If you have followed my blog much at all, you probably realize that even though I have formulated what I think is the ideal way of learning to play the piano, I am flexible and I think that there are many circumstances that require a different approach or a different mindset to tackling an issue or challenge.
I think that there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to learning a particular genre. In my own personal experience I have played a lot of pop or modern music as well as the classical and I have played a bit of jazz. I have listened to a wide range of types of music and have found value in everything excluding death metal. I have enjoyed music from many parts of the world, as well as typical western styles of music. For me though, nothing compares to playing classical music. Even though this is my thing, I recognize that this is not everyone’s cup of tea and I strongly believe that you should learn to play the type of music that you really want to play. Even if no one else around you appreciates your taste, learn to play what pulls at your heart the most.
I am fairly old school in my approach to teaching the piano and I see great value in learning to read music. At the same time if a person has genuinely been trying to learn for a number of years to learn to read music and still can’t then they should stop trying to force it and be happy with playing the piano by ear.
I think learn theory of music is very valuable as it helps understand the way pieces of music are constructed. I would always encourage people to learn this when learning to play the piano. However, there might be some that are really put off of music by having to learn theory and maybe they are better off skipping it.
The one thing that I will never compromise on is the way a person holds their hands to play the piano. So many people think it is acceptable to play with their wrists right down and even leaning against the front part of the piano or keyboard. This is an unnatural position to keep the hands in and you could cause a muscle strain or worse in your wrists. If you think about it, you are pushing your hands right up as far as they can go to almost a right angle and then bending your fingers downward to reach the keys. It is much better to keep those wrists up, so the back of the hand is more or less in a straight line with your forearm. Your wrists should not be leaning on anything at all!
So compromise and adapt anything else I write about, but don’t break the rule that your wrists should not be down when you are playing the piano – you will keep your hands and wrists pain free.