Tag Archives: bach

Are You Killing the Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs in Your Practice?

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today I’m asking: Are you killing the goose that lays the golden eggs in your practice? Boy, it’s horrible to think that this could be possible. What am I talking about here, anyway? Well, it’s important to cover the most vital subjects in your practice and to work out exercises and technique. Some things are fun to work on, and some things are drudgery. You must strike a balance, or you risk the possibility of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs!

The goose that lays the golden eggs is your passion for the instrument.

If you force yourself to do things that you know you need to do in your practice, but you feel like it’s drudgery to sit down at the piano because the stuff you need to do is so distasteful, then what do you have left? If you don’t love the instrument, then you’re not going to want to practice it anyway. In your practice, of course, you must do certain vital things. And there are some things that maybe you’d rather not do. Maybe you don’t want to work on scales or memorization.

Find time for the important things and balance it out with things that bring you great joy on the instrument.

You have to have some enjoyment, so it’s not all work and no play. You should do some things just because you love to do them instead of falling into a routine that you think you have to do because it’s important. Find the balance between what is productive and what is enriching! That will take you much further than beating yourself up and driving something into the ground until you don’t even want to do it anymore. Make time for what’s important. And if you make the time for playing and enjoying your instrument, then you’ll be able to balance the time spent on important things that may be very challenging. The challenging aspects of your practice can give you a bit of a sickness in the pit of your stomach if you do them too much. Let me know in the comments how many of you have faced this issue! I know it’s a tough thing, particularly for younger students.

Most kids hate to practice.

If they’re forced to practice and they hate every minute of it, they might just want to quit altogether. So they have to have some fun. Maybe they want to make up some music or play some popular songs. Some teachers don’t let them do that. You must strike a balance in your piano practice between hard work and the things you find enriching. With anything in life that you have a passion for, make sure you take time to enjoy it! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

2 Methods of Piano Practice: Why One Is Better

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today we’ll be discussing two methods of piano practice, and one is clearly better. I’m wondering which one you do. What are these two macro-methods of piano practice? One is the shotgun approach, and the other is the band-aid approach. I want to explain what each of these methods entails and why one is clearly better than the other.

What is the shotgun approach?

Some of you probably like to sit down at the piano to practice your music and go through the whole piece. Then you start over, and you go through it again. You try to work through the whole piece because you want to cover everything. I would describe this as a shotgun approach. You’re kind of covering everything because you know everything is important.

What is the band-aid approach?

You start your piece, but instead of going through the whole thing, you zero in on where you know the weaknesses are and focus on what needs work. Then, after you’ve gotten that section nailed down, you can go back and try to connect it with the previous section. After that, you can go back further. As soon as you come to a section where something doesn’t feel secure or doesn’t sound quite right, once again, you’ll focus your attention on that. The band-aid approach is strategic practice.

You don’t need to practice everything equally!

You will get so much more done using the band-aid approach. I know it’s gratifying to play the music and try to cover all your pieces because it makes you feel like you’ve really accomplished something. But it’s definitely not the most efficient way to get things done when your time is limited, which is the case for most people. I know that when I sit down to practice, I want to get as much done as I can for every minute I’m practicing. So I go right for what I know needs work. I spend the vast majority of my time that way. It’s the 80-20 rule: spend 80% of your practice on 20% of the material. Perhaps it’s more like the 90-10 rule. You could spend 90% of your time on 10% of the material. It makes a world of difference to gain security where you really need it.

Remember: avoid the shotgun approach!

The shotgun approach is not in your best interest most of the time. Occasionally, you will want to go through all your music as a check to see where to focus your next practice session. Then you can use the band-aid approach, as I described. What practice method works for you? Let us know in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! We have thousands of videos and articles about almost every subject you can imagine! You can also consider joining our Patreon, where we make videos just for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

How to Get the Most Out of Your Piano Technician

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about how you can get the most out of your piano technician. First of all, did you know that not all piano tuners are piano technicians? Most tuners are technicians. But some people just tune, and that’s about it. They might do very minor work, but a full-fledged piano technician may be able to work out a myriad of issues on your piano. Whether you have a sluggish key, a squeaking pedal, regulation issues, or maybe your voicing is harsh and you want something that sounds warmer, a master piano technician can do wonders with your piano. So how do you get the most out of your technician?

First of all, make a checklist.

Any time you have an issue with your piano, write it down or put it in a document on your computer that you can reference. When you set up the appointment with your piano technician, tell them everything.

Make sure the piano is on pitch.

You can check the pitch with an app. There are many tuning apps available for your phone. If your piano has dropped in pitch, it’s going to take two tunings to get it back. First, a rough tuning just to get it in the zone, which is called a pitch raise. And then the second one is a fine tuning. Your technician will have to be prepared to spend the time to do that. So check the tuning on your piano. Make sure A is indeed 440 cycles per second. If you find that it’s dropped to 435 or something like that, it’s probably going to take a couple of passes of tuning to get it back up to pitch. And incidentally, that tuning won’t hold as long because once a piano goes out that far, it takes longer to get stable again with more periodic tunings.

Tell your technician ahead of time about anything that you want them to address with the instrument.

There might be issues with the pedals, or maybe the action is making noise. Whatever the issues may be, tell them before they arrive. The reason for this is that they usually set their appointments back to back all day. If you bring up any issues while they are tuning your piano, they may not have the time to address them. It is likely they will have another appointment to get to. So tell the technician before the appointment so they’re prepared to spend the appropriate amount of time with you. And once they arrive, remind them of all the things you want them to address.

Try the piano before they leave!

It is incredibly important that you play the piano while your technician is still there. You want to make sure that the issues have been fixed. Piano technicians are very busy. We sell pianos all around the country, and there seems to be a backlog trying to get tuners out. The fine tuners can have waiting lists for weeks! The last thing in the world you want is to have your piano tuned, and as soon as they leave, you discover an issue is still there. So you must try the piano and make sure everything has been fixed.

Have your piano technician as an ally.

Make sure you get the right technician who is more than just a tuner. You want a full-fledged technician who can resolve any issues you have with your piano. Tell them what to expect when you make the appointment, remind them when they get there, and try the piano before they leave. These tips will help you get the most out of your piano technician! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrinContact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

Secret Technique for Balancing Your Hands on the Piano

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today I’m going to share with you a technique for balancing your hands on the piano. One of the great things about the piano is the fact that you have different parts with your two hands. But that also makes balancing the hands difficult. I’m going to demonstrate using Fairy Tale by Kabalevsky. Watch the video for the demonstration. You’ll hear the balance of the hands with the melody above the accompaniment, which is sometimes difficult to achieve. I’m going to show you some techniques to achieve this. I have a secret technique for you that I bet you’ve never tried before!

You can use different articulations in each hand.

You can play a gentle finger staccato in the left hand to be able to differentiate the two different lines. When you do that, you get a totally different feeling in each hand. One of the simplest techniques, by the way, is to simply lean more weight on one hand than the other. Make your right hand heavy and your left hand light. Now, that sounds really easy, but it’s not always that simple. Sometimes, when you’re playing, it’s really difficult to even hear what the balance is like. Not only that, you can practice hands separately, but when you put the hands together, it’s a whole different story. How can you control the melody while also playing the accompaniment and hear everything clearly?

Try playing with one hand on the keys and the other following along on top of the piano.

By playing one hand where you absolutely hear nothing, it gives you a chance to listen to the melody. You can also reverse the hands and do the same thing to make sure you’re getting the appropriate balance out of each hand. First, play just the melody by itself without encumbering yourself by playing on top of the piano. Then, try it with one hand on top of the piano and see if you get the same sound. You can check your work by listening to each hand independently on the piano, then adding the other hand on top of the piano so you can hear if you can get the same sound when you are coordinating both hands.

Using this technique, any little deviation becomes obvious to you.

You’re going to clearly hear any issues. When you’re hearing the hands together, it’s hard to distinguish one line from the other. Your brain can’t always hear everything. So this is a universal technique you can utilize whenever you’re having difficulty either balancing the hands or creating the correct rhythm in each hand when putting the hands together. Play one hand on top of the piano so you can hear things. Compare it to what it’s like when you’re just playing each hand separately without the other hand playing on top of the piano. This is a great technique. Try it out! Let me know how it works for you! Leave your comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

Why Rests Are as Important as Notes

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today, I’m going to tell you why rests are as important as notes. I’m going to get a little bit metaphysical with you for just a moment. In some of his writings, Carlos Castaneda talked about how, when you’re looking at a tree, for example, you learn to tune out the space between the leaves and just focus on the leaves, as if the space between the leaves isn’t anything. But if there was no space between the leaves, you couldn’t identify the leaves!

The only thing that gives anything you look at definition is the space between.

In the universe, you have matter, energy, and the space between things. If there was no space, you would not be able to discern any matter because it would be just a whole conglomerate of mass. There would be nothing. If everything was mass, how could you have anything? Okay, that’s kind of a heady subject, but this relates to rests in music. How can you have sound if you don’t have silence? You need balance between what is and what isn’t: life and death, black and white, good and evil. This duality of reality is prevalent in music.

Rests make it possible to have music.

Without rests, you wouldn’t have sound. It’s the drama of waiting in anticipation for what’s coming next that gives music power and makes it compelling. Listen to a great jazz artist, and it’s the time between the notes where they’re formulating their ideas, much like a conversation. There’s nothing worse than getting stuck with someone who talks nonstop. You find yourself tuning out. You can’t even consider what they’re saying. It’s only the time between the sentences and your thoughts that gives you a chance to assimilate the information. And so it is with music.

Take rests for their full value!

It’s the mark of a great musician. Nothing irks me more than when I hear an accomplished concert pianist not hold rests long enough. It loses the character of the music. So remember, rests are just as important as notes. You can’t have notes without rests. Consider the time between the notes just as important as the notes themselves. I hope this resonates with you.

It’s easy to rush your counting when you’re counting rests. When nothing’s going on, it’s easy to speed up your counting! So deliberately slow down your counting to compensate for your natural tendencies. And check your work with the metronome to make sure you haven’t overcompensated. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin

Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com

What Are Modes?

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today, I’m talking about modes. You may have heard of modes. It may even have been explained to you in some way that seemed incomprehensible. How can you possibly remember all of your modes? Well, you can’t! I’m going to show you the easiest way to figure out all your modes. You’re going to know all your modes, and you’ll be able to play them in all keys if you know your key signatures or your major scales.

Let me first show you a major scale.

A major scale is just a series of whole steps and half steps. It’s actually all whole steps, except between the third and fourth and seventh and eighth notes. The white keys on the piano represent a C major scale because you have whole steps except between three and four and seven and eight (E-F and B-C). That’s the way all major scales work. So that can be transposed for all major scales. So what the heck are modes?

Modes are simply starting on a different note of the major scale!

The major scale is the Ionian mode. If you start on the second degree of a major scale, that’s called the Dorian mode. If you start on the third scale degree, you get the Phrygian mode. If you start on the fourth scale degree, you have the Lydian mode. If you start on the fifth note of the major scale, you have the Mixolydian mode. Starting on the sixth note, you have the Aeolian mode, which is also the natural minor scale. And finally, starting on the seventh scale degree, you have the Locrian mode, which is not used very often in music. Those are all the modes!

You can easily figure out all your modes, provided you know your major scales.

For example, if you were playing the Ionian mode in C, it’s the same as the C major scale. But if it’s the Dorian mode, it starts on two. Well, C is the second note of a B-flat major scale. So you just play the notes of a B-flat major scale, except starting on C. To play the Phrygian mode, you play all the notes of an A-flat major scale, except starting on the third note of the A-flat major scale which is C. For Lydian, you would start on the fourth note of the G major scale (also C). For Mixolydian, C is the fifth note of the F major scale. For Aeolian, C is the sixth note of an E-flat major scale. And finally, the Locrian is the seventh note of the D-flat major scale.

If you know your scales or your key signatures, you just start on any note of that scale.

Once again, if you start on the second note of the scale, it’s the Dorian mode. The third note of the scale is the Phrygian. The fourth note of the scale is the Lydian. The fifth note of the scale is the Mixolydian. The sixth note of the scale is the Aeolian. And the seventh note of the scale is the Locrian. You can start at any scale degree. That’s all there is to it! This is so much easier than memorizing seven different whole-step and half-step relationships. I couldn’t keep all of that in my head. And you don’t need to! Just think of key signatures and where you’re starting within that key signature, and you have all your modes.

What are modes for?

Modes are really useful in musical compositions from different periods. Before major and minor tonality were prevalent in Renaissance music, it was all based on modes. The Ionian mode (major scale), and the Aeolian mode (natural minor scale) came to dominate Western music in no small part because of the raised seventh. That’s why the minor scale has a raised seventh. The minor scale is usually in the harmonic form or the melodic form, both of which have raised sevenths. The melodic also has a raised sixth, giving that strong tonality of the raised seventh. Listen to the difference between a natural minor and the harmonic minor and how much more driven you are to resolve to the tonic note at the top of the scale with the harmonic minor with the raise seventh compared to the natural minor or Aeolian mode. The natural minor floats up there, but you don’t feel propelled to resolve to the last note of the sclae. It doesn’t really propel you the way the raised seventh does. These are the roots of tonality in a nutshell: the raised seventh that is brought about with the Ionian mode, which is your major scale, and the natural minor that has the harmonic and melodic versions that give you that strong sense of tonality. You may wonder about the Lydian Mode that has a raised seventh, but the two tri-tones in there give it a very austere quality and an ambiguity that you don’t get with major and minor tonalities.


So that’s everything you want to know about modes and more! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

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