For the LOVE of Music!
Preparation for performance is not about brute force "memorization" of unrelated dots on a page... It's about internalizing the musical patterns so that they become a permanent part of you using all four musical intelligences: ears, intellect, eyes, and muscles. In doing so, you are going to go beyond just "playing the piano" by learning what … Continue reading How to Study-Practice: Knowing a Piece of Music
Some insightful commentary regarding both the utility and limitations of Music Theory... Lesson #1. Whether you read music or play by ear, a strong theoretical foundation in scales, chords, chord progressions, tonality, form, rhythm, and ear training will transform you into a superior musician. image source unknown Lesson #2. A theory is an attempt to … Continue reading How to Study-Practice: Theory & Practice
The 80-20 Principle is an observation that, in human endeavors, the majority of effects come from a minority of causes and vice versa... In other words, only a small percentage of our time and energy is very productive, while most of our time and energy is wasted doing things that have little. In fact, some … Continue reading How to Study-Practice: The 80-20 Principle
It's crucial to realize that failure is an essential part of any successful musical journey... Here are a few of those expectations... Expect to make mistakes... LOTS of mistakes. Nobody's perfect, no matter now good they are... and neither are you or me. Imperfection will always be an integral part of the learning process. Expect … Continue reading How to Study-Practice: Managing Your Expectations
Unfortunately, most piano students begin and end their musical careers struggling to play notation, not music... We can do better! https://youtu.be/NahXImm70aw learn more... Managing Your Expectations
“Memorization” is in quotes because the goal of studying is not to memorize something like you memorize a sequence of random numbers... Instead, you want to know something intimately in multiple dimensions. Knowing transcends mere memorization; it is deeper and broader and all encompassing. Such intimacy with the music is achieved by getting its patterns and … Continue reading How to Study-Practice: “Memorization”
Studying, Practicing, and Exercising are three very different behaviors with three very different goals... Studying Studying is the act of focusing ones attention on something with the goal of learning a fact, concept, principle, skill, and so on. The learning goal is to store this information in long-term memory as a declarative memory (one that … Continue reading How to Study-Practice: Studying, Practicing, & Exercising
The reason you're not making progress is NOT that you are untalented... The real reason is that you are studying and practicing the wrong things the wrong way. In other words, lack of progress is the absolutely predictable result of having unproductive practice habits! That said, the key to success is to replace a very … Continue reading How to Study-Practice: Habits
The quality of your music-making is absolutely determined by the quality of your study and practice habits... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EglZMhGPtxE learn more... Habits
Let's apply the lessons learned in Emotional Preparation and How Your Brain Works to learn how to study-practice the right things the right way...