Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

This is an incredibly common question and there are a lot of opinions on the subject. I have to admit, I do have a viewpoint which I am happy to share with you.

I know a lot of teachers and I’ve known some over the years who worry when their students begin to branch out into jazz, rock or other styles. A common concern is that their students will lose the delicate touch needed to perform Classical music. An even bigger concern for many teachers is that jazz being an improvised style will effect the accurate representations of the great Classical repertoire.

Here is a parallel that may shed light on the subject. Imagine you’ve grown up in the United States and learned English your whole life. One day you decide to learn to speak French. Will this effect your abilities of speaking and comprehending English? I don’t believe so. I think it could present an opportunity to expand your horizons. However, it is necessary to be clear what style of music you’re playing.

The style of music you play extends far beyond the differences in jazz or Classical. If you are playing 19th century music of Chopin, you wouldn’t want to impart the Baroque style of Bach in your playing; it’s a completely different type of music and style. Each period of Classical music has its own set of demands and styles unique from one another.

When it comes down to it, as a pianist it’s best to have a multitude of different styles you can perform. Whether it’s jazz, Baroque, Classical, or whatever it might be, the more styles you can have in your musical arsenal the more marketable a musician you can become. Not only that, but different musical genres offer unique rewards.

The standard number of keys on a piano today is 88; but if you’re familiar with the history of the piano, you know that this standard developed over a long period of time.

Welcome to the first in my multi part series on music theory. Today we will be covering intervals, specifically half-steps and whole-step. Many people consider music theory to be a complex subject – and while it can be – it is built upon simple principles. Much like mathematics, if you understand the foundational principles, you can build your knowledge from there. In explaining the simple fundamentals of music theory, it will make it much easier in the future to grasp the more complex subjects.

Intervals are simply the distance between notes (or more accurately, the distance between tones). The piano is a wonderful tool for demonstrating theory because it’s a very visual instrument; all the keys and notes are simply laid out right in front of you!

Let’s start with half steps, what are they? Simply put:

A half step is two keys together with no keys between.

If you look at a keyboard, any two keys that are together – with no keys between – is a half step. Now it’s important to remember that when it comes to intervals, you must consider the black keys. So, half-steps can contain both black and white keys. Look at the keys close to the fallboard so you are aware of the black keys.

A whole step is essentially 2 half-steps, or more simply:

A whole-step is two keys together with one key between.

So you could have a whole step that is two white keys with a black key between them, a pair of black keys with a white key separating them, or even a black and white key with a key between them. As long as there is one key between the notes, you will always have a whole step.

But why is this important? Virtually all Western music is based upon these essential building blocks. More than that, all major scales are simply a series of half-steps and whole-steps – which we will cover in a future video.

When it comes to classical music, there are typically countless details written directly into the score including dynamics, phrasing and more. Some musicians see this as a challenge in creating their own interpretation of the work. On one hand, you want to remain faithful to the composer’s intention. Yet, you want to put your individual mark on each piece you perform. So, how can you interpret classical scores to be your own and not have them sound like everyone else without deviating from the score?

Think about Beethoven playing one of his sonatas. Do you think he would play them the same way every time? I have performed certain pieces for decades – sometimes thousands of times – and yet every time I play them they are unique experiences. If the notes, the rhythm, phrasing, and expression are already written in, what can you possibly do to make it different?

Some works of art like paintings or films are works of art that are complete expressions. You can do certain things like change the lighting or setting to influence the work slightly, but generally, they are finished works which don’t allow for interpretation. On the other hand, you have literary works of someone like Shakespeare, plays that have been around for centuries and have every line of dialogue and stage direction written directly into the text. Yet every performance can be dramatically different and unique in substantial ways. Even the inflection of every word is left up to the individual actors!

A musical piece is a lot like a play or a screenplay in that it’s written down as a blueprint but it’s up to the performer to interpret and bring it to life. Just as no line of dialogue would be read the same way by two different actors, a section of music could be performed dramatically differently from musician to musician. Even the balance of a single chord on the piano can be dramatically different from pianist to pianist and from performance to performance. Even though there are some dynamics written in, how you play each note from phrase to phrase is impossible to indicate with notation alone. If you’ve ever played a score on a computer with MIDI, the results sound like a machine is playing it – there is no life to the music! This is because the score is merely a skeleton for the performer to flesh out the music and bring it to life.

As a musician who uses a reed with their instrument, the particular reed they are using, how it feels that day, and many other aspects can alter a performance dramatically. As a pianist, the sound of the piano you are performing on – even if it’s the same piano you always use – can differ from day to day. The acoustics of the room, the mood of the audience, the ambient noise, all these things factor into the sound and end result of the performance. Even your own mood can inspire different realizations of the score.

As you continue to play and perform music you will see how each piece can be interpreted differently and how each performance can differ dramatically from one another.

This is a very difficult question since no two people are the same and different instruments have unique challenges.

The piano is a classic instrument that many people start learning when they are very young. The same thing applies to violin and cello. Other instruments take time to grow into. You could not expect a small child to play the trombone and reach all the outer positions or to hold a flute properly until they are old enough (and have long enough arms) to hold and play properly. Some of these instruments just have natural disadvantages for young children and are simply not possible for them to learn until they are big enough, perhaps 9 or 10 years old.

When it comes to instruments that younger children can play, such as the piano or string instruments, age is not as big a factor when it comes to physical limitations. If you search online you can see videos of children as young as three or four playing on a high level on the piano or string instruments. So, knowing that a child can achieve this level of success, when is the right age to get them started learning a musical instrument?

When it comes to learning an instrument, one size does not fit all and the individual child is the determining factor in whether or not they are ready to learn an instrument. Some kids will simply be drawn to an instrument and no matter what you do, you simply can’t take them away from it. If you have a very young child who seems drawn to an instrument and has a willingness to learn and play you shouldn’t stop them from learning. What’s more important than allowing them to play though is finding the right teacher for them.

Most teachers do not specialize in teaching very young children how to play musical instruments. Even if they are a very accomplished teacher and have many great students, it can be a real disaster to have them teach a child younger than they are used to teaching. It takes a very special teacher to teach a young child in a nurturing, enjoyable way which engages them and encourages their progress.

In addition to having a good teacher, a younger student should always have a parent or other adult in the home who is willing to play and learn with the student when they are not at their lessons. It is not reasonable to expect a child of 4 or 5 to work independently. They will need someone to guide them in their learning and help them along on a daily basis.

The keys to starting at a very young age are:

– Willingness to play and learn an instrument
– Finding a good teacher for their age level
– Having a parent or guardian who is willing to practice with them

So what is the proper age to start learning a musical instrument?
Starting to play the violin or other string instruments is something a child can start learning as early as 5 or 6 years old. String players and pianists can potentially start younger if they are in a special program geared towards very young children like the Suzuki program which has them working together in groups to learn and share – it becomes more like playtime with music which enforces the activity as being enjoyable rather than a chore.

In my experience with teaching piano, the lessons should start when the child is ready to take direction independently. I find that when kids can start doing homework on their own they are generally ready to start learning piano. If I had to put an age on it I would say around 6-9 years old depending on their patience, willingness to learn and ability to work independently.

As for starting an instrument at a later age, there are no limits! You can start learning piano or any instrument in your teen years or even as an adult and become a very accomplished musician. Keep in mind though, starting early in life (just like developing language skills) increases the potential for development. Parts of the brain develop much more quickly and easily at a younger age and as you get older it can become a greater challenge to begin learning a musical instrument.

Today we have an answer to a viewer question about how to practice Chopin’s Ocean Etude. Chopin wrote two books of etudes, brilliant works. Incidentally, there are two types of etudes in this world, those that strictly exercise, and those that explore technical problems in great pieces of music. And the Chopin etudes are certainly in the latter category of monumental compositions that tackle different technical challenges.