Getting the most from this great hobby!
The idea of working smarter not harder is nothing new of course. However, often when we see videos promising to unlock the secret, we get content that just says ‘practice slowly’. This isn’t always the answer as I discuss in my approach on how to practice piano effectively. I have watched a few videos on...
"Problem areas on piano – work harder or work smarter?"Continue reading
Deadlines and targets seem to be a feature of modern life. Perhaps they always were – even ‘back in the day’. As far as piano goes though, I’ve been a ‘piano deadline avoider’ since returning. When I was working, it became an increasing feature of my industry to see deadlines get set that were...
"Piano Deadline Avoider"Continue reading
Another year has passed and it’s perhaps a good time to reflect on what 2022 has taught me about practising the piano. Quantity wise, it’s easy to calculate. I managed to get 754 hours of practice done this year. All in all, I’m quite pleased with that! It’s less than last year, but with the...
"What 2022 has taught me about practising the piano"Continue reading
One thing about returning to piano after a very long break, is that suddenly learning does feel much more difficult. As a teenager, I could pick most things up relatively quickly. However, what happens when we’ve left a skill to one side for a very long time. My experience has been that it certainly feels...
"Four Step Piano Process – Great for Returners"Continue reading
I recently reviewed The Perfect Wrong Note by William Westney. As I was reading the book, I started to mentally join several other dots too. One of these dots was that quite often, not only do I play wrong notes, I often don’t even know what the right notes should be – even in music...
"Do we even know what the right notes should be?"Continue reading
This article is part of my guide on how to practice piano effectively. I’m a big believer in reading around something we’re passionate about. I was chatting with a pianist friend I met through the Practising the Piano Online Academy (of which I’m a member). During our conversation he mentioned a couple of ‘must read’...
"The Perfect Wrong Note – Review"Continue reading
On returning to piano, sight reading wasn’t something I really bothered with. I’m not preparing any exams so won’t need to demonstrate it. I don’t accompany other musicians and so don’t need to sight read in those circumstances. However, one thing that I quickly discovered is that when playing from music, my actual reading...
"Celebrating 200 hours of sight reading"Continue reading
An old boss of mine had a favourite expression (which he attributed to Einstein). It was ‘the definition of insanity is constantly repeating the same action and expecting a different result’. It was an expression that always made me smile. I still remember the first time it suddenly occurred to me that by this definition...
"Insane Pianist?"Continue reading
One common theme amongst we amateur pianists seems to be frustration with how long things can sometimes take us. We’ll often ask ourselves the question as to why aren’t I improving on piano. We’re programmed to believe that if we keep practising, then we should be seeing improvements all the time. Yet, the tough reality...
"Why aren’t I improving on piano?"Continue reading
This post is part of my approach on how to practice piano more effectively. I read a comment in an online piano forum some time ago that ‘if you practice with tension, you’ll play with tension’. Whether this was a quote from somewhere or a personal observation, I can’t be sure. However, this really resonated...
"How to practice piano without tension?"Continue reading