Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

I’m Robert Estrin. Welcome to LivingPianos.com. Today I want to share something truly exciting with you—something I use every day in my own musical life. If you’ve seen my videos, you’ve probably noticed I often read music on my iPad. So what’s my go-to source for digital sheet music?

Virtual Sheet Music: The Original Innovator

I’ve been using Virtual Sheet Music for years. They were pioneers in the industry, dating all the way back to the 1990s. In fact, they were the first company to offer a truly viable alternative to printed sheet music. Over the years, the platform has continued to improve—but now, they’ve taken things to an entirely new level.

A Vast Library with Incredible Features

At first glance, Virtual Sheet Music already impresses with its extensive library and beautifully formatted sheet music. It’s incredibly easy to find what you’re looking for. But there’s much more under the hood. For almost any piece you find, you can not only view the music but also listen to it. Many titles include audio playback, and some even come with video tutorials and additional educational resources. The depth of available material varies depending on the piece, but what’s offered is always substantial.

Tools to Practice Smarter

Virtual Sheet Music offers some powerful playback tools. You can:

Adjust the playback speed

Loop specific sections to focus on tricky passages

Really dig into the music and absorb it fully

These features make it a phenomenal practice tool, not just for listening, but for learning.

Search and Explore with Ease

Let’s say you search for Flight of the Bumblebee. You’ll be amazed at how many different arrangements are available! From standard solo versions to unexpected combinations—piccolo and tuba, anyone? The flexibility is just mind-blowing.

Customize Your Own Arrangements

Here’s where things get really exciting. Suppose you want to arrange a piece for a custom ensemble. With just a few clicks, you can:

Choose your instruments

Instantly transpose the piece into any key

Make edits and tailor the arrangement to your needs

Export and print it—all without needing to learn a complex notation program

It’s that intuitive!

Play It Your Way

Once you’ve customized your music, you can:

Adjust the tempo

Choose your instruments

Playback your personalized arrangement in real time

It’s like having a full arranging and playback studio built right into your music viewer.

AI Assistant: Your Musical Companion

One of the newest features is the built-in AI assistant. It’s like having a knowledgeable teacher sitting right next to you.

Type in a question like “How do I practice scales on the piano?” and you’ll get a full, detailed regimen tailored to your needs. Want to learn about a specific composer or piece? Just ask! For example, you can inquire about Massenet or the origin of Meditation, and get instant, accurate answers.

You can even ask about the key of a piece or music theory topics like chord structure or transposition.

A Powerful Metronome Built In

Let’s not forget the built-in metronome. It’s one of the best online metronomes I’ve ever seen. It has precise settings that progress correctly: 72, 76, 80… perfect for gradually increasing your tempo. It’s straightforward, yet powerful.

Accompaniment and More

Need an accompanist? No problem. Choose a piece with accompaniment, then:

Start playback

Loop a section

Practice hands separately or together

You also get access to music theory tutorials, from note reading to more advanced topics like seventh chords and inversions. Whether you’re brushing up on basics or diving into deeper study, the resources are all there.

A Membership That Pays for Itself

I’ve been a member for years, and I can tell you—it’s worth it. Sure, there are other places to get sheet music online, but nothing compares to the ease of use and flexibility that Virtual Sheet Music offers.

Best of all? Around 99% of the music I use is included for free with membership. Some recently copyrighted material may have a small fee, but even then, you’ll get a generous discount.

Bonus Features for Performers

If you’re using an iPad (like I do), you can turn pages with a foot pedal. But Virtual Sheet Music goes even further: you can actually set it to turn pages with a tilt of your head—right to go forward, left to go back! It’s incredibly useful for live performances or smooth practice sessions.

The Bottom Line

Virtual Sheet Music is perfect for anyone serious about their music. Whether you’re a student, teacher, or performer, you’ll find this platform brings all the music you love right to your fingertips.

I’m thrilled to share this with you, and I hope you give it a try. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I’m here to help!

I’m Robert Estrin. Welcome to LivingPianos.com. Improving your piano playing doesn’t have to feel mysterious or overwhelming. When you understand the core elements of the process, real progress becomes not only possible but enjoyable. We’re going to break it down into the essential elements: reading music, learning music, refining music, and developing your technique. If you embrace the process in each of these areas, you can make huge strides in your playing in a short amount of time.

The Problem: Wanting It All Now

Here’s the problem. You sit down to practice or play something, and you just want it all now. The temptation is to try to skip the steps, thinking that you’ll get there faster. But in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Let’s start with reading. You want to develop your reading so you can sit down and enjoy playing music at sight. And what a joy that is! You see people do this and think, “I should be able to do that.” So you take out your favorite Chopin or Debussy or Beethoven, and you struggle. You don’t get to the enjoyment part. It’s deflating. It makes you feel like you just can’t do it, and you put it away feeling dejected. The good news is, while there’s a lot of great and very complex piano music, there’s also great music at a simpler level that you can enjoy right now. If you start playing music on your level, you’ll build up gradually. Play something you can feel the satisfaction of doing well. Do that every day, and your reading will grow. Try reading with other musicians. That’s a great way to improve. Eventually, yes, you’ll be able to read the music you’ve always wanted to play. But start at a realistic level, and don’t feel it’s beneath you to do simpler music. Don’t think you won’t gain anything from it. You absolutely will if you play it well. That’s the key to developing your reading.

Learning Music

Learning music is much the same idea. Choose music that won’t take you six months or a year to learn. You could learn dozens of pieces in that time. That way, you’re incrementally increasing both the difficulty and your command of the music.

When you sit down to practice, you see a whole piece with several pages and think, “Oh my gosh, I better learn as much of this as I can.” So you work through the first page again and again, trying to take it all in. But that’s way too much to absorb at one time. Worse, you start developing bad habits by playing music again and again—not the way you want it to sound—thinking you’ll make it sound better later. That’s a big fallacy. Instead, take tiny chunks of music. If you watched me practice, you’d be astounded at how small the sections are that I work on. I break things down into digestible pieces, work hands separately, then together—methodically. I resist the temptation to just read through the piece again and again when it’s not sounding the way I ultimately want it to. I read through the piece only on the first day. After that, I get right down to work. You should do the same. Don’t feel like you’ve wasted time just because you’ve only learned four measures in a practice session.

Look through your music. You’ll be amazed at how much repetition there is. Repetition and development are the foundations of music composition. So by learning thoroughly, you allow the story of the music to unfold naturally. Like reading a book, one part leads to the next. Learn one small section. Understand the logic of that section. Perfect it. Move to the next section. Connect them. Each day, reinforce what you learned the previous days. Instead of trying to take on more than you can absorb in one sitting, try this method for just one week. Resist the urge to read through everything. Limit yourself to small sections at a time, and you’ll see real growth.

Refining Your Playing

Now, what about refinement? You might think, “I’ve got all this music—I’ve got to get it to a higher level.” So you try to go through everything just to keep it in your fingers. But if you’re not careful, that can work against you. If you’ve already learned the music but it’s not where you want it yet, go slower than you think you need to. Anything you play wrong, you’re going to have to unlearn later. So go very slowly. Better yet, focus on digestible sections of music for refinement. Maybe the first few lines of your piece are fine, but when you get to the fourth or fifth line, there’s a four-measure phrase that just isn’t coming together. With laser focus, practice just those four measures. Use your metronome. Find the speed at which you can play it absolutely perfectly and with confidence. Once you can do that, increase the tempo one notch at a time. You won’t even feel it! You’ll get those four measures up to speed, then connect them with the previous section. Move on to the next part that needs attention. Don’t work scattershot. Focus 90% of your effort on the 10% of music that needs it most. You’ll make far greater progress, and the quality of your playing will soar.

Practicing Technique

Now let’s talk about pure technique. Scales, arpeggios—you might think, “I hate doing that. I don’t want to spend hours on this.” The good news is, you don’t have to! Just spend a few minutes a day. Maybe you’ve worked on scales and arpeggios before, but they’re rusty. Or maybe you’ve never learned all of them, and now it feels overwhelming. After all, there are 12 major keys, 12 minor keys, harmonic and melodic minors, and arpeggios. It’s a lot. But don’t be overwhelmed! Focus on one scale for a whole week. What’s the hurry? You’ve got a lifetime to develop your playing. That’s really the point of all of this: embrace the process. Don’t feel rushed. Don’t feel like you have to accomplish everything every day. Focus on a small amount of music. Bring a high level of playing to just a little bit of music. That mastery will carry over to everything else you play. You’ll gain insights into how to conquer music. You’ll feel the comfort that comes from truly being in control of your reading, your learning, and your technique. Take it one bit at a time. Build day by day. Don’t feel overwhelmed. Focus on what needs the most work. You’ll see your playing rise to a level you never imagined.

I’m Robert Estrin. Welcome to LivingPianos.com. If you’ve been studying piano for any amount of time, you’ve probably asked yourself this question: Why is the left hand so hard? Well, you’re definitely not alone. It’s something pianists on all levels wrestle with. Let’s dive into the reasons why the left hand tends to feel more difficult and what’s really going on under the surface.

Right-Hand Dominance: The Most Obvious Reason

Most people are right-handed. That means the right hand is generally stronger, more coordinated, and more naturally adept at fine motor movements. So it makes sense that the right hand feels easier at the piano. But that’s just the beginning.

The Melody is in the Right Hand

When you’re learning a piece like Mozart’s Sonata in C Major, K. 545, what stands out? The melody. And where is the melody? Almost always in the right hand.

The left hand, in contrast, often plays the accompaniment—the harmonic and rhythmic foundation. Try playing the left hand of that piece by itself. It might not even sound like much on its own. That’s because it’s not designed to stand alone. The melody is what we latch onto by ear, and learning something tuneful is always easier.

Reading the Bass Clef: An Early Challenge

When you’re just starting out, reading notes in the bass clef is a challenge on its own. It’s generally easier to count up the musical alphabet from middle C than it is to go down into the bass register. That alone makes the left hand harder in the beginning. But even after you become fluent in reading bass clef, the left hand still often feels more difficult. So while reading may be part of the initial struggle, it’s far from the whole picture.

The Left Hand Plays Larger Intervals

I’m Robert Estrin. Welcome to LivingPianos.com. Are you struggling to break a bad practice habit? Science might have the answer for you. Let’s explore how to replace detrimental habits with effective techniques.

Understanding the Habit Loop

Understanding the habit loop—cue, routine, reward—can help you identify and alter unwanted behaviors. Replacing a bad habit with a positive one that offers a similar reward is key. Let’s discuss strategies to rewire your brain for better practice habits.

Implementing Change

By applying this approach, you can transform detrimental habits into productive ones, paving the way for continuous improvement. For example, if you find that you aren’t implementing practice of scales and arpeggios in your practice, but you see the value in this, try putting your Hanon book right in the center of your music rack and make it a new daily routine to start with just five or ten minutes of scales and arpeggios. It’s simply the act of starting that makes all the difference in the world. Once you do this for several days, it becomes routine, which is exactly the point! You can do this with almost anything in your piano practice, as well as in your life.

By understanding and applying the science of habit formation, you can effectively overcome bad habits and cultivate a more productive and fulfilling practice routine.

I’m Robert Estrin. Welcome to LivingPianos.com. Want to improve your piano skills overnight? Literally? Let’s discuss how sleep plays a crucial role in musical learning.

The Role of Sleep in Learning

Sleep is essential for memory consolidation. Scientifically proven, practicing before sleep can improve retention and enhance skills. We’ll explore how to align your practice schedule with your sleep patterns for optimal learning.

Optimizing Practice and Sleep

By ensuring adequate rest, you’re not just recharging your body but also solidifying your musical learning, making sleep an essential part of your practice routine. This doesn’t mean that you have to hold off on practicing until just before bedtime. Instead, keep your normal practice regimen. Then, sometime before going to bed, revisit what you have practiced and played during the day. Your music will permeate your brain while you sleep and help with retention. By prioritizing sleep and aligning it with your practice schedule, you can enhance your learning efficiency and overall performance quality.

I’m Robert Estrin. Welcome to LivingPianos.com. Have you ever found that despite hours of practice, your progress seems to plateau? What if the key to more effective learning isn’t practicing longer, but practicing differently? Today, we’re exploring interleaved practice—a scientifically backed method that could revolutionize your approach to learning music.

Understanding Interleaved Practice

Traditional practice often involves focusing on one piece or technique repeatedly before moving on to the next—a method known as blocked practice. Interleaved practice, on the other hand, involves mixing different pieces or skills within a single session. This approach forces your brain to constantly retrieve and apply different strategies, enhancing learning and retention. Essentially, anything that keeps your mind engaged produces the most dramatic results in the work you do at the piano. So try mixing things up to make your practicing more engaging.

Scientific Evidence

Studies have shown that interleaved practice can lead to better long-term retention and transfer of skills compared to blocked practice. By continually switching tasks, you’re training your brain to be more adaptable and resilient, which is crucial for live performances where unpredictability is a given.

Implementing Interleaved Practice

Start by selecting a few different pieces or techniques to work on in a session. Rotate between them every 10-15 minutes, or whenever you feel a decline in the productivity in your practice. I remember listening to my wife practice for orchestral auditions. She would go through the list of music excerpts repeatedly and alternate with other practice techniques such as longtones and scales, then bring back the toughest excerpts time and time again, bringing fluency and solidity to her practicing. Initially, it might feel more challenging, but over time, you’ll notice improved recall and adaptability. Remember, the goal is to make your practice sessions more dynamic and engaging.

By incorporating interleaved practice into your routine, you’re not just learning pieces; you’re training your brain to be more flexible and responsive. This method might be the key to breaking through plateaus and achieving greater musical mastery.

The Piano Pillars System uses this technology. You can learn more about that here: