In March, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 all in-person music lessons stopped as we received stay at home orders from public health officials. Music teachers across the globe who had the wherewithal scrambled and moved their lessons online. Almost overnight the music teaching industry was online. The assimilation of the in-person music lesson to […]
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A musician who can sight read has the ability to play any score of music regardless of familiarity with the piece. Like learning to read in school, musical sight reading abilities start from the basics and then build on each other as you move further along in your practice. Sight reading is a skill that […]
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Interventions for ADHD usually include medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, coaching, and support groups. One emerging approach is music lessons. Studies suggest that learning music improves ability to focus, increases self-confidence and improves certain brain functions. What is really exciting is these benefits are life long. ADHD Overview ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a […]
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Dynamics (variation in loudness) is a common missing ingredient from piano performances. Without dynamic contrast, a pianist’s playing is lifeless and dull. Adjudicators of festivals or exams frequently recommend to “use more dynamics”. Dynamics are often in place during rehearsal but absent during the performance. In this case, performance anxiety is the culprit. In other […]
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Daily practice punctuated by weekly lessons are time-honored traditions when learning to play the piano or any other musical instrument. Recent findings in neuroscience regarding motor learning and sleep support the wisdom of these traditions. It also helps us to understand a common experience. This experience is as follows. We sit down to practice a […]
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Stage fright, for some musicians, presents a difficult challenge. Musicians are very much on the edge when performing. One minor mishap can initiate a domino effect that can derail a performance. Add stage fright into this scenario and it will have the potential to hijack one performance after another. Often, this experience is disheartening, discouraging […]
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Learning to play the piano involves working with focus and discipline. Much of the time this work is fun and enjoyable. To illustrate, one of my adult students said learning a piece is like solving a puzzle. In the beginning, it seems difficult but as I practice it becomes easier. When I finally learn to […]
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Do music lessons make you smarter? This question is misleading. It is easier to address this question by rephrasing it. Do music lessons improve cognition? The answer is a resounding yes! To elaborate, there are four basic parts of cognition. They are: attention, memory, perception, and cognitive flexibly. Music lessons improve each one of these […]
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Do you sometimes find that you have problems during your lesson that you simply didn’t have at home? “I played it better at home” is a common affliction. What do we need to do develop the capacity to deliver the same level performance under more challenging circumstances then the comfort of our home? To get a handle […]
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Children can teach us an important lesson about the learning process. They do this by demonstrating the value of freeing our inner child. Typically, an adult piano student will spend fifty percent of their lesson time explaining how incompetent they are. On the other hand, when children encounter a difficulty they often giggle and laugh at themselves. Children […]
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