Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. If you are completely satisfied with your piano playing and are getting exactly the results you want from your practice, then this article may not be for you. But if you are striving for a higher level of refinement, if there is music you have always wanted to play that still feels out of reach, or if you struggle with reading, memorization, or other fundamental skills, then it is time to take a fresh look at how you practice.

Are You Getting the Results You Want?

I have met so many people who are deeply attached to their practice routines. And to be fair, some aspects of routine are beneficial. Simply practicing regularly has tremendous physiological and mental benefits. Just sitting down at the piano consistently is an accomplishment in itself!

But here is the real question. Are you getting the results you want? If not, how will continuing the same routine change that? There is an old saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The same can be true of practicing. If you are repeating the same process every day without meaningful change, you may simply be maintaining your current level rather than growing beyond it.

What Practicing Really Is

Practicing is discovery. It is a learning process. By the end of a practice session, you should have assimilated something you did not have before. If nothing new has been learned or clarified, then it was not truly productive practice. If you are doing exactly the same things every day, it is unrealistic to expect to reach a new level. Growth requires exploration.

Keep What Works, Question What Does Not

Analyze your routine carefully. Some elements may be extremely valuable. For example, starting with slow scales or arpeggios can warm up your hands, help prevent injury, and give you time to listen to the piano’s tone. It allows you to settle into your seat and establish proper position. These are excellent habits. But beyond that, examine what you are doing. If you typically warm up, then play through all your pieces to maintain them, and perhaps do some sight reading, ask yourself honestly: is playing through your pieces actually making them better? Or are you just keeping them at the same level? If it is not improving them, what could you do differently?

Experiment in Your Practice

Don’t be afraid to try things that may seem unusual. If you are accustomed to simply playing through your music, try practicing very slowly without pedal while carefully watching the score. Use a metronome. Change the tempo deliberately. Sometimes playing a piece slightly faster can reveal weak spots. You may find that most of it holds together, except for two or three key sections. Now you have identified exactly where to focus your time. Instead of practicing everything equally, you can zero in on the places that truly need attention. You could spend the same amount of time at the piano and accomplish exponentially more by targeting specific weaknesses.

Practice with Clear Intentions

Another common problem is practicing without a clear purpose. When you are playing through a piece, what exactly are you trying to accomplish? Are you refining details? Refreshing memory? Improving reading? Strengthening memorization? At every moment of practice, you should know the specific skill you are developing.

When learning a new piece, take very small sections and work phrase by phrase. Practice the right hand alone, mastering every detail. Then the left hand alone. Memorize each part. Put the hands together only after each is secure. Connect sections gradually as you go. This approach builds real security in your playing. For pieces you already know, reinforce them by slow practice, without pedal, with a metronome, and with the score. Slow practice is one of the greatest practice techniques you can use.

Listen with Fresh Ears

Listen for different lines in your music. If you always bring out the top melody, listen for a counter melody in the lower voices. Shift your attention to inner parts. Anything that helps you hear your music in a new way can deepen your interpretation.

If you have access to another piano, even a digital piano or a friend’s instrument, try playing your pieces there. A different sound can open new horizons. You may discover colors and balances you never noticed before, which will influence how you approach your own piano.

Play for Other People

One of the most powerful learning experiences is playing for others. When you think a piece is ready, invite friends to listen. Be brave enough to perform. The experience of playing for someone else is completely different from playing alone. Your mental focus changes. Your emotional response changes. You will learn things in that one performance that you could never learn by playing the piece a hundred times by yourself!

Make Practice a Process of Discovery

Do not become a prisoner of your routines. Keep the elements that truly serve you, but remain open to change. Try new approaches. Set clear intentions. Listen deeply. Make every practice session an opportunity for discovery. When you do that, growth becomes inevitable.

Let me know what routines work for you and share them with others here at LivingPianos.com Your Online Piano Resource. – Robert Estrin

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. Today I’m going to take you on a day by day journey of mastering a difficult piano piece. Maybe there’s a piece you’ve always wanted to learn, or perhaps you’re struggling with one right now. By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear idea of the process it takes to truly master challenging music.

First Step: Read Through, But Don’t Overdo It

The very first thing you want to do when studying a piece is to read through it to get an idea of what it’s about. If it’s a long and difficult work, you don’t have to read the whole thing at once. You might read the first section one day, the next section the following day, and so on.

However, once you’ve read through the entire piece a couple of times, no more than three times, you should stop simply reading it.

Why? Because every time you play through a piece, you risk reinforcing mistakes. Even small things that seem insignificant at the time can become deeply ingrained. Perhaps you overlooked a staccato marking. Maybe you used an awkward fingering you intend to change later. Possibly a dynamic is wrong. And of course, there may be wrong notes. Once your hands and ears get used to something, undoing it becomes arduous. It’s far better to avoid learning mistakes in the first place.

Memorize First, Then Build

Instead of practicing endlessly and memorizing later, flip the process. Memorize first. After your initial read through, go back to the beginning and take a tiny section. It doesn’t matter what the piece is. Choose something small enough that you can learn it very quickly. For example, if you’re working on the G minor Ballade of Chopin, you would not try to tackle a large passage at once. Take just a small phrase. Focus on a short segment and examine everything: notes, rhythm, fingering, phrasing, and expression. In other words, learn it correctly from the very first reading. Go very slowly and practice just the right hand. Because the section is small, you can usually memorize it fairly quickly. Get it comfortable and secure. Then do the same with the left hand. Once each hand is memorized and played exactly as you want to hear it, put them together slowly and memorize that as well. Then move on to the next small section, connecting phrases as you go.

Work to the Point of Diminishing Returns

Some passages, especially the most difficult ones, may not reach tempo right away. That’s fine. With each small phrase, work to the point of diminishing returns. Get the right hand secure, then the left hand, then hands together. Memorize each stage.

As the days go by, you’ll notice something interesting. Each time you sit down, you’ll need to refresh what you learned the previous day. But material you learned two or three days ago will start to feel more fluent and secure. Gradually, everything rises in level.

Start With the Hardest Sections

In large works such as the G minor Ballade, it can be extremely helpful to zero in on the most difficult sections first, such as the massive coda. If you leave the hardest part for last, you may learn the entire piece only to find yourself spending weeks trying to solidify and bring the ending up to tempo. By addressing the most challenging passages early, you avoid that frustration.

Daily Reinforcement: The Secret to Polish

One of the most powerful ways to strengthen what you’ve learned is very slow practice. Each day, refresh your memory with the score. Play slowly, without pedal, and use a metronome. Deliberately exaggerate clarity and precision. Slow practice reinforces memory and builds security in your hands.

Even when preparing for a public performance, after the music is at concert level, it can become stale if you don’t continually refresh and reinforce it. The best way to maintain a high polish is slow, deliberate practice without pedal, often referencing the score.

When you can play the piece at or near concert tempo, without pedal, with or without the score, check your work with the metronome and use progressively faster metronome speeds in particularly difficult passages until everything feels easy and controlled. Then you know you’re ready to perform.

Additional Practice Techniques

Beyond slow practice, there are many other techniques you can use. You can practice with different rhythmic groupings. You can accent certain notes to clarify where the hands play together. This is especially valuable for achieving a clean technique, ensuring that both hands strike precisely together where required. You can practice passages in varied rhythms or isolate small note groups. Hands separate practice is always valuable for polishing and refining difficult sections.

There are countless ways to strengthen and refine your playing. But the most important principle is this: learn it correctly from the very beginning.

Putting It All Together

To recap:

First, read through the piece to become acquainted with it, but don’t keep rereading it and reinforcing mistakes. Then start from the beginning and memorize in very small sections. Learn the right hand, then the left hand, then put them together slowly and memorize. Pay attention to notes, rhythm, fingering, phrasing, and expression.

Each day, refresh what you’ve already learned. Use slow practice without the pedal, and use a metronome and the score to reinforce your memory. Think of it like an assembly line. The newest sections are raw material that you’re shaping and forming. The sections you learned days or weeks ago are finished products that you continue to polish and refine. If you learn music carefully and correctly from the start, you will save yourself enormous amounts of time and frustration.

This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource. Thanks so much for joining me.

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. Today I have something a little different and a lot of fun for you. In this video, I put your ears to the test with a musical guessing game. I play short excerpts from some of the most famous classical piano works ever written, and your challenge is to identify each piece as quickly as possible. Some may be instantly recognizable from just a handful of notes, while others might take a few more seconds before everything clicks into place.

This is more than just a trivia game. It is a wonderful way to sharpen your listening skills and discover how deeply these great works are etched into your musical memory. You might surprise yourself by recognizing a piece from its harmony, rhythm, or even just its texture before the main theme appears. See how many you can name within ten seconds, keep score if you like, and share your results in the comments. I would love to hear which ones you knew right away and which ones kept you guessing.

Let us know how you did on this listening test!

Leave comments about pieces you would like full tutorials on.

Here are the pieces heard in the recording:

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. If you are considering putting a piano into storage, this is something you absolutely need to think through carefully. I have seen this scenario play out time and time again, and it can end in a way most people never expect.

Climate Control Is Not Optional

People are downsizing, they cannot sell their piano, or they think they may be moving. So what do you do? You find a place to store your piano. If you ever have to do this, make absolutely certain that it is climate controlled storage. I remember having pianos at a storage facility and only later being told that winter was coming and we had better get the pianos out of there. So double check. Make sure the facility is truly climate controlled. This is critical for the health and longevity of your instrument.

The Hidden Costs of Storage

Here is what often happens. You pay month after month to store the piano. Eventually, you have paid so much that you start to wonder what to do next. If you decide to try to sell the piano, good luck. In many storage facilities, pianos are stored on their sides to maximize space. Just to have someone come and look at the piano, you may have to pay hundreds of dollars to have it set up properly. And of course, it will not be tuned because it has been sitting in storage. It can become a nightmare situation for so many people.

What Happens When Payments Stop

Now here is the part that may really shock you. After paying month after month, sometimes for years, people reach a point where they simply stop paying. They do not know what to do with the piano. Often they have already moved, which is why the piano went into storage in the first place. Storage companies will make a good faith effort to contact the owner. But if they cannot reach them, they sell the piano. So after spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars in storage fees, the piano may ultimately be sold by the storage company. I know this for a fact from at least two companies I am intimately familiar with, and this is something that happens on a regular basis.

Think Long Term Before You Store

The lesson for today is simple. Before putting a piano into storage, think long term about your end goal. You do not want to be stuck spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a piano you may never get out of storage again.

If I can be of any help to you, please reach out to me at Robert@LivingPianos.com. We have many resources available for you here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

Working My Way Up to Something Special

Over the years, I gradually worked my way up through different pianos. At one point I had a Young Chang 6’1″, and from there I upgraded to a Baldwin L. Each instrument was a step forward, both musically and personally.

Then something unexpected happened. My top piano technician, who was a concert technician, owned an older Mason & Hamlin BB. For those of you who may not know, the BB is a 7-foot grand known for its massive construction and rich tone. Mason & Hamlin pianos have a distinctive depth of sound, and this one was particularly special.

What made it extraordinary was not just the design, but the care it had received. It belonged to a master technician. The regulation and voicing were superb. Everything about the instrument felt refined and responsive. When he decided to move away, he asked me to sell the piano for him. The moment I played it, I knew I wanted it myself. So I sold my piano and bought the Mason & Hamlin. I truly believed I had found the ultimate instrument.

An Offer I Did Not Expect

Not long after that, a concert pianist came in looking for a piano for a friend. At the time, I had a Baldwin L for sale. He tried it and liked it. Then he sat down at my Mason & Hamlin. I told him it was not for sale. He understood, but he kept playing it anyway.

A few days later, he returned and played both pianos again. This time, he made me an offer to purchase both instruments. It was not an easy decision. The Mason & Hamlin was supposed to be my piano. But the offer was significant, and I reluctantly agreed.

Almost immediately, I felt what you might call “seller’s remorse.” I realized that if I ever wanted something equal or better, I would have to look for a 9-foot concert grand. So that is exactly what I did.

Searching for the Ultimate Concert Grand

I brought my technician with me as we searched far and wide for the right instrument. At one point, I even purchased a 9-foot Baldwin in San Francisco. We brought it back and worked on it extensively. It was a fine piano, but it was not quite the extraordinary instrument I was hoping to find.

Then we discovered a Baldwin SD-10 concert grand in the San Fernando Valley. This is a 9-foot concert grand and one of the great American pianos. From the first notes, it was clear this was something very special. My technician told me it was one of the two or three finest pianos he had ever encountered, and he had worked on countless concert instruments. I absolutely loved that piano.

A Piano That Inspired Pianists

We used that Baldwin SD-10 for a concert series, and pianists who performed on it consistently praised it. Many told me it was the best piano they had ever played. It had power, warmth, and remarkable control across the entire range of the keyboard. It was everything I had hoped to find.

A Change of Circumstances

At the time, we were in a loft with 19-foot ceilings, and the piano filled the space beautifully. However, when we moved to a smaller location, it became clear that the instrument was simply too powerful for the room. It was more piano than the space could comfortably handle.

After much thought, I decided to put it up for sale. There was strong interest from around the country. Two different concert organizations were seriously considering purchasing it, and we even discussed the possibility of my performing a dedication recital when the piano was installed. It seemed like the perfect way to pass along such a remarkable instrument.

An Unexpected Buyer

Because those organizations needed board approvals, the process took time. Meanwhile, one Sunday afternoon, an elderly couple came in from the desert. They had seen the piano listed online and wanted to see it in person.

The gentleman sat down at the piano and played just one thing. He stood up and said, “I’ll take it.”

The one piece he played on that piano was Chopsticks!

Where It Ended Up

After all the performances, all the praise from accomplished pianists, and all the discussion of concert halls and dedication recitals, the greatest piano I ever owned ended up in a private home in the desert… For Chopsticks. So I have some mixed feelings about the sale of that piano.

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. How many of you have played that famous C major sonata of Mozart, or always wanted to play it? If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place. We’re going to take a complete deep dive into how to learn and master this ubiquitous Mozart sonata, starting right from the beginning.

A Section-by-Section Approach

We’re going to start at the very beginning and work through the piece section by section. By the end of this video series, you’ll be able to truly master this wonderful sonata. Have your score ready. There’s a link in the description so you can follow along with the music, and I’ll be here to guide you every step of the way. As we go, I’ll explain sonata allegro form so you can understand the structure, but more importantly, learn how to execute it cleanly and get that sparkle you’ve always wanted in this piece.

Exposition

Sonata form begins with the exposition, where the main themes are introduced. The opening theme is in C major, and from there the music moves into the second subject. It’s helpful to slow down here and focus on just this section so everything is completely clear before moving on.

How to Learn a Piece Like This

How do you actually learn something like this? I always recommend reading through the entire movement a couple of times first, just to get acquainted and understand the overall shape of the music. Then get right down to work in very small sections. You can learn four measures at a time, or even just two. Many people think learning two measures at a time will take forever, but it’s exactly the opposite. The smaller the sections, the longer and more productive your practice sessions will be. You won’t feel overwhelmed, and you can really digest the score. Two measures at a time is more than enough to make solid progress.

Learn the Right Hand First

How to Play Trills on the Piano – Piano Lessons with Robert Estrin

I’ve had quite a few people recently asking me for tips on how to play trills on the piano. It’s no easy task – or is it? This video and article will provide a few tips and techniques you can use to help master trills. The first thing to do is make sure you play your trills with minimal arm weight. If you’ve watched some of my other technique videos you know that I emphasize arm weight as a very big component in tone production – especially when it comes to slower melodies. The challenge with trills is playing lightly, almost floating your hand above the keys to allow the notes to flow with minimal effort. The next thing in playing trills is keeping your fingers very close to the keys. Trills are played so fast that there is not a lot of time for movement, so it’s best to keep your fingers very close to the keys – so close you remain in contact with the keys! Another thing is to make sure your fingers are rounded. It’s nearly impossible to play fast with outstretched fingers; keeping them rounded will help improve speed dramatically allowing more than just one joint to execute the trill. These are some of the most important aspects when it comes to hand position. However, there is something fundamental about approaching trills. Even if it sounds like just a bunch of notes, you need to figure out exactly how many notes you are playing as if it’s written out. Learn trills like you would learn any other fast passage in your music working with the metronome increasing one notch at a time as you gain confidence. Another big question is how to know how many notes to play in a trill. One valuable technique that I use frequently is to play just one note of the trill. For example, if you are playing a trill and starting on the upper note, just play that upper note. You will get an idea of how fast you can play the trill by only playing one note of the trill first, either the top note or the bottom note – whichever one you are starting the trill on. This brings up an important subject in trills, what note does it start on? This could really be a subject for an entirely separate video but I am going to provide some basic information here. As trills are written, you will usually start on the auxiliary (the note above the written note of the trill; the next note in the scale of that key). For example, if you have a piece in C major and you have a D trill, you would start on E. Can you start a trill on the note written? For example, if it’s written as a D can you start on a D and move up to E? Yes; it depends on the context. There are different schools of thought on this but generally, I would say a trill is basically a long appoggiatura (a non-chord tone resolving into the harmony). So starting on the auxiliary generally makes musical sense. However, in different period styles and in shorter trills, use your judgment as to what sounds best and what you can execute with confidence. The last thing I want to address with trills is one of the biggest challenges; how to end them! If you don’t know exactly where you are it can be difficult to end them smoothly. The good news is there is a great practice technique for this. I always like to play the trill right up to the point before it ends, and then stop in a relaxed manner over the keys. Keep doing that until you have a good grasp on where you will be right before the last notes of the trill. Keep playing that passage over and over and eventually add the last notes of the trill. But don’t play them right away; pause in a relaxed manner before you play the last notes. At first, make the pause as long as you need it; eventually, make the duration of the pause smaller and smaller; until the pause is imperceptible to the listener but guides the ending of the trill for you!

What’s the Difference Between a Mordent and a Trill?

Mordents and trills look so similar on the page. You usually find these in Baroque era music of Handel, Bach, Scarlatti and other composers from that time. I want to show you one specific difference that’s very important. The beginning of the Sarabande movement of the 5th French Suite of Bach starts with a mordent. You can hear me play it without the mordent on the accompanying video first. Shortly after, there is a trill so you can discern the difference. You will hear it played first with no ornamentation. Mordents and trills differ from each other in two interesting ways. Bach wrote a mordent on the first note in the right hand which is a “B”. The secret to a mordent is you add the note below and then go back to the note that’s written so when you have a B you’re going to play B-A-B. So what’s different about trills? Right after that, you have a trill. Trills start on the upper note. Typically trills can have more than one or two notes and this is for freedom of expression. In fact, the whole Baroque era is noted by its ornamentation. And it isn’t just music. Take a look at the architecture and the art of that period. It’s noted for the filigree and all the beautiful fine detail. Ornamentation is an opportunity for the performer to add their own expressive element. That’s why if you listen to different performances of the same exact pieces of Bach, Handel, Telemann, and other Baroque composers, the ornamentation can be quite different. You can listen to how it sounds with the ornamentation. You have to watch the squiggly lines: the mordant has often has one less than trills and have a vertical line.

The Periods of Classical Music Part 1: Baroque Era

The Baroque era pretty much extends from around 1600 to the mid-1700s. What distinguishes this era of music from others? Baroque music, much like the art and architecture of the time, is very ornate. There are a lot of different textures and the music is very linear. The music often has several lines of music that intertwine. One of the paramount musical forms is the fugue – which has a subject and counter-subject that develop in an intricate fashion. It’s very important in Baroque music to not favor the top line of music as is typical in other periods of music. Baroque music is much more like a tapestry of sound – it should all blend together well. I perform an example of this in the video above with the fifth French Suite of Bach. Notice how even though there is a melody, I allow the other parts to have equal say. The other thing that is a vital component in Baroque music is keeping a steady beat. There is little give and take as in other period styles of music; you should be very clear and be able to hear the lines and allow the counterpoint to come through. You should also employ a minimal amount of pedal when it comes to the piano. When you are playing with other instruments, articulation is vital to getting a clear sound and style. Another thing to keep in mind with Baroque music is the ornamentation involved. You might notice a bunch of ornamentation markings sprinkled around Baroque scores and there are countless ways to interpret these. Ornamentation includes things like trills, mordants, turns and other techniques that are used to embellish your music beyond what’s written on the page.

What Are The BEST Trill Fingers?

I’ve talked before about how trills must be measured. You have to know exactly how many notes you’re playing in a trill. Even though when you listen to a trill it sounds like a free form explosion of notes going back and forth, trills have to be measured so you know exactly how many notes you play. Otherwise, ending a trill is impossible because you’re leaving it to chance whether you end up on the right note or not! You don’t always get to choose your trill fingers. There are some instances, for example in Bach Fugues, where you must trill with four and five. These are the worst fingers to trill with! Try to avoid four and five as trill fingers. A lot of people think three and two are the best trill fingers. And indeed, three and two are pretty strong trill fingers. But the best trill fingers are actually three and one! Three and one are the strongest fingers. Your thumb is the strongest finger and the third finger is probably your second strongest finger. Three and one are terrific for trills. Four and two could work nicely as well. There are a lot of different possibilities. Three and one are great when you have that possibility. Three and two are good too. It depends where you’re coming from and where you’re going in your score to determine what the right fingering is. Not only that but if you have other lines within the same hand, sometimes as I said, in contrapuntal writing in fugues particularly, you might not have much of a choice as to which fingers to use for trills. I’m going to give you one final trill fingering tip.
I’m going to show you something that’s really interesting and it ties right in with the idea of measuring your trills. If you measure your trills, you might want to try alternating three, one, three, two. By using those fingers, you actually reduce the load of the trill to three fingers so none of the fingers have to work quite as hard. Not only that but it helps you to measure your trills. Even if you don’t end up using three, one, three, two as trill fingerings, it will help you to make sure that you’re playing the right number of notes in your trills, which is the most important thing! You never want to think of trills as something abstract from music. Just imagine that every single note is written out and play it as it’s written in the score. If you’re figuring out your own trills, find something you can play reliably. Don’t worry about trying to make the fastest trill. What’s important is that it’s musical, repeatable, and dependable. If you can use three and one, or at least three and two, you’re going to be way ahead of the game.

Brilliant Piano Finger Technique – Piano Lessons

When I was growing up, I would listen to some of the great pianists such as Horowitz and Rubinstein. I would also listen to some of the pianists from the early 20th century such as Hoffman, Rachmaninoff, and Joseph Levine. I was always so impressed with the pristine finger work. It almost would sound like a string of jewels because of the evenness of the notes, and I always wondered how to achieve that sound. So today’s show is about how to achieve brilliant finger work. I’m going to regress a little bit more. When I first started studying the piano with my father Morton Estrin, he showed me how to practice scales with raised fingers and often times my students ask me, “Why do I have to raise my fingers?” Let me show you what I’m talking about. With slow scale practice, it’s important for strength to raise the fingers. You may wonder why you would ever want to play that way because obviously when you play quickly, you don’t have time to raise your fingers. The secret to getting the evenness in your scale work and fast finger passages is the release of notes. For example, if you were to put your hand on a flat surface and just try to lift one finger, some of them are pretty hard to lift. Lift your fourth finger with your hands on a flat surface, and it’s very hard. It’s actually the release of notes that takes more strength than the pushing down of notes! So to strengthen and then to release is the reason for practicing slowly with raised fingers so you’ll practice the release of each note and that will lead to the pristine beauty you can get in fast finger work. That is one of the secrets for achieving beautiful clarity in your playing. There are many others that I will discuss in future videos in terms of hand position and other practicing techniques. For now, I suggest that you practice very strongly. Practice your scales and your arpeggios slowly with raised fingers then work up gradually faster. As you get faster, your fingers, by necessity, must be closer and closer to the keys until you can play quickly but still have the pristine evenness, so each note is exactly the same length because the raising of fingers accomplishes the release of each previous note.

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. How many of you have played that famous C major sonata of Mozart, or always wanted to play it? If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place. We’re going to take a complete deep dive into how to learn and master this ubiquitous Mozart sonata, starting right from the beginning.

A Section-by-Section Approach

We’re going to start at the very beginning and work through the piece section by section. By the end of this video series, you’ll be able to truly master this wonderful sonata. Have your score ready. There’s a link in the description so you can follow along with the music, and I’ll be here to guide you every step of the way. As we go, I’ll explain sonata allegro form so you can understand the structure, but more importantly, learn how to execute it cleanly and get that sparkle you’ve always wanted in this piece.

Exposition

Sonata form begins with the exposition, where the main themes are introduced. The opening theme is in C major, and from there the music moves into the second subject. It’s helpful to slow down here and focus on just this section so everything is completely clear before moving on.

How to Learn a Piece Like This

How do you actually learn something like this? I always recommend reading through the entire movement a couple of times first, just to get acquainted and understand the overall shape of the music. Then get right down to work in very small sections. You can learn four measures at a time, or even just two. Many people think learning two measures at a time will take forever, but it’s exactly the opposite. The smaller the section, the longer and more productive your practice sessions will be. You won’t feel overwhelmed, and you can really digest the score. Two measures at a time is more than enough to make solid progress.

Learn the Right Hand First

At the very beginning, take just the right hand. Follow all the markings in the score, including the notes, rhythm, phrasing, expression, and fingering. If you’re using an Urtext edition, you’ll notice it contains only what Mozart wrote, which means there may be no fingering included. In that case, you may want to reference another edition that includes fingering, such as editions available from Virtual Sheet Music or IMSLP.

Learn just the first two measures with the right hand. This won’t take long. Play it several times until it’s memorized, checking back and forth with the score. Once it feels comfortable, increase the speed.

Then Learn the Left Hand

Next, learn the left hand. Because it’s built on broken chords, start by learning the chords as solid blocks. This helps you understand the underlying harmony and naturally leads to good fingering. Memorize those chords first, then break them up and play them as written.

You may find that using pedal creates a beautiful sound. While Mozart’s piano didn’t have a modern sustain pedal, it did have a knee lever that served a similar function. Still, too much pedal can blur the texture. Instead, you can use what I call a phantom pedal by holding the first note of each chord. It’s not essential, but it produces a lovely effect.

Once the left hand is secure, make sure the right hand is still correct. Check all the details. For example, notice the slur in the second measure and be sure to shape it properly. You never save time by learning something incorrectly, even if it seems minor.

Put the Hands Together

The hardest part of piano playing is putting the hands together. Once each hand is securely memorized, slow the tempo way down and try playing hands together from memory. And check your work. Make sure, for example, that the C in the right hand releases exactly when the E plays at the quarter rest at the end of the second measure. Be fastidious with the details, because you will spend ten times longer fixing anything you didn’t pay attention to initially. If you’ve ever learned something wrong, you know how hard it is to eradicate it. Don’t be in a rush to get it halfway there or even 95 percent there, because that last 5 percent will take far longer than learning the whole thing correctly in the first place. Get it right from the start by breaking it down carefully.

Trills Without Stress

In the fourth measure, there is a trill. Trills must be measured, but they don’t have to be fancy. A simple trill using steady 16th notes is perfectly effective. You can always embellish later if you want, but first learn a clean, basic trill so you can move forward confidently.

This same principle applies throughout the movement. Don’t get stuck trying to execute elaborate ornamentation. Learn the movement first. Mozart gives you artistic license with trills, and simplicity can be just as beautiful.

Scale Passages and Technique

Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. You might have clicked on this thinking, is this just clickbait? I assure you, it is not. What I am about to share with you is very real, and if you embrace it, it can transform your piano playing in ways you might not believe, all in just ten minutes a day.

Why Ten Minutes Can Make Such a Difference

How can ten minutes possibly change your playing? It sounds almost impossible. There are plenty of piano teachers who have students grind away at endless exercises, studies, and technical drills. I actually take a very different approach. I believe the most important thing to work on at the piano is repertoire. There is so much great piano music that already addresses technical challenges that most standalone exercises are unnecessary.

The One Big Exception

Here is the exception, and this is the key to everything. Scales and arpeggios. You have all seen books like Hanon, The Virtuoso Pianist. You might wonder who can possibly sit down and just rip through all of that. The truth is, you should be able to play all your scales and arpeggios under control. Maybe not at lightning speed at first, but comfortably and securely. The idea of spending hours on this sounds daunting. Here is the secret. You only need five to ten minutes a day.

One Scale a Week Is Enough

Take just one scale per week. That’s it. I am not a fan of endless technical work, but this is the one thing you absolutely need if you want to take your piano playing to the next level. Start with the C major scale. You will notice it is written in four octaves in Hanon. That is intentional. You need to be comfortable playing across the entire keyboard. Piano music does not live only in the middle. It uses the full range, so you must be at ease everywhere on the instrument.

Proper Seating and Position

Before you even play a note, make sure you are seated correctly. Sit far enough away from the keyboard so you are not cramped. If you are too close, you cannot reach the high and low ends comfortably, and your arm angles will be all wrong. Make sure you are centered. Keep in mind, the center of the piano is not middle C. It is closer to the name on the fallboard. Sit there so you can easily reach both extremes of the keyboard.

The Mystery of Scale Fingerings Simplified

When you look at scale fingerings, it can feel overwhelming. The good news is there are really only eight fingerings you need to learn. Once you learn them, you can apply them to many different scales. Even better, once you learn the C major scale, there are many other scales that use exactly the same fingering. This is why slow, careful practice is where all the value lies.

Slow Practice With a Metronome

Start with your metronome set to 60 and play one note per beat. Slow practice builds strength, control, and independence of the fingers. High, raised fingers help develop this control, and I have many videos that go deeper into this topic. Here, I am giving you the condensed version so you can get started right away. In just a year, doing one scale or arpeggio per week, you can learn all your major scales, minor scales, harmonic and melodic minors, and arpeggios. That is about 60 total. This slow work is like stretching for an athlete or dancer. It wakes everything up and builds clarity, so you know exactly which keys are down and which are up.

How to Play the Scale Correctly

As you play, keep your shoulders relaxed. Avoid any up and down motion of the arms. This is finger work. The thumb tucks under smoothly, staying close to the keys so it is ready for the next note in the right hand going up and the left hand coming down. Memorize where the thumb crossings happen. Once you do, everything feels natural. This kind of practice feels good because you really get to dig into the keys, with rounded fingers and unused fingers lifted and relaxed.

Building Speed the Right Way

After playing one note to the beat, move to two notes per beat. Go all the way up and down several times. Then move to four notes per beat. At this point, lighten up and stay close to the keys. Listen carefully for evenness. Make sure each note is articulated cleanly and that notes do not overlap unevenly. This listening is just as important as the physical motion.

When and How to Use This Practice

You can do this as a warm-up, or you can do it when your mind is tired of learning repertoire. Five to ten minutes a day is all it takes, and the results are profound. Do exactly the same thing with arpeggios. Remember, this technique comes from the fingers, not the arms. You cannot play fast or accurately by flailing your arms. Fingers are the key.

Why This Works

About 90 percent of piano music is made up of scales, arpeggios, and broken chords. This work not only gives you technique, but also a deeper understanding of keys and harmonic relationships. It ties together technique, theory, and musical understanding. All of this, in just ten minutes a day, can truly transform your piano playing. If you have questions, feel free to leave them in the comments on LivingPianos.com or on YouTube.