Is Mindfulness Relevant to Piano Playing?
From 2007 to 2014, I taught an undergraduate course on mindfulness at Indiana University Bloomington that was academic yet also highly experiential. (Not surprisingly, a number of talented IU Jacobs …
View ArticleBecoming a Self-Learning Pianist
Unlike K-12 school students, piano students usually spend just one hour per week with their teacher. The time between lessons is spent practicing what has been discussed in the lesson.…
View ArticleHow to Play 3 Notes Against 2
Every aspiring keyboardist will eventually be confronted with the challenge of accurately playing three notes in one hand against two in the other. This is otherwise known as a polyrhythm…
View ArticleDeliberate Piano Practice (Part 1)
In his book Talent Is Overrated, author Geoff Colvin considers what makes world-class performers different from everybody else. It’s an intriguing thesis and obviously highly relevant to musicians....
View ArticleDeliberate Piano Practice (Part 2)
In Part 1, I discussed performance guru Geoff Colvin’s assertion that superior performance is associated with “deliberate practice.” In this post I’ll consider how a pianist (indeed, any musician) …
View ArticleHow to Succeed As an Adult Piano Student
The goal of this article is to assess the most important factors for long-term success as an adult piano student, and to help students and teachers improve the odds that …
View ArticleStrategies for Maintaining Student Interest In a Piece
Every piano teacher has experienced the frustration of a student losing interest in a piece before he or she has mastered it. At worst, this becomes a pattern and the …
View ArticleFour Essential Practicing Strategies for Piano Students
Learn by Sight and by Ear Reading music is a vital skill, possessed by nearly all professional pianists. There is more music written for the piano than any other instrument. …
View Article8 Foundations for Better Piano Practicing
Before we even sit down to practice the piano, certain things need to happen, and others will optimally happen. Putting the following foundations into practice before you practice can help …
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