Tag Archives: piano techniques

How to Start From Anywhere in Your Music

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today, I’m going to show you how to start anywhere in your music. To have effective practice, you must be able to start anywhere. Let’s say you’re playing a piece of music. You mess up somewhere, and you keep starting at the beginning. Maybe the next time you get it, but you haven’t really solved the underlying weakness that caused that problem in the first place.

Being able to start where the correction is made is vital.

You want to be able to start where the correction is made, but sometimes it’s really hard to even find that place. I want to demonstrate this with a piece that’s difficult to start in the middle because it’s counterpoint. I’m going to use Bach’s Invention No. 1 in C major. Watch the video to see the demonstration! This piece does divide itself into some macro-sections that I can articulate for you. Suppose you have an issue in the middle of a section. So you decide to just start the whole section again. Whether you get it again or not, it doesn’t really matter because you still have the same odds moving forward of getting it or not getting it. Just finding the exact place is a big challenge! You must read your score and identify where it is. Now you know where to start, but you can’t start there. It seems totally foreign.

The reason it’s hard to start in the middle of a section is that you don’t know what fingering to use.

When you’re starting in the middle, it’s hard to figure out what fingering to use. So here’s the tip. Go back to a place you can start from. When you get to where the issue is, stop and pay close attention to what fingers are on what notes in each hand. Then you lock it in, and you can start from there. Now you can make the correction and get it solidified by playing through the passage a number of times. Then you go back to the beginning of that macro section and connect it several times until it is smooth.

To recap: Step one is: Find where the correction is. Step two: Go back to a place you can start from before that place. Step three: Lock in what fingers you use to start in that measure or phrase so you can effectively start there. Without this method, you get there, and it’s almost like you’re reading the music for the first time! It seems totally unfamiliar. Have you ever had that experience where you almost feel like you don’t even know the piece when you try to start in the middle? Your fingers know where to go, but you can’t solve the underlying weakness because you can’t start right at that particular spot. Well, now I’m giving you the tools to start from anywhere in any piece!

This is the way to have effective, productive practice!

Zero in on the places that need work and start from there. Solve those issues first, then correct them with the whole macro section. Try this in your practice! I guarantee that you will have a boost in productivity like you’ve never seen before! Let us know how it works for you in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

How to Make Your Melody Float on Water

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today I’m going to show you how to make your melody float on water. What am I talking about? You want to be able to have your melody soar above a bed of rippling currents. The accompaniment in the left hand is like the rippling waves, with the melody in the right hand floating above. I’m going to tell you how to achieve this!

You must find really great fingering for the left hand in order to achieve a delicate legato.

The way to discover good fingering is by practicing without the pedal. Support the melody in the right hand with a lot of arm weight, so the melody can be above the accompaniment, and then play with a very fluid legato in the left hand. By playing without the pedal, you can hear what’s involved in this process. You’ll hear the fluidity of the left hand. You have to find fingering that enables that kind of legato.

The other side of this is that you must have a buoyant melody that rises above the accompaniment.

Why is this so difficult? For two reasons. First of all, high notes don’t last very long on the piano compared to low notes. And on top of that, you have more notes in the left hand. The left hand is faster than the right hand, so it’s a double whammy. So you must create an angularity in your balance where the melody is much louder than the accompaniment. But how can you achieve it without making it sound harsh?

The secret is to transfer the weight of the arm smoothly from note to note.

Instead of articulating each separate note, use the weight of the arm to smoothly transfer from key to key achieving a fluid line, like the breath of a singer or the bow of a string player, so each note floats to the next. You can never achieve a smooth line by calculating from note to note. It will end up sounding calculated! When you transfer the weight of the arm smoothly from key to key, you get a fluid line. By doing this, you can play with tremendous energy without getting a harsh sound. Remember, the piano is a percussion instrument. When you’re playing a beautiful melody, how can you make it sound smooth? Use the weight of the arm in the right hand and a smooth left hand that’s very beautiful, but underplayed. Find a fingering where you can play that extreme legato.

Practice incessantly without the pedal so you can find the fingering that enables this.

That is the secret! Find great fingering in the left hand, practice without the pedal, and use the weight of the arm in order to get a smooth line. Try it in your playing! Let us know how it works for you in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

How a Piano Move Put My Wife Into Labor

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today I have a wild story for you about how a piano move put my wife into labor. This is a true story that you have to hear to believe!

I had a good friend at the time who was also a pianist and keyboardist.

This was at a time when keyboard technology was advancing rapidly. We were both totally enamored with the latest synthesizer gear. We were always buying new keyboards and other things, and we would get together to compare notes and just have a blast jamming together all the time. His mother had a Knabe grand piano. She was having some work done in her home, and she had to store the piano somewhere. So he asked me if I could possibly help with that. The only place we really had room for a piano was our living room, because at this time we had 27 pianos in our 1100-square-foot house! So we put it in our living room, and it was fine there. She also had a nice dining room table, and she asked us to store that too. We got rid of our junky dining set to make room for it. So we had her dining table and piano, and everything was fine.

At a certain point, she suddenly decided she had to have her piano back.

It was really weird because we knew each other really well. One time, we had her over to our house when my mother was visiting. We all had a good time together. I even played for her on her piano! But for some reason, she suddenly freaked out and absolutely had to get her piano and dining set back right away. I let her know that my wife was in her ninth month of pregnancy, and we wouldn’t have a table to eat at. But she was adamant about getting her things back. So we made arrangements to have the piano moved as soon as possible since she was so desperate about the whole situation for some unknown reason. So the move was arranged. At the same time, there was another piano that I needed to move.

On the same day, I was playing music for a wedding, so I couldn’t be there for the piano move.

I couldn’t be home for the move, but it wasn’t a problem because my piano tuner was also a skilled piano mover. But at the last minute, the people he usually used to help with moves weren’t available, so he had to get some other people to help with the move. That’s where the trouble began. They showed up to move the piano. My wife, being 9 months pregnant, was trying to keep our 2-year-old daughter away from the move. My friend was a really good piano mover, but he wasn’t much of a communicator.

At a certain point, nobody was holding onto the piano, and it started to tip over.

My wife saw the piano starting to fall and caught it just in time! Who knows what would have happened if that piano had been damaged. This woman was already really upset for no reason that we could ascertain. But fortunately, everything worked out. I got home, and we had a late dinner. Then, at 1:00 in the morning, we were about to go to bed, and my wife went into labor with our second child! The epilogue to the story is that everything worked out great. We have two wonderful, healthy children, and that woman got her piano back. So that story had a happy ending! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

Why You Must Accept Your Limitations

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about why you must accept your limitations. I don’t want to bring you down. As a matter of fact, it’s quite the opposite! Anybody who’s accomplished anything great, it’s because they accept their own limitations. You look at people who are masters at any craft or art, and you think everything must just come easily to them. What you don’t see is the hard work that goes into it. I can’t tell you how many times I have students who think they’re the only ones for whom piano is so hard. It’s actually really hard for everyone!

Different things are difficult for different people.

Some people excel at some things, and some people excel at other things. But the key to being able to accomplish anything is to accept where you’re at and what it takes to advance. And it takes way more than you think it does. This goes for everything. When you see a beautiful painting that’s absolutely photorealistic, you’re in awe of the quality of the work. You can’t imagine how it’s done. You might think the artist is just a genius and it comes naturally to them. But if you lived with that person, and watched them work, you’d realize the countless hours they spent working and crafting that painting to look like that. It doesn’t just happen. They accepted what it took to create that masterpiece. The same is true in your piano practice.

The learning process takes time and dedication.

It’s very easy to dismiss things and think, “I should be able to get this. Why can’t I get this?”. It’s because you’re human! I have a video that hasn’t come out yet. The editing has been mind-bogglingly difficult because I wanted to put the score in the whole video. I sat down for a while one day and practiced a piece that I had very briefly studied years and years ago. I just showed how I practice. It’s a Mozart fantasie, and there’s a fast section in there. I practiced just that part of it. It’s about a 40-minute practice session. I knew it was too long for anybody to watch.
So I have parts going in fast-motion. It shows how long I take to learn something—to really get it under my fingers and into my head. Just because I can play all this music from memory doesn’t mean that it just comes easily to me, It’s a meticulous process.

You can see for yourself how I learn a new piece of music!

I have a video I did years ago. I flipped open the Chopin Mazurkas randomly, found a mazurka I’d never even heard before, and started memorizing it. You can watch that here. You’ll see what it takes. So don’t beat yourself up! Accept that this is what it takes. Then you decide if it’s worth the effort or not. But to think that it should come easily—you’re not going to get anywhere with that type of thinking. You’ll just get frustrated, and you’ll think less of yourself. Just accept your limitations, and from there, you can accomplish almost anything! That’s the message for today. I hope it’s inspiring for you and not discouraging. Let me know in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

All Beats Are Not Created Equal – Part 2

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today I’m going to tell you why all beats are not created equal. Did you know that typically in 4/4 time, the strong beats are the first and third beats? The weaker beats are the second and fourth beats. In particular, the fourth beat is not as strong.

The way you count should reflect the feel of the music.

Instead of counting rigidly, you end up counting with accents on the first beat or the first and third beats. I’m going to demonstrate this with a Haydn sonata in D major, so you can hear for yourself. First, I’m going to play it with all the beats absolutely equal to hear what it sounds like, then I will play it with accented beats.

Watch the video to see the demonstration!

When you play with all the beats equal, it doesn’t have a bounce. It doesn’t have a pulse. It just kind of plods along. By playing with accented beats, you give your music a pulse. This isn’t only for 4/4 time. How about 3/4 time? You certainly wouldn’t play a waltz with all beats equal. It would lose the feel of the music.

You have to figure out where the strong beats are.

Typically, the strong beats are one and three in 4/4 time and the first beat in 3/4 time. In a waltz, the third beat is also pretty strong, but not as strong as the first beat. Each piece of music has its strong and weak beats. You must identify which beats are strong so you can give emphasis to those and propel the music forward so it doesn’t get bogged down. All beats are not created equal! I hope this is enlightening for you! Let us know in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

3 Ways Active Listening Improves Your Piano Playing

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today you’re going to learn about three ways that active listening improves your piano playing. What do I mean when I say active listening? Aren’t you always listening when you’re playing the piano? Well, it’s actually very difficult.

Active listening keeps you engaged in your performance.

Let’s say you’ve been working on a piece for several weeks, maybe even months. You practice it all the time. Then, finally, you’re giving some kind of performance. Maybe you’re playing it for your teacher or for friends. Or maybe it’s a public performance. How can you stay engaged in the whole process? The secret is listening to what you’re doing. Now, that might seem silly. Of course, you’re listening. But are you really actively listening, or are you just passively playing? Maybe it’s become routine because you’ve done it so many times before. This is a tremendous challenge with something you’ve played so many times.

Listen with fresh ears and allow the music to unfold.

Try playing your piece in ways that you haven’t played before. This can be a scary proposition if you’ve never done it in your practice. So active listening is something that you want to do in your practice. Take the music to new places. Listen to inner voices. Maybe you’ve always been listening to your right-hand melody. Well, try listening to the left hand. You could even try bringing out different voices. If you’ve always favored the right hand, favor the left hand just to hear what’s there. Keep yourself engaged! The more ways you can play your music, the more creative you can be in a performance. And once again, listening to what’s happening keeps you engaged. So that’s one important benefit of active listening.

Active listening is the secret to keeping your audience engaged.

If you’re not listening to your performance, nobody else will either! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at concerts where there’s been an accomplished concert pianist playing, and I found myself getting bored. I’m thinking, What’s the matter with me? I’m listening, and everything sounds fine. There’s nothing wrong at all. Then there’s a memory slip, and I realize that the performer wasn’t actively listening. If they aren’t really listening, you can’t stay engaged either. So the secret to being able to have a performance that’s compelling to listen to is for you to be listening to what you’re doing. So that’s the second benefit. You keep yourself engaged, and you keep your listeners engaged in the process.

The third benefit, which is maybe the most important of all, is creating a beautiful sound.

You practice so much. You’re focusing on what you’re doing with your fingers. You’re focusing on the keys. You’re focusing on counting, fingering—a myriad of things. But the actual sound you’re creating is the most important thing of all! And it can easily be neglected. Now, this is particularly important if you’re playing on a different piano from the one you practice on all the time. Let’s say you’re at a friend’s home or you’re playing a recital somewhere, and you sit down at a different piano. You must listen! Maybe that piano is a lot brighter than yours at home. You may have to completely change your approach to the keyboard in order to get a beautiful sound because you might overplay the instrument. Of course, the inverse could be true as well. You may have to use more energy to project sound on a piano that has a kind of dead sound compared to the piano you play at home.

So these are three important benefits of active listening.

Practice active listening in your playing at home! Try to go to different places with your music. Play at different tempos and bring out different hands and different lines in your playing. Try different things to keep yourself engaged in the process. Your audience will be rewarded, and you’ll be able to create a more beautiful sound in your playing. I hope this is helpful for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrinContact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com