Piano and Music Videos

I have been asked how to become a virtuoso musician many times and plan on doing a series on the subject. This is an introduction to the topic for you.

You probably assume that to become a virtuoso it will take hours and hours of practice of scales, arpeggios, repertoire, playing with other musicians, sight reading, and everything else that is involved in becoming an expert in your field; but there is more.

When it comes to the mechanics of playing an instrument and really mastering it, there is one similarity that all virtuoso musicians share. And this doesn’t just apply to musicians – it applies to any field from athletics to architecture, the absolute experts in their fields all share this similar quality.

At one point in their lives they immersed themselves so completely in their craft for an extended period of time that they developed a mastery that put them on a new level.

What does this entail for musicians? It means taking the time and effort to immerse themselves in their craft and even if they don’t always practice intensely every day for the rest of their lives, they have gone through a sustained period of time in their lives when they practiced nearly every available waking hour developing an extremely high degree of mastery of their instrument.

One parallel concept is what it takes to launch a craft into space. You need to travel a certain speed in order to break through the atmosphere and escape earth’s gravitational pull. If you continue to travel at a constant speed, you could travel forever but you would never escape earth’s atmosphere. You must hit a certain speed to break through that plane and get yourself out of the earth’s orbit. The same principle applies to become a virtuoso; at some point, you have to dedicate a significant amount of time in your life perfecting your craft and by the end of it you will have emerged as a different caliber of player.

It isn’t just a matter of how many years you practice, there also has to be an extended time in your life dedicated to absolute mastery of your field. I have spoken with countless virtuoso musicians, artists, and people in many different fields who have a great accomplishment, and they all have this exact same thing in common. If you have any similar stories I would love to share them.

You may find the accompanying video helpful. My wife Florence Estrin demonstrates how to play a slur on the flute as it’s much more complicated to demonstrate on the piano. If you are only able to read the text, I will give you good information about what a slur is.

Slurs are curved lines connecting 2 or more notes:

Note: A curved line that connects 2 notes that are the same is not a slur but a tie which makes the 2 notes into one long note.

Slurs indicate to a wind player when to use the tongue to delineate the beginning of notes and when to connect the notes on the breath. To put this simply, the tonguing will be on the first note and everything else that follows will be on the breath. Florence provides a great example of this in the video above. She also provides some examples of what it sounds like to play the musical line without slurs – tonguing the beginning of each note as well as providing examples of different phrasing.

When it comes to the piano, the difference between a slur and a non-slurred note is much harder to determine. A true slur as in singing is actually a quick glide between notes. Since this isn’t possible on the piano, overlapping notes slightly is the closest approximation of a slur possible. This is technically not a slur but it’s impossible to play a true slur on the piano; like many things when it comes to this instrument, it’s an illusion. If a phrase is not slurred, you can delineate notes by putting a slight space between each of the notes.

There are many different types of phrasing and shadings within slurs and non-slurs we can explore in future videos. I hope this information is useful to you. If you have any more questions please contact me:

This is an incredibly important topic and one that definitely will make an impact on your life. Ultimately it will always be a personal choice which instrument you choose to play but it’s worth examining the pros and cons of particular instruments.

If you have a child who is just starting out in music you might think the best choices would be either violin or piano. This has become conventional wisdom today and I know many people who insist upon either of these two instruments. This is not unfounded because the musical foundation that is laid at a young age with either of these two instruments is very beneficial and they both require a long development period that benefits from starting earlier in life. If you then decide to switch instruments a bit later in life it will be an easier transition – for example if you switch to guitar or a wind instrument the learning period will be much shorter having a solid foundation on piano or violin.

I am definitely biased towards learning piano at a young age. It’s not only because I am a pianist, but it’s arguably the best instrument for understanding music theory because there is such an easy visual representation of everything and the fact that you can play many notes at the same time so easily.

What’s most important though is what engages you and your child musically. If you force someone to study an instrument they have no interest in playing then you are setting them up for failure. It will be hard to get them to practice and eventually there will be a sense of resentment that builds towards that instrument. If you want to play accordion, play it! If your child is adamant about playing a tuba, get them a tuba! If you have a love and passion for something you should go with it.

It takes a long time to develop on any instrument and there is no right or wrong choice. You are better off picking something you have a real connection to rather than something that seems like a safe choice.

If you and your child have no preference and you just want your child to start learning music, I would definitely recommend the piano. With the keyboard in front of them they will be able to visualize their music better and they will develop a better foundation that will allow them to switch instruments more easily if they choose to.

I started learning piano when I was 7. In the fourth grade I began studying the French horn. After the first lesson I immediately took to the instrument and loved it. By the second lesson I came back knowing the whole book! My teacher couldn’t believe it but my first book was so much simpler than the piano music I was learning that I was able to learn incredibly fast. I was leaps and bounds ahead of my classmates because I could already read music and the complexity of piano far outweighed the music for the French horn.

This is kind of an odd topic because I’m sure many of you have experienced both extremes in performance. Sometimes you will see someone who barely moves at all during a performance and looks robotic. Other times you might see someone who is very demonstrative and animated in their movements. So is there a right or wrong way to move during a musical performance? How much attention should you give this subject?

Sometimes this can actually be part of the act and can bring people into the performance. Lang Lang is a pianist who is extremely demonstrative during his performances and he will often motion and smile to the audience while he is playing. You get the sense he is enjoying his performance and for many people that draws them in making his performances more engaging. He is also very good at giving the audience cues as to when the exciting parts are coming and when they should be feeling certain emotions. Some people might scoff at this technique and think that eliciting emotions in this manner from the audience might be a superficial way of maintaining their attention. But it works well for him and isn’t necessarily a gimmick; it can be considered an integral part of his performance.

Sometimes motion can actually be a detriment to the artist. Some musicians let themselves go too much and actually affect their performance in negative ways. Glenn Gould, for example, would sometimes even create sounds while playing so they had to place a screen between him and the microphones during recording sessions. If they didn’t, the noises would be captured in the recording. In a concert hall you probably wouldn’t hear these sounds but in recordings, it could become distracting.

So how does this happen? At some point, a performer develops mannerisms while playing and their teacher never stopped it! They continued to play this way and eventually, it developed into something beyond their control. An extreme example of demonstrative playing is Keith Jarrett. He stands up and gyrates around the piano during performances! People seem to love or hate it – it gets a reaction.

Motion in performance elicits some sort of reaction from your audience. The bigger the motions the more polarized the reactions will be. Is this something you should control during your playing? It’s really up to you. While I’m sure you don’t want people being overly critical of your motions and find them distracting, but you don’t people to feel you are lifeless if you sit completely still either. It’s a delicate balance and you must decide what’s right for you.

This is a very good question and it can be different from person to person. However, there are some general guidelines that apply to all of us that can be helpful to everyone.

Personally, I like to start memorizing music early in the day while my mind is fresh. After I get up in the morning and have a nice meal, I like to warm up and refresh the music I worked on the day before. After that, I will delve right into memorizing music.

This is not to say that this is the only time to memorize music. In fact, studies have shown that if you memorize things right before you go to sleep you will retain more information. Your mind will assimilate what you’ve memorized as you sleep!

This is not to say that either method is correct or incorrect because one size does not fit all. Some people might have their minds working best in the evening while others will be scattered and unfocused later in the day. Personally, I can work late into the night as easily as early in the day, but starting early allows me to assimilate more.

This brings us to the subject of how much you can attempt to memorize during the course of a day. You really can’t overload yourself with too much information at once. For example, if you were moving your household if you attempted to take all the boxes and furniture at once without stopping you would become completely exhausted and probably wouldn’t finish the job. However, if you were to take your time and take frequent breaks in between you would be much more capable and productive. The same thing is true for your mental work. Learning to pace yourself and work a little bit at a time is much more beneficial to you than trying to cram it all into one session. I recommend working a bit on your memorization and then taking a break by doing something completely different. Keep coming back to it throughout your practice and you will be amazed at how much more you are able to retain over time.