Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

How you sit at the piano is extremely important for several reasons. It offers you the most ergonomic position for tone production and technical fluency. It also assures that you can practice for long periods without causing injury. Wind players are accustomed to focusing on embouchure (lip position) on their instruments for optimum performance. How you sit at the piano is no different. In this video we will explore ideal sitting position which will benefit your piano playing and enjoyment.

This is a question I received the other day and I was surprised about how in-depth the answer became. All musicians are familiar with time signatures at the beginning of pieces – whether it’s 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, or even something like 12/8 – but why is there no 3 at the bottom of time signatures? The answer to this question comes down to what a time signature means.

The top number in a time signature represents how many beats there are in each measure. In other words, each measure (the box around each set of notes) of music on your sheet has that many beats contained within it – for example, a piece in 3/4 would have 3 beats in each measure of music.

The bottom number in a time signature represents the kind of note getting one beat. For example, a 1 would stand for a whole note. So a time signature with a 1 at the bottom – such as 4/1 – would mean that each whole note gets 1 beat and the top number tells you that there are 4 beats in each measure of music. A 2 at the bottom of the time signature would represent a half note and that means that every half note gets one beat. A 4 on the bottom would represent a quarter note and that would mean that every quarter note would get one beat. This goes on and on with each number representing a different note. But you might have noticed we just skipped 3 and instead went from 2 to 4; why is this?

There is not really a 3 note in music. What about something like triplets? Couldn’t you have a triplet getting one beat? The answer is not a simple yes or no.

Composers are able to make triple divisions as part of a time signature but they aren’t represented by a 3 at the bottom of the time signature. When you see time signatures like 6/8 or 12/8 these are actually functioning differently than you might think. There are certainly 6 beats in a 6/8 time signature and there are 6 8th notes to a measure. The question is, how is this different from 3/4 where you have three quarter notes in a measure? After all, three quarter notes equals the same amount as six eighth notes; it is exactly the same amount of time that’s measured. So how are these different?

When you have something like 6/8 time or 9/8, or even 12/8 time it’s actually a triple division. 6/8 time is actually two groups of three – sometimes referred to as a duple meter. In these triple division time signatures, the bottom number can represents dotted quarter notes. So 6/8 time is like having 2 dotted quarter notes in each measure. 9/8 time can be thought of as a piece with 3 dotted quarter notes in each measure. (Each dotted quarter note contains 3 eighth notes.) So, this is how a triple division of the beat is achieved with time signatures.

So why can’t we just put a three at the bottom of the time signature? Because there is simply nothing we can denote as a three note – every time signature must have a note represented in the bottom number and 3 is not represented by any particular type of note.

This question comes from a viewer named Diane. This is a very interesting question and yes, there is an answer to it; although it’s not quite what you might expect.

Throughout my development on the piano, I had the opportunity to study with some phenomenal pianists. My father Morton Estrin was my teacher in my formative years of study. Unlike me, my father has enormous hands! Later I studied with John Ogden who also was a very large man with tremendous hands. I also had the opportunity to study with some sensational women pianists: Constance Keene and Ruth Slenczynska – each of them had smaller hands and probably weighed less than a hundred pounds. These are definitely extremely different body types and as you’d imagine, their approaches to playing and teaching are very different.

When it comes down to it, the difference between men and women playing piano relies less on their gender and more on their physical stature and makeup. Now there are always exceptions to this; I am a great example. Not only do I have small hands but my thumb does not go totally straight – this means I have a pretty small reach. This is something I have had to overcome throughout my entire career. Just as someone having larger fingers and hands might have a tougher time playing between the black keys – there are pros and cons to hand size.

So how do men and women approach the piano? For argument’s sake, let’s say that men will tend to have larger hands and arms, while women will tend to have smaller hands and arms. Men will typically be able to play larger chords almost effortlessly just utilizing their forearms. I remember how Ruth Slenczynska would use her entire arms to produce an incredibly large sound!

This is a very interesting question. We know as people get older their mobility may suffer and their minds can potentially slow down. But how does this affect their ability to perform music? Today we are going to discuss this and the answer might surprise you!

You might think that a performer would naturally slow down with age – but this isn’t always the case. When it comes to prodigies, they tend to play very quickly when they are young, but as they mature they begin to take more time with the music. This is not a case of slowing down due to physical limitations, but as a way to express the music on a deeper level. They learn to express themselves with every note instead of rushing through the music almost like a sporting event.

The technical side is one thing, but there is a whole other aspect of why you might find yourself slowing down your playing as you get older. If you take a piece you know very well, you may have played it hundreds or even thousands of times – and to you it might seem slow because you know every single note of it inside out. While it might seem “slow” to you, for your audience, they must digest the music for the first time. They might be overwhelmed by the volume of music to digest. As you mature as a musician, you appreciate what it is like for people to listen to a piece they are not familiar with.

Age is not always an indicator of the speed of a musical performance. I’ve heard older pianists who play very fast and younger pianists who play much slower. Sometimes personalities come into play. Often times the differences between professional musicians and talented students are the tempos they take – and this doesn’t mean that more accomplished artists play faster or slower than students. For example, many times, less experienced players will play slow movements much slower than what works, which bogs down the performance, losing the pulse which keeps the music alive. It takes experience to understand how to get these sections to flow and sound natural.

Generally, older musicians tend to play slower. But I don’t believe it has anything to do with mobility and age, it’s much more a product of learning how to play expressively.

Can you major in two instruments in college? When I was growing up, I started playing piano around the age of seven. Shortly after in school, I started playing the French horn. I have an equal love for both instruments. While the piano can play the complete score which is richly rewarding. However, after you hit a note, there really isn’t a whole lot you can do with it after it is pressed. Whereas on the French horn, just one note can reveal expressive possibilities of a profound nature.

I knew early on that I was going to have trouble deciding which instrument to major in. So I looked for schools that would allow double majors and was accepted to several conservatories as a double major. I chose the Manhattan School of Music and I discovered very early when I was going to my advisor to put courses together that the course load would have been so substantial that I would not have had much time to practice! So I majored in both instruments, but not at the same time.

I did private instruction on both instruments and the good news was, I got to play French horn in the orchestra as well as in other ensembles. Most piano majors sing in the choir if they don’t have a secondary instrument. I got a phenomenal experience on both instruments!

If you are really passionate about two instruments, you can consider a double major. If you can get high level ensemble experience and work with first rate private teachers on both instruments, there may not be a need for a double major. Plus, you can avoid the extra course load and additional semesters of work at the school in order to earn your degree.

If you are very industrious and academics come easily to you, a double major is something you can consider. But I would proceed cautiously. I hope this is helpful to all multi-instrumentalists out there! Thanks for joining me here at Living Pianos.

This is a loaded question and people have lots of opinions about it.

When it comes to tone production – making a sound on an instrument – nothing is easier than the piano. A young child can go over to a piano keyboard, press a key down and get a decent sound. Does this mean the piano is an easy instrument to learn? Absolutely not.

Some instruments can be extremely difficult to even hold, much less getting a sound out of. Being able to approach a violin or a flute can be incredibly challenging. So, what is the easiest instrument to learn?

I’m tempted to say the human voice because we all have a rudimentary ability to sing and know the basics of how to produce a sound. However, if you’ve ever heard a professional singer and compared it to your own voice, you would realize a very large distinction in quality. They have learned to master their instrument (the voice) and you are simply familiar with how to sing – not how to sing well.

We must separate the distinguish between approaching instruments and mastering them. Sadly, there is no instrument that is easy to master. In order to become a proficient musician on any instrument takes a tremendous amount of work.

You’ve certainly heard of air pollution – but have you heard of music pollution? You probably haven’t because it’s a term I’ve coined for something that is a pervasive problem in our society. I am very interested in all of your opinions on this subject – and particularly viewers and readers from around the world because I’m not sure if other counties have this problem to the extent we have in the U.S.A.

So what is music pollution? Well everywhere you go in America there is music playing: restaurants, stores, sporting events, movie theaters even parking lots! Almost everywhere you go in America is filled with music. You might think that since I am a musician I would be in heaven. Yet nothing could be further from the truth!

Obviously, music can offer a phenomenal experience and I am a big proponent of people being exposed to different types of music. But having no choice in the music that is being played and having it played constantly wherever you go makes you learn how to tune out music. People get used to hearing music so much that they learn that it’s OK to ignore it. Many times you’ll see people talking at concerts or texting on their phones because they have learned how to tune out music.

I do not have the ability of being able to ignore music. Everywhere I go where there is music playing I break it down analyzing every note because that’s what I’ve been trained to do. It’s almost impossible for me to ignore music and I imagine this can be a problem for other musicians. I personally would much rather be able to put all my attention to the people around me and what I’m doing. When I listen to music, I like to focus 100% of my attention.

Listening is an active experience and we have a whole generation of people who are being brought up learning how to tune out music. This is extremely troubling in concerts where people don’t listen to the music and become a distraction to others.

Certainly there are times and places for background music, but it has truly been taken to an extreme level in modern American culture. Everywhere you go has music playing in your ears and you can’t escape it. The worst example of this is Christmas shopping – everywhere you go has the same music playing over and over again and it can become extremely tedious.

I am very interested in whether or not I am alone in my feelings about this subject. I really believe that music pollution is detrimental for future generations and will lead to music being less regarded as an art form and more as something that is relegated to the background.