Beginners Piano Tips The 7 Key Ways To Improve Your Piano Playing
1. Decide what you want and commit to it with the right attitude.
Quite simply, you need find out what exactly you really want to achieve. Is it to play songs or pop tunes? Perform with others? Take exams and gain certificates for your own records? The commitment to this will come once you know what you want and it is a MUST for you.
Getting your mindset right is probably the single most important thing you will ever do as a beginner. Practicing because you have to (not want to) and just going through the motions will not get you anywhere. This approach nearly always leads to boredom, frustration and eventually giving up. What a shame that would be... (read more here)
How to keep to time playing music
When learning a piece of music it’s easy to get carried away in wanting to hear the finished product even if you’re only halfway through the work and can’t play it properly yet. This leads to excitement where you rush ahead and invariably feel tied down in keeping to time and playing the piece slowly.... (read more here)
How to keep your interest in music
Over the years, I have met and taught
many who have often said they ‘used to play piano’ (or whatever
instrument) but ‘gave up’. Talent that could have flourished instead
wilted under the lack of interest in taking music exams and generally
being pushed by parents (who might have been musicians themselves).... (read more here)
Music time management - how to organise your practice time
Over the years I have experimented with different ways to get myself to
practice. I have tried practicing after teaching and in the early
morning. Everyone’s circumstances are different but if you are like most
people, you
· Either have a 9-5 job which leaves a limited amount of time to practice, usually after work. Or:
· are a full time student... (read more here)
Piano hand technique game
Since I was young, I always wanted to make my fingers 4 and 5 as
strong as fingers 1, 2 and 3. I thought if I went hard on these
fingers, they would come up to speed with the others so I would do lots
of exercises on 4 and 5, almost to the point of straining them. It was
even said that the composer Robert Schumann devised a scales-like
machine from which on one side was a weight and on the other, (hung
from a lever) 2 small ‘slings’ designed to hold the fingers in question
and work them each time they played a note...
(read more here)
Tips for dealing with music performance nerves
Do you get so nervous before a concert that you shake like crazy? Do you think so much about what your hands are doing that you actually forget where they go on your instrument? Your heart races faster, the hands shake. Many people experience anxiety when they become the centre of attention. Many musicians are not able to perform their best as a result of an increased anxiety level. (read more here)
How to choose the right pieces for your exam, audition or competition
Music selection for an exam/audition is one of the most important you can do. Choose easy pieces and you might be accused of "playing it safe" Choose harder ones and you might be criticised for overextending yourself or being overambitious. Then there's choosing pieces that you can play but are well known. (read more here)
How to make music practice fun
Practice is a dirty word. It conjures up images of going through drills, exercises, plenty of effort for little reward and frustration. While learning a new piece may be hard, the strategies don’t have to be. Remember there is a difference between effort and intelligent effort. (read more here)