Monthly Archives: August 2015

What’s the Rush for Exams? – Piano Teacher in Wallsend, NSW

“How soon will she be able to sit her first exam?” is a question often posed by new or prospective student parents, often with a memory of their own days learning the piano.

When I was a kid, it was normal to start lessons at the start of the year after turning seven. We concentrated on one extracurricular activity (or only a couple) and we could practise every day. In the middle of the following year, we were usually ready to sit the Preliminary grade AMEB exam.

But these days the answer to the ‘when’ question is as uncertain as the length of the proverbial piece of string and there are a number of reasons why.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSW

  1. The AMEB Preliminary exam has been growing substantially and steadily more difficult. Pieces that appeared in my old First Grade books are now more likely to be found in the Preliminary repertoire. It was rare to venture beyond the basic five finger position and both key and time signatures were beginner level. In comparison, one of the pieces in the current Preliminary syllabus has interchanging compound and simple time signatures and two different pentatonic key signatures, as well as extending to both extremes of the keyboard.
  2. Kids these days have quite heavily-scheduled lives. They often have a list of extra-curricular activities that take up so much time, there is little time left for home practise. If they can’t practise effectively, they won’t improve at the rate that may be expected. Just turning up to lessons isn’t going to do the job. A student who can manage 90 minutes a week of quality practise will take double the time to progress as a student who can manage 3 hours (and this commitment to practise is pretty much out of the control of the piano teacher).
  3. Students are often starting lessons at a younger age. While I still prefer to not start them until around seven, many kids are starting as young as 4 and 5. This is a major factor in their exam-readiness. While there are many benefits to starting kids in music lessons earlier, without those language and maths basics behind them, it takes longer for them to learn concepts and many weeks of reinforcement activities are often required for each note or concept. Looking at the practise aspect, younger children’s attention spans are shorter and it can prove counterproductive to insist they sit at the piano for a specific amount of time. They also benefit greatly from having a parent sit with them and guide them through their practise, which becomes difficult when both parents need to work.
  4. Both parents working often means kids aren’t coming straight home after school. Afternoons spent at facilities such as OOSH offer no opportunity for scheduled practise time and the precious few hours left at home are rightly dedicated to family time.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSWThe first point above makes the combination of issues somewhat specific to Australia, as the Australian Music Examination Board (AMEB) is the dominant player in providing instrumental assessments in Australia only, but the problem of less available practise time and younger beginners is lamented by teachers worldwide, whether in relation to exams or just general progress.

We can no longer expect piano students to follow the same progression as all the generations before them. Whereas once upon a time it was not uncommon for a beginner aged seven to spend eighteen months acquiring the basics and practising 20 – 30 minutes every day of the week to be ready to sit for their Preliminary examination (which were much easier), these days it is a rare student who is ready to be entered for this first examination within any less than two-and-a-half to three years of tuition.

If you are considering music lessons for your child or for yourself, please contact me to discuss the options. Piano lessons are conducted at my studio in Wallsend, NSW.

Top Tips for Efficient Practise, Particularly for Adults – Piano Teacher in Wallsend, NSW

So many resources are available for helping kids practise. There are games, gimmicks, activity sheets and loads of tips for their parents. But what about the adult students? It seems as though the adults should be disciplined to practise, because they are choosing to learn, but the fact is adults have a lot of other pressures and demands on their time. It is often also a lonely pursuit – they don’t have parents involved and encouraging them.

Adult students in particular need their practise to be of good quality and very effective, as it’s often a struggle to find both the physical time and also the mental alertness required on a regular basis.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSWFollowing are some tips that can help you make the maximise the effectiveness of your practise time:

1. Be organised – Practicing the piano efficiently is all about organising yourself to get the best results from the effort expended. It’s essential to be very clear about your daily practice objectives. Writing a daily practise plan helps you to zoom in on your most important tasks tasks and will give you a feeling of accomplishment as you complete each one. Your teacher can help you with this.

2. Don’t try to multi-task – Discipline yourself to complete each practice goal before moving on to the next. If you can meet the goals on your (for example) Czerny study before moving on to your Mozart sonata you will find it far more effective than bouncing back and forth between the two. Don’t try to get each task perfect the first time; you just want to see you are improving and well on track to meeting your overall goal.

3. Only practice with full concentration – If your practise session doesn’t demand large reserves of concentration, then you’re not practising properly. Five minutes of concentrated practise is far more valuable than five hours of moving your fingers while your mind wanders. The mind must be active at all times, since it is first and foremost the mind that play the piano. I think this is one of the most difficult tips to master, especially for adults.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSW4. Schedule your practise sessions – While this seems self-explanatory, this technique will only work well when in conjunction with the tip above – if you schedule in time, you must be prepared to give that time your full concentration. For some, the best time may be first thing in the morning when the mind is fresh (and you will feel accomplished at  having started your day by completing a major task) while others may need to wait until the kids are in bed and the household jobs completed.

5. Always warm up first – Well warmed-up hands will allow you to accomplish the physical tasks demanded by difficult pieces with greater ease and with fewer errors. I find that scales and arpeggios make for the best warm-up. Even normal lessons here are usually started with exercises and scales (although warming up is only one of their many uses).

6. Practice slowly – It is a known psycho-physiological fact that the brain cannot absorb musical information in detail when playing fast. It is therefore essential to work slowly and carefully at all times. Speed can always be built up later, but forcing it too early jeopardises learning the piece correctly.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSW7. Keep a practise journal – A practise journal is a log of your practice sessions, including what you practise and for how long. It can be a notebook, a Word document, a spreadsheet or whatever works for you. At the end of each practise session, write down which pieces you worked on and how long you spent on each one. This can serve to force your mind to focus and may also help with planning future practise goals (in fact, it can be an interesting exercise to compare it to your original goals).

8. Practice only short passages – The brain absorbs musical information more readily when it is not overwhelmed by quantity. Each day, practice just one passage, and practice it with care and thoughtfulness. This makes for far more efficient practise in the long run.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSW9. Study away from the piano – This has been covered in more detail previously here. Some of the most efficient piano practise can be accomplished without a piano. You can do this by analysing the music and listening to it in your mind. Hear each voice in your mind and sing along and you might be surprised when you notice recurring themes and relationships, harmonic subtleties etc. You want to know you piece equally well with or without the music in front of you.

Most of these tips involve adjusting your mindset and – like many effective tools – require some effort. But the achievements are so much more rewarding when you appreciate the effort involved. I promise it’s worth it!

If you are considering music lessons for your child or for yourself, please contact me to discuss the options. Piano lessons are conducted at my studio in Wallsend, NSW.

What Piano Should I Buy? Acoustic vs Digital – Piano Teacher in Wallsend, NSW

A pianist will learn to play on the instrument on which they practise, not the one on which they take lessons.

Buying a piano is an exciting task, but it can also be overwhelming. All pianos are not “created equal”. Like most things in life, there are the good, the bad and the in-between.

A question often asked is whether a digital or acoustic piano should be purchased. As with most purchases, there are pros and cons with both options; both acoustic pianos and digital pianos have their strengths and weaknesses.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSW

As with many things these days, there seems to be a growing thought that the digital version of anything is better. This is not the case. Take cameras, for example. Digital cameras are growing in popularity because they do a lot of the work for us and are increasingly affordable, but despite the huge file sizes now available, they are still not producing the same standard as a quality film camera.

An acoustic piano has around 10,000 working parts and one that is masterfully crafted has expressive qualities – tone, action and aesthetic appeal – to which an electronic imitation cannot hold a candle.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSWAs good as digital pianos have become in simulating the sound and feel of an acoustic piano, there is nothing that can totally match the real thing. The majority of electronic instruments lack the tone and touch of an acoustic piano, as well as the feel and the ability to convey subtle emotion and feeling. An acoustic piano has strings and hammers, while a digital piano has none. Having actual strings means that there are thousands of things in an acoustic piano (such as sympathetically vibrating strings) that are difficult to reproduce convincingly on a digital piano.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSW

The intricate mechanism of a piano key. Image courtesy of allegropianoworks.com

I own both. I love both for different reasons. I regularly teach on the acoustic piano, but have occasionally needed to use the digital, which is not top of the line, but still a quality instrument from one of the top manufacturers. With the exception of a seven-year-old beginner, every student who has used it has commented how “it just doesn’t feel the same”.

However, digital pianos have their specific purpose as well and as technology continues to push itself forward, they will continue to improve. A good digital piano can actually have a better piano tone and touch than a poor quality new acoustic piano, or a used one in poor condition. You have to compare apples with apples.

Looking at a digital simply as a piano (without all the other bells and whistles), the most common reasons I find people go straight to the digital option are size and cost. It is often assumed that a digital piano will take up less space than an acoustic, but in most cases the space required is identical. Eighty-eight piano keys take up basically the same space, no matter what cabinet they are in. As for cost, while the initial cost of an acoustic piano could be a little more than the purchase of an electronic piano, this difference is usually marginal and the digitals don’t hold their value as well. This is frustrating, because you know you have an instrument that still plays beautifully, but like most new technology, the second a more advanced digital piano is released, the older one will become obsolete. An outdated keyboard is often difficult to sell.

Of course, digital pianos have a whole range of other options that make them useful and fun – they are the reasons I have one – but if the decision is being made regarding an instrument on which to learn, these extra features

The truth of the matter is, what you pay for with one option, you do not get with the other and vice versa. The easiest way to compare is to set out the pros and cons of each.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSWWhichever way you go, if the piano is incapable of delivering a good response to touch, the student will not improve.

If you are purchasing the instrument for your children, it is generally recommended that you purchase an acoustic piano. This is because children especially require the real touch and sound of a piano. Their sponge-like brains mean they quickly become accustomed to that with which they are presented. They will begin to expect the lightly weighted feel of an electronic piano, and when it comes time to complete examinations, they will have a very hard time adapting. The AMEB examine above Grade 4 on acoustic only, so that gives some indication of what the examiners are considering and assessing at this level.

If you are considering music lessons for your child or for yourself, please contact me to discuss the options. Piano lessons are conducted at my studio in Wallsend, NSW.

Filling Your Child’s Practise Tank (Part 2) – Piano Teacher in Wallsend, NSW

You have invested in piano lessons for your child and you believe in the benefits of music education. You love to see your child enjoying music, how hard they work and the joy it brings them.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSWA couple of weeks ago, I posted – here – about ways you can show your kids how much you value the effort they are making with learning the piano and how these strategies can help to refill their “practise tank” when it is running low. Ramp up your involvement by trying some of the following ideas:

1. Balloon Surprise – Fill a kitchen cupboard with balloons that will spill out when your child opens the door. Ask him or her to help you with dinner and wait for the cupboard to open. On each balloon write one thing you love about your child’s piano playing (e.g. “I love to hear you play when I’m making dinner” or “I can hear so much emotion when you play” etc). Read all the messages together.

Piano Teacher in Wallsend NSW2. Surprise Sheet Music Shopping – When you collect your child from school, head off on a surprise trip to your local music shop and offer then the opportunity to choose any piece of sheet music or music book they like. Spend some time with them browsing through the options and finding just the right thing to take home. (Music stores are a treasure trove and can be overwhelming on the first visit, so ask the sales assistant to point you in the right direction for your child’s level).

3. Monday Morning Mirror Message – Use a white board marker to leave a message on your child’s mirror or the bathroom mirror before he or she wakes up. Write something like, “It makes me so happy to listen to you playing the piano.”

Piano Teacher in Wallsend NSW4. Post Office Package – Create a little package of special treats and a note about your pride in your child’s piano accomplishments. Mail it to your child and let them discover it in the mail box.

 

5. Build Excitement – If a recital, performance or exam is drawing near, build excitement with a countdown. Use a whiteboard, blackboard or even just a piece of paper on the fridge with “___ days until Jane’s piano recital” written on it. You could also use a calendar and cross off the days. Either way, the important thing is showing you value involvement in the performance aspect of music and this will ensure participation well into the teen years.

6. UnBEARable – Probably more fitting for younger kids… Find some teddy bear stickers and attach one to each of ten Post-It notes. Write, “It’s unbearable without your piano music. Please play for us” on each note and hide them around the house in unexpected places. Each time your child comes across one, they can play a piece for you.

7. Buddy Practise – Piano practise can be lonely, but a buddy on the bench can make a lot of difference. Even if you don’t possess a snippet of musical know-how, your child will appreciate you being there with them and will love answering your questions. Your child’s teacher will be able to give you questions and activities to help you show your involvement.

Piano teacher in Wallsend NSWAs mentioned in the first list of suggestions, most of these ideas require some planning and effort, but it will be so worth it when your child sees how much you value their hard work. It’s natural for their practise tank to run low; they only spend thirty minutes of the week receiving one-on-one encouragement from their teacher and the rest of the week it’s up to them to keep it going. So pick a few of these ideas, give them a try and watch your child’s confidence soar.

If you are considering music lessons for your child or for yourself, please contact me to discuss the options. Piano lessons are conducted at my studio in Wallsend, NSW.