You guys I'm SO fired up to get back on the "be good at piano playing" train. You're going to see MONSTER piano player Charles like...really soon. If you want to check out the brand new Better Piano community and get access to that 7-day promo and LOCK IN, click here: actually just click here anyways because the site is AWESOME betterpiano.com/
It's a really fascinating musical journey to reapproach stuff that was too hard to practice with gigging experience and applied, not textbook, music theory
Simp away....aint nothin wrong with it. I personally dont know why simp'in has bad connotation. Cause. I simp all the time. It can be used as motivation. simp it up !!
One of the best things I learned in music school, to make your practice both funnier and more effective is: Practice in the EXTREMES - extremely slowly, softly, strongly, romantically, etc. You'll find out so much about how to get new things out of the pieces. Also makes you so much more confident playing it! It's a MASSIVE help!
Doesn’t apply just in classical either, I do this all the time for vocals. Practicing changing the genre of the same material gives you so much more stylistic control. Take this rock song and sing it like it’s musical theatre, or operatically, making it emo, speak-singing, soft indie style, country. There’s so many options
I literally found your channel from that Cardi B "cover". Not a musician at all and I don't understand half of what you talk about but I'm always just happy to be here!
I love how this can apply from a global overview to literally everything (music, drawings, studies etc...) A great approach to pratice literally anything. This is what I needed right now lol
Dude! You hit the nail right on the head. I think as musicians we all struggle with this. We can literally play our instrument every day and still not advance at all. I have felt I’ve been on a plateau for years. Well said sir. Love your videos.
Because you need an additional 2 days of rest so your brain can sort the information and not have it going all over the place. Same thing at school, teachers feed their students information on the daily basis without days of rest. And what do they remember? Nothing. so, 1 or 2 days should be enough rest before picking up the pace once again, and you'll see your progress skyrocket 👍
@@matthewgaines10 I agree, my reply was more for the humour (who goes out of their way to do jury duty instead of play piano?) I play almost every day 🙂
that tipabout not leaving your piano until you've learnt something new is so fun, been doin it for like a week and genuinely i've reached such insane progress I never would've thought possible, thank you piano man 👍
I'm NOT a musician, but what you described in this video applies to just about every field of work and honestly every aspect of life! I feel the exact same sense of being drained of my energy and saying "I don't have time" to do stuff (studying, reading scientific articles, but also socialising, playing sports...), whereas I would have the time, but I don't have the mental energy to tackle those activities. Your advice is sound in general and it's always nice to know I'm not the only one struggling with this, especially when from the outside other people seem to have it easier and have more success than me
Hey Charles. I’m 13, been playing for 10+ years, etc. I’ve been watching you since 2019 and I love your, whatever the plural of analysis, -ises . What’s cool is that my piano teacher is Dustin DeLuke! Apparently you two know each other! I was at a lesson 2 weeks ago, he asked me what I was listening to, I said Charles Cornell, and he said “hey I know him! We used to play around with solos together!” I just thought that was a cool connection. 👍 👍
Seems like you are already a great musician. Here’s a secret to success in music if you want to make it a career and it has nothing to do with talent. And that is networking. Reach out to everyone in the industry and introduce yourself. Most of those contacts won’t result in much but eventually you will meet that person that will help you make it to the next level. And never ever let “no” set you back. You are going to get more no’s than yeses no matter how talented you are.
Guys the point of this comment was not to impress Charles, say anything about how I am a “prodigy,” say how talented I am, meet him, or anything! I have been playing since 2 and a half. I’m not lying. @astroblaster6347 what are you even trying to say? Why is the foundation of my comment lies? Yes my parents do know the importance of music. My mom’s family has been musical for decades. When I started at 2 I was not good at all. I’m not as good a pianist as some other people my age. I’m not claiming anything to make me seem more impressive or to look like an ultra-talented nothing! The point of this comment was that my piano teacher and Charles know or knew each other at some point. I assume they met at Berklee in Boston. I JUST THOUGHT THAT WAS A FUNNY COINCIDENCE. So please stop!
I started seriously learning in mid December 2023 and I've been practicing on average 3 to 4 hours a day, every day. I have improved so much! I love your videos! You've taught me so much about modes and more advanced music theory in general. I have a background in music starting in elementary school band going all the way through high school, but my instrument was trombone. I always wanted to learn piano. I took a few piano classes in college, but I'm really taking it seriously now. Brings me so much happiness
this a game changer... for a long time since suddenly leaving college, I felt like the biggest hurdle was learning alone. i'm gonna do my absolute damnedest to save enough cash for being a part of this community of artists believing in eachother, wish me luck!!!
I'm not a full time musician (software engineer), and I haven't really practiced since I graduated from college (jazz minor). It's hard to find motivation since I don't really have a reason to improve. There's no professor grading me, no auditions to compete for, and I'm above the skill level for my gigs. I'm at a semi-pro level, so the stuff I should be working on is incredibly specific. Stuff like drop-2 inversions over Spain in every key. I know I should practice, I just don't really have anything motivating me anymore. No intrinsic motivation either. I feel like I've "died" as a pianist because I'm happy with my skills. I seriously dove into guitar last year, got a lot better at that, but I reached all of the goals I set and I haven't really found more. I'm also at a standstill there. I'm not even close to a pro level on guitar, but I just don't have a reason or intrinsic motivation to improve. Making UA-cam videos is practically the only thing I practice for, but that's just to learn for covers, not to learn new skills. The question I end up asking myself each time I sit down to play is "why?" I don't really know anymore.
that's actually what's been happening with me. I feel that I've stagnated after graduating high school since there's no one that causes the small pressure like a professor does. my practice is working on band stuff and I don't feel I've improved as a performer. that's also one of the reasons I'm thinking of applying for a music major after graduating from software engineering
Also a SWE. I actually loving using piano as a break away from coding and have almost built a habit out of “get stuck, play piano” and by mistake have followed a very similar approach to what the video outlines. I’ve been taking lessons for almost 2 years now and I’ve progressed quite a bit, not that I’m finishing pieces left and right tho unless it’s small.
Also agree with the above, if I am getting really demotivated I’ll try and just learn a song that I love, or maybe a melody I enjoy. Anything to throw you back into that trance like zen state where you fall in love with piano again. Or at least I do every time 😂
I have an injury that caused me to lose some capacity in my right hand so got lazy...have realized that if I make time to listen to more music and find new stuff to love that my motivation to try again increases...listen to more stuff from different genres even, try and get recommendations from new and different people for music they like, you might find something inspiring...good luck.
Oh, my goodness. Charlie is peeking into my life at this very moment - I'm sitting here stunned at the accuracy of this video. I was an amateur accompanist and performer (primarily standards and musical theatre) for many years. And then "life happened". I have been out of practice for literally more than a decade. Now that I have access again to a decent instrument and a little bit of time, I figured I would try to take this up again. Ten minutes into it, trying to run thru some of my old favorites, I felt this crushing weight on my soul, and a rush of little demons chanting "you used to nail this song! You had it memorized! You could rip it out on a moment's notice. Now your fingers can't even form the chords properly! You've lost it, man. Your piano-playing days are over." Devastating. Really. Charles, you have no idea how much I needed to hear this.
I totally relate to this. I'm a music theory master's graduate, and I yearn to understand what happens in the music that touches me. And the moment I get to play those moments that give me strong emotions , they lose their magic in some way. Same thing for the organ pieces that I learn because I love how they sound, to realize they are not as interesting as they once were. Big fan of your videos, and I appreciate greatly how passionate you are, which without doubt leaves no one indifferent. Thank you for all your videos!
I really wish that I'd even encountered a music instructor that was also a practice instructor. I stopped taking piano lessons almost 50 years ago, and in all the time since I've only gotten good at playing one thing. (It was the E major fugue from WTC book 2, and I'm still proud of figuring out how to do that with my brain and fingers, though it's long gone now.) Charles's description of the sense of despair that comes when you're sitting on the bench and it's not happening is pretty much how I remember my teenage years. It's just saddening to think of how unnecessary that was. In all that time it never occurred to me that there might be a better way of doing it. The thing I learned most from practicing music was that I wasn't any good and that I wasn't ever going to get better. That's still my experience of engaging with music today. Composition, performance, production, every direction leads to a wall, and hitting the wall stops me. I don't know how much a different approach can help me at this point. I'm not exactly overburdened by neuroplasticity at my age. But I sure would like to have a little of that feeling of getting better at something, the feeling of being able to do something that I love.
Professional flute player and teacher here. Yes! It's always gratifying to see that we align on all these things. I LOVE practicing. It's so fascinating, and that's why I love teaching. I do need to practice more than not much.
I'm 47 years old, and I've been playing piano for 45 years...yeah, I started plunking and poking at the piano when I was 2. Once I actually started lessons, and got to the point that I could both read music, but also pick things out by ear, I could spend hours at the piano...much to the chagrin of my grandmother, who just wanted to watch her soap operas! LOL!! As I've gotten older, and especially the last couple of years, I've been finding myself at the piano less and less...and I miss it, and it always feels good (if sometimes a bit rusty) when I do sit down, but like you said, "life" so often gets in the way. 😢
I think that most important thing when we talk about practicing it’s just have someone give you the “push”; helping you organising your time. So you have a real model of study, avoiding that hateful feeling of “wanting to improve” but never actually doing it. And you did that with this video Charles! I think a lot of people can rely this situation, and you gave them a real hypothesis of plan to follow. That’s great!
Bro I clicked on this so fast because I'm literally in the same boat (sans the successful youtube channel lmao). I graduated with my master of music degree 6 years ago... Then stopped practicing
What I absolutely love about you is your passion for music. I mean genuine and visible passion. Hearing you talk about a chord progression you've just analysed, hearing someone play an unexpected line, whatever it is, when you display that "mind blown" reaction, it has always inspired me to pick up my instrument again. Whenever I've needed motivation I've come to people like you to inspire me to want to rush to my instrument! Some great lessons and insights in this video! I play bass but I would absolutely love to play piano, love the sound of it. I just need to try and save to get one haha!
3:26 The piece is Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2, by Franz Liszt. More specifically, I’m not sure what edition sheet music book he’s using, but if you look up and play Rousseau’s recording of the piece it’ll be around the 6 minute mark is what the right page (the one in focus) is showing. Hope this helps : )
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You’ve touched on everything I’ve been pondering on and struggling with ever since I decided to get back to the piano and music in general. I’ve been down this road before… this is my 3rd time and I want it to be the last time. Everything from improving my technique, finagling learning/understanding music theory and bringing variety to the genres of music I want to play outside of Classical ( like jazz, Latin…). I’m closer to retirement than starting out in life and I realize this implies limitations but I can’t live without having music part of my life and I like the idea of your Better Piano offering- thanks again for this!
I so feel this. I hate my cello playing at this point, but love your analysis Charles which, along with similar channels, has pulled me more and more in the composition direction. I was defeated by the Kodaly Sonata and really haven't been seriously practicing since... but I like you practicing method and technique because everything you talked about actually happened. Some sections were surprising easy to get so the novelty wore off, other parts were so complicated that if weren't so expensive I could throw the cello, and still other parts were manageable but I wasn't inspired by the way "I" played it as I was by other recordings I heard of it. I think you described this as being bored by your own playing. Anyway I want to get back into the game so hopefully your 3 block method will help.
This came at the perfect time. I have a cello entrance exam in two weeks and I'm constantly beating myself up I should be practicing more, but ending up procrastinating waay too much. So this video was just the motivation I needed, thank you!!
Just thought I'd share my Practice Block 3 Finale. Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena. It was my grandmother's favorite. For years, she has said that if one of her grandkids learned it, she would pass her Baby Grand on to them. Her piano is now in my living room, and her favorite song has become my favorite to play, and it is always the last one I play before I'm done. My high note ends thinking of her.
I really needed this, thank you ♥ I've been going through a hard time and haven't played the piano much at all, rarely I played. But I want to play more, so I started practising sometimes again, but realising I wasn't good at the piano any more kept me from playing again. But I don't want to give up! I love making music. Your video is so on point. Actually made me smile when you said, just play a bit, 16min or 6min. Just when you feel like playing, do it. I'm going to try that, I'm excited already. And with that said, I'm going to my piano xD
I have been a piano teacher for almost 30 years. But I first was a pianist. And I totally agree with you! As an adult, it's hard to find time to practice. There is also a lot of emotional energy that goes into practicing. But you as a musician evolved through life as you are involved in different areas of music. At one point you were a student, then you became a teacher, then you performed, you might have even accompanied. And now you are back to being a teacher and entertainer to all of us. It grows your musicianship in many different ways. And thus, it actually makes you a better pianist in the long run. Even if you don't have as much time as you would like to practice and if you feel like you don't play at the level you used to. I appreciate all you put into your videos, it helps me be a better teacher! Plus they're super fun! 🎵🩷
I'm a drummer and I've been playing for a year and a half now, I feel like this video really inspired me and even though I'm not burned out of the drums I feel like this will improve my enjoyment, thank you!
I’ve been teaching violin and viola for over 20 years now, and I can tell you this for absolute certain: (Walter White Voice) YOU’RE GODDAMNED RIGHT! Everything you said in this video is absolutely spot on. Especially the practice blocks portion. I call it the veggies, meat and potatoes, and dessert. No one likes doing scales or working on technique. But at the end of the day those are what’s best for making you a better at your instrument. They’re the vegetables. Next you have your repertoire. The thing you work on for the concert or recital or gig. That’s your meat and potatoes. Your bread and butter. It’s what is going to satisfy you and put food on the table. Finally you have dessert. Maybe it’s not going to make you a better player or be the thing that makes you money. But it’s something that is fun to play and makes you happy that you played it. Maybe it’s pop music or a rock ballad or a country song. Whatever it is it should be your favorite thing in that moment. I love this video so much. Thank you for making this issue so approachable!
I love that you mentioned Hanon - it's my favorite finger exercise book, and it has everything in it -- including scales and arpeggios. I teach piano and every one of my students does Hanon by the 2nd year.
Im learning a new guitar piece rn, and Im really enjoying it But it hits extremely hard every time i remember that i wont have the time to practice them enough to remember them later on I mustve learned tens of songs that I can only half play now, and it feels like it was time wasted, but the memory never really leaves you Charles, at the end of the day, from musician to musician, the one thing that will give you comfort is looking back on your past performance and seeing how much you improved, you can do it
I really appreciate how you mention that good is a matter of perception. It's something that is often forgotten or ignored by a lot of people. As we get better and better at something, our standards change. The most annoying thing I hear from musicians is "Oh, I can't really play" when they very clearly can play, quite well. Sure, they may not be world class. They may not even be "great", but they really can play. But I keep hearing from people who are pretty good instrumentalists that "I can't really play." And while I do appreciate that people have different standards, but we really need to accept that there's a difference between "can't" and "not as good as I'd like to be." It makes them come across as being falsely modest. It's like they want to reinforce simply how high their standard of "being able to play" is. So kudos to you for pointing out how our perception of "good" changes as we get better. Good video :)
This came at the perfect time. It's been four years since I graduated (from the very same conservatory program as you did lmao) and I haven't had the drive to really be involved in music for so long. I miss it, I haven't even watched the whole video yet but I'm so grateful you made this and I feel like it's a sign. Idk, we'll see what happens as the days go on :) thank you
Dude! Playing Bach’s C minor prelude from WTC book 1 was the thing that taught me how to practice when I was in high school (back in 2003-04). It was a lot of taking it one measure at a time and since it was one of the first baroque pieces I learned and I kind of did it on my own, I followed the fingerings in the edition I used religiously. I started taking organ lessons a couple years ago at the age of 34. I learned that playing baroque music makes so much more sense when you use organist fingerings-and the parallels between jazz and baroque music are really fascinating. If we were friends, I would have told you to hit me up a long time ago to chat about that prelude and how to make it way easier to play. Best wishes!
This is great and not only from a musical perspective. Been feeling like my creative skills in general have atrophied since the inspiration and motivation of study finished, and the everyday monotony of the workforce began. It's clear that your drive is still there, and whilst it may not be for some things like piano practice, your commitment and skill in video production is up there with the best of them. Thanks for the discussion and concepts to help find that spark again!
Thanks for helping me motivate myself. I haven't played the piano in years, and I don't intend to start again soon, but everything you mentioned applies exactly to everything I do want to do.
The title made me chuckle lol. But I get it…I think all of us musicians (no…creatives) go thru this. It’s very much akin to writer’s block. It happens. You really need to “step away” sometimes. Find a secondary hobby. For me, it’s collecting stamps on my passport. Heh, and when I take this musician-hiatus when I get back to it, I’m approaching something familiar with a fresh take I might’ve never would have thought of previously. Sometimes we try so hard to force ideas out, and it just simply doesn’t work that way.
I studied music in college and when I graduated I immediately went into a different field and never fully chased after doing music full time. Now I do musical theater and some off-hand gigs, but I rarely ever practice and I beat myself up about it. Man, you caught me on the perfect day with this video. Thank you
I'm glad to hear other people experience this kind of thing. I had a lot of moments preparing this one piece called Merlin for marimba, that I simply stopped playing. Sometimes, I'd only practiced for 10 minutes before I just left and sat down for half an hour at a time because it felt like I was beating my head against the wall. Coming back after the breaks, the lines just made more sense and it was definitely beneficial for my motivation and mental state during those hours past midnight.
I haven't touched my horn (french horn) in any serious manner since 2015, so I'm with you. I also moved to the Denver area and would love to get back into using my connections at CU Boulder, but don't think it's the right time. I've found going to concerts of highly skilled musicians makes me and keeps me hungry to play at a high level again. Go to concerts, recitals, etc at all the local colleges out here with good music programs and it will keep the fire burning.
I super appreciate this video... As a guitarist for 16 years, and drummer for 6, I've felt this way more and more as time has gone along. I literally didn't play guitar for 3 years while I learned drums since I was chasing the dopamine of doing something musical while learning drums Especially with the bands I'm in, I've made the decision to make sure what I'm doing is fun so when practice/learning doesn't feel like the only end goal
This same process can be applied to any creative pursuit, like drawing. Start with a rudiment or fundamental for warmup, then spend a big chunk on something you want to do better with, then cool down on something you know you can do and enjoy 😊
I just had the best practice session in probably a year on my clarinet it took 45 min, and for the first time in probably 2 years I ended a session feeling good and like I learned something. Literally life changing, seeing as I am planning on being a musician in the marines.
Finally! I have been waiting for a video like this for so long, I am a musician and can play several instruments very well however, I’ve never been able to pick up the piano, but hopefully this video of your new channel, I can understand what I’ve done wrong and try to make a considerable effort toward playing the piano! This video also made me realize how much more practicing I should be doing on my other instrument such as trumpet 🎺 my primary instrument. You know what they say, an hour of practice a day a year of progress in the future! 😅 Thanks for another video Charles! Always great! 😊 🎹
For me, practicing can come in many forms. Sometimes I am only playing for a few minutes, and sometimes it's all I do for the night. But the most important part for me is that it's easy to start and stop. My guitar is next to my desk with what I'm working on printed and right there. If it was in a different room, or if I had to pull up the music every time, even the smallest of extra steps make it that much more likely for me to be like "eh, I'll just do something else"
look i was putting off watching this because i thought you were going to tell us you dont like playing anymore, and i deeply regret that because these things all apply to having put off making new art for a year and the way to get out of that. thanks for the reminder to practice *prodcutively* and not beat myself up for not being inspired 24/7. this is an awesome video and i appreciate it. OFF TO DRAW BACKGROUNDS (piece by piece)!
Tenor sax player here! dude, this video helped put in perspective a lot of my practice time, I think exactly the same way and find myself working on a tune or learning a solo and the just get frustrated and upset with the progress I’m making, which leads to feeling disheartened to pick up the horn; even to do maintenance practicing thank you for opening my mind to a different strategy. I can’t thank you enough.
I thought i recognized you at the Plini show at the Gothic lol! My grad school mentor told me in one of our last lessons 'this is you at the top of your game'. I didn't know what he meant till after school when i had to take that tool box I made there and make money doing music. He was right in the sense this is the hardest rep I'll ever play, but wrong in the sense that my ear is 100x better by doing the job in the real world! Miss those 6 hour practice days...
Develop dynamic contrast, intensity, and intentionality at all dynamic levels. Play a whole piece very quietly while still having clear dynamics. Game changing for technique and phrasing and the whole thing.
I can vouch for the community element of an online course helping! I did an online course to learn piano tuning and it has an active online community, which I think has helped everyone.
You make relatable comments. Some days I just aim to play one scale. And once you sit down, you end up doing your full practice routine and a bit of extra video game music on the side anyway.
I am one of those people who bought one of your courses (I bought a bunch, tbh) and I LOVE it! I just finished the Into to Theory course and my wife asked what the best thing I learned was. I'll tell you what I told her: I learned that I want to do more music theory!! So happy with my purchase, thank-you, Charles 😁😁😁
I can really painfully relate to this honestly. Back in high school I was practicing and auditioned to get into Juilliard for vibraphone and... very woefully didn't get accepted. Then I spent 5 years getting a robotics degree at one of the best schools in the country for it (I'm very humble, I know). During that time I hardly played anything other than drums and even that was fairly infrequent till my last couple years (I blame 2020-2021 harshing my mellow). During my final year I took some independent lessons that were offered, the first being general vibes and the second being improv taught by a saxophone player, and I realized I could hardly play anything anymore! I spent a good portion of that year just floundering around on the vibes, trying and failing to play not even half the stuff I was whipping out in HS. Pretty depressing, honestly. Thankfully my improv teacher managed to hook me up with a pretty good deal on a set of vibes and after graduating the only thing holding me back from getting better is myself. I'm slowly working on my ear training, technique, and sight reading skills and I'm hoping that pretty soon all the fancy solo pieces I played back then will be a breeze
This video can apply to any form of artistic medium, or even academic subjects. Something I am very passionate about is animation and I could honestly vouch for this kinda advice he's giving and apply to the medium of animation. Basically don't stress yourself and when you do, treat yourself when you get passed that stressful period. Practice doesn't need to be forced nor billions of hours, do what you can in the moment and try to do it meaningfully, have an objective in mind no matter the size. For my sake I want to get a frame done for my animated project, but only draw part of it, that's still a win. Whenever progress is made, be proud that you made them. From that positive reinforcement, you'll enjoy the medium better, learn faster and be able to eventually get things done once you reach a certain stage, but that whole cycle can happen again even if you've reached the level of having works under your belt... It's what drives us silly creative people. You're all doing great ! 😁👍
YO. I play bass, but holy crap! This is exactly what i've been looking for this whole time! Thank you Charles for spending time making these awesome videos! I believe these videoes can help almost everyone no matter their instrument! Keep it up!
I'm starting to realize how much I've lost my chops over the last five or so years since I've stop doing music full-time. I've been playing a lot more lately but it's really not the same
keeping in touch with the joy of playing is the most important, every time I finish practicing I feel joy at the fact I've played and know that I'm only going to get better next time
Totally agree with the 3rd block. I had been playing late intermediate romantic era pieces for decades and started piano lessons again at 50. When my instructor had me “reset” by playing Haydn sonatas I fell victim to the Dunning-Kruger effect. Man did that valley of despair hurt! It would have been a lot less discouraging I think if I had been using block 3.
I haven't practiced piano in around 3 years, after quitting lessons. I play a bit but I have forgotten almost every song I learned at the time. This video arrived at the perfect time for me. Thank you!
Im currently in my first year of college studying jazz piano in switzerland and I totally felt what you talked about in this vidéo! Thank you very inspiring
Thanks for this! I’m a rookie piano teacher, and this advice was really helpful to me! This is communicated in a much more elegant way than I’ve been able to come up with during lessons. Definitely taking notes to use with my students, and I’ll be sure to direct them to your content as well.
Stanley Clarke said that what took his playing up a level was when he deliberately started practising things he was bad at. This really resonated with me, as I hate doing ANYTHING that I'm bad at. It just makes me feel bad about myself. And this is probably the biggest thing that holds back my development as a musician/instrumentalist.
I’m about to finish my first year in college as a percussion student I cannot express enough how much this relates to me and my practice habits as a percussionist. I feel so much pressure from my peers to practice more but I’ve been lacking the drive, thanks for this video.
Great video Charles. My instrument is the guitar and I feel like I’ve always done this 3-block thing subconsciously at least to a certain degree, since it’s a pretty natural and sustainable way to practice and I’ve had a million hours to develop the habit, but it’s nice to hear the unspoken part said out loud so I can do it with intent. Cheers
You guys I'm SO fired up to get back on the "be good at piano playing" train. You're going to see MONSTER piano player Charles like...really soon. If you want to check out the brand new Better Piano community and get access to that 7-day promo and LOCK IN, click here: actually just click here anyways because the site is AWESOME betterpiano.com/
Second
Charles, how do you feel about covering "I Get Around" or "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head"?
I love the fugue in Cm!
Good luck!!! Sure you can nail it!
seriously though this is a really important topic for all musicians, thank you!
It's a really fascinating musical journey to reapproach stuff that was too hard to practice with gigging experience and applied, not textbook, music theory
❤
hard relate
we pianists always relate hard. btw you're the GOAT Daniel!
Daniel sighting
Yooo hi daniel
no because I enjoy practicing piano (for now) its I relate for drumset at the moment now though
Is that a reference to "we feel overwhelm"? 3:14
As a guitarist for 28 years, I feel this so hard.
I never just "practice" guitar anymore.
It really is a different thing
This is how the 18 year Olds run circles around 50 year Olds that play the same things
@@postmodernjambox5951 absolutely. Fortunately I was at least a vigilant practicer long enough to not be a total bum. 🤣
I feel that. These days the only "practice" I'm doing is when I'm recording a new idea, but that's really not the same as getting better at the craft.
Somebody got jacked over the winter Im finna simp
Like, FR FR. 💀
Charles been practicing his LIFTS more like
he's been jacked for a while now but he's been beefing up a lot more recently gyat DAMN 🥴
Simp away....aint nothin wrong with it. I personally dont know why simp'in has bad connotation. Cause. I simp all the time. It can be used as motivation.
simp it up !!
Bro is BULKIN 😂😭
One of the best things I learned in music school, to make your practice both funnier and more effective is:
Practice in the EXTREMES - extremely slowly, softly, strongly, romantically, etc. You'll find out so much about how to get new things out of the pieces. Also makes you so much more confident playing it!
It's a MASSIVE help!
Doesn’t apply just in classical either, I do this all the time for vocals. Practicing changing the genre of the same material gives you so much more stylistic control. Take this rock song and sing it like it’s musical theatre, or operatically, making it emo, speak-singing, soft indie style, country. There’s so many options
This is great advice!
Whoa this is actually genius.
im going to remember this!!!
@glowco.717 true. I apply this to drawing and (very, very amateur) voice acting. Practicing the extremes is helpful for so many things.
This advice goes beyond pianos. It actually helped me plan out my Japanese practice time. Thanks!
if you’re not good then what am i 😭
We’re at the bottom of the barrel man 😭💀
Depressing fr fr
You are, good. As he said, good is relative.
You're pringle-man. Or beeg yoshi, your choice.
Because he's looking for "professional" kind of good, unlike us, he's still really good for casual playing 😅
0:26 REALTOR CHARLES CORNELL😭🔥
Charles Hotel
@@bonesawbulk real
@@bonesawbulk that Charles Dumbbell though. 🥵
I literally found your channel from that Cardi B "cover". Not a musician at all and I don't understand half of what you talk about but I'm always just happy to be here!
exactly this.
that cardi b "cover" makes me laugh uncontrollably EVERY time i see it.
Most people did. You’ve probably picked up a lot of knowledge just by hanging around half understanding
I feel like this video is relevant for everything, not just music. 😅
I love how this can apply from a global overview to literally everything (music, drawings, studies etc...) A great approach to pratice literally anything. This is what I needed right now lol
I was thinking the same thing. He has given the building blocks to learning something new.
Beat me to it
So we just lying now?
Ah ah ah.. abracadabra no A
*are we just lying now
usually the case with website plugs lol
Yes. Apparently
@nothingtoseehere93 *arare we just lying now
Dude! You hit the nail right on the head. I think as musicians we all struggle with this. We can literally play our instrument every day and still not advance at all. I have felt I’ve been on a plateau for years. Well said sir. Love your videos.
Because you need an additional 2 days of rest so your brain can sort the information and not have it going all over the place. Same thing at school, teachers feed their students information on the daily basis without days of rest. And what do they remember? Nothing. so, 1 or 2 days should be enough rest before picking up the pace once again, and you'll see your progress skyrocket 👍
I’ve gotta stop having kids, jobs, dogs, jury duty and just practice
We all find time to do the things we want to do. If you don’t find the time, you really didn’t want to make the time. You didn’t want it that bad.
@@matthewgaines10 I agree, my reply was more for the humour (who goes out of their way to do jury duty instead of play piano?)
I play almost every day 🙂
@@100PercentFewlprewf i think his reply was satire as well
@@wolftankbabygay Thanks, you never know haha
Ikr just coffee and practice and I'd be the happiest person on the earth but life said 'nah'
“It was just a ii-V-I with some fancy voicings underneath”
I feel like this happens way too often to me. It seems all roads lead to ii-V-I 😂.
It's the Hero's Journey of music
I had a similar conversation the other say that music theory mostly is getting V to I
5-1s everywhere
@@postmodernjambox5951 that's (extremely simplified) Schenkerian Analysis
@@mrrodgers5871 you gotta start somewhere where people can play but know zero music theory
that tipabout not leaving your piano until you've learnt something new is so fun, been doin it for like a week and genuinely i've reached such insane progress I never would've thought possible, thank you piano man 👍
It’s cuz you got jacked.
It's the haircut. (/ sarc )
I'm NOT a musician, but what you described in this video applies to just about every field of work and honestly every aspect of life! I feel the exact same sense of being drained of my energy and saying "I don't have time" to do stuff (studying, reading scientific articles, but also socialising, playing sports...), whereas I would have the time, but I don't have the mental energy to tackle those activities. Your advice is sound in general and it's always nice to know I'm not the only one struggling with this, especially when from the outside other people seem to have it easier and have more success than me
You actually nailed the majority of the struggle on the head.
Hey Charles. I’m 13, been playing for 10+ years, etc. I’ve been watching you since 2019 and I love your, whatever the plural of analysis, -ises . What’s cool is that my piano teacher is Dustin DeLuke! Apparently you two know each other! I was at a lesson 2 weeks ago, he asked me what I was listening to, I said Charles Cornell, and he said “hey I know him! We used to play around with solos together!” I just thought that was a cool connection. 👍 👍
Please tell me that was a typo and you weren't playing at the age of 2
Seems like you are already a great musician. Here’s a secret to success in music if you want to make it a career and it has nothing to do with talent. And that is networking. Reach out to everyone in the industry and introduce yourself. Most of those contacts won’t result in much but eventually you will meet that person that will help you make it to the next level. And never ever let “no” set you back. You are going to get more no’s than yeses no matter how talented you are.
Bro was playing in the womb 😭 🙏
Guys the point of this comment was not to impress Charles, say anything about how I am a “prodigy,” say how talented I am, meet him, or anything! I have been playing since 2 and a half. I’m not lying. @astroblaster6347 what are you even trying to say? Why is the foundation of my comment lies? Yes my parents do know the importance of music. My mom’s family has been musical for decades. When I started at 2 I was not good at all. I’m not as good a pianist as some other people my age. I’m not claiming anything to make me seem more impressive or to look like an ultra-talented nothing! The point of this comment was that my piano teacher and Charles know or knew each other at some point. I assume they met at Berklee in Boston. I JUST THOUGHT THAT WAS A FUNNY COINCIDENCE. So please stop!
@@davids6898yep. It’s about who you know. And that’s what music schools are “really” about.
I started seriously learning in mid December 2023 and I've been practicing on average 3 to 4 hours a day, every day. I have improved so much! I love your videos! You've taught me so much about modes and more advanced music theory in general. I have a background in music starting in elementary school band going all the way through high school, but my instrument was trombone. I always wanted to learn piano. I took a few piano classes in college, but I'm really taking it seriously now. Brings me so much happiness
It's nice to actually get advice and not just the promo. That's the best selling point to me.
This advice is honestly super applicable to even just studying in general. Thank you!
Haven’t tuned into a video in a while, and bro you are looking JACKED. Keep up the hard work, it’s paying off 💪
this a game changer...
for a long time since suddenly leaving college, I felt like the biggest hurdle was learning alone.
i'm gonna do my absolute damnedest to save enough cash for being a part of this community of artists believing in eachother, wish me luck!!!
I'm not a full time musician (software engineer), and I haven't really practiced since I graduated from college (jazz minor). It's hard to find motivation since I don't really have a reason to improve. There's no professor grading me, no auditions to compete for, and I'm above the skill level for my gigs. I'm at a semi-pro level, so the stuff I should be working on is incredibly specific. Stuff like drop-2 inversions over Spain in every key.
I know I should practice, I just don't really have anything motivating me anymore. No intrinsic motivation either. I feel like I've "died" as a pianist because I'm happy with my skills.
I seriously dove into guitar last year, got a lot better at that, but I reached all of the goals I set and I haven't really found more. I'm also at a standstill there. I'm not even close to a pro level on guitar, but I just don't have a reason or intrinsic motivation to improve.
Making UA-cam videos is practically the only thing I practice for, but that's just to learn for covers, not to learn new skills.
The question I end up asking myself each time I sit down to play is "why?" I don't really know anymore.
that's actually what's been happening with me. I feel that I've stagnated after graduating high school since there's no one that causes the small pressure like a professor does. my practice is working on band stuff and I don't feel I've improved as a performer. that's also one of the reasons I'm thinking of applying for a music major after graduating from software engineering
Ultimately, what made you start playing seriously? There's got to be some music that inspires you. Then go transcribe it.
Also a SWE. I actually loving using piano as a break away from coding and have almost built a habit out of “get stuck, play piano” and by mistake have followed a very similar approach to what the video outlines. I’ve been taking lessons for almost 2 years now and I’ve progressed quite a bit, not that I’m finishing pieces left and right tho unless it’s small.
Also agree with the above, if I am getting really demotivated I’ll try and just learn a song that I love, or maybe a melody I enjoy. Anything to throw you back into that trance like zen state where you fall in love with piano again. Or at least I do every time 😂
I have an injury that caused me to lose some capacity in my right hand so got lazy...have realized that if I make time to listen to more music and find new stuff to love that my motivation to try again increases...listen to more stuff from different genres even, try and get recommendations from new and different people for music they like, you might find something inspiring...good luck.
Oh, my goodness. Charlie is peeking into my life at this very moment - I'm sitting here stunned at the accuracy of this video. I was an amateur accompanist and performer (primarily standards and musical theatre) for many years. And then "life happened". I have been out of practice for literally more than a decade. Now that I have access again to a decent instrument and a little bit of time, I figured I would try to take this up again. Ten minutes into it, trying to run thru some of my old favorites, I felt this crushing weight on my soul, and a rush of little demons chanting "you used to nail this song! You had it memorized! You could rip it out on a moment's notice. Now your fingers can't even form the chords properly! You've lost it, man. Your piano-playing days are over." Devastating. Really.
Charles, you have no idea how much I needed to hear this.
I totally relate to this. I'm a music theory master's graduate, and I yearn to understand what happens in the music that touches me. And the moment I get to play those moments that give me strong emotions , they lose their magic in some way. Same thing for the organ pieces that I learn because I love how they sound, to realize they are not as interesting as they once were.
Big fan of your videos, and I appreciate greatly how passionate you are, which without doubt leaves no one indifferent. Thank you for all your videos!
I really wish that I'd even encountered a music instructor that was also a practice instructor.
I stopped taking piano lessons almost 50 years ago, and in all the time since I've only gotten good at playing one thing. (It was the E major fugue from WTC book 2, and I'm still proud of figuring out how to do that with my brain and fingers, though it's long gone now.) Charles's description of the sense of despair that comes when you're sitting on the bench and it's not happening is pretty much how I remember my teenage years. It's just saddening to think of how unnecessary that was. In all that time it never occurred to me that there might be a better way of doing it. The thing I learned most from practicing music was that I wasn't any good and that I wasn't ever going to get better.
That's still my experience of engaging with music today. Composition, performance, production, every direction leads to a wall, and hitting the wall stops me.
I don't know how much a different approach can help me at this point. I'm not exactly overburdened by neuroplasticity at my age. But I sure would like to have a little of that feeling of getting better at something, the feeling of being able to do something that I love.
Professional flute player and teacher here. Yes!
It's always gratifying to see that we align on all these things. I LOVE practicing. It's so fascinating, and that's why I love teaching.
I do need to practice more than not much.
I'm 47 years old, and I've been playing piano for 45 years...yeah, I started plunking and poking at the piano when I was 2. Once I actually started lessons, and got to the point that I could both read music, but also pick things out by ear, I could spend hours at the piano...much to the chagrin of my grandmother, who just wanted to watch her soap operas! LOL!!
As I've gotten older, and especially the last couple of years, I've been finding myself at the piano less and less...and I miss it, and it always feels good (if sometimes a bit rusty) when I do sit down, but like you said, "life" so often gets in the way. 😢
I think that most important thing when we talk about practicing it’s just have someone give you the “push”; helping you organising your time. So you have a real model of study, avoiding that hateful feeling of “wanting to improve” but never actually doing it. And you did that with this video Charles! I think a lot of people can rely this situation, and you gave them a real hypothesis of plan to follow. That’s great!
Bro I clicked on this so fast because I'm literally in the same boat (sans the successful youtube channel lmao). I graduated with my master of music degree 6 years ago... Then stopped practicing
What I absolutely love about you is your passion for music. I mean genuine and visible passion. Hearing you talk about a chord progression you've just analysed, hearing someone play an unexpected line, whatever it is, when you display that "mind blown" reaction, it has always inspired me to pick up my instrument again. Whenever I've needed motivation I've come to people like you to inspire me to want to rush to my instrument!
Some great lessons and insights in this video! I play bass but I would absolutely love to play piano, love the sound of it. I just need to try and save to get one haha!
3:26
The piece is Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2, by Franz Liszt.
More specifically, I’m not sure what edition sheet music book he’s using, but if you look up and play Rousseau’s recording of the piece it’ll be around the 6 minute mark is what the right page (the one in focus) is showing. Hope this helps : )
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You’ve touched on everything I’ve been pondering on and struggling with ever since I decided to get back to the piano and music in general. I’ve been down this road before… this is my 3rd time and I want it to be the last time. Everything from improving my technique, finagling learning/understanding music theory and bringing variety to the genres of music I want to play outside of Classical ( like jazz, Latin…). I’m closer to retirement than starting out in life and I realize this implies limitations but I can’t live without having music part of my life and I like the idea of your Better Piano offering- thanks again for this!
I so feel this. I hate my cello playing at this point, but love your analysis Charles which, along with similar channels, has pulled me more and more in the composition direction. I was defeated by the Kodaly Sonata and really haven't been seriously practicing since... but I like you practicing method and technique because everything you talked about actually happened. Some sections were surprising easy to get so the novelty wore off, other parts were so complicated that if weren't so expensive I could throw the cello, and still other parts were manageable but I wasn't inspired by the way "I" played it as I was by other recordings I heard of it. I think you described this as being bored by your own playing. Anyway I want to get back into the game so hopefully your 3 block method will help.
This came at the perfect time. I have a cello entrance exam in two weeks and I'm constantly beating myself up I should be practicing more, but ending up procrastinating waay too much. So this video was just the motivation I needed, thank you!!
Just thought I'd share my Practice Block 3 Finale. Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena. It was my grandmother's favorite. For years, she has said that if one of her grandkids learned it, she would pass her Baby Grand on to them. Her piano is now in my living room, and her favorite song has become my favorite to play, and it is always the last one I play before I'm done. My high note ends thinking of her.
This really hits me in the feels. Thank you for being so vulnerable and talking about the real life complexities of being a musician.
I really needed this, thank you ♥
I've been going through a hard time and haven't played the piano much at all, rarely I played. But I want to play more, so I started practising sometimes again, but realising I wasn't good at the piano any more kept me from playing again. But I don't want to give up! I love making music.
Your video is so on point. Actually made me smile when you said, just play a bit, 16min or 6min. Just when you feel like playing, do it. I'm going to try that, I'm excited already.
And with that said, I'm going to my piano xD
I have been a piano teacher for almost 30 years. But I first was a pianist. And I totally agree with you! As an adult, it's hard to find time to practice. There is also a lot of emotional energy that goes into practicing. But you as a musician evolved through life as you are involved in different areas of music. At one point you were a student, then you became a teacher, then you performed, you might have even accompanied. And now you are back to being a teacher and entertainer to all of us. It grows your musicianship in many different ways. And thus, it actually makes you a better pianist in the long run. Even if you don't have as much time as you would like to practice and if you feel like you don't play at the level you used to. I appreciate all you put into your videos, it helps me be a better teacher! Plus they're super fun! 🎵🩷
I'm a drummer and I've been playing for a year and a half now, I feel like this video really inspired me and even though I'm not burned out of the drums I feel like this will improve my enjoyment, thank you!
I’ve been teaching violin and viola for over 20 years now, and I can tell you this for absolute certain:
(Walter White Voice)
YOU’RE GODDAMNED RIGHT!
Everything you said in this video is absolutely spot on. Especially the practice blocks portion. I call it the veggies, meat and potatoes, and dessert. No one likes doing scales or working on technique. But at the end of the day those are what’s best for making you a better at your instrument. They’re the vegetables.
Next you have your repertoire. The thing you work on for the concert or recital or gig. That’s your meat and potatoes. Your bread and butter. It’s what is going to satisfy you and put food on the table.
Finally you have dessert. Maybe it’s not going to make you a better player or be the thing that makes you money. But it’s something that is fun to play and makes you happy that you played it. Maybe it’s pop music or a rock ballad or a country song. Whatever it is it should be your favorite thing in that moment.
I love this video so much. Thank you for making this issue so approachable!
I love that you mentioned Hanon - it's my favorite finger exercise book, and it has everything in it -- including scales and arpeggios. I teach piano and every one of my students does Hanon by the 2nd year.
Im learning a new guitar piece rn, and Im really enjoying it
But it hits extremely hard every time i remember that i wont have the time to practice them enough to remember them later on
I mustve learned tens of songs that I can only half play now, and it feels like it was time wasted, but the memory never really leaves you
Charles, at the end of the day, from musician to musician, the one thing that will give you comfort is looking back on your past performance and seeing how much you improved, you can do it
Finally! It needed to be said bro. Appreciate the honesty.
This video is literal gold.
The lack of community and its association with less practice is a strong point
Bro I literally laughed thru the whole video just at how relatable this is...big ups for coming out and saying it
Very touching video Charles! Gave me a fresh breath of air, thanks a bunch!
I really appreciate how you mention that good is a matter of perception. It's something that is often forgotten or ignored by a lot of people. As we get better and better at something, our standards change.
The most annoying thing I hear from musicians is "Oh, I can't really play" when they very clearly can play, quite well. Sure, they may not be world class. They may not even be "great", but they really can play. But I keep hearing from people who are pretty good instrumentalists that "I can't really play." And while I do appreciate that people have different standards, but we really need to accept that there's a difference between "can't" and "not as good as I'd like to be." It makes them come across as being falsely modest. It's like they want to reinforce simply how high their standard of "being able to play" is.
So kudos to you for pointing out how our perception of "good" changes as we get better. Good video :)
This came at the perfect time. It's been four years since I graduated (from the very same conservatory program as you did lmao) and I haven't had the drive to really be involved in music for so long. I miss it, I haven't even watched the whole video yet but I'm so grateful you made this and I feel like it's a sign. Idk, we'll see what happens as the days go on :) thank you
Dude! Playing Bach’s C minor prelude from WTC book 1 was the thing that taught me how to practice when I was in high school (back in 2003-04). It was a lot of taking it one measure at a time and since it was one of the first baroque pieces I learned and I kind of did it on my own, I followed the fingerings in the edition I used religiously. I started taking organ lessons a couple years ago at the age of 34. I learned that playing baroque music makes so much more sense when you use organist fingerings-and the parallels between jazz and baroque music are really fascinating. If we were friends, I would have told you to hit me up a long time ago to chat about that prelude and how to make it way easier to play. Best wishes!
This is great and not only from a musical perspective. Been feeling like my creative skills in general have atrophied since the inspiration and motivation of study finished, and the everyday monotony of the workforce began. It's clear that your drive is still there, and whilst it may not be for some things like piano practice, your commitment and skill in video production is up there with the best of them. Thanks for the discussion and concepts to help find that spark again!
Thanks for helping me motivate myself. I haven't played the piano in years, and I don't intend to start again soon, but everything you mentioned applies exactly to everything I do want to do.
I’m so glad you’re addressing practicing. 🎉
The title made me chuckle lol. But I get it…I think all of us musicians (no…creatives) go thru this. It’s very much akin to writer’s block. It happens. You really need to “step away” sometimes. Find a secondary hobby. For me, it’s collecting stamps on my passport. Heh, and when I take this musician-hiatus when I get back to it, I’m approaching something familiar with a fresh take I might’ve never would have thought of previously. Sometimes we try so hard to force ideas out, and it just simply doesn’t work that way.
I studied music in college and when I graduated I immediately went into a different field and never fully chased after doing music full time. Now I do musical theater and some off-hand gigs, but I rarely ever practice and I beat myself up about it. Man, you caught me on the perfect day with this video. Thank you
I'm glad to hear other people experience this kind of thing. I had a lot of moments preparing this one piece called Merlin for marimba, that I simply stopped playing. Sometimes, I'd only practiced for 10 minutes before I just left and sat down for half an hour at a time because it felt like I was beating my head against the wall. Coming back after the breaks, the lines just made more sense and it was definitely beneficial for my motivation and mental state during those hours past midnight.
I haven't touched my horn (french horn) in any serious manner since 2015, so I'm with you. I also moved to the Denver area and would love to get back into using my connections at CU Boulder, but don't think it's the right time. I've found going to concerts of highly skilled musicians makes me and keeps me hungry to play at a high level again. Go to concerts, recitals, etc at all the local colleges out here with good music programs and it will keep the fire burning.
I super appreciate this video...
As a guitarist for 16 years, and drummer for 6, I've felt this way more and more as time has gone along. I literally didn't play guitar for 3 years while I learned drums since I was chasing the dopamine of doing something musical while learning drums
Especially with the bands I'm in, I've made the decision to make sure what I'm doing is fun so when practice/learning doesn't feel like the only end goal
WE LOVE YOU
This same process can be applied to any creative pursuit, like drawing. Start with a rudiment or fundamental for warmup, then spend a big chunk on something you want to do better with, then cool down on something you know you can do and enjoy 😊
you’re the kinda guy to complain that you got a 95% on a test
I just had the best practice session in probably a year on my clarinet it took 45 min, and for the first time in probably 2 years I ended a session feeling good and like I learned something. Literally life changing, seeing as I am planning on being a musician in the marines.
Finally! I have been waiting for a video like this for so long, I am a musician and can play several instruments very well however, I’ve never been able to pick up the piano, but hopefully this video of your new channel, I can understand what I’ve done wrong and try to make a considerable effort toward playing the piano! This video also made me realize how much more practicing I should be doing on my other instrument such as trumpet 🎺 my primary instrument. You know what they say, an hour of practice a day a year of progress in the future! 😅
Thanks for another video Charles! Always great! 😊 🎹
For me, practicing can come in many forms. Sometimes I am only playing for a few minutes, and sometimes it's all I do for the night. But the most important part for me is that it's easy to start and stop. My guitar is next to my desk with what I'm working on printed and right there. If it was in a different room, or if I had to pull up the music every time, even the smallest of extra steps make it that much more likely for me to be like "eh, I'll just do something else"
look i was putting off watching this because i thought you were going to tell us you dont like playing anymore, and i deeply regret that because these things all apply to having put off making new art for a year and the way to get out of that. thanks for the reminder to practice *prodcutively* and not beat myself up for not being inspired 24/7. this is an awesome video and i appreciate it. OFF TO DRAW BACKGROUNDS (piece by piece)!
This video is so good, I’m sure many of us self learning musicians have a hard time with being consistent, so thank you for this Charles !
Tenor sax player here! dude, this video helped put in perspective a lot of my practice time, I think exactly the same way and find myself working on a tune or learning a solo and the just get frustrated and upset with the progress I’m making, which leads to feeling disheartened to pick up the horn; even to do maintenance practicing thank you for opening my mind to a different strategy. I can’t thank you enough.
So much of this video are concepts and ideas I had in my mind, but having it all laid out really brought it together.
8:30 deliberate practice
9:10 1) 15-20%: technique 2) 60%: smth to perform 3) smth u love (this time is for yourself)
I thought i recognized you at the Plini show at the Gothic lol! My grad school mentor told me in one of our last lessons 'this is you at the top of your game'. I didn't know what he meant till after school when i had to take that tool box I made there and make money doing music. He was right in the sense this is the hardest rep I'll ever play, but wrong in the sense that my ear is 100x better by doing the job in the real world! Miss those 6 hour practice days...
This is one of the most helpful videos I've seen on piano. Thanks Charles!
This is such great advice in general because it applies to SO MUCH
Awesome video!!
Develop dynamic contrast, intensity, and intentionality at all dynamic levels. Play a whole piece very quietly while still having clear dynamics. Game changing for technique and phrasing and the whole thing.
I can vouch for the community element of an online course helping! I did an online course to learn piano tuning and it has an active online community, which I think has helped everyone.
You make relatable comments.
Some days I just aim to play one scale. And once you sit down, you end up doing your full practice routine and a bit of extra video game music on the side anyway.
I am one of those people who bought one of your courses (I bought a bunch, tbh) and I LOVE it! I just finished the Into to Theory course and my wife asked what the best thing I learned was. I'll tell you what I told her: I learned that I want to do more music theory!! So happy with my purchase, thank-you, Charles 😁😁😁
“A lack of available brain space” you hit the nail for me on the head! 2:27
I can really painfully relate to this honestly. Back in high school I was practicing and auditioned to get into Juilliard for vibraphone and... very woefully didn't get accepted. Then I spent 5 years getting a robotics degree at one of the best schools in the country for it (I'm very humble, I know). During that time I hardly played anything other than drums and even that was fairly infrequent till my last couple years (I blame 2020-2021 harshing my mellow). During my final year I took some independent lessons that were offered, the first being general vibes and the second being improv taught by a saxophone player, and I realized I could hardly play anything anymore! I spent a good portion of that year just floundering around on the vibes, trying and failing to play not even half the stuff I was whipping out in HS. Pretty depressing, honestly. Thankfully my improv teacher managed to hook me up with a pretty good deal on a set of vibes and after graduating the only thing holding me back from getting better is myself. I'm slowly working on my ear training, technique, and sight reading skills and I'm hoping that pretty soon all the fancy solo pieces I played back then will be a breeze
This video can apply to any form of artistic medium, or even academic subjects. Something I am very passionate about is animation and I could honestly vouch for this kinda advice he's giving and apply to the medium of animation.
Basically don't stress yourself and when you do, treat yourself when you get passed that stressful period. Practice doesn't need to be forced nor billions of hours, do what you can in the moment and try to do it meaningfully, have an objective in mind no matter the size. For my sake I want to get a frame done for my animated project, but only draw part of it, that's still a win. Whenever progress is made, be proud that you made them. From that positive reinforcement, you'll enjoy the medium better, learn faster and be able to eventually get things done once you reach a certain stage, but that whole cycle can happen again even if you've reached the level of having works under your belt...
It's what drives us silly creative people. You're all doing great ! 😁👍
YO. I play bass, but holy crap! This is exactly what i've been looking for this whole time! Thank you Charles for spending time making these awesome videos! I believe these videoes can help almost everyone no matter their instrument! Keep it up!
I'm starting to realize how much I've lost my chops over the last five or so years since I've stop doing music full-time. I've been playing a lot more lately but it's really not the same
keeping in touch with the joy of playing is the most important, every time I finish practicing I feel joy at the fact I've played and know that I'm only going to get better next time
This was EXACTLY what I needed, when I needed it. Thank you so much Charles!
As someone who hasnt landed on your channel for a little while now, lookin good bud! Keep it up!
Totally agree with the 3rd block. I had been playing late intermediate romantic era pieces for decades and started piano lessons again at 50. When my instructor had me “reset” by playing Haydn sonatas I fell victim to the Dunning-Kruger effect. Man did that valley of despair hurt! It would have been a lot less discouraging I think if I had been using block 3.
I haven't practiced piano in around 3 years, after quitting lessons. I play a bit but I have forgotten almost every song I learned at the time. This video arrived at the perfect time for me. Thank you!
Im currently in my first year of college studying jazz piano in switzerland and I totally felt what you talked about in this vidéo! Thank you very inspiring
This is extremely relatable.
Thanks for this! I’m a rookie piano teacher, and this advice was really helpful to me! This is communicated in a much more elegant way than I’ve been able to come up with during lessons. Definitely taking notes to use with my students, and I’ll be sure to direct them to your content as well.
thank you this came to me at the most perfect time also love seeing swole charles
This is just good advice for how to approach anything you want to establish as a habit or creative skill. You're the best and inspiring as ever.
8:30 deliberate practice
9:10 1) technique 2) smth to perform 3) smth u love
Stanley Clarke said that what took his playing up a level was when he deliberately started practising things he was bad at.
This really resonated with me, as I hate doing ANYTHING that I'm bad at. It just makes me feel bad about myself.
And this is probably the biggest thing that holds back my development as a musician/instrumentalist.
I’m about to finish my first year in college as a percussion student I cannot express enough how much this relates to me and my practice habits as a percussionist. I feel so much pressure from my peers to practice more but I’ve been lacking the drive, thanks for this video.
Great video Charles. My instrument is the guitar and I feel like I’ve always done this 3-block thing subconsciously at least to a certain degree, since it’s a pretty natural and sustainable way to practice and I’ve had a million hours to develop the habit, but it’s nice to hear the unspoken part said out loud so I can do it with intent. Cheers
This is really resonating, and mixes well in other thjngs. Thank you for that
Good timing. I just got home from music school - gonna try and get back on the horse after about a week off