Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

This is a very important topic that not only applies to school but applies to nearly every aspect of life. Learning to balance and manage your time is an absolute necessity to finding success and happiness in your life. I learned a long time ago through some personal struggles that sometimes it is necessary to give up things that are good for the pursuit of what is important. You can’t do everything.

As you get older you understand that there is a finite amount of time we all have on this earth and doing something meaningful with your life is vital. When it comes to school and planning your life at a younger age it can be difficult to determine what you really want. But if you have a general idea of where you want to go in life it can be much easier to enjoy an enriching life.

If you are in school now and you are interested in pursuing music as your main focus of study, you might not want to overload yourself with more advanced academic courses. On the surface it might seem important to have great grades in the hardest classes you can handle. But when it comes to studying music, particularly working towards a performance degree, practicing music is the most important thing in getting into a good music school. You will always need good grades but overloading yourself with advanced courses and neglecting your music studies will put you at a distinct disadvantage.

On the other hand, if you are pursuing music as a hobby and are pursuing another career, you probably should prioritize your academic studies ahead of your music practice. You can still enjoy musical activities no matter what career you choose.

You also have to look at yourself and understand the type of person you are and the personality traits you have. Do you like to be alone more and work by yourself? Maybe you enjoy scheduling yourself to the maximum diving into work and study without much social interactions. On the other hand, maybe you enjoy social activities, sports, being with family and other things that take you away from work or studying for large amounts of time. Don’t be afraid to balance your life according to your personality as opposed to forcing yourself into something you don’t enjoy. This will help you to find happiness in life.

The best thing you can do is be honest with yourself. Understand that you can’t do everything and having a focus in life is something that is very important to achieving a successful career and a happier life.

This might sound like a silly topic – and it kind of is – but this is a surprisingly common problem a lot of people encounter. Maybe there is a smell that develops over time but in most cases this is a problem with used pianos bought from a private seller.

Many things can contribute to a bad smelling piano. The most common occurrence is with cigarette smoke but there are many different things that can cause a piano to carry an unwanted odor. Situations vary, but you should be aware that smells can be very tricky to get rid of.

There really is no easy answer when it comes to smelly pianos. In all cases you will want to have the piano thoroughly cleaned – and this means removing the action. You will absolutely want to have a professional do this; you should never attempt to pull the action or touch fragile parts of the piano without the help of a technician.

Any piano you buy that has sat around for years could probably use a thorough cleaning – there is an incredible amount of dust that can accumulate over the years as well as some other interesting items. The next time you have your piano tuned you should ask your tuner what the strangest thing they ever found in a piano; you will probably be surprised with the answer!

Sometimes you might be able to mask a smell more than you can eradicate it. For example, when it comes to cigarette smoke, there is almost no way to completely get rid of the smell – it’s next to impossible! After thorough cleaning, one thing you can do to alleviate the problem – and this comes recommend from technicians – is to mask the smell with a perfume or something similar (many times it will be able to cancel out any lingering smells).

When you hear short notes – on almost any instrument – this is usually called staccato. We are going to be discussing two types of staccato notes – one is single staccato notes and the other is slurs which end in staccato notes such as two note slurs.

For the video example above, I chose the last movement of Mozart’s K331 Sonata in a major which ends with the famous Alla Turca movement. This is a great piece for staccato demonstration and if you have the chance you may enjoy following along with the video.

The most important technique in playing staccatos is using the wrist. If you rely on the arms the notes won’t snap like they should – it will sound limp. The arms are simply too big and ponderous to rely on for this technique. But how do you approach the staccatos with your wrist?

In the case of a single note, you will want to place your fingers over the keys and simply use your wrist to play the notes. You will want to move ONLY the wrist; do not involve your arms at all except to carefully place the hands over the right keys. By practicing this technique and relying on the wrist, you can develop incredibly speed and fluidity.

When it comes to slurs that end in staccatos, you will want to achieve this is one motion. In this particular piece there is a two note slur that ends in a staccato. For this example you will want to play down for the first note of the slur, and then up for the staccato. The video above provides an excellent example of this. It doesn’t matter how many notes are in the slur, you will always want to go down with the wrist on the first note then come up on the staccato note.

When you put this all together, you will notice a very big change in the sound of the music. Your short notes will have a nice crisp sound to them – they will delineate themselves from the slurred notes.

Now, staccato doesn’t always mean short. It technically means detached. There are examples of slower music where the notes aren’t short but are simply detached from each other. This is an entirely different technique I will cover in a future video but for today, the examples above will help you start playing staccato like a pro.

Many times we let fear get in the way of learning something new or pursuing a new hobby. As we get older we might tell ourselves that learning a new language or learning a new instrument is something we just can’t do. There are number of excuses people come up with: I’m too old, I can’t learn like I used to, I don’t have the time, it’s a dumb idea, or anything else we might set up as a roadblock to prevent us from doing something new. So let’s examine this concept and find out if there are any truths to these claims or are if we are just being our own worst enemy.

So let’s get this out of the way right at the beginning, The answer to the question of whether or not an adult can learn a new instrument is yes, you can learn a new instrument! Unless you are physically or mentally compromised you can learn to play an instrument, even if you have limited or no musical experience in the past. However, for some people learning a new instrument is going to be easier than for others.

If you have no experience whatsoever with music or playing an instrument it is still possible to learn but it’s going to be a much greater challenge. If you are up for it and it’s your calling, then you should continue to pursue it. Don’t let age get in the way of your dreams. You just have to have realistic expectations. It’s not to say it’s impossible, but becoming a virtuoso musician as an adult with no prior experience is going to be extremely difficult. Is it impossible? It depends upon the person and the level of commitment. Can you learn to play and enjoy it as a hobby? Absolutely!

Music is a language and if you’ve never been exposed to it before it would be like learning a new language. It’s going to take time and it’s going to be something that’s a little harder to learn as you grow older.

The good news is that if you have a foundation in music it’s going to be much easier to learn a new instrument or a second instrument even as an adult. The fundamentals of music are the same from instrument to instrument and while the keys, strings, and methods of performing are different, the foundation of the language stays the same. If you are looking to start playing a second instrument it’s going to be much easier for you – especially if you already know how to play the piano.

Do not stop yourself from pursuing something you want to do. If you think it would make you a happier person, then you should not get in the way of trying something new. I have many people who contact me and say that they are learning the piano as an adult and that my videos as well as others have helped them to progress to a level they are very happy with and are thrilled to be playing music!

There are 3 fundamental ways of thinking and being while performing music. These thought processes are not just in performing, but in life itself. They are:

– Linear
– Random
– Cyclical

Linear thinking is typical of Western thought. In fact it is expressed best in scientific method in which chains of facts and observations are strung together methodically forming theories. Most of us think linearly most of the time because we think with words which by their nature force you to think from one point to the next forming a line of thought.

Eastern thinking is sometimes exemplified by meditation which can be described as pure thought. Westerners think of it as clearing the mind since you have to stop the internal dialog. Yet just because you are not forming words in your head doesn’t mean there is no awareness or thought. You are still taking in the world, but you are not trying to define it. This is a random thought process of all thoughts merged into a kind of oneness.

Before I explain how all of this relates to musical performance, I want to bring up the third type of thought. Unlike the two preceding types of thought, cyclical thinking is generally destructive. By its nature it goes nowhere and is akin to a feedback loop. Like a sound system in which the microphone picks up the sound of the speakers and quickly escalates into a loud noise, sometimes thought patterns can cycle through creating an escalation of negative emotions. An extreme example of this is compulsive obsessive disorder in which a person may irrationally keep repeating an action over and over again beyond any logical reason. Another common example of cyclical thinking is insomnia in which you may lie in bed thinking about how you need to go to sleep and just when you start to fall asleep, again you think about how you need to fall asleep repeating the cycle.

So now how this relates to musical performance is this:

Linear thinking is absolutely necessary in the successful performance of music. After all, you must get from point A to point B and so on. A great performance of an etude for example may be one in which everything is perfectly planned out and executed with confidence having achieved consistent results through every section of a piece again and again. However, a perfectly planned performance can sometimes lack in spontaneity.

Random thinking can at best be electrifying keeping the audience on the edge of their seats wondering what will happen next. The performer doesn’t rely completely on planned skill sets of getting from one note to the next in a perfectly planned way, but allows himself to create something new at that moment. It is necessary to have some sense of where you are in the piece or you could take a wrong turn or try something in a performance that you aren’t capable of playing!

Cyclical thinking during a performance can be a nightmare. After preparing for weeks or months for a concert, some unfortunate event happens perhaps from a momentary distraction or finger slip, and from that point on you start thinking about the possibility of it happening again. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy as each mistake leads to the next.

So in a successful performance you must forgive yourself for not being perfect if something unfortunate happens and keep a sense of enjoyment in the moment so you avoid the possibility of getting into a negative cycle of thought which can ruin a performance. Ideally, you have a blend of linear and random thinking so that you let the spontaneous, playful spirit inside you carry on while the linear part of your mind keeps things in order and allows you to express yourself freely while maintaining excellent control.

This question makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up! It’s a horrifying thought to someone like me having spent my entire life listening, learning and playing classical music. So is it possible that Classical music is dead?

You could ask, is Shakespeare dead? Technically yes. Really though, the work of Shakespeare is something that has permeated throughout Western Civilization for centuries and still holds relevance in our modern society. While he might not be front and center, Shakespeare is still an icon and will be remembered and revered for centuries to come. So what does this have to do with classical music?

Like Shakespeare, most of the great classical composers lived hundreds of years ago. In recent years there have been less and less classical composers in the public eye. So what does this mean for the genre of classical music?

Technology has always dictated the advancements in culture – not just technical innovations, but structural ones as well. For example, the Sonata Allegro form is an invention that came about and was adopted by Mozart and Haydn and countless others. In their time it was a great innovation in musical form. So what would happen if Mozart was alive today? What would his form of expression be? He probably wouldn’t be writing sonatas anymore. Music and art has always been about expression and expression changes over time. So what period are we in now?

If you look at classical music and how it evolved over time throughout the nineteenth century, many of the advancements in music were enabled by the advancements in the instruments. The piano became a robust instrument capable of playing to audiences of thousands instead of the intimate settings of the previous century. Flutes were made of metal instead of wood offering a louder sound as well. In fact, all the instruments of the orchestra became more refined and bigger in volume. The orchestra itself grew substantially in numbers and variety of instruments As a result, the music got more complex and was composed on a grand scale.

Where we are today is interesting. The idea of the concert hall and the symphony orchestra is something that is still prevalent in our society which pays homage to the great composers of years past mostly. This type of performance is not going away anytime soon but there are new means of expression at their infancy. While 19th century music ushered in the modern piano (almost), the symphony orchestra and the concert hall, 20th century technology offered electrified and amplified instruments and recording technologies. The seminal album by the Beatles, Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is an example of music co-written and produced not for performance, but as a recorded musical expression. With the integration of people through the internet, could we be that far from collaborative music on a global scale? Already, popular forms of music have utilized snippets of recordings of others in re-mixes. So, instead of trying to compose yet another great symphony, it is possibly more likely that the next great outpouring of creative energy will be in new forms of music we can only begin to imagine.

There will always be traditionalists – Brahms and Rachmaninoff were conservative in their times. In short, classical music is alive and well! It’s not the same as it was in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries but classical music will be here for generations to come. However, music will continue evolving by revolutionaries expanding the genre with both mixing elements of styles from around the world as well as utilizing emerging technologies in innovative ways.

Rubato is a technique typically used during Romantic period music, such as Chopin, Schumann, and other composers. It is not something used as much during baroque or classical era music: Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and others.

Simply put, Rubato is a give and take in the timing of music – it adds an expressive element. Some people make the mistake of gaining or losing time when it comes to implementing rubato; this is not what rubato is at all. Instead of gaining or losing time, it’s simply playing ahead or behind the beat but always coming back to the correct time. This provides an incredible amount of tension and release to the music.

In the video example above I play the Chopin Nocturne in b-flat minor both with rubato and without. You will notice that you can tap along to the beat of the music whether I am playing with rubato or not. This is something to keep in mind, when playing rubato. You should be able to tap along rhythmically even with the give and take of the beat.

If you lose the pulse, your music will die. What does this mean? It’s not the eight notes; it’s the longer notes that create the pulse of the music. When playing rubato it is important to keep the pulse.

My father demonstrates rubato playing with the metronome getting ahead and behind of the metronome without losing a beat! This is an incredibly difficult skill to master but it can bring your music to new levels. The secret to playing good rubato involves being able to feel the large beat and not just the subdivisions. You will find that you have a lot of freedom to mold the tempo and add an expressive element while keeping the pulse alive!

This is a loaded and controversial topic that’s bound to elicit a strong response out of many of you. The relationship between drugs and music is very long and complex but there are some interesting aspects we can explore in this topic.

Neurologically, a lot of drugs (such as alcohol and marijuana) suppress certain parts of the brain. We’ve all heard of the simplistic idea of a left-brain and right-brain as it pertains to critical thinking and creativity. Certain drugs will suppress certain parts of the brain and some people – including musicians – like to experience this effect.

Drugs are of huge cultural significance as well and have been around for thousands of years. Caffeine is a drug taken by billions of people every single day and just like other drugs it affects the brain and body in different ways. When it comes to music, drugs – specifically mind altering drugs like alcohol, marijuana and others – have had and continue to have a dramatic effects on the musical world and musicians who inhabit it.

Charlie Bird Parker was one of the groundbreaking pioneers of be-bop jazz who was a drug addict. This affected musicians and people around him as they emulated his musical style as well as his drug use. It goes further than this when you look at the world of rock and roll and bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones who glorified the “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll” movement. These circumstances were much more cultural than anything else. But did it effect their music?

Drugs will not make you a better musician. Certain people might benefit from inhibiting certain analytical parts of their brain that allows them to lose inhibitions adding spontaneity to their music, but it doesn’t make them better musicians. You would not be able to take drugs to increase your learning or develop better skills but you might be able to improvise with a little bit more freedom of expression at first.

The downside to drug use is very well documented in the music world. While it might allow certain musicians to be more “creative” it does have it’s share of negative effects. Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon, Ric James, Charlie Parker, and many more musicians have died as a result of their drug use. It is not something to take lightly.

Drug use is not a yes or no type of question. Many people enjoy listening to music either in their home or at live events and have a few glasses of wine or beer or sometimes smoke marijuana. Even legal drugs require a level of balance to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

This is an incredibly tough question and to be honest there is no definitive answer but I’m going to provide some insights for you. You would think that because there are twelve different notes there might be twelve different scales; but things are a bit more complicated.

While it’s true that there are twelve different notes and twelve different major scales, you also have to consider minor scales. With minor scales you have two forms of each scale, the harmonic and the melodic, so you now have 36 scales. Are we done yet? Not even close.

The the next thing you have to consider are modes. This becomes a little tricky because modes are scales that simply start on different notes. For example, if you have no sharps or flats you could be in C major. And while you can play a C major scale using no sharps or flats you could just as easily start on D and play no sharps or flats and have a completely new scale – called the Dorian mode. You could also start on E and play the Phrygian mode also with no sharps or flats. This can be applied to all seven notes which gives you seven more scales (or more accurately, modes) to consider. Then you can start adding sharps or flats and the numbers quickly become overwhelming as the possibilities for scales are immense.

Here is a quick chart for reference. It’s not 100% complete as there are scales that can be made by using modes of melodic minors and much more but this is a good reference point for you:

– 36 Major and Minor Scales
– 72 Additional Modes
– 12 Blues Scales
– 12 Diminished Scales
– 12 Pentatonic Scales
– 12 Whole Tone Scales
– 12 Chromatic Scales

We welcome your comments of additional scales not considered in this list!