Piano Pilot

How do you choose the right piano teacher? That’s a question newbies at piano frequently ask. And it’s an important question as well. Let me tell you how to do it.

First, you really have to identify what your goals are. Do you want to play classical piano pieces? If so, you’ll need someone who’s been trained to play this style. Fortunately, the classical style of piano playing has no shortage of piano teachers.

Do you want to play from fake books? If so, you’ll need to find a teacher who knows chords. These teachers exist and can be found as well. While not as abundant as the note reading classical teacher, the chord-based approach is being taught more and more these

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To the uninitiated, the piano keyboard looks like a sea of black and white. So many keys!

The way most piano teachers handle this problem is to first show students where middle C is - and I agree this should be the first thing newbies learn. But after they learn this visual marker, it’s time to really make the piano keyboard easy to see. How? By showing students how to form chords.

Sure, you could spend your time learning every single note on the piano. And you’d probably still be confused as to how to make music. But if you learn a chord-based approach first, you’ll be able to see piano keys as chords instead of individual notes. And when this happens

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Did you ever notice how most people who start off at a young age taking piano lessons rarely continue past high school? Then, when these people grow into adults many of them will eventually regret their decision to quit. So much so that, many will actually seek out a new piano teacher and start all over again.

Why do most people quit? I don t think it s because they re not motivated or they don t like music. I believe it s because they don t realize why they re taking piano lessons in the first place. Sure they can tell you that music is important and they probably should be trying harder but the fact

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Not everyone can learn piano on their own. Some people can, but they’re rare. If you’re thinking of learning the piano, you may want to consider getting either a teacher or a piano tutor.

What’s the difference? Not much. It all really depends on what you need. Piano teachers usually take students by the hand from note reading to actual performance. A piano tutor, on the other hand, usually takes on adult students and helps them with specific problems.

These problems could be anything from note reading to how to play a particular passage on the piano.

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Ah the Soundscape. That indefinable rush of notes that envelopes and soothes. The first classical composer to really embrace this type of music was Claude Debussy.

In fact, a whole style of music (Impressionism) was coined based on his music alone.

It’s a lush style that tries to steer clear of too definable a melody line. Instead, textures and rhythms are explored. Some students think this style is the hardest to learn but I think it’s actually easier to play this style than the straight melodic style embraced in the classical period.

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