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 
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 …
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 …
The Best Piano Practice Technique for Reading Precision
Piano learners are eager to gain fluency in playing and reading music. I have never found a shortcut to growing reading skills, yet over and over I see the progress learners make when using effective piano practice techniques. One such piano practice technique is counting while playing. Some years ago …
The Path to Sight Reading Excellence
If you have ever felt overwhelmed or discouraged about sight reading at the piano, you are not alone. Many piano students come to me saying their dream is to sit down at the piano and read music of songs they love by sight. Yet relatively few piano learners actually learn …