Where Piano Playing Retirees Get Information and Encouragement
Learning to read music is an important skill unless you only ever want to play the piano by ear. It doesn’t matter what style or genre of music that you prefer to play, learning to read music is a very useful skill. If you want to learn to play classical music, then learning to read … Read more
If you are learning or playing jazz on the piano, then the answer to how important is it to play a piece of music as written, is an easy question. The answer is that it is not important. Jazz music values improvisation and reinterpreting pieces of music. Exploration and adaption of keys, chords, notes and … Read more
I know it seems like a crazy question to ask, but are you practicing too much? Even though the vast majority of piano students don’t practice enough, there are some that are practicing too much. I am not suggesting that this happens very often at all, but there are some circumstances where a person is … Read more
The sustain pedal, is on the right, whether your piano has 2 pedals or 3 pedals. Sometimes it is referred to as simply ‘the pedal’ because it is used so much more frequently than the left pedal (known as the soft pedal) or the middle pedal ( which is only found on some pianos). As … Read more
Learning about scales or keys, especially when you are a beginner can be rather confusing and daunting. I’m not surprised that it is daunting because there is so much information on the internet and lots of people with lots of opinions about what is essential to know. It can get confusing, especially when there are … Read more
This is a topic that I am very fussy on and very passionate about. I think that it is incredibly important that you hold your hands in the correct manner, when you are playing the piano. I also think that it is really important for piano students should learn good hand positioning from the very … Read more
The ‘A Dozen a Day’ series of books that contain piano exercises have been around for decades. I know this because my first piano teacher gave them to me at the age of 7! Actually they were first available in 1954 and they have been available ever since. It’s not surprising to state that there … Read more