You have a great channel offering excellent advice, and you are absolutely correct about counting while moving slowly and perfectly right from the start, do not practice mistakes, your subconscious will record even the simplest of errors. Of course, I had to learn the hard way about trying to plow through pieces, and finally just gave in to slow patient prefect practice after much frustration and decades of imperfect practice. That said, I was humbly blown away by how fast all my pieces came together and so quickly, even the most difficult pieces were not a problem to learn if practiced with counting and slow perfection only. This made me realize the true secret lies in our ability to relax within the rhythm of the count, the rest is history. Perfect practice indeed is the key to the art of music, it is so simple really, but lack of patience can be our enemy to learning for sure. Best wishes!
Thank you so much! I think most of us pianists have had to learn about practicing the hard way. It really is incredible how quickly we can learn a piece if we practice slow and careful and repeat small sections several times in a row (observing the rhythm of course 😉).
@@BrillantePianoLessons Interestingly, I am a classical guitarist, .... your video caught my attention because I recognized your study method was exactly what I discovered from another classical guitarist, Manuel Barrueco, who teaches exactly your method at Lincoln Center Julliard, it truly applies to all instruments. Students desire to learn quickly sometimes believe speed and powering through lessons will get them somewhere,...but in the end, it will be slow counting perfect practice with a metronome at 50bpm that will open those learning doors the fastest. Cheers
Thanks for this video!! I think your tip of playing with hands separately cannot be understated!! The biggest struggle of learning new music is always trying to teach your brain the song. I have been guilty of doing exactly what you mentioned mostly from being impatient and not isolating small sections.
I talk about this in my video about how to improve sight reading ua-cam.com/video/nZnvWQr9d4E/v-deo.htmlsi=mbJyz6PWU9LAITmQ But yes I could make a short video just addressing this question! Thank you for the idea! It all depends on how much time you have to practice but make sure that you’re mostly working on pieces that you can master in a matter of weeks so that your reading & playing improves. Working on difficult pieces is important too but if you’re short on time then only 1 difficult piece at a time is recommended and it should be paired with a few easy pieces.
Hello Heather. Thanks for all these valuable practicing tips. Much appreciated. Yes, "practicing the tricky parts first" It's something I do try to do. If I don't, I find that when I'm playing towards that section there's a sense of 'dread' and tension that builds up and more times than not I'll stumble. Best regards. Jon 🙂
This was terrific. I am 64 and have played all my life with very little in the way of teaching. No theory until 60. I have a gorgeous piano just like yours, (assuming a D), and it brings out the beauty in Chopin incredibly well. If I can hear the song, (the rhythm), I can pretty much handle it. If no sound available to me, I am lost. Except in easy things like hymns. My current homework is to transcribe a song my teacher improved. I have it in my hands, and improved it, but I can't write it down. I simply don't know how ... rests, rhythms, it's beyond me so far. Would really appreciate a video on that. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for your nice comment and request. I do have a video on our channel about rhythm and time signatures here ua-cam.com/video/_Eb3vsHtGm0/v-deo.html si=zts0CfzBIEJScL8l I recommend watching that. You struggle with rhythm primarily?
@@BrillantePianoLessons thank you so much for breaking it down! Yes, my achilles heel. My teacher as a young child would always play the piece for me, I’d lock that melody away, learning the notes was easy. Lots of gold stars for years until a new teacher put up cold music, and I was mute. No idea how it went. She told me with disgust, i had such talent but it was too late to undo the damage. Right! I carried that for decades but no more. The song I’m trying to write out was improv, not improved. Now that the kids are grown, I sit at that piano hours every day. Playing Francisco Parrino. I can hear him; and then can read his music. Plus, YESTERDAY is a song everyone knows!
Oh my goodness! You had some bad experiences with piano teachers. I feel sad about that. It’s never too late and you can still learn rhythm. Maybe I’ll make a piano course teaching rhythms and how to count music. That’s amazing you can play Francesco Parrino! I love his arrangements. And I’m sure you have so much fun playing those. Enjoy!
I was just thinking about this. When I see a fermata, I'm always unsure. Not because I don't know what it means, but because of the inconsistency of how long to hold it. I think I will use your advice to set a length by counting. I like to be creative with freedom of expression, but I also need some set rules/guidelines. It's a fine mix for me. So with context of whatever song I'm playing, I will decide how long feels and sounds right(freedom of expression) then set a count (constancy and direction) Thanks for your videos! As always, they are extremely helpful 😊🥰
Yes and listening to our own playing will give us a lot of insight into how long to hold notes and fermatas. I often record myself on my phone and listen as I watch the music. Thanks for your comment! It’s sooo good to hear that our videos are helpful!
Actually, if you are having trouble counting while reading, that is where your practice needs to focus, because you will never move to perfection if one doesn't master this important basic step. The fastest progress in learning a piece will be mastering counting out loud while playing slowly, this sets up the "space" needed to react on beat, thus mastering the musical part of music subconsciously, allowing you to relax and instilling the confidence of the upcoming notes and phrases, because you will have already mastered the timing, the timing is where all real mistakes are made. IMO
Yes rhythm is very important and right on the first day of learning a piece. I talked about that a lot in the beginning of my video. I find that most of my students need to count with the metronome or use the SpeakBeat metronome app so that they count steady and aware of how many beats they’ve played in each measure.
The composer names weren't on the first page of the IMSLP sheet music. We have to use copyright-free sheet music images in our videos. I could add them in the description. Thanks so much for your feedback!
I mostly struggle with indicated fingering. I'm working on the Hanon exercises, and once I get to Exercise #8, I falter. I do re-try the exercise at a slower rhythm, and I repeat it at least three times. I haven't moved on to Hannon #9, but may try that soon. Any tips on mastering proper finger positions will be very helpful!
Thanks for your comment! Hanon may be too difficult for you right now. I would recommend the books called Fingerpower by Schaum. They start with a preparatory level for a new beginner and progress gradually to level 6. Hanon is a good exercise book for intermediate players. If you’re playing too difficult of material you won’t be able to focus on the notes AND the rhythm AND the fingering etc. Practicing scales will also help you with learning good piano fingering. I recommend Keith Snell’s Scale Skills series.
The great Rosina Lhevinne said anything past the first 1-5 Hanon is overkill. She did recommend czerny though, the whole book of 299 I believe. Maybe work on those more, and try to transpose them into all 24 keys over time, and it will do you much better than trying to learn all of them.
I write down the names of the notes (letters), memorize them and practice without even looking at the notes. That is why my sight reading is still terribe, although I have good grades in my group piano class.
Oh this is pretty common! If you want to improve your sight reading, check out my video on our channel about how to do this ua-cam.com/video/nZnvWQr9d4E/v-deo.htmlsi=IrcpgdX3TsnFP6Qz
Do you find that Piano Marvel is equally as suitable for using with an acoustic piano as it is with digital pianos? Thank you for your very informative videos.
I know Piano Marvel is trying to make it easier to use their software with acoustic pianos but currently you have to install a mechanism under your keyboard for it to work with an acoustic piano. I recommend buying a keyboard rather than do this to your piano!
@@BrillantePianoLessons I have a 1912 Steinway model O that I adore! I would never consider doing anything to it but tuning. I do have a keyboard, but I would prefer to practice on my piano. Is there a note worthy program you can recommend that works equally as well with an acoustic? Thank you for your advice.
I haven’t found any apps or software programs as good as piano marvel. I recommend using it to improve your sight reading on your keyboard. You can learn a new piece with Piano Marvel (gives feedback about the notes and rhythm) and then take your tablet or laptop to your piano and play it there. You just won’t get feedback when you play on your piano.
@@BrillantePianoLessons now that is a funny story in its own right: while watching a video on Rick Beato’s channel, that other video ended, and while I finished typing my comment, UA-cam switched over to your video and I ended up posting my comment under the next/ your video. Rick’s video was about famous keyboard solos, and it was quite a funny story, title: “I got owned” 😃
Thank you for sharing! It definitely takes time and practice to get familiar with the keyboard. Blind people can play the piano by feel and using the black keys as their guide. My recommendation is to learn a lot of music that is easy enough for you to master in 1-2 weeks. It will get easier! I also recommend watching my video about improving your sight reading here ua-cam.com/video/nZnvWQr9d4E/v-deo.htmlsi=mV9whkDMgb8Rvbs2
I know exactly what you are talking about about! The easier the music the better for this. Also not moving your head and only moving your eyes is what helped me immensely. You will get better at this!
@BRILLANTEPianoLessons I humbly speaking am a self taught pianist, from the age of 15yrs old, iam 53 yrs old now, I recently managed to teach myself to play the 1st movement of the Sonata A major Mozart k 331, theme and 6 variations and the rondo alla turca 3rd movement and 1st movement of f major sonata k332, thanks for the video.
@@adrianthomas6244 It’s incredible that you’ve managed to learn those difficult pieces as a self-taught pianist! Congratulations! You must love to play 🥰
@@BrillantePianoLessons thank you, literally music and playing the piano I can say help to save my life, iam not the only person but when I was in school at a very young age I went through a very difficult time at the hands of bullies, and cowards like bullies like to put you down, so teaching myself to play the piano became my way of answering back the bullies, so music and playing the piano as bc a very big thing in my life, and something I have continued to enjoy down to this day, all the best from Wales uk
Confession: I strongly dislike the metronome😅 have never used one. I sense it would zap the joy out for me. I’m not playing for anyone else anyway lol but I may try it one of these days
Many people hate the metronome! Here are some reasons you may want to use it occasionally: 1) to stay steady and identify places you’re rushing 2) to challenge yourself with the speed and gradually increase the numbers 3) To help you learn a difficult rhythm. Most importantly, keep playing and enjoy the piano! Thanks for commenting!
You have a great channel offering excellent advice, and you are absolutely correct about counting while moving slowly and perfectly right from the start, do not practice mistakes, your subconscious will record even the simplest of errors. Of course, I had to learn the hard way about trying to plow through pieces, and finally just gave in to slow patient prefect practice after much frustration and decades of imperfect practice. That said, I was humbly blown away by how fast all my pieces came together and so quickly, even the most difficult pieces were not a problem to learn if practiced with counting and slow perfection only. This made me realize the true secret lies in our ability to relax within the rhythm of the count, the rest is history. Perfect practice indeed is the key to the art of music, it is so simple really, but lack of patience can be our enemy to learning for sure. Best wishes!
Thank you so much! I think most of us pianists have had to learn about practicing the hard way. It really is incredible how quickly we can learn a piece if we practice slow and careful and repeat small sections several times in a row (observing the rhythm of course 😉).
@@BrillantePianoLessons Interestingly, I am a classical guitarist, .... your video caught my attention because I recognized your study method was exactly what I discovered from another classical guitarist, Manuel Barrueco, who teaches exactly your method at Lincoln Center Julliard, it truly applies to all instruments. Students desire to learn quickly sometimes believe speed and powering through lessons will get them somewhere,...but in the end, it will be slow counting perfect practice with a metronome at 50bpm that will open those learning doors the fastest. Cheers
Thanks for this video!! I think your tip of playing with hands separately cannot be understated!! The biggest struggle of learning new music is always trying to teach your brain the song. I have been guilty of doing exactly what you mentioned mostly from being impatient and not isolating small sections.
Thank you so much for your comment! We all are guilty of bad practicing at times, especially when we need to learn a piece quickly.
@@BrillantePianoLessons how many pieces of music should you be working on at the same time? Could be a good topic for a video!
I talk about this in my video about how to improve sight reading ua-cam.com/video/nZnvWQr9d4E/v-deo.htmlsi=mbJyz6PWU9LAITmQ
But yes I could make a short video just addressing this question! Thank you for the idea! It all depends on how much time you have to practice but make sure that you’re mostly working on pieces that you can master in a matter of weeks so that your reading & playing improves. Working on difficult pieces is important too but if you’re short on time then only 1 difficult piece at a time is recommended and it should be paired with a few easy pieces.
Lot of great info here, thank you so much!
So good to know it was helpful! Thanks for letting us know 💖
Hello Heather. Thanks for all these valuable practicing tips. Much appreciated.
Yes, "practicing the tricky parts first"
It's something I do try to do.
If I don't, I find that when I'm playing towards that section there's a sense of 'dread' and tension that builds up and more times than not I'll stumble.
Best regards. Jon 🙂
Yes we all have “those dreaded parts.” 🫣It sounds like you’re doing great with your practice habits! Thank you for your comment 💖
This was terrific. I am 64 and have played all my life with very little in the way of teaching. No theory until 60. I have a gorgeous piano just like yours, (assuming a D), and it brings out the beauty in Chopin incredibly well. If I can hear the song, (the rhythm), I can pretty much handle it. If no sound available to me, I am lost. Except in easy things like hymns. My current homework is to transcribe a song my teacher improved. I have it in my hands, and improved it, but I can't write it down. I simply don't know how ... rests, rhythms, it's beyond me so far. Would really appreciate a video on that. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for your nice comment and request. I do have a video on our channel about rhythm and time signatures here ua-cam.com/video/_Eb3vsHtGm0/v-deo.html
si=zts0CfzBIEJScL8l
I recommend watching that. You struggle with rhythm primarily?
@@BrillantePianoLessons thank you so much for breaking it down! Yes, my achilles heel. My teacher as a young child would always play the piece for me, I’d lock that melody away, learning the notes was easy. Lots of gold stars for years until a new teacher put up cold music, and I was mute. No idea how it went. She told me with disgust, i had such talent but it was too late to undo the damage. Right! I carried that for decades but no more. The song I’m trying to write out was improv, not improved. Now that the kids are grown, I sit at that piano hours every day. Playing Francisco Parrino. I can hear him; and then can read his music. Plus, YESTERDAY is a song everyone knows!
Oh my goodness! You had some bad experiences with piano teachers. I feel sad about that. It’s never too late and you can still learn rhythm. Maybe I’ll make a piano course teaching rhythms and how to count music. That’s amazing you can play Francesco Parrino! I love his arrangements. And I’m sure you have so much fun playing those. Enjoy!
Nice, thanks :-)
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the comment 💫
I was just thinking about this. When I see a fermata, I'm always unsure. Not because I don't know what it means, but because of the inconsistency of how long to hold it. I think I will use your advice to set a length by counting. I like to be creative with freedom of expression, but I also need some set rules/guidelines. It's a fine mix for me. So with context of whatever song I'm playing, I will decide how long feels and sounds right(freedom of expression) then set a count (constancy and direction)
Thanks for your videos! As always, they are extremely helpful 😊🥰
Yes and listening to our own playing will give us a lot of insight into how long to hold notes and fermatas. I often record myself on my phone and listen as I watch the music. Thanks for your comment! It’s sooo good to hear that our videos are helpful!
Actually, if you are having trouble counting while reading, that is where your practice needs to focus, because you will never move to perfection if one doesn't master this important basic step. The fastest progress in learning a piece will be mastering counting out loud while playing slowly, this sets up the "space" needed to react on beat, thus mastering the musical part of music subconsciously, allowing you to relax and instilling the confidence of the upcoming notes and phrases, because you will have already mastered the timing, the timing is where all real mistakes are made. IMO
Yes rhythm is very important and right on the first day of learning a piece. I talked about that a lot in the beginning of my video. I find that most of my students need to count with the metronome or use the SpeakBeat metronome app so that they count steady and aware of how many beats they’ve played in each measure.
Even the legendary Martha Argerich said that she practices a piece very SLOOOOOOOWLY. The brain has to have time to process the information.
Yes absolutely!
So much good advice, thank you. Why did you remove the composer’s name from the 2 scores you used. They where Burgmuller and Chopin.
The composer names weren't on the first page of the IMSLP sheet music. We have to use copyright-free sheet music images in our videos. I could add them in the description. Thanks so much for your feedback!
I mostly struggle with indicated fingering. I'm working on the Hanon exercises, and once I get to Exercise #8, I falter. I do re-try the exercise at a slower rhythm, and I repeat it at least three times. I haven't moved on to Hannon #9, but may try that soon. Any tips on mastering proper finger positions will be very helpful!
Thanks for your comment! Hanon may be too difficult for you right now. I would recommend the books called Fingerpower by Schaum. They start with a preparatory level for a new beginner and progress gradually to level 6. Hanon is a good exercise book for intermediate players. If you’re playing too difficult of material you won’t be able to focus on the notes AND the rhythm AND the fingering etc.
Practicing scales will also help you with learning good piano fingering. I recommend Keith Snell’s Scale Skills series.
Great suggestions - thank you so much,@@BrillantePianoLessons !
The great Rosina Lhevinne said anything past the first 1-5 Hanon is overkill. She did recommend czerny though, the whole book of 299 I believe.
Maybe work on those more, and try to transpose them into all 24 keys over time, and it will do you much better than trying to learn all of them.
I write down the names of the notes (letters), memorize them and practice without even looking at the notes. That is why my sight reading is still terribe, although I have good grades in my group piano class.
Oh this is pretty common! If you want to improve your sight reading, check out my video on our channel about how to do this ua-cam.com/video/nZnvWQr9d4E/v-deo.htmlsi=IrcpgdX3TsnFP6Qz
Do you find that Piano Marvel is equally as suitable for using with an acoustic piano as it is with digital pianos? Thank you for your very informative videos.
I know Piano Marvel is trying to make it easier to use their software with acoustic pianos but currently you have to install a mechanism under your keyboard for it to work with an acoustic piano. I recommend buying a keyboard rather than do this to your piano!
@@BrillantePianoLessons I have a 1912 Steinway model O that I adore! I would never consider doing anything to it but tuning. I do have a keyboard, but I would prefer to practice on my piano. Is there a note worthy program you can recommend that works equally as well with an acoustic? Thank you for your advice.
I haven’t found any apps or software programs as good as piano marvel. I recommend using it to improve your sight reading on your keyboard. You can learn a new piece with Piano Marvel (gives feedback about the notes and rhythm) and then take your tablet or laptop to your piano and play it there. You just won’t get feedback when you play on your piano.
@@BrillantePianoLessons That’s a very good idea. Thanks so much🎶🎹🎉
You can print a lot of the sheet music from Piano Marvel too when you have a subscription.
Great story, made me laugh
I can’t remember what funny story I shared in this! Can you remind me?
@@BrillantePianoLessons now that is a funny story in its own right: while watching a video on Rick Beato’s channel, that other video ended, and while I finished typing my comment, UA-cam switched over to your video and I ended up posting my comment under the next/ your video. Rick’s video was about famous keyboard solos, and it was quite a funny story, title: “I got owned” 😃
Ha! Well thank for the comment! That always helps our channel 😆
My biggest difficulty when learning a new piece is a big number of notes far above or below the staves...
Thank you for sharing! I can definitely create a video to help you with this. It’s a common challenge for pianists. 🫶🏻
My main problem is never knowing where my hands are as I read the sheet music.
Thank you for sharing! It definitely takes time and practice to get familiar with the keyboard. Blind people can play the piano by feel and using the black keys as their guide. My recommendation is to learn a lot of music that is easy enough for you to master in 1-2 weeks. It will get easier! I also recommend watching my video about improving your sight reading here ua-cam.com/video/nZnvWQr9d4E/v-deo.htmlsi=mV9whkDMgb8Rvbs2
I know exactly what you are talking about about!
The easier the music the better for this. Also not moving your head and only moving your eyes is what helped me immensely.
You will get better at this!
@BRILLANTEPianoLessons I humbly speaking am a self taught pianist, from the age of 15yrs old, iam 53 yrs old now, I recently managed to teach myself to play the 1st movement of the Sonata A major Mozart k 331, theme and 6 variations and the rondo alla turca 3rd movement and 1st movement of f major sonata k332, thanks for the video.
@@adrianthomas6244 It’s incredible that you’ve managed to learn those difficult pieces as a self-taught pianist! Congratulations! You must love to play 🥰
@@BrillantePianoLessons thank you, literally music and playing the piano I can say help to save my life, iam not the only person but when I was in school at a very young age I went through a very difficult time at the hands of bullies, and cowards like bullies like to put you down, so teaching myself to play the piano became my way of answering back the bullies, so music and playing the piano as bc a very big thing in my life, and something I have continued to enjoy down to this day, all the best from Wales uk
Confession: I strongly dislike the metronome😅 have never used one. I sense it would zap the joy out for me. I’m not playing for anyone else anyway lol but I may try it one of these days
Forgot to say I’ve always said I “play rhythm by ear”, lol. I’m able to more or less learn the rhythm of songs I’ve heard over and over
Many people hate the metronome! Here are some reasons you may want to use it occasionally: 1) to stay steady and identify places you’re rushing 2) to challenge yourself with the speed and gradually increase the numbers 3) To help you learn a difficult rhythm. Most importantly, keep playing and enjoy the piano! Thanks for commenting!