How Much Should You Practice the Piano When Life Gets Busy

In December, in Australia, life can be extremely busy as there is not only Christmas events to attend, but for those who have school age children, it is also the end of the school year. Because I have teenagers, I have a really busy December each year. What I have realized is that whilst everything … Read more

How to Get Started if You Want to Learn Jazz Piano

If jazz piano is what you truly want to play, then there are a few requirements. The first thing is that you need to learn some traditional, classical music. This is because the fundamentals for jazz is the same as classical piano. By learning a traditional, classical style of piano, you will get a thorough … Read more

How to Get Started if You Want to Learn Modern Piano

The approach to learning modern piano is somewhat different than if you wanted to learn classical piano or jazz piano. Modern piano style is very much chord based, so knowing your chords are very important. Learning to read music, especially reading a melody line would definitely be useful for playing modern music, although not absolutely … Read more

How to Get Started if You Want to Learn Classical Piano

Learning to play classical piano can be quite different to how you learn to play modern piano or jazz piano, because there are obviously significant differences between the three genres. If you want to play classical piano, then you will need to learn to read music. With the other genres, it isn’t quite as necessary … Read more

Do You Need to Have a Good Sense of Rhythm to Play the Piano?

The simple answer to this question as to whether you need a good sense of rhythm in order to be able to paly the piano is a yes. To get started though, you do not need to have a good sense of rhythm at all, because a good sense of rhythm is something that you … Read more

Learning to Play the Piano is a Great First Instrument

If you are interested in learning more than one musical instrument in your retirement, then I think that learning the piano is the best to learn as your first instrument. Clearly, not everyone would agree with me because we all have our own biases, including myself. I think learning to play the piano first is … Read more

Its Not Whether You Make Mistakes, It’s How You Cover Them Up

I know it sounds a bit crazy and counterproductive but as an amateur musician, the goal is not to be perfect but to cover up those imperfections. This is not really what piano students are usually taught, especially when they are kids, because it is never easy to tell which students will choose to use … Read more