Advice Specifically for Retired People Who Are Interested in Learning to Play the Piano

When kids are exploring their interest in learning to play the piano, adults try to encourage the young person to have a go at learning and to try their best. This is not bad advice at all. We adults know that kids genuinely don’t know how much they are going to enjoy taking lessons, practicing … Read more

How to Start Playing the Piano Again After Many Years

From the numerous people that have spoken to me over the years about wanting to be able to play the piano, I would say that at least half of those people did in fact start learning to play the piano when they were younger. I have heard all sorts of reasons why this happened and … Read more

How to Start Practicing Again After a Break Due to Illness or Travel

Yes, the ideal is to practice every single day, but we all know that while that might be the ideal, it just simply doesn’t always happen. There are genuine reasons why piano practice doesn’t happen in the short term. Those reasons are often because of sickness or due to travelling. The very first thing that … Read more

What is Musical Talent?

Musical talent seems to be one of those elusive, almost mystical and ethereal types of talent, that people who don’t perceive themselves to have any musical talent seem to just stand in awe of. On many occasions I have had people become just be in awe of me when I have told them that I … Read more

Scale Degree Names and Why They Are Important

Most, but not all scales have scale degree numbers of 1 through to 7. The starting note is known as 1 and the numbers are assigned in order, so the 7th degree or note of a scale is the one just before you get to a higher version of your starting note. So the scale degree … Read more

Having a Practicing Routine, Is Essential in Making Sure That You Practice Regularly

It is well and truly obvious that to learn to play the piano, or any other musical instrument, you need to practice regularly and the more regular it is the better. In fact, I think that it is much more important to practice for a few minutes every single day than an hour once a … Read more

Muscle Memory is Useful for Playing the Piano

Recently I have seen online various adverts that talk about secret knowledge of being able to successfully remember how to play pieces of music that you have already learned months or even years ago. It is no big secret, it is just using what is called muscle memory. (As an aside, it is purely a … Read more