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My apologies for not updating in quite some time, my computer had a complete virus meltdown and had to be stripped clean of everything and re-formatted.

Everyone gets frustrated with piano practice. In a perfect world, a piano player would be able to sit down at their piano and play a piece flawlessly. If life was like that, playing the piano would not be special. For me, personally, playing the piano is special because of the challenges brought on by it; the challenge of reading music, making sense of those black dots and squiggles, analyzing them with my brain, and transforming them into art with my hands. It takes discipline, motivation, and persistence to make time for yourself and sit down to practice your pieces on a regular basis.

Since most piano players know exactly what I’m talking about, I’d like to point out three very distinct reasons WHY bar-by-bar practicing is so effective.

1. Practicing the most difficult notes most often results in optimized practice. When practicing difficult passages, there are usually only a few note combinations that obstruct your playing. For example, if you have 10 bars that include 8 notes each, there may only be 4 difficult notes to play in that entire passage of 10 bars. Just by practicing those four notes, you will succeed in playing all 10 bars, which greatly reduces your practice time. Depending on your personal skill and the nature of the piece, the most difficult notes may include a key change, a large jump upward or downward on the keys, an awkward fingering position, a trill, an arpeggio, and so on. Focus on these areas, and you will greatly cut down your practice time.

2. Practicing short segments allows you to practice them dozens, or even hundreds of times in a matter of minutes. Using quick and successive repetitious practice methods is the most effective way to teach your hands new motions. In contrast, if you decided to practice a long passage that included difficult notes, the longer interval between your successive playing and the playing of the difficult notes will lead to confusion of the hands, resulting in much slower and less optimal learning. Moreover, piano players who are more adept to playing by memory and less by sight reading have an advantage when it comes to practicing short segments. Short segments are easier to remember, and as you practice them, you are instantly putting them to memory, thus killing two birds with one stone.

3. The shorter the segment, the faster you can practice it. If you’ve read my other posts, specifically on the topics of slow practice, you should be well aware that trying to play a segment fast that your technical skills allow you is detrimental. This may seem like a catch 22, BUT, shorten those segments, and you will effectively learn very quickly to practice those short segments very fast. Typically, the most common short segments you should choose are one bar or even less; perhaps something as simple as just two notes. When you start off this small, you can literally bring any difficult note combination right up to speed within minutes. This saves loads practice time, and as mentioned, helps put the piece’s segments to memory as well.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

Stayed tuned for some great stuff I’ve been planning. Christmas is just around the corner and I’m getting ready to break out the Christmas music. Also, my performance of Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag is almost up to par, and should be up on YouTube hopefully sometime this month, if nothing gets too busy to prevent me from filming it.

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I’ve been away for a few days at a friend’s cottage for my last vacation for the summer (no Internet of course), so now I’m back to posting regularly again. One of the first things I did when I got home was practice Debussy’s Clair De Lune on the piano.

Whether your goal is to be a musical success, or you just want to add another skill to you ever growing repertoire, learning how to play the piano can open the door to a variety of different possibilities if you have the right skills. Whatever your persona l goals in music are, you have to start somewhere in order to achieve those goals. Learning the music notes and how they correspond to the piano is one of the first skills you must learn.

Hopefully, you own or have access to an 88-key piano or electronic keyboard. Learning how to identify and play those basic notes should be your first step in learning piano. These basic notes are known as the first seven letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The note, “C”, is always the key that is connected in front of two black keys. The “F” note is the key that is in front of the three black keys which are compacted together. This explanation may seem a little confusing, so it’s best to use a visual aid. Use the diagram below to locate the keys on the keyboard with their corresponding letter notes, and even which line or space they fall on the grand staff.

After you have gained some knowledge from identifying keys and their corresponding notes, you need to learn how to distinguish between sharps and flats. The black notes on the piano represent sharps and flats, but their use will depend on the side you plan to start from. A sharp symbol (#) identifies a black key that directly follows a white key. Oppositely, a “b” is used as the symbol that denotes a flat, which is most commonly a black note that precedes a white note. So, for example,  D Flat (Db) and C Sharp (C#) are actually the same key on the keyboard, even though they are called different notes. If you don’t understand this now, that’s no problem. It takes time to recognize these and you should find the proper piano teacher or music theory book to help you get familiar with musical notation.

Next, you need to learn where Middle C is located. If you look on the diagram, Middle C is always the fourth C from the left, almost right in the middle of the keyboard. Basically, Middle C functions as a wall that separates the right hand and the left hand of the keyboard. This makes reading and playing music a little bit easier. So, the keys located to the right of Middle C are usually played with the right hand, and those to the left of Middle C are normally played with the left hand.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

Study the diagram that I posted above. If you are very unfamiliar with musical notation and which key is which on the keyboard, you should print out this diagram and use it to your advantage. Take it to your piano, look at each note, and play the key. Even further, you can print out tiny letters from A to G on your computer, cut them up, and tape them with scotch tape onto each key of your piano. This may help initially, but it may also be uncomfortable for your fingers when you play. It should merely be used as a familiarization exercise. Once you know these notes, you will need the bare keys of the piano to properly form your technique and avoid bad habits and injury. I wish you good luck!

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Have you ever heard a really great song, rushed to purchase or download the sheet music for it, sat yourself down in front of your piano, looked at the sheets, and wondered where you should even start? I’ve probably done this over a hundred times. Here’s a list of steps in chronological order that you should consider when beginning a new piece to play. Not only will you be able to learn and understand the piece in faster time, but you will also be able to comprehend the intent and nuances of the piece faster and more clearly.

Step 1:

Take a look at the entire piece to determine its structure and length. Basically, a quick run-through over the entire composition will help you achieve an initial feel and impression from a first glance.

Step 2:

Take a second look at the piece. This time, go over it more slowly. You should be looking for anything that seems unfamiliar to you, such as awkward or unknown notes, chords, articulations, or tempo indications. Make a note of these things or mark them using a highlighter on your sheets. You can easily look these elements up in the Internet, or use a music dictionary to distinguish their meaning and use.

Step 3:

Look at the time signature of the piece and make sure you are familiar with it. If you are not, it would be a good idea to do some research on the specific time signature, since it is often a primary indication of the type of song.

Step 4:

Identify the key signature of the piece and determine whether you are familiar with it or not. If it’s new to you, consider learning the key’s scales with its corresponding sharps or flats for a better understanding of the piece.

Step 5:

Search for any key changes throughout the piece. Take a mental note of how many times the key signature changes throughout the piece. By knowing the key changes ahead of time, you’ll be more prepared and playing the piece may seem that much easier.

Step 6:

Do you notice any changes in tempo? Highlight them and get familiar with the tempo changes ahead of time. This will allow you to change or glide from one section to another section more easily.

Step 7:

Search for common passages. Is there a phrase or motif that repeats itself somewhere further along in the piece? Perhaps there is a variation of a general motif somewhere else. Look for trends like this. If you familiarize yourself with the basic motif, the variations will become easier to practice and play.

Step 8:

Break the piece up into section. Highlight any difficult sections that you think will require more practice time.

Step 9:

Write out the notes in specific sections that you find it difficult to read on the sheets. You should do whatever makes the piece easier to for you to read. Your own markings on the sheet music will help.

Step 10:

Try playing the piece through once the best you can. Try not to stop, even if you have trouble in some certain sections. Finishing the piece after your first try will give you a visual canvas of the piece.

Step 11:

Play through the piece a second time. Stop where you are having trouble and make any additional markings needed in these areas.

Step 12:

Finally, concentrate on the difficult areas. Look them over again so you have a really good understanding of their structures. This will set the structures in your mind so you can focus on hand-eye coordination when playing. When your eyes are familiar with it, your hands can then work to achieve the movement needed to play the section.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

Starting a new piece can sometimes feel overwhelming when you realize how many different things you need to keep in mind and focus on practicing. Breaking the piece down into the several components addressed above will make it easier for you. Just concentrate on the individual components, and when you put them all together, the result will be beautiful and satisfying music.

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