For this week’s video, I demonstrate a piano practice technique called rhythmic variations. I discovered this technique when I was a piano student and have used it enthusiastically ever since. Rhythmic variations help with playing difficult passages and runs, which show up frequently in classical music. Such runs require the …
Chris 
How to Read a Piano Lead Sheet
For today’s video, I demonstrate a three-step process for playing a lead sheet. As I described in more detail in a previous post, lead sheets are a convenient way to show the information of a song (See also ‘Lead Sheets vs Piano Sheet Music“). The three steps I describe in …
Breaking Down Piano Sheet Music: The Notes, Fingering, and Rhythm
Reading piano sheet music involves deciphering many layers of information. Many piano learners have never learned how to do this. They may try in vain to eat the sheet music elephant all at once. The result is usually discouragement and limited progress. No wonder reading sheet music seems so challenging …
The Most Effective Approach To Piano Practice (Video Lesson)
In today’s video, I discuss a very important topic for effective piano practice. I call it strategic practicing. Strategic practice solves one of the biggest mistakes piano learners make: always starting at the beginning of their music and trying to play the whole thing. Starting from the beginning, referred to …
Lead Sheets vs. Piano Sheet Music
For today’s video, I compare two primary ways that piano learners learn to play their music: lead sheets and sheet music. Lead sheets are succinct summaries of songs. They feature a melody in the treble clef (often including the lyrics if there are any), and chord symbols above. Lead sheets …
More on Piano Noodling!
Today’s video is a continuation of last week’s introduction to piano noodling, which is a great introduction to piano improvising. In today’s exercise, as with last time, you will keep the left hand simple playing only two chords while the right hand improvises freely in C position. Here are the …
Explore Your Creativity with Piano Noodling
In today’s video I share a simple piano noodling exercise designed to show piano learners how easy it is to start improvising at the piano. You do not have to be an experienced improviser. In fact, this exercise is doable even for beginners! Here are the steps to your first …
How Adults Benefit from Taking Piano Lessons
I have talked to hundreds of adult piano learners about why they take lessons. Here are some common themes I hear over and over: Adult learners often turn to music as a creative outlet in their lives where otherwise there wouldn’t be one. In many cases, my students work in …
What I Learned from Writing “Play Piano”
Writing “Play Piano” was by no means easy. The process took about a year and half, including me editing at least six drafts printed at FedEx Kinkos down the street! I am amazed at how well it came together, not just in my opinion but as a valuable resource for …
Overcome Negative Thinking to Achieve Your Musical Dreams
Back in high school, I took classical piano lessons at the San Francisco Conservatory’s pre-college Preparatory Division. All in all, this was a rich and inspiring experience. Over two and a half years, I worked closely with two accomplished Conservatory piano teachers. At the time, the Conservatory was in a …