Practice Tip, Igudesman and Joo

Please note to all email subscribers, videos are not sent in emailed transcriptions of these blog posts.  I will try to always make it clear in the body of an article when a video is included, but you will need to follow the link within your emails to the actual blog article to view everything.  That includes this blog post.

Practice Tip - One Problem at a Time

If you've had a dozen lessons with me, then you almost certainly have heard me give you this very important principle to good practice.  Inevitably, you will attempt to learn something that seems overwhelming.  You have to address every obstacle in a piece of music in order to learn it completely, but you don't have to and shouldn't try to do it all at once.  That's probably obvious enough, but let's take it one step further:  don't even try to solve TWO things at once.  Limit it to one.

Sometimes the problem is as simple as getting from note # 1 to note # 2.  You may need to practice that slowly, then speed up.  Sometimes the rhythm is a problem.  Get off the keyboard and practice on a table.  No pitches to hear, so you need to focus on the rhythm.  Sometimes it's pedaling.  So pedal as you watch the music imagining you are playing without actually moving your hands.  We'll go over more ways than this, but the point is:  take care of just one problem at a time.  In a really tough passage, it may mean ignoring one problem while you work on another.  You'll do nothing but frustrate yourself trying to multi-task.

Meet Igudesman and Joo - Video and Concert Info

If you've ever been misled into thinking that classical music is boring, allow me to introduce you to the funniest classical comedy duo I've ever seen.  They are from England, and are Alexis Igudesman and Hyung-Ki Joo.  They are coming to Greensboro on Friday, April 12 at 8:00pm to perform with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra to play their Big Nightmare Music show (as opposed to their two-person Little Nightmare Music show).  Here is a link for more info: http://www.greensborosymphony.org/season/2012-13/masterworks5.asp

Finally, I leave you with this video by Igudesman and Joo from their Little Nightmare Music show.  The next time you think you're having a tough piano lesson, compare it to this one and its pure madness!

Is a half-hour lesson enough?

Three reasons for upgrading to a one hour lesson per week

By default, I teach a half-hour lesson per student each week.  It's less expensive and tends to be the right amount of time needed to go over the material that the average student practices in one week.  A few of you would benefit by upgrading to an hour each week.  Here are three signs to check and see if it's right for you.

1.  Half-hour lessons feel rushed.  If you are practicing more music than we have time to properly go over in a 30 minute lesson, then you should consider expanding to a 60 minute lesson.  One of the downsides to practicing and progressing a lot is that you may be outpacing what we can properly review during the lesson.  An hour makes it so much easier for the ambitious or advancing student to get proper coaching.

2.  You desire an additional focus.   Some piano students may also want to study French horn.  They may want more focus on theory.  They may want to learn both classical AND jazz/pop styles of playing.  They may want to additionally learn composing.  If you want to learn piano AND something else, then you need an hour.

3.  It is within your budget.   Choose reason number 1 OR number 2, but then add this third reason.  I do offer a discount per half-hour when you expand to an hour by a difference of $20 per month, but this is still more total money for your music education than a half-hour lesson.  If you or your child is single-focused or having only a small time to practice, I do not recommend adding money for more time.  It's very difficult to fill an hour's time with material in those situations, and your money is not as efficiently being used.  If you fit one of the first two choices, you should look at your budget and see if you can fit it in.  Hour lessons aren't always immediately available to schedule, but by putting in a request, I can arrange the time as soon as possible for you to get this in.  If you are unsure whether you are the type of student who would benefit, please email me, and I will give you my honest opinion.  If you are a prospect and unsure about whether an hour lesson would be more beneficial than a half-hour, then I always suggest starting with a half-hour and seeing if it feels like enough, and then expand to an hour as needed.