Piano Lessons & Guides

Not everybody can afford the old grand piano, and one of the most exciting moments of you journey will be when you purchase your very own electronic keyboard! 

There are a few factors to consider before you buy your music-making tool, and this article aims to highlight these and help make your decision that much easier.

The beauty of starting your musical career with piano lessons is that it will naturally pave the way for other instruments.

Once you’ve learned and grasped terms like chords and scales, the founda...

We all began our learning process with first being taught the ABC's, then the 1, 2, 3's, and after that, the do-re-mi's, and piano lessons are no different.

When learning the piano, it really can be as simple as A to G, as several “keys” can be remembered, to make this more fun for anyone who is just starting out.

Here are 7 keys to making piano lessons an enjoyable activity.

A - Attention-Grabbing

The average age of beginner piano players range from 6 to 8 years ol...

We would all love to convey our years of hard-earned wisdom to our children by merely uttering it. The reality is though, that an 8-year-old is not interested in whether piano practice taught mommy patience when she was young, or perhaps showed dad the way to self-discipline.  

That's exactly why we have put together some advice gathered from teachers, parents and former students to help you help your offspring practice piano - or at the very least, giving it a well-deserved attempt.

Here are 6 of the ...

As with any skill or talent that we pursue, practice makes perfect. In order to master any technique, we need to form and expand our knowledge and work on it  tirelessly.  Learning to play the piano is a fantastic skill to master, but without doing some finger exercises, you will not be able to progress.

Fortunately for us, medieval finger stretching devices and ominous headmistresses with hard-hitting rulers are a thing of the past.  Piano finger exercises, however, will always be relevant - as long as we still have the passion to...

No Pain No Gain is a motivating phrase to your average vampire. It's just an occupational hazard that the pain is someone else's problem. For a pianist, No pain no Gain should NOT BE an occupational hazard... EVER! (Even on Halloween).

We all know that pain is never a good sign when we are practicing, right? Did you also know that it is possible to protect yourself from even the smelliest, strongest, and meanest vampires? You can outsmart them with a secret ingredient! GARLIC!

Here is the recipe:

G: G...

"It's time to practice." "Practice makes perfect." "Showing up is half the battle." "That which you persist in doing gets easier." "A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link." You've heard it all by now I'm sure. It doesn't matter if you are just starting out, or if you have been playing your instrument for years, sometimes it feels like you just aren't getting anywhere at all.

An unproductive practice session full of frustration doesn't quite describe it... it's more like a musical Olympics gone bad. And for me, $75 per lesson meant the pressure to "get it...

Imagine what a trip through the mall or better yet... Disneyland would be like with NO MAP! You may have heard about that incredible Ferris Wheel that is a mile high and actually have to search for and hour to find it, or worse yet! You may end up with a defective seatbelt in the wrong line and find yourself traveling through "It's a Small World "over and over and over. And over. You get the picture.

Don't get me wrong! I just spent a week there, and I did go on Small World. I love the key of G major...and I really think blingy singing people from every country ...

The last example we will examine in this study is another of Chopin's most famous compositions. Prelude No. 15 in Db major, the "Raindrop Prelude" is an important piece of today's concert repertoire, primarily due to its lyrical nature and memorable melody. Because of its importance, the melody is included above the harmonic reduction in Figure 6 (shown on the following page). This prelude is the longest of the 24, at 90 bars in length, certainly a stark contrast from the 12 bars of No. 9. Due to its length, this piece contains a long "B" section, in the parallel minor, written enharmon...

The next prelude, No. 9, features yet another texture. Although it is only 12measures long, this piece showcases Chopin's elegant use of common chord modulations, 3rd based root movements, and dense harmonic textures.

Figure 5 (above) is a harmonic reduction of Prelude No. 9. Chopin chooses a very different texture in this piece. The R.H. plays chordal figures while the loping melody is represented in the extremely low register of the L.H. Of particular interest in this prelude are the number of modulations that occu...

The first example examined here illustrates Chopin's interesting mixture of traditional and forward-thinking harmonic techniques is Prelude No. 4 in E minor, shown below in Figure 1, a harmonic reduction and analysis:

This short prelude is one of the most famous works from Chopin's entire catalogue. In addition to being played at his funeral, No. 4 has been featured in several Hollywood movies and was the inspiration for Antonio Carlos Jobim's bossa nova composition, "How Insensitive", and for "Exit Music (for a film)", by ...

Although Frederic Chopin is known as a composer of inherently lyrical piano music, his influence has extended far beyond the piano and into the vocabulary of 20th century American jazz. Based on an analysis of several of Chopin's preludes, the forward-thinking tendencies of the composer emerge in his use of "upper extensions", altered tones, and German augmented sixth chords descending in half steps-all common techniques in jazz composition. Prelude in E minor Op. 28 No. 4 and Prelude in Db Major Op. 28 No. 15 are among the works analyzed in examining Chopin's expanded harmonic techniques...

As one of five children, I well remember the pack of us trooping 'round the neighborhood to school, to church, to piano lessons. We'd file one-by-one down Mrs. Connell's narrow steps to a gloomy basement room divided by a curtain, upright piano on one side, ancient sofa on the other. This was her studio, and those of us waiting were left to fidget on the sofa while listening to brother or sister get instructed. An experience quite like a trip to the dentist, I now realize. But at age six, I just thought it was icky.

Why did the five Buchanan kids troop to Mrs. Connell's house f...

"Hello, Marge? You won't believe what my little Billy learned to play on the piano today . . . and he's only three-and-a-half years old!" These days, we believe in starting 'em young. But when it comes to piano lessons for kids, just how young becomes an important question. Experts agree that early exposure to music is beneficial to children—just witness those progressive parents who play recordings of Bach's third Brandenburg Concerto to Junior by placing tiny speakers on Mommy's tummy before Junior is even born! But if you are not already committed to th...

Just as the typical young parent will forever cherish the first words spoken by the typical child, so might the parent of a young piano student come to cherish the strains of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star as learned by their child using the Suzuki Method.

Psychologists and parents have long marveled at a child's prodigious learning ability during its earliest years. Such was the preoccupation of Japanese musician Shinichi Suzuki when, during his nation's difficult post-World War II years, he was struck by children's great facility to learn spoken language at a very ear...

Are you the best piano teacher in the world? How about one of the best, with a comfortable, well-appointed studio, a great instrument in perfect tune, a personal style your students absolutely adore and a passion for what you love to do. If so, congratulations! But even if you are all these things, if students and prospective students don't know anything about you-who you are, what you offer, where you're located––how will all this translate into a fulfilling career as a piano teacher? Unfortunately, it won't . . . unless you can somehow make information about...

Too old to start playing the piano?

Nonsense! Remember how you felt not long ago when you first heard to word "Internet"? Most of us had absolutely no idea how much we were going to learn over the next 10 or 20 years about computers, about cyberspace, about the very foundations of how we communicate. The fact that you're now on-line reading this article proves you learned all that! And you can learn to play the piano too, no matter how many years you've logged on the calendar.

Not rocket science

As adults, there's good news and bad about whether we "old do...

The Verdict is in. Piano Lessons Pay Off Big Time! Did you know that kids get smarter by playing piano? Pianists have less anti-social behaviour. Pianists are able to multi-task almost as good as mothers!!! No matter how you cut it, the piano is an incredible instrument. Below is clear proof why you AND your children should be putting aside time in your day to learn piano. There is no denying that doing so will benefit both of you.

Studies showing Piano Lesson Benefits

After nine months of weekly training in piano or voice, new research shows young students' IQs rose ne...

Some of the most common initial questions people ask when they see someone who is an exceptional piano player include:

• How long have you been playing piano?
• What age did you start taking piano lessons?
• Do you play by ear?
• Do you read music?

More often than not, if someone is a good player they have taken piano lessons for a good amount of time and from quality teachers. You simply cannot become a great player unless you learn from other piano players and musicians. Whether you take piano lessons in form of regular weekly sessions or ju...

There are two key ingredients to becoming a good piano player.  The first is finding a good teacher.  Getting piano lessons from a good teacher or good piano learning course will help you to master concepts more quickly and in the correct way.  If the teacher is right, you'll also get inspiration which is key to keeping your interest and motivation.  The second ingredient is practice.  The more you put into learning how to play the more you will get out.  That only makes sense, right?  Many people think that people are naturally gifted and can just sit dow...

In this piano lesson, we discuss the importance of transcription.  As with anything, when approaching your first transcription you should start with something simple. Don't attempt to transcribe the most difficult piano piece ever written. If you do, you'll just end up frustrating yourself and possibly give up on the whole idea.

So what should you start with then? My advice is to pick an excerpt from your favorite song with a single note melody. The melody line doesn't have to be from the piano. It can be a horn, voice, bass line or anything that strikes you. It is important to p...

The Nut Shell Concept: Winston Churchill once gave this advice to his fellow speech makers.

• Say what you are going to say
• Say it
• Say what you just said

I will humbly try to do the same.

In a Nutshell - Pianos should be tuned twice yearly. Once yearly will get you by, but leaving it longer than that is doing damage to your instrument and will catch up with you money wise and performance wise.

The Nutshell: After more than 30 years in the piano business, I wish I could give one single rule about how often a piano needs tuning. As we all know,...

Learning scales on the piano is an essential part of becoming a good piano player. Unfortunately, it is also something that many students dread. After all, how much fun can it be playing the same notes up and down, over and over again? Although I can?t promise to make scales the most exciting part of playing the piano, I hope to give you some pointers to make the most of this practicing and to learn it quickly and easily.

Learn the Spacing between the Notes of Each Scale

The easiest way to learn the notes of each scale is to start by understanding the spacing be...

In the following, I will discuss Mozart's Piano Concerto in G major, K.453.  This particular concerto was composed in 1784 and contains three movements (allegro, andante, and allegretto).  Due to the fact that I do not have the entire score, I will only be able to make certain comments on harmonic movements that are obvious to my ear.  I will try to provide as much harmonic analysis as possible under these circumstances.  I will explain how Mozart's choice of harmony, rhythm, melody, and orchestration in this particular concerto affect my reception of the piece. &nb...

So you have your first piano recital coming up and you are scared to death. You start asking yourself questions over and over that only increase your anxiety. What if I forget the song? What if I'm the worst player there? What if people laugh at me? Your palms sweat and your fingers shake. These are all common feelings especially if you don't have any experience playing in front of people. The good thing is that they are all things that can be overcome if you know how to do it.

Focus on Breathing

Breathing is an extremely important skill to work on and one that ...

I've met piano players who have played classical piano for many years but have always wanted to know how to improvise. I've also met players who want to learn how to improvise from the start and who are not interested in reading classical piano music straight off the page. Regardless of what category you fall into, if you're interested in learning to make things up as you go and improvise, the best way to get started is through jazz. Jazz is a language that allows musicians to compose on the spot while still sticking to a set of rules or guidelines. Depending on the style of jazz, those rul...

Among jazz musicians, there are certain tunes referred to as "jazz standards" which all jazz musicians are expected to know by memory.  These tunes have been in the jazz repertoire for many years and as a result, have been performed in a wide variety of arrangements.  Of the most prominent teams of writers for these types of "jazz standards" was Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (Rodgers and Hart).  In the following, I will discuss the famous Rodgers and Hart jazz standard written in 1937 known as My Funny Valentine.  Like most standards, this tune is extremely popular amo...

There are typically two types of piano students. One type is able to read music and can play songs and compositions so long as they are written note for note on a page in front of them. The other type of student is able to play music based off of the chords they know and typically from what is known as a fake book. Ideally you should be able to do both things (read music and know your chords) but I think it is especially important to understand chords on the piano. Knowing the basic structure of piano chords will help you to improvise, learn songs more quickly, and remember songs more easil...

I love pianos! Uprights or grands --- old or new --- scratched up wood or high gloss polyester --- I love pianos! When my wife and I were first married it quickly came to her attention that I owned 13 pianos but no dining room set! She seemed to think that there was something wrong with my priorities! Imagine that! And guess what? I did not win the argument!!! Even now, having conformed to the barest of piano necessities, we have a piano in our bedroom, another in the dining room, a nice little grand in the living room, and another waiting to come in from the shop. In our advertising we hav...

In the following I will discuss Haydn's string quartet in G minor.  In order to gain a more complete understanding of the piece, we will begin by discussing its phrase structure and overall ternary form.  Once these aspects are understood, we will look more deeply into what is happening within the phrases.  Through the analysis of Haydn's use of chromaticism, modulation, and motive, we will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the similarities, contrasts, and colors that that are developed within each section and phrase of the piece.

To begin, let us look at measur...

After most piano performances, I always enjoy talking with people in the audience who took the time to come out and hear me play. One of the most common comments I get is ?how long have you been playing?? My response always the same: ?I started lessons when I was 5 years old and just seemed to stick with it?? So many people I speak with express disappointment saying they wish they had started taking piano lessons as a kid or they wish they hadn?t quit them so early.

Since this comes up so frequently, I decided to investigate what it is that I feel keeps kids interested in learning th...

Are you looking for a good piano teacher for yourself or for your child? Finding a good piano teacher can be difficult but the extra effort to find the perfect match will be worth it in the end. As with anything you learn, being able to connect with the person who is teaching you is one of the most important elements of any good learning experience. When you are learning piano, you should seek out a teacher who has experience with students of your level. You don't want to be stuck with someone who cannot teach beginners. On the flip side, you also don't want to be a more advanced student st...

In the following I will discuss Beethoven's Sonata in Eb.  We will first understand the piece in terms of its phrase structure and overall form.  Once these elements are understood, I will highlight the ways in which the minuet and trio contrast.  Finally, I will identify any similarities that exist between the two parts.

In order to understand the overall form of the piece, we must first analyze the phrase structures that make up the minuet and the trio.  We will begin with the minuet which consists of three separate phrases within two sections.  The first ph...