A Dozen a Day Piano Exercises by Edna-Mae Burnam Review

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

Piano Players Often Have a Favorite Key and Why This Could Matter To You

As truly bizarre as this sounds,  a lot of piano players have a favorite key or two, that they just really enjoy playing in. Mine happens to be E flat major, closely followed by A flat major. I really don’t like F major because to me it sounds a bit too harsh for my taste. … Read more

Choosing Your Piano Path: Classical, Modern, or Jazz – Which to Master First

This is another topic that piano players and piano teachers will disagree on – which genre of music should you learn first? If you are only interested in playing one type of music, then the answer is really simple – you should learn first what you are interested in playing. If you are not interest … Read more

To Pedal Or Not To Pedal, That is the Question

Pedaling is one of those things, where there doesn’t seem to be much consensus about. Some piano players advocate a very strict idea about when and how much the pedal should be used, while others think that doing what feels right, what you think is the best way to go. I personally can see both … Read more

Learning to Play the Piano with Chords

Most people are aware that there is more than one way to play the piano. Some people play the piano by ear, while the rest of us either play classical, jazz or modern piano music. Naturally is a lot of overlap between classical, jazz and modern, but there is also a number of elements that … Read more

Playing the Piano is an Excellent Instrument for Introverts

Just because introverted people, by definition would prefer their own company, enjoy a quieter life and avoid crowded spaces as much as possible, doesn’t mean that they are not interested in playing a musical instrument. Introverted does not mean boring and lacking social skills, it just means they would prefer to be with people in … Read more

Why I Love Playing the Piano

There are several reasons why I have always loved playing the piano. I remember when my parents bought a second hand piano so my sister, who was older and taking piano lessons, could practice at home. As soon as it came into our family home, it captured my attention and it started  an incredible learning … Read more