able to do that.

I often think about what is the psychology behind what
motivates a person to learn to play an instrument. The
way most people go about it it's never an easy process.
They find it to be difficult, demanding on the body as
well as the mind, tedious, lonely. And there is no way
to count all the hours that go into it. So why do they
do it?

For the money? Hah. Sometimes there's some money
involved for some people, but it's usually barely
enough to pay for gas. No, I think there is an inherant
joy in both giving and receiving, and playing music for
people lets you give and receive at the same time. I
can't think of anything else in life that works exactly
in this way.

Pam and I have actually played out about a half dozen
times in the past two weeks. Fundraisers, private
parties, a Christmas tree farm. All just for fun. And
we feel blessed to be able to do it.

The Work Training Center is a place that does a lot of
the assembly work for our product line. The
employees/clients are all mentally handicapped to
various degrees. We've played for them before. And just
the little bit we did for them brought tears to their
eyes. And of course that brought the tears to our eyes
too.

And maybe that's the payoff. That's the compensation
for all those lonely hours practicing scales and
exercises and being frustrated that some songs just
don't learn themselves.

I'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas or whatever
you choose to celebrate at this time of year. And if
you don't celebrate anything, bah humbug to you. Go out
and learn an instrument, and brighten up your life.

Feel like commenting on this or any other of our
issues? Please do so at our blog site.

http://pianofun.com/blog2/mainblog.html

Now it's time to play.

Robert

Portable Piano Buying Guide

2008-12-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Fellow Friend of the Piano:

I recently received a few questions about what kind of
portable piano I use and recommend today. So I'd like
to address that. Please keep in mind that

1) I do not represent myself as any kind of an expert
when it comes to "gear." So what you get here is just
my humble opinion based on very little first hand
knowledge. And

2) I'm not getting paid to endorse anything, nor am I
an affiliate of a piano company, nor will I get
commissions, kick-backs, spiffs or anything like that.
So here you get my total unbiased ignorance. It's a
buying guide. Just in time for Christmas.

With that in mind, with regard to portable pianos,
people generally are looking for one or more of the
following features.

quality
durability
features
number of keys
price
portability (light weight)

Keep in mind you will not get all these features in any
piano, so we have to make some sacrifices.

Here are the things that are important to me.

number of keys - it's got to be 88 for me. I'm spoiled.
I won't play on anything less. If you feel you want to
compromise and save a little money, fine. Get a 73.
That's six octaves. Avoid the 63 jobs unless you share
a bedroom with Harry Potter or you really need the 10
bucks you're going to save by buying it over the 73.

weighted keys - it's got to feel like a piano to me,
not like an organ. The piano is a percussion
instrument, and the keys are weighted and things like
the velocity and force of striking a key are important.
There is no portable piano (save the Yamaha Grand if
they still make that, and it takes two people to carry
it so it isn't really portable anyway) that has truly
weighted keys. But some do a good job of mimicking the
weighted keys. If that's important to you too, insist
on weighted keys. Units with weighted keys start around
$600 and go up. Way up. And only 88 key pianos have a
chance of being weighted.

durability - I need a portable piano for gigs. Not that
I play a lot of them anymore, but when I do, I need
something that's going to withstand the rigors of
hauling around. Otherwise I just stay home and play my
Kawaii grand piano which is my preference anyway.
Really durable road worthy portables start costing
$1500 and up.

portability - I want to be able to put
everything--piano, amp, stands, electronics--in the
back of my sports sedan. Most full size, weighted
pianos are about the same size, so size is rarely an
issue. Some weigh more than others. Put my portable
keyboard into a road case, and it takes two people to
carry it.

price - I am basically cheap. Really cheap. But I
learned long ago not to cheap out on musical
instruments. The good news is that the piano industry
is very competitive and it's electronic technology,
which means prices tend to reflect value, and they tend
to keep coming down. Think of what a plasma TV cost 10
years ago, vs. now. If you're a pro and are always
lugging your gear around, pay more for the quality.
Otherwise, if you're looking for a keyboard to put in
your apartment for occasional use, you can economize.

features - This is the least important thing to me. I
am a piano player. So I want my portable to sound like
a piano. I don't need the sound of a trumpet, flute,
violin, the Vienna Boys Choir, outer space aliens,
submerged lemmings, arpeggios (I'll make my own,
thanks), transposers (I confess I use them sometimes,
but rarely), keyboard splitters (ditto, especially if
there is a need for a bass player), recorders, demo
players, celery choppers, capuccino makers, game
controllers, etc. on my piano. I do use electronic
piano and organ sounds occasionally, however. But I
could live without them.

OK. So what portables have what? Again, I'm limited to
what I know. And that isn't very much.

Weighted keys. Got to go with 88. You can get a Casio
Privia starting at $600. Lots of features, relatively
light weight, but not too durable. I've had problems
when pushing it to its limits. Otherwise, it's a good
little unit.

Durability is a good thing. Unfortunately it also comes
with weight and price. My Fatar keyboard has lasted 15
years already. But it's heavy, and on top of that, it
doesn't have an amp (another 50 lbs), or even
electronics. I have to have another plug in unit just
to have any sounds. That's the price you pay.

portability - there again if you want it to be light
you have to put up with flimsy.

price - you get what you pay for

features - most units have most of the gadgets. The
reason these pianos have them is that it allows sales
people in music stores who have limited piano playing
skills to impress unwary customers with a snazzy demo.
But what you are buying is a musical instrument that is
there for you to play and learn to play. After
mastering your third Hanon exercise, the snazzy demos
are long forgotten.

One other item that you might find useful if you're
really into the computer thing. I have a 60 key MIDI
keyboard that attaches to my computer via a USB cable.
If you use music software, such as Garage Band, you may
want such a unit even though it's not really a
performance oriented instrument. But its applications
are virtually limitless. The only limits are on your
time.

Holiday Cheers,

Robert

======================================
P.S. Is Instant Piano Courseware on your Christmas shopping
list? If so, there's still time to order. All orders received
go out the same or the following business day.

Here's a convenient Product Finder to help guide you.

http://pianofun.com/catalog/productfinder.html

======================================

Ray - Fats - Jerry Lee Together

2008-12-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Here is that treat I promised in the last issue. Click on this.

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k1kzjaNNndvwYL2LUk& related=1"

I don't know the origin of this clip, but it truly is of historical importance. Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Fats Domino all playing piano and singing on stage at the same time. The band includes Ron Wood of the Stones, Carl Perkins of Blue Suede Shoes fame, and the producer is Paul Shaffer from the David Letterman show.

Just listen. They do two songs. Maybe in a future issue we'll talk about what you're about to hear. What a treat this is. Just enjoy.

Mystery Piano in Massachusetts

2008-12-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help but notice a very small item on the
news last week. Seems the police in rural Massachusetts
could not figure out who put a fully functioning, tuned
piano at the end of a dirt road in the middle of the
forest. It was discovered by a hiker.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/23/massachusetts.piano/
index.html

Who would do such a thing?

Today I did an Internet search today to see if the
authorities had solved the case or at least had any
leads. They did not. But when I saw a photo of the
piano, I immediately determined a prime suspect.

Me.

But I didn't do it. Honest. So why would I be a prime
suspect? Let me explain.

First, I was in rural Massachusetts last month. Second,
I own the exact same model of piano. A Baldwin
Acrosonic. Third, I frequently take my piano into the
woods.

This should be an open and shut case.

You may be wondering how and why I take my piano to the
woods. Fair question. Back in the late 1970's I
acquired my dream piano. A Baldwin Acrosonic, just like
the one they found in Massachusetts. I wanted this
piano for one reason. It was the best portable piano
money could buy.

Portable piano?

Sort of. I was working as a professional piano player
in those days, just getting started. Unlike today,
piano players had it rougher than most. They either had
to play the house piano (if there was one available),
or they had two choices for an "electric" piano: either
a Fender Rhodes (piece o'crap) or a Wurlitzer Electric
(even crappier).

My part time job then was as a piano mover. I learned
that with the right equipment, a piano could be
successfully moved by one person and a van. Thus I
solved my piano problem by taking my Baldwin Acrosonic
Spinet to all my gigs. It was quite a conversation
piece. But best of all I got to play my very own 100%
genuine real piano at all my gigs. Heaven.

Once my band, The Bop A Dips, was playing in Wyoming,
and we had a couple days off in between gigs, so we
stopped at Yellowstone Park for a little diversion. One
night around the campfire, some folks took out guitars,
harmonicas, whatever, and started playing some songs.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked.

"Not at all."

So I went to the van and whipped out my Baldwin. Right
there at Yellowstone. I wheeled it right over to the
campfire. You should have seen their expressions.

I don't gig with that piano anymore. Thankfully,
portables have gotten good enough to be heard in
public. But I still take my Baldwin to music festivals
like Strawberry and music camps like Lark in the
Morning. I love it. Beats the high falutin' digitals
any day.

As for the piano in Massachusetts. I didn't do it. I
swear. But I'd like to meet the person who did.

Fun with Scales??????

2007-01-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

Quick, what's the best business to be in in January? My
guess would be diet books, and exercise programs. But
piano workshops are pretty popular this time of year
too.

Hopefully a piano workshop will be more FUN than a diet
or an hour a day at the gym. But piano can have its
more challenging moments. I recently got a letter from
one of our subscribers asking about scales and
exercises. He asks, "What other types of exercises can
you recommend that will help? I'm looking for exercises
that will help with harmonization."

Here was my reply to him.

Harmonization is more of a cerebral issue, while
practicing scales and exercises is more physical. What
is really challenging, helpful, and fun is to make up
exercises that address both issues. Here is what I
would recommend.

1. Keep learning the major scales with both hands.
Learn one per week. Should take you 12 weeks. Make sure
your brain is engaged with this exercise, not just your
fingers. You should know exactly what notes belong in
each major scale. Good news: no need to practice minor
scales for now.

2. Review Hanon exercises 1 - 20.

3. Now for the challenge. Learn the Hanon exercises in
all 12 keys. Start with Hanon #1 in F. Then G. Then
gradually add the more challenging keys. Do the same
for all 20 exercises. Fingering might be awkward with
some of these combinations, but this is a mental
exercise as well as a physical one. See what we're
doing here? We are combining the physically oriented
Hanon exercises with the more cerebral idea of scales
and harmony. It's a real physical/mental challenge.

So there you have 240 new exercises to master.

Sounds like a lot of work. Realistically I have haven't
yet done all 240 of the combinations myself, but I have
worked on many of them. I highly recommend this
exercise for intermediate to advanced players.
Beginners, you can relax for the time being.

For "Hanon," pick it up at a music store. It's real
name is "The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises." And the
author is C.L. Hanon. It's cheap. Get the authentic
version, not any of the dozens of reworkings.

As for piano workshops, here's where you can find a
schedule. There might be one in your neighborhood.

http://pianofun.com/seminars.html

Keep playing.

While Watching TV

2006-12-06T15:59:00.000-08:00

Just a thought.

Perhaps you caught 60 Minutes on TV Sunday night when
they did a feature on the classical pianist Gabriela
Montero. It's always interesting to me when a part of
mainstream media does a piece on a more esoteric part
of the culture. I sit back and ask myself, "what part
of this phenomenon are they going to try to sell me?"

Didn't have to wait very long. The thing that stuck
with me with the piece was they were portraying her as
someone "controversial." Why? Because she
(occasionally) improvises on the piano. Oh, the horror.

But that reflects on the culture too, doesn't it? The
enforcers of what is proper in classical music have
established the edict demonizing improvisation. Even
though Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven improvised, modern
day pianists are prohibited from it.

So what does this mean? In order for a modern day
classical musician to be deemed worthy, they are
prohibited from being creative? Do we live in an insane
world or not?

I come face to face with this mindset all the time,
from the upper echelon music critics to the common
everyday piano teacher. But you know what's cool? It
isn't universal. In fact, I don't even think they are a
majority anymore.

So let's give praise to Gabriela Montero and to all
piano teachers who feel that success at the piano is
more than just playing with overwhelming precision what
someone else has written a few hundred years earlier.

Audio file for Silent Night substitutions

2006-11-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

In the last entry I wrote about making chord substitutions for Silent Night.
But wouldn't it be better if you could hear it?
Click on the title above for a 10 minute mini lesson.

Chord Substitutions for Christmas

2006-11-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

One of the things a veteran piano player does is make
chord substitutions. Chord theory can be quite complex,
and you could probably build a four year graduate
degree around it. But here are a couple of real basic
ideas that you can try on Christmas Carols, or any
other type of non-classical song.

Two great substitutions for major chords are 1) the
major sixth and 2) the major seventh. I'll spell out
the C6 and the Cmaj7 for you and leave it up to you to
extrapolate the formulas to the other major chords.

C6 = C E G A

Cmaj7 = C E G B (natural)

So time to get creative. Next time you play a song, any
song, make one of those substitutions for any plain old
major chord. If you are playing Silent Night, for
example, that song has the following chords. C, F, and
G7. Instead try C6, F6, and G7. That will modernize the
sound of the song.

Want it to sound even more modern? OK. Try Cmaj7,
Fmaj7, and G7, respectively.

Will that make the song sound better? That, my friends,
is a matter of opinion. Only you will know if that
makes it sound better to your ear. So try it. You might
like it.

Oscar Peterson in Person

2006-09-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

Oscar Peterson. What is left to say about such an icon?

Would it be fair to give a critical review about an 81
year old man who could barely cross the stage to get to
the piano? No, he is beyond critiquing. All appearance
of frailty aside, by the time his fingers hit the keys,
you would never know he was 81.

His set was about what I would have expected--equal
parts blues, standards and ballads. Perhaps he did lean
a little heavily toward the ballads (mostly originals)
but by the time he got to Sweet Georgia Brown (about
two hours after he started) he just shredded the solos.
Truly amazing for someone at any age.

He had a very adept band rounding out the quartet,
including a guitar player who sounded eerily like the
late Joe Pass, a staple Peterson collaborator.

The familiar standards included Satin Doll (very modern
reharmonization of the chords), Neal Hefti's Cute, and
a gorgeous Here's That Rainy Day. The audience was
mesmerized of course, and almost everyone in the
audience I talked to was either a piano player, guitar
player, or drummer.

So what can we learn from attending such a performance?
I personally was able to watch his hands and for the
first time, connect what his playing sounds like to
what it looks like. Maybe, just maybe, some of that
playing will rub off on me.

I wanted to drive home right a way after the concert
and try some things out. But for me, it was a three
hour drive that got me home at 1:30 am and too tired to
do any practicing. But first thing the next morning I
was at the piano.

Of course Oscar at 81 isn't the same as hearing him
when he was 41. Certainly he has lost a few miles per
hour off his fastball. But he's made up for it by
becoming more of a finesse player. He consistently gets
his curve balls over, and has a devastating change-up.

He was everything a legend should be.

Visiting a Piano Legend

2006-09-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited. Later this afternoon I get to drive 180
miles to Oakland. Then later this evening I get to
drive 180 miles back home to Chico.

In between I get to see a performance by jazz piano virtuoso
Oscar Peterson.

I guess he's about the most legendary jazz piano player
alive. If I'm wrong, tell me who it is.

It's Oscar, perhaps our last living link with the glory
years of jazz.

So I should have a lot to report on tomorrow. Stay
tuned.

Help! What's a Good Chord Instrument?

2006-08-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

We've been talking about strengthening our piano skills by playing the right hand and left hand separately on different instruments, and then re-synthesizing the two parts on a piano later.

My example was using a melodica (a two and a half octave mini keyboard that you blow through) to work with the right hand, and then a guitar to work with the left hand. I find the guitar most helpful because it's a way of looking at chords through an entirely different medium. I get a whole new perspective on chords by playing them on a guitar.

Piano players can easily adapt to the melodica; it's just a miniaturized form of a piano. But what if you don't already play the guitar? I don't recommend starting to learn it from scratch. Unlike the piano, the guitar is a very difficult instrument. It takes a lot of dedication.

So what can you use for chords? Well you could play chords with your right hand on the melodica, I suppose. But you get no new insight from that.

There have been various chord producing instruments on the market over the years. The Omni Chord comes to mind. But these tended to be just one finger chord generators that didn't really reveal much in the way of how chords work. Plus they were limited to relatively simple chords.

Take a Cole Porter chord progression such as Gm7b5 - C7b9 - Fm6 - Dm7b5 - G(alt) - Cmaj7 and you've had it. These one finger chord gizmos can't cut it to my knowledge.

I believe one of our bloggers suggested a chord instrument by Suzuki or somesuch, but I have no clue how those work.

So I'm kind of stumped. Anyone out there who knows of a chord based instrument other than the piano that's versatile, musically correct, and easy to use, please let us know.

Blog on Vacation

2006-07-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

No blog entries next week. How come?

Your blog host will be attending and teaching at a music camp all next week at a place where there are plenty of redwood trees but no phones, no Internet, no cell coverage. I will be totally isolated. My only contact with the outside world will be occasionally being able to catch an inning or two of an A's game on the car's AM radio.

Ironically, when I was traveling in Thailand a couple months ago, I had total communication back home via e-mail and even free phone calls through the Internet every single day. Now I'm going to be in California and totally isolated.

I'll be teaching a class every day called "How to Jam by Ear" or something like that. The good news is that when I return in a week, we'll pick up where we left off in the blog discussions, and I will no doubt have some stories from camp.

To learn more about this camp, check out the link. Lark Camp

And if you need to reach me, you'll probably have to do so by carrier pigeon.

Isolating the Chords

2006-07-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Last time I revealed how playing the melodica helps me learn melodies better. By the same reasoning, learning chord progressions on a guitar forces me to separate chords from melodies and isolate the chord progressions.

When I play chords apart from the melodies, I can focus on them better. I tend to recognize patterns better that way. And once I recognize a certain pattern, it forms or reinforces a neurological pathway in my brain (I think that's what's going on up there.)

When I return to the piano I now have both the left hand and right hand learned separately, which makes it easier to put them together as opposed to just starting from scratch on the piano.

Notice I'm not saying that learning in this fashion helps me coordinate the two hands together better. It just has the effect of better preparation with each of the two hands individually. And with guitar, I tend to see the logic of the chord progressions a little better. Or at least a little differently.

I notice this effect is especially true with difficult songs and/or difficult keys. For example, I've tried many times over the years to play standards like "Body and Soul" and Monk's "Round Midnight." I could never get the songs to "stick" in my head when trying to learn them at the piano. But learning them indepently on melodica and guitar? It smashed all those barriers to learning for me. Why not give it a try?

Oh. And what if you don't play the guitar? Let's talk about that next time.

One Cool Secret about Learning Piano That I Learned on My Houseboat

2006-07-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

At this moment, the temperature in Chico, California is 107 F. It's headed for a high of 111 F today. For many of the days of summer, the daytime temperature here is in triple digits. Pam and I seek relief from this heat by heading to our houseboat on Lake Oroville.

I love being out on the lake in the summer. If I had an Internet connection out there, I doubt I'd ever come into the office until October. Actually, there is one other creature comfort, besides the Internet, that the houseboat lacks. A piano.

It's not inconceivable to have a portable keyboard out there. It's just I never got around to shopping for one. But I still play music out there (along with Pam on clarinet) thanks to two other instruments, a guitar and a melodica.

I've played the guitar since I was about 12 years old. I'm pretty good, but I'm not really good because I can't really figure the thing out. Piano makes sense to me. Guitar is a mystery. So all I really do with the guitar is play chords while Pam plays her clarinet. So together, we make a band (of sorts).

Pam bought me a melodica last November for our anniversary. For those who don't know, a melodica is a miniature keyboard that you blow into while you finger the keys. It has about two and a half octaves, and sounds like a cross between a harmonica and an accordion.

Whenever I learn a new song in the winter, I learn it all at once, on the piano. Whenever I learn a new song in the summer, on the houseboat, I learn it two ways--once on the guitar, and then again on the melodica. So why am I making a point of this?

It turns out that this method of learning songs became my secret new breakthrough. Instead of learning new songs on the piano where I'm trying to do everything at once, I'm now learning the parts separately.

Next time, I'll explain why this has really helped my playing.

New Learning Breakthrough, pt. 1

2006-07-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

I get new insights on the art of learning all the time. Sometimes figuring out how the human brain learns music is as fascinating as the actual learning process itself.

We've been discussing left hand and right hand independence, and I recently had one of the greatest learning insights of my life on this particular subject--and quite by accident.

Playing the piano can be hard. No, that's not the insight. We already know that, don't we? Every instrument is difficult in its own way for various reasons. And when we understand what that unique challenge is, then we can possibly have a map for figuring out how to master the instrument.

In some ways piano is easier than other instruments. We don't have to worry about developing an embouchure (that's the muscles of the face that wind instrument players have to be concerned with). We don't have to worry too much about tone quality (like almost all other instruments). We don't have to worry about playing in tune (that's your piano tuner's responsibility).

But most other instrumentalists do.

So what's the special difficulty in piano?

First, you have to play more than one note simultaneously.

Second, you are responsible for playing both the harmony (that means chords) and the melody simultaneously.

Virtually no other instrument has that problem. And that's the whole crux of the left hand versus right hand problem we have been talking about lately, isn't it?

A guitar player uses both his hands just to play chords. A violin/flute/trumpet/clarinet/saxophone/trombone player uses both hands just to produce one single tone.

We piano players have ten fingers to play all the notes of the melody as well as all the notes of the harmony simultaneously. There's the challenge.

Sometimes, when learning a new song with challenging chords, challenging melodies, challenging keys or all of the above, it's just overwhelming. All the elements of the song come together at once and overwhelm my senses.

But I just recently in the last few months discovered something that really opened up many many doors for me. And in the next blog entry, I'll reveal what it is.

What kind of metronome to use?

2006-07-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

On the subject of metronomes, which is better: the old fashioned Seth Thomas wind up kind or the new electronic battery powered ones?

If given that kind of choice I almost always instinctively go for the old fashioned tried and true version. Not this time, however.

While the old Seth Thomas rigs have their charm and aesthetic appeal (and symbolic significance) I'm going to suggest using the electronic metronome.

For one thing, they have a feature that you don't find on the old wind-ups. They give you a special tone on the first beat of the measure. With the wind up metronomes it's possible (sometimes easy) to lose a single beat while playing a difficult piece at a rapid tempo. Much better to know when the beginning of each measure is. You can even set most metronomes to exotic time signatures such as 5/4 so you can practice to Paul Desmond's "Take Five." The feature can always be disabled if you want.

I remember doing scales and Hanon exercises to a metronome when I swore the metronome was either speeding up or slowing down. That became a standing joke for me as I believe that 99% of the time it was me who was speeding up and slowing down. But sometimes a wind up metronome can be at fault. I had mine checked and found that the time it took for the pendulum to swing to the right was just a little different than the time it took to swing left.

Bad metronome.

So unless you're going somewhere for a very long time where they don't have batteries, I suggest using the electronic units. Not only can they be much smaller than the wind up counterparts, but they are more durable, less susceptible to shock. And you can use them with headphones.

I even have a metronome that doubles as a guitar tuner so I don't have anything EXTRA to carry around with me.

Robert

Should I Use a Metronome?

2006-07-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

I was reading throught the various responses to the entry on how to solve the left hand/right hand independence problem, and was pleased to read so many good ideas. Also it's refreshing to know (in a way) that this is a universal problem. OK, it's not just me who has this problem

So here go some more thoughts on the topic.

Basic hypothesis: almost any song can be played successfully with two hands if you play it slow enough. But how do you know what is slow enough? And then how do you improve (increase velocity)?

Someone responded to the blog by suggesting the use of a metronome. I heartily agree, if you use it correctly. I don't ususally suggest metronomes to my basic classes, because they are hard to get used to, and can actually distract from the music itself.

But I assume our blog readers are beyond that and are serious about improving. So here is what to do. Set your metronome to a very slow speed. Then tap your foot to the beat and try to play your song with two hands. Can't do it? Then set the speed even slower. There will be a speed at which you can play the song. It may be ridiculously slow, but it's there.

If not: That means the song is too difficult for you right now, or you need some more familiarity with the two hand separately. So get to work on the parts or change songs.

So you can now play the song very slowly. So do it. If you can play the song THREE TIMES without making a mistake of any kind, then you know have that speed mastered.

Time to raise the bar. Go no more than two bpm (beats per minute) faster. Now try to play it again three times without mistakes. If you can. Raise the bar again.

If you can't, then practice at that speed until you can. Remember, three times perfectly. No cheating.

Repeat this process until you have the song at the speed you want.

Things to remember:

1) Playing very slow can be quite painful, but force yourself not to stray from the metronome. Don't cheat. Don't rush through the "easy" parts.

2) Sometimes, you will have to go backwards temporarily. You lower the bar before you can raise it again.

3) Keep a journal of your progress. Sometimes just penciling in the margins of the sheet music is enough.

4) Play with the metronome at least a little bit every day.

5) Remember we all have limits. There are some people who can play Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" at 230 bpm. I never will. But that's OK. I'll be happy to crack 180 some day.

6) Music is supposed to be fun. The metronome is a useful tool, but it's not too musical. But you'll have to let it go someday too.

Left Hand vs. Right Hand

2006-07-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

OK, we've got some great questions. Let's see if we can start getting some of them answered and prompt others to jump in with their opinions.

There seemed to be some interest in getting the right hand and left hand to work together. It seems this problem is unique to the piano, as most other instruments concentrate EITHER on playing the melody (flute, trumpet, violin) or chords (guitar). Piano players must do both.

Actually, I believe the problem is NOT getting the hands to be coordinated with one another, but rather the opposite. How do we train the hands to work independently? How do we de-coordinate them?

A trumpet player uses two hands to produce just the melody. A guitar player uses two hands to produce just the chords. A piano player must do two things at once.

As a struggling novice boogie-woogie student back in the early 1970's it became apparent to me rather early that in order to succeed at boogie, I had to have a very strong left hand. Not only did my left hand have to play the harmony (chords), but it was also responsible for the rhythm.

If that were not enough, I had to save up all my mental creative concentration for the right hand in order to get creative with my improvising. So I concluded I needed to get my left hand down perfectly first. I had to train it to go on "auto pilot."

Luckily the left hand was pretty repetitive, so training it to be on auto pilot was not out of the question. I would work very hard on just the left hand for a few weeks, and it actually got pretty good with those boogie lines. I was pretty proud of it. But pride cometh before a fall, doesn't it?

Everything went fine until I added my right hand and started to play some improvised lines. Then the whole thing fell apart on me. And the sad truth was I wasn't ready to start improvising yet. My left hand wasn't completely automatic yet.

So how do I train myself to improvise without driving myself (and everyone in ear shot) totally crazy with the lone monotonous left hand?

Then it hit me. I would practice my left hand while distracting my brain with other things such as ............ watching television. After a week, that went pretty well. Then I graduated to reading while playing my left hand. If news magazines were a little hard to start with, I would read comic books. Then newspapers and magazines, even novels, all with those boogie-woogie lines droning in the background.

Then I went for my biggest challenge. I'd practice my boogie-woogie left hand while talking on the telephone. Yes of course I was driving everyone else crazy at that time. But it was worth it. For me. Plus I was living alone, so that helped too.

Within six months I could keep that boogie-woogie left hand going and start to add my right hand while improvising on the blues scale. What fun.

That's one way to approach it. Anybody else have some other suggestions? Of course it's not like the problem was solved forever. In fact, with every new song there is still the element of this tension between left and right. But after I solved the problem once, it made subsequent challenges a little easier.

Off to a Good Start

2006-07-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Whoa:

I just spent the last five days leading up to July Fourth on our houseboat on Lake Oroville. A very nice place to be, but one of the best/worst (choose one) things about it is that I was without an Internet Connection for all that time. When I came back to Planet Dry Earth on July 5, I was pleased to see so many comments posted to the last blog entry.

Please understand that there are very few things that give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about the Internet. But this really did, so I'm really inspired now to keep it up.

Rosa, your suggestion for posting sound files is a great one. I'll see how easy this is to do. Not only is there the technical part (which I will be able to handle), but I need to see if it's possible to license actual song examples to use without getting into the murky field of copyright infringement. There's got to be a way to get around that, and if anybody knows an easy answer to this, please let me know.

Stand by for more specific responses to your questions.

Robert

Wanted: Blog Topics

2006-06-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Message Board, a staple of our web site since its inception in 1997 is no longer. It is now replaced with this blog.

There are several reasons we're doing this, but the important thing is we at Pianofun.com encourage interactive participation from our users. The blog format will let us have this interaction while at the same time we can eliminate much of the irrelevancies, spam, and hackers (we hope).

You the User can participate by reading or by reading and responding. You will not be able to post your own main topic, but you are welcome to respond to any topics that are already posted, including this one.

In fact, this post is a call for topics. Please feel free to respond by asking a piano based question or by suggesting a topic for a future post.

We will read these responses and will try to keep new postings coming on a regular basis.

So please post away (while observing good Internet etiquette of course).

Ready for 2006

2005-12-31T16:44:00.000-08:00

Just a few more hours left in 2005.
Have you made resolutions yet?
Mine is to play more music, and to help more people discover the joys of piano playing.
Care to join me?

Happy New Year!