PIANO MAGIC

PIANO MAGIC
YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO AWESOME PIANO LESSONS
Greg Fisher | Fisher Piano Studio | June, 2017

PIANO MAGIC – YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO AWESOME PIANO LESSONS
Introduction
Welcome to PIANO MAGIC.
Music has the power to unlock so much potential—creatively, academically, socially, and
more—for now and for rest of a child’s life.
Discover the full potential of music in you and your child’s life. Perhaps piano lessons will
build the foundation for a music-related career. It may be that music lessons will open the
doors for creative self-expression and give your child the confidence to share it with
others. No matter what the goal, embark on it now. You will enjoy and grow from the
musical experience in ways you never imagined.
Everyone has musical potential—I hope this book will help you discover it.
May you find it helpful, easy-to-read and beneficial in your journey to begin piano lessons
for your child.
I wish to thank my students and their parents for helping me in my life’s quest to make
better humans through music.
I also wish to thank my wife for showing me focus, onward determination and for always
being my better half for the last eighteen years of marriage.
Finally, I wish to thank you, the reader, who is foremost in my mind these many hours I
have poured over this book and hope I have covered every concern, question, and
direction you will need for your musical journey.
If you would like direct communication with me, please don’t hesitate to email me at
greg.fisher@live.com .
Thank you.
Greg Fisher
FISHERPIANOSTUDIO.COM | PG. 1
Table of Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 1
14 Reasons Every Child Should Take Piano Lessons ........................................................................... 4
Piano Lessons Increase I.Q....................................................................................................................... 4
improve reading comprehension ........................................................................................................... 4
Increase Mathematical Ability................................................................................................................ 5
Improve focus, self-esteem and confidence....................................................................................... 5
Improved Physical skills including fine motor skills and coordination ..................................... 7
Increase the capacity of brain memory ............................................................................................... 8
Piano Lessons refine discipline and striving for excellence which map out success
patterns in the brain ................................................................................................................................... 8
Learn cultural history...............................................................................................................................10
Improve listening skills ............................................................................................................................10
Piano Lessons Will Help Handle Pressures in Life .........................................................................11
Improved Grades and academic achievement ................................................................................12
Playing piano makes us more compassionate .................................................................................14
Learn to react well with criticism and react better to success and disappointments........15
Playing piano makes better team players .........................................................................................15
Parents Absolutely Should Gently Force Their Kids to Take Music Lessons ............................16
Musicians, I expect you to save the planet! ..........................................................................................20
15 Basics You Should Know About Supporting Your Child Learning to Play the Piano........22
Choosing a music teacher for your child or yourself .........................................................................25
What Age Should I Start My Child in Piano Lessons? ........................................................................28
Is It Ever Too Early? ..................................................................................................................................28
The Requirements for Readiness.........................................................................................................29
A Word About Reading ...........................................................................................................................29
Is It Ever Too Late?....................................................................................................................................29
How to Choose the Best Piano/Keyboard for Beginning Piano Lessons? ..................................31
A Keyboard Instrument for Your Home ............................................................................................31
What to Expect at Your Very First Piano Lesson? ..............................................................................34
How to Prepare..........................................................................................................................................34
Chat with Your Teacher ..........................................................................................................................34

Be Patient.....................................................................................................................................................35
What Control? ............................................................................................................................................35
A One and a Two and a… .........................................................................................................................35
10 Piano Apps Worth the Download!.....................................................................................................36
Metronome .................................................................................................................................................36
Sheet Music .................................................................................................................................................36
Music Theory and Ear Training.............................................................................................................37
Virtuoso Piano for iOS.............................................................................................................................37
Evernote .......................................................................................................................................................37
Music Journal .............................................................................................................................................38
Rhythm Lab .................................................................................................................................................39
Anytune ........................................................................................................................................................39
Wolfie ............................................................................................................................................................39
Singspiel........................................................................................................................................................40
How Traditional Piano Lessons May Actually Cripple Your Child – And How You Can Avoid
Their Pain..........................................................................................................................................................41
Piano as a starting point for learning music .....................................................................................42
"Practice makes perfect" - what exactly is improving our existing music pedagogy .........43
Does Every Good Boy really do fine? .................................................................................................44
How the 'traditional' way of teaching piano damages the development of the fine motor
skills of beginners ......................................................................................................................................45
How 'traditional' ways of teaching piano hold back the music ear development of
children .........................................................................................................................................................46
The 'Traditional' Grand Staff - is like 'War and Peace' for beginners......................................47
"Playing with sheet music," or the apotheosis of struggles ........................................................49
The Suffering, that became a law .........................................................................................................51
14 Reasons Every Child Should Take Piano Lessons

More and more studies are linking musical training with improved brain function and
higher academic achievement. Practicing a musical instrument regularly engages all four
hemispheres of your brain at an electrical, chemical and architectural level which
optimizes brain power.
Musical training also improves focus, reduces stress, and could be an antidote for the
pressure that children feel to do well on standardized testing as part of No Child Left
Behind and the Common Core Standards.
PIANO LESSONS INCREASE I.Q.

Musical training improves brain power across the board and also nurtures one's ability to
be creative and think outside the box. There is continually more evidence that musicians
have organizationally and functionally different brains compared to non-musicians,
especially in the areas of the brain used in processing and playing music. Some studies
show that playing an instrument can increase your IQ up to 7 points.
It’s no coincidence that Einstein was a master violinist

and a revolutionary physicist. Albert Einstein's mother
was a talented musician who made musical expression a
part of daily home life when her children were growing
up. Albert Einstein began playing the violin when he
was 6-years-old. By the age of 13, he was playing
Mozart's sonatas. Einstein once said, "Life without
playing music is inconceivable to me. I live my
daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music ... I
get most joy in life out of music." An October 2013
study found that Albert Einstein's brilliance may be
linked to the fact that his brain hemispheres were
extremely well-connected. The ability to use right brain
creativity and left brain logic simultaneously may have
been part of what made Einstein an incredible genius.
IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION

According to a study published in the journal Psychology of Music, “Children exposed to a
multi-year program of music involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and
practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their
non-musically trained peers.” It’s not surprising to hear results like that because music
involves constant reading and comprehension. When you see black and white notes on a
page, you have to recognize what the note name is and translate it to a finger/slide
position. At the same time, you also have to read what rhythms the notes are arranged in
and force your tongue to produce the correct pattern
INCREASE MATHEMATICAL ABILITY

Reading music requires counting notes and rhythms and can help your math skills. Also,
learning music theory includes many mathematical aspects. Studies have shown that
students who play instruments or study the arts are often better in math and achieve
higher grades in school than students who don’t.
IMPROVE FOCUS, SELF-ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE

Overcoming musical challenges that you thought you’d never quite master can give you a
great sense of pride. When you first start learning how to play an instrument, it seems like
just holding a note for a couple beats or hitting a high pitch is an amazing accomplishment.
Many small successes will eventually breed long term, innate self-confidence.
More specifically, a December 2014 study from the University of Vermont found that
musical training might also help kids focus their attention, control their emotions and
diminish their anxiety by bulking up the gray matter of the cortex.
The study, "Cortical Thickness Maturation and Duration of Music Training: Health-
Promoting Activities Shape Brain Development," was published in the Journal of American
Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. James Hudziak, M.D., professor of
psychiatry and director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families, and
colleagues including Matthew Albaugh, Ph.D., and graduate student research assistant
Eileen Crehan, call their study "the largest investigation of the association between playing
a musical instrument and brain development."
As children age, the cortex—the outer layer of the brain—changes in thickness. In previous
analysis of MRI data, Hudziak and his team found that thickening or thinning in specific
areas of the cortex correlated with the occurrence of anxiety and depression, attention
problems, aggression and behavior control issues. With this study, Hudziak and his
colleages wanted to see if musical training would influence those indicators in the cortex.
As expected, Hudziak found MRI evidence that musical training altered the motor areas of
the brain, because the activity requires control and coordination of the movements
necessary to play an instrument.
Interestingly, these changes were also found to affect behavior-regulating areas of the
brain. A child's musical background appears to correlate with cortical thickness in brain
areas that play a critical role in inhibitory control, as well as aspects of emotion processing.
The improved neural functions caused by musical training can lead to enhanced memory
and attention spans which make it easier for kids to stay focused in the classroom and to
improve their communication skills. Another words, true non-medicated improvement for
A.D.D. can occur through piano lessons.
IMPROVED PHYSICAL SKILLS INCLUDING FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND

COORDINATION
The art of playing an instrument requires a lot of hand-eye coordination. By reading
musical notes on a page, your brain subconsciously must convert that note into specific
motor patterns while also adding breathing and rhythm to the mix.
The fine motor abilities of children who participated in two years of piano instruction and
those who had never received formal music training were compared before and after the
instruction. A significant improvement in fine motor skills was found only for the children
who received the lessons, and a significant difference in the speed of response was found
between the two groups at the end of the two years of instruction. The innumerable
opportunities to assess, refine, and time their motor responses to specific stimuli during
musical practice and the availability of constant evaluative feedback (i.e., sound) may allow
musicians to improve the accuracy and speed of perceiving and responding to relevant
stimuli.
Gottfried Schlaug and his distinguished colleagues at the Music and Neuroimaging
Laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School has
published quite extraordinary studies on music and the brain.
In one study, children ages 5-7 began music training after having undergone preliminary
brain scans and cognitive tests to establish baseline information. To ensure comparative
results, another control group was monitored and matched according to similar
performances, age, and socioeconomic status.
Fifteen months into the study, the children who underwent musical instruction displayed
greater improvement in finger motor skills and auditory discrimination. They also were
found to have structural brain differences in the regions linked to motor and auditory
processing, and in various frontal areas.
INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF BRAIN MEMORY

Research has shown that both listening to music and playing a musical instrument
stimulate your brain and can increase your memory. A study was done in which 22
children from age 3 to 4 years old were given either singing lessons or keyboard lessons. A
control group of 15 children received no music lessons at all. Both groups participated in
the same preschool activities. The results showed that preschoolers who had weekly
keyboard lessons improved their spatial-temporal skills 34 percent more than the other
children. Not only that, but researchers said that the effect lasted long-term.
PIANO LESSONS REFINE DISCIPLINE AND STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE

WHICH MAP OUT SUCCESS PATTERNS IN THE BRAIN
Learning to play an instrument takes time and effort, which teaches patience and
perseverance. Musicians have to work through difficult sections of music multiple times in
a row before they can play it correctly. Practicing often and working on the hard parts
requires perseverance. The best musicians in the world are masters of discipline.
Condoleezza Rice trained to be a concert pianist. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the
Federal Reserve, was a professional clarinet and saxophone player. The hedge fund
billionaire Bruce Kovner is a pianist who took classes at Juilliard.
Will piano lessons turn your child into a Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft
(guitar)? Or a Woody Allen (clarinet)? Probably not. These are singular achievers. But the
way these and other visionaries process music is intriguing. As is the way many of them
apply music’s lessons of focus and discipline into new ways of thinking and communicating
— even problem solving.
Look carefully and you’ll find musicians at the top of almost any industry. Woody Allen
performs weekly with a jazz band. The television broadcaster Paula Zahn (cello) and the
NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd (French horn) attended college on
music scholarships; NBC’s Andrea Mitchell trained to become a professional violinist. Both
Microsoft’s Mr. Allen and the venture capitalist Roger McNamee have rock bands. Larry
Page, a co-founder of Google, played saxophone in high school. Steven Spielberg is a
clarinetist and son of a pianist. The former World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn
has played cello at Carnegie Hall.
Fisher Students ALL take Trophies Home 1
Mr. Todd says there is a connection between years of practice and competition and what
he calls the “drive for perfection.” The veteran advertising executive Steve Hayden credits
his background as a cellist for his most famous work, the Apple “1984” commercial
depicting rebellion against a dictator. “I was thinking of Stravinsky when I came up with
that idea,” he says. He adds that his cello performance background helps him work
collaboratively: “Ensemble playing trains you, quite literally, to play well with others, to
know when to solo and when to follow.”
Here’s how Robert Brooks, Ph.D., a Harvard Medical School psychologist, defines the term
self-discipline: “Self-discipline means taking ownership, accountability and responsibility
for our behavior. It is one of the most important qualities we can help our kids develop.”
Why is it so important?
 Self-discipline helps you to think before you act

 It improves your relationships with others
 It helps you perform better at school and work
 It makes you a good problem solver, and thereby improves your quality of life
dramatically
Now wouldn’t it be awesome if our children were born with a natural incentive to love to
self-discipline? We’d probably end up with an army of Olympic level athletes and music
virtuosos!
But let’s be honest now, children don’t just pop out of

the womb practice happy. When it’s time to practice,
children will always opt for more computer time rather
than working hard at their scales. That’s where learning
music comes in.
The lesson learned by music students is that in order to

attain excellence in music (and by transference,
excellence in any aspect of life), you must develop a
routine of focused attention to the fundamentals of your
craft. We all know people who make a habit of getting by
on the least amount of work; for whom excellence is
seldom, if ever, achieved. Music has a higher standard.
Audiences do not accept performances with only 70%
accuracy, for example. We must realize excellence every
time. Music students are often high achievers academically. They have the personal
discipline and focus needed to study for long periods of time. The work ethic developed
during personal practice, lessons, and rehearsals becomes a part of their character. And
this strength of character brings successes in every future challenge they engage in.
LEARN CULTURAL HISTORY

Music reflects history and gives us insight on what it was like to live in the era and
geography of its creation. Each piece of music has a unique history that is explored upon
learning it. The more diverse your musical knowledge is, the more informed you are about
a variety of cultures, eras and geographic influences that shape the art form as we know it
today.
IMPROVE LISTENING SKILLS

Listening is a skill that begins developing very early in life. It’s what takes place when your
brain works to isolate and process the sounds you hear instead of only hearing them.
Listening is also a skill that will help your child to distinguish your voice in a crowd or focus
on what you’re saying in the middle of a noisy environment.
Pianists learn to listen, and learn to be better listeners. We have to actively listen to our
own playing in order to hear what we are playing. Sometimes, we "hear" what is in our
minds, instead of what we're actually playing on the piano. We improve our listening skills
as we hear and observe what notes and rhythms we're playing on the piano. This is how we
correct any mistakes and learn what needs to be practiced on more. Our playing improves
from good listening skills.
So do our relationships. Good communication is one of the most important aspects of

strength in any relationship. Good communication starts with good listening on the part of
each person in the relationship. When we really listen to what another person is saying
instead of what we think they're saying in our minds, we come to understand their point of
view more.
PIANO LESSONS WILL HELP HANDLE PRESSURES IN LIFE

Piano students become proficient in handling stress as a natural part of learning. The
student deals with racing heartbeats, fingers trembling, anxiety, loss of focus in order to
gain control of their nerves in a performance situation; at a lesson, at a studio class
(students get together in an informal and non-threatening environment and play for each
other to share their music and their experiences), and at our several piano recitals each
year. Students learn to stay calm and focused under pressure. This exposure to musical
performance at an early age will rear a child to handle stress with poise and grace as an
adult.
IMPROVED GRADES AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Organized music lessons appear to benefit children's IQ and academic performance--and
the longer the instruction continues, the larger the effect, according to a study published in
the May, 2006 issue of the Journal of Educational Psychology (Vol. 98, No. 2).
Lead researcher E. Glenn Schellenberg, PhD, says the recent study builds on work he
published in 2004, in which 6-year-olds given a year of voice or piano lessons saw a
significantly larger increase in IQ than a control group that waited a year for musical
instruction. Considering that study's results, Schellenberg says the natural question he
posed to himself was, "Would the effect get bigger with more than a year of lessons?"
Now, his most recent work shows that it does, says Schellenberg, a psychology professor at
the University of Toronto at Mississauga. "There is dose-response association," says
Schellenberg, explaining that in general, the longer a child takes lessons, the higher the IQ
and the better the performance in school.
In the recent work, Schellenberg and his fellow researchers studied two groups of
students: children 6 to 11 years old and college freshmen.
The younger group received an IQ test, an evaluation of their school grades and a measure
of academic achievement. More than half of the group had taken music lessons, either in
private or group instruction.
The older students surveyed in a second study received an IQ test and supplied their high
school grade point average. They also described how many years of music instruction they
had received and how many years they had regularly played a musical instrument.
The study involving the younger children found that each additional month of music
lessons was accompanied by an increase in IQ of one-sixth of a point, such that six years of
lessons was associated with an increase in IQ of 7.5 points, compared with children who
did not have the same amount of musical instruction.
For the college students, six years of playing music regularly as a child predicted an
increase of two points in IQ over their peers.
Overall, the study found that taking music lessons in childhood was a significant predictor
of a higher IQ in young adulthood and a history of better high school grades. For the
younger children, the study found a positive association between music lessons and higher
school grades and higher scores on achievement testing in mathematics, spelling and
reading.
For the college freshmen, a history of playing music regularly as children and teenagers
had "small but significant" associations with IQ, perceptual organization, working memory
and average high school grades, with the associations remaining significant after
controlling for differences in family income, parents' education levels and gender.
Schellenberg isn't sure why music lessons are associated with higher IQ and stronger
academic performance, but he has several theories: Children with higher IQs have more
cognitive ability to handle the mental challenges of music lessons and school, so music
lessons probably exaggerate that advantage. School itself boosts IQ, so the school-like
features of music lessons such as learning to read music might also lead to improved
intellectual functioning, Schellenberg speculates.
PLAYING PIANO MAKES US MORE COMPASSIONATE

There is so much about and in music, that has to do with emotional expression and
inspiring passionate and deeply felt responses in its listeners. Pianists learn to feel more
emotions deeper and are able to more openly express them from playing the piano.
Whenever we add in things like dynamics, accents, or say a change in key or meter: we're
changing the emotional energy of the music. The more musical expression we allow
ourselves to weave into a piece of music, the deeper our own emotional experience of that
music is.
The neat thing is, that this "opening" we experience through playing the piano remains
even after we stop playing. It then ends up making us more sensitive to others and their
own needs and enables us to actually feel more in the way of empathy. This increase in
emotional connection and empathy for others brings much love into our friendships,
partnerships, marriages, and friendships.
LEARN TO REACT WELL WITH CRITICISM AND REACT BETTER TO SUCCESS

AND DISAPPOINTMENTS
To get the most from this benefit of playing piano, it’s important to work with a qualified
piano teacher who is able to give you constructive criticism. When younger students see
their teacher as an expert in the field, it’s much easier to take their advice and feedback.
And this ability to respond to criticism – and learn from it – will typically carry over to
other aspects of daily life, such as school and work.
This is another skill you will gain from performing, especially if you participate in piano
competitions. Similar to learning how to respond to criticism, you may experience some
disappointment along the way. A good piano teacher will help you learn how to maintain a
positive outlook, even when things don’t go your way. And when they do, you can
celebrate your wins together!
PLAYING PIANO MAKES BETTER TEAM PLAYERS

Pianists learn to collaborate with others to create something larger than themselves.
Many pianists perform either in jazz ensembles, symphony orchestras, rock bands, or
accompany other musicians in solo performances. Even for a solo pianist, there is
collaboration with either a formal teacher, other musicians that serve as mentors, digital
sources of performances and studies, symphony orchestras and choruses, and a lot of
other people that work together, to create music. Working with others for pianists and
most other musicians, becomes a natural skill out of necessity, with wonderful surprises as
a result. In any relationship, all parties must be willing to compromise self sometimes for
the good of the team, or the partnership, or the family, or the club.
Two can accomplish more than one. Four can accomplish more than two.
This connectivity that comes from creating music together carries-over into our
relationships as we automatically start putting others needs before our own more, caring
about how our choices and decisions will affect those in our relationships, and what we can
do to strengthen our connections.
Parents Absolutely Should Gently Force Their Kids to Take

Music Lessons
Excerpts from an article by Paul Berman published in “The New Republic”
Should children study violin—or rather, be forced to study violin? Or forced to study ballet?
Mark Oppenheimer published a piece in The New Republic the other day asking this
question in the urgent manner of a dad fretting over his daughter’s education.
Oppenheimer tells us that, as it happens, his daughter is delighted by her own weekly
after-school sessions on the violin and at ballet class, and would like the classes to
continue, and this is fine by him. Still, what if, one day, her patience runs out and she wishes
to stop? Should he respond by saying, no, those lessons are mandatory? Or allow her to
quit?
--At the dinner table after a long discourse on the pros and cons of studying classical music:
The fact that not one of you at the table has continued tootling around on the instrument
you studied in childhood is a little dismaying, I admit. But I propose an explanation for this
phenomenon. You no longer play because the teachers who taught you musical technique
never imagined that, in addition, they ought to have initiated you into musical mysteries.
But the time has come.
The study of classical music is—I am sorry to put it this way, for fear of demoralizing any
ten-year student musicians—a spiritual enterprise. I do not mean to say that classical music
is better than other kinds of music. Any given classical composition or performance may be
worse than worthless; and any given
performance of some other kind of
music may prove to be a work of
genius; and even the finest
examples of classical greatness may
be inappropriate for one or another
purpose. If the occasion calls for
ukuleles (Oppenheimer mentions
ukuleles, and thinks it wonderful if
children choose to study ukulele),
nothing else will do. But I do think
that classical music is, in some
respect, bigger than other kinds of
music. The music has been going on
for five hundred years as a self-
conscious tradition, dedicated to an
extended meditation on a series of
musical structures so limited as
nearly to be arithmetical. And the meditations have reflected on one another, and, over the
centuries, sometimes they have advanced.
You are free to see in this 500-year meditation something very close to a mystical or
Pythagorean inquiry into beauty, if you would like. Or you could look at the tradition in an
intellectual light. But classical music does not ask you to demonstrate a mystical streak or a
brainy disposition. The music
asks you to engage. The music is
an activity more than an
entertainment, and you engage
in it physically, you and your
instrument and your fellow
musicians. Or you can do
without the fellow musicians. To
play by yourself, alone in a room
with a music stand, or without
the music stand, is good enough.
If you study Bach with sufficient ardor, instrument in hand, you ought to be able to
discover that, at moments, you and Bach have merged. You ought to discover that Bach’s
inquiries into mathematical figures are your own inquiries, and Bach’s ecstasies are yours,
as well. Bach was a genius, and you, too, are a genius, when you perform his work—even if
some person listening to you trample clumsily over the score may conclude that you are an
oaf. Your purpose in playing is not to impress anyone else, though, nor to entertain. If you
have explored the music sufficiently on your own, you may be able to engage with it
passively in the concert hall, as well, or in front of your sound system. And if the music is
any good, it should not just amuse you. It should throw you into something of a trance.
Dear dinner guests, you ask: is there anything special in the musical satisfactions that I am
describing? Aren’t there grandeurs to be found in basketball, too, and in golf? Or in rock
anthems performed at stadiums? I respond: Sure, OK, if you are into it. The centuries of
sustained classical musical meditation are cumulative, though. You cock your ear, and cock
it again, and you begin to notice the depth and intensity and logic of what you are hearing.
In any case, the classical music tradition has managed to express certain ideas and
emotions that cannot be expressed in any other way.
Oppenheimer happily acknowledges that, for all his

skepticism about violin lessons, he loves
Mendelssohn’s violin concerto, and he considers
that people with suitable gifts are right to plunge
into the kind of music education that will allow
them to perform such a thing. But let me ask: What
is Mendelssohn’s violin concerto? It is one of those
nineteenth-century violin pieces that manage to
express a combination of the plaintive, the grand,
and the mathematical. If you are listening to a
performance of the Mendelssohn in the right spirit,
or, God knows, if you are yourself the performer,
you will find yourself in the presence of a majestic something-or-other that is beyond all
something-or-others. Feelings of triumph will swell your heart. You will weep. You will
glimpse the musical structure, or, at any rate, you will recognize that a structure does exist.
You will be in awe. This combination of emotions and thoughts is something that cannot be
evoked in words or equations. The experience is accessible only musically.
Maybe you will experience something else, as well, which I will describe by following in
Oppenheimer’s autobiographical footsteps. Some years of violin study marked my own
childhood. My poor suffering parents came up with the money to pay for the lessons, which
was, for them, a burden. And the lessons were sometimes a burden on me. I cannot say
that, at age nine or ten, I was instantly delighted. Oppenheimer’s daughter has one up on
me. Still, I remember those lessons, and I applied myself, and, in adulthood, I discover that,
among the handful of people who most powerfully influenced me as a child was my violin
teacher—a first-rate violinist, by the way, Sidney Polivnick, whose name will resonate with
some musicians.
He encouraged me, and sometimes discouraged me. He let me know that I had a good
enough ear, except in higher registers: a fatal flaw. He led me through Vivaldi and Bach.
But also he initiated me into the culture that is classical music—the culture that leads back
to one or another legendary teacher, who invariably turns out to have been the student of
yet another legend, who turns out to have been a friend or colleague of Schubert or
Beethoven. To enter into the world of violin studies is to enter into a sort of church, whose
traditions wend back through the centuries to these musical gods. And the sense of grand
and continuous and always lofty culture likewise contributes to the feeling of awe.
The dinner guests complain: Where is the practical advantage in any of this? I reply: Are
you kidding? Here is a grandeur that seems to be more than human. The guests insist:
Aren’t you speaking of matters of the past? I reply: The past is all that we have. Besides, the
nineteenth century was great. Also the eighteenth century. Have you tried the
seventeenth? In the world of music, I dwell anywhere I want to dwell. Music has liberated
me from the iron bars of our present moment.
The guests reply: This is vanity on your part. Or it is snobbism. I reply: Classical music is not
an exclusive club. If this snobbism, everyone is welcome to it. Maybe it is true that, if you
never studied music as a child, you will be a little handicapped in trying to take it up as an
adult—although those of you who did study, you ex-flute students, might be able to find
your way back to the path, beginning with a search for your old flute in the closet. But the
road is open to your children.
You should somehow lead your children to look for a majesty in those stupid scales they
are practicing. They may find it! If not now, later. In any case, you should encourage the
children to recognize that something in life is grander than the anxieties of the everyday,
and Mozart and Beethoven were masters of that something, and the students of music are
the students of those masters. Twelve-year-old violinists, run your bows across the E
string! Let your body feel the vibrations. Mendelssohn felt these vibrations when he wrote
the concerto that Oppenheimer loves today. The E string contains the secrets of the
universe. You doubt? Listen to the concerto.
I can imagine that my argument may seem over-the-top. But I have no way to know. Those
childhood violin studies of mine have shaped my adult ear and brain, and, when I listen to
Mendelssohn or to any of the greats, I naturally respond in ways that are encouraged by
the grand tradition. I do not know what it is to be a person without access to that tradition,
and I can only picture a lack of access as a kind of poverty.
Musicians, I expect you to save the planet!

It has been my experience in many hours of lessons, that I not only teach piano, but help
each student master himself so they can master the world around them. Such is life and I
feel a great privilege to be some sort of guide to a healthier individual, a healthier
environment and a healthier planet for all of us.
I read the following speech many, many moons ago, and I knew I would someday be able to
share it with others. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Welcome address to freshman parents at Boston Conservatory, given by

Karl Paulnack, pianist and director of music division at the Boston Conservatory. What
follows is part of the talk he will give to the year's freshman class when he welcomes them.
The responsibility he will charge your sons and daughters with is this:
"If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing
appendectomies, you'd take your work very seriously because you would
imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your emergency room
and you're going to have to save their life. Well, my friends, someday at 8 PM
someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is
confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out
whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft.
You're not here to become an entertainer, and you don't have to sell yourself.
The truth is you don't have anything to sell; being a musician isn't about
dispensing a product, like selling used Chevies. I'm not an entertainer; I'm a lot
closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue worker. You're here to become a
sort of therapist for the human soul, a spiritual version of a chiropractor, physical
therapist, someone who works with our insides to see if they get things to line up,
to see if we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy
and well.
Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master music; I expect
you to save the planet. If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of
harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of
fairness, I don't expect it will come from a government, a military force or a
corporation.
I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world,

which together seem to have brought us as much war as they have peace. If
there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of
how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from
the artists, because that's what we do.
As in the concentration camp and the evening of 9/11, the artists are the ones who might
be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives."
15 Basics You Should Know About Supporting Your Child

Learning to Play the Piano
This list was first published in It Takes Two Generations at the end of 2013.
If you’re a parent who has no background in playing a musical instrument it’s easy to be
overwhelmed by the number of things the piano teacher accidentally takes for granted
along the way. Don’t be overly worried about this – the teacher won’t have enough time in
each lesson to fill in all the gaps and still keep your child engaged and enthused about their
learning, but as time passes you’ll become expert at supporting your child’s musical
education.
Here are the absolute basics that you need to know to be able to support your family’s
journey into profound musicianship:
1. You simply cannot miss lessons. Unless you’ve just had a car accident, your child
has a communicable disease, or your grandmother’s funeral couldn’t be scheduled
any other day. Your child having extra homework that night or wanting a play-date
with a best friend simply doesn’t cut it as a reason to consider skipping a lesson.
2. Practice has to happen every day. Even if it’s just for three minutes. The act
of commencing practice every day precedes the act of engaging in prolonged
practice every day! Get your child into the habit of playing her or his instrument
daily and to a certain extent the practice will take care of itself.
3. Practice might not mean playing through a piece from beginning to end. In fact,
practice rarely means playing through a piece from beginning to end. The teacher
will give your child clear instructions each week as to what is required, and you
need to respect these instructions – which means you need to know what they are.
Teachers traditionally give written practice notes, but these days some teachers
may even make a quick video demonstrating the correct practice approach. Use
whatever the teacher gives you as a guide for what will take place that week at
home.
4. You need to have books of music at home. The best indicator of a child’s capacity
to develop literacy skills lies in whether the home has books, and the same holds
true of musical literacy. If you try to insist that the teacher work from one book
instead of three you are deliberating limiting your child’s capacity to learn. The
price of music keeps changing in today’s internet-distributed book economies, but
a rough guide is that you should be budgeting between $20 and $45 dollars for
each child’s annual print music spend. Less than that and you know your child isn’t
making particularly good progress!
5. Your beginner student child should be learning new music almost every week. If
your child isn’t learning new music almost every week (there will be weeks when
new music isn’t assigned, but these should only be from time to time, not every
second week) it means something isn’t going right with your child’s learning
(probably due to issues with practice at home). Talk to the teacher about how you
can better support the practice for pieces assigned for a second, third or even
fourth week.
6. Writing the names of all the notes in is a total waste of time and will drive the
piano teacher completely nuts. Sometimes a piano teacher will write in the name
of one or two notes, but writing in the names of all the notes is like asking your child
to read a book one letter at a time: it’s boring and it doesn’t even make any sense.
Being able to read music at the piano is about seeing the shapes and knowing what
that will feel like to perform, and even having a clear sense of what it will sound like
(the word for that is audiation – imagining sound). Don’t ‘help’ in ways the teacher
hasn’t asked you to – and when you have a brainwave it will almost certainly be a
good idea to discuss it with the teacher during the lesson before putting it into
action!
7. The lesson time is when you should talk to the teacher, not afterwards. The
teacher will either have other students, other appointments, or a really short
dinner break at the end of your child’s lesson. It’s not OK to expect the teacher to
discuss matters with you outside of the lesson time as a matter of course. Make the
odd phone call, feel free to send an enquiring email or text message, but the time
directly after your child’s lesson is sacrosanct (and not dedicated to you).
8. Just because you need to remind your child to practice does not mean that they
don’t want to practice or that they don’t want to play their instrument. Just as
you don’t give your children the option of failing to brush their teeth, bathe, eat or
get dressed, so doing practice is not optional, even if that means you remind your
child to do it every day for a decade. You are the parent: you make the rules. No
one ever reached adulthood and said “I wish my mom had let me stop learning the
piano”.
9. Think long-term. In other words, don’t plan to ‘try’ piano for six months to see if it’s
a good fit – if you want your child to learn to play the piano you need to be
internally committing to at least three years of lessons and practice. Then you can
reflect on how things are going. This isn’t about being a tiger parent; it’s about
being realistic about what’s involved in gaining musical skills. That 10,000-hour
rule? You can have an awful lot of fun during that first 100 hours of piano practice,
but you’re still only 1% of the way (if that) toward being amazing.
10. You may not realize how easy it is to play the piano, and at the same time how
hard it is. There are very cool things students can easily learn to do at the piano
which may give you the impression your child is a genius. Feel free to enjoy this
sensation, but don’t be disappointed if the next week your child reverts to just
being the cool, fabulous kid that you know and love. Some things that pianists do
that appear easy are actually very hard, and some of the impressive things pianists
do are ridiculously straight-forward to execute (if your teacher just shows you
how).
11. If you want your child to learn to play the piano, then get a piano at home for your
child to practice upon. Seems kind of obvious. Sometimes there are great reasons
why you end up choosing to buy a digital piano, and these days there are just
fantastic digital pianos available. But often parents choose woefully inadequate
pretend pianos and think it will be as good: it won’t. If you can’t afford lessons AND
a piano, then postpone lessons for six months and use the savings to buy a decent
instrument (digital or acoustic). Practicing on an inadequate instrument will set
your child back by years in the long run – get this sorted as quickly as you possibly
can.
12. Grab every chance you get to sit in on your child’s piano lessons. You will be a
hundred times more likely to be able to support your child’s practice if you’ve been
observing the teacher working with your child throughout the lesson – from how to
use the body (shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingertips, proper seating position, etc.) to
how to practice each piece to getting to understand the lingo (staccato, arpeggio,
inversion, etc.). You have the chance to get your own free tutoring just by sitting in
on your child’s lesson!
13. Participate in studio recitals every chance you get. You will be amazed how much
your child is motivated by playing at and attending recitals – they get to hear music
being performed by more advanced students, and they begin to build programs of
pieces they are comfortable performing. And don’t project any nervousness you
may feel onto your child – children don’t know they are supposed to feel nervous
unless you tell them (or they have an anxiety disorder, which is a completely
different matter), and you have an opportunity to develop confident public
presentation in your child in this musical setting.
14. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. This one makes me smile, of
course, your teacher is going to be able to give you much better advice
for your child than you will find chatting to random people/teachers on an internet
forum or by searching YouTube for tutorials. If you don’t have a background in
playing a musical instrument you won’t know what to trust and what is nonsense.
Find a reputable teacher who you trust and like, and get educated (along with your
child) and develop your capacity for discernment.
Choosing a music teacher for your child or yourself

Choosing a music teacher is not unlike choosing the services of a lawyer, or a doctor, or any
other professional service provider.
Would you use the services of a lawyer, a doctor or speech therapist without any verifiable
training? Of course not! They would have to be trained and licensed before providing their
services.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with private music teachers. Anyone who has the desire
to teach private music lessons may advertise and teach anyone who is willing to pay,
whether or not they have any relevant music teaching qualifications or experience. Since it
is up to the adult student or the parent to do some research when choosing a teacher, I
thought of several important questions which will be helpful in the process:
1. What is your professional background?
Learn all you can about the teacher’s degrees and performance experience before
choosing a music teacher. (Note: Both my wife and I are professional musicians with
Bachelors and Master’s Degrees in Music. We have performed with orchestra as Guest
Artists SEVEN times as well as performed solo and duet concerts in the United States, Italy
and Japan. Enjoy FUN piano lessons proven to break barriers and accelerate your child’s
progress. We make young hearts and minds sing with music and passion. Using old-school
methods developed after more than 30 years of teaching piano lessons, prepare to be
amazed at your very first lesson. Everyone deserves piano lessons. FACT: 20% of kids learn
piano and 80% of adults wish they had. Being a pianist maps the human mind for success in
all avenues of life. We bring smiles and success to all!)
2. What is your experience teaching adult students or students the age of my child?
Especially for young children, does the teacher have the appropriate vocabulary and
expectations to really connect and stimulate the child’s interest in making music? (Note: I
have enjoyed incredibly blessed success with students whose progress in piano,
musicianship and artistry is off the charts! Focused on the sheer joy of playing the piano,
we are amazed at the speedy progress of ALL our students. We know how to make magic
with our students and get wonderful results within weeks instead of years. We turn
ordinary children into confident, passionate, creative and loving people. The teacher, not a
set of books, is the determining factor in quality results.)
3. Would I or my child have any input in the instruction process?
Is the music teacher willing to be flexible if a student really wants to learn a particular
song? How about playing different styles? E.g. some teachers might feel comfortable
teaching only classical, while you might be interested in learning how to play jazz. (Note: I
enjoy ALL types of music. If a parent or student has desires to learn a certain piece,
consider me ALL IN!)
4. What are the parents’ responsibilities concerning practice?
The teacher should make sure that students and parents understand the role they need to
play in the learning process before they sign up for lessons. (Note: I believe and can prove
that with the right combination of repertoire, the right guidance, and the right motivation,
students should start practicing on their own. I will bring this into your experience for you
or your child starting at the very first piano lesson.)
5. Do you have a written music school policy?
Make sure you read it carefully before signing up. That should clarify issues like
cancellations, schedule flexibility, payment etc. (Note: I do have a complete policy letter on
my website if you would like to read more: Fisher Piano Studio POLICIES .)
6. Would you be willing to meet with me or me and my child before starting lessons?
If you are still not quite sure of your choice by speaking over the phone, much can be
gained from even a short face-to-face meeting. (Note: Of course. If you feel necessary to
meet me or my wife, we are available!)
7. Where do you teach?
Make sure that you like the teaching environment. Lots of time will be spent there. A piano
in the corner of a sitting room might fail to capture the imagination of some students,
especially young children. The teaching space should stimulate the student’s interest as
much as possible. (Note: Enjoy the piano learning experience in our informal yet
professional setting. We have two studio rooms in our home in Edmond, Oklahoma. Our
formal studio room has a new $65,000 Steinway M Grand piano and a Baldwin Grand
piano sitting side by side for conveniently teaching through piano demonstration and
emulation of your maestro teacher. We also have another studio room with a Steinway
studio piano and a digital Yamaha full 88-key piano (with pedal!) that thrills students with
nearly infinite sounds and capabilities. Students spend hours playing their cool pieces at
different settings while laughing, giggling and having a blast. Of course, for the 21st
century, we also have a computer lab with over two dozen music software programs the
kids just love.)
8. Does "fun" have a place in the process?
Although learning to play an instrument requires hard work, patience and determination, I
believe that it should be fun. Music lessons can so easily become boring and bland, even
stressful. Your teacher should have a positive and enthusiastic attitude. Listen for words
like "enjoyment" and "fun". (Note: Please don’t waste time with boring piano lessons
elsewhere. Take this opportunity to study with the best teachers, proven from amazing
student after student accomplishments. Greg has spent years perfecting his piano
wisdom and teaching secrets and you will instantly reap the benefit from the first
lessons. We are serious about piano progress. You will enjoy mind-boggling results. And
your child will grow with confidence, passion and skill in record time.)
9. How often do you actually play?
This might sound like a silly question, but you’ll be surprised at how many piano teachers
can’t play well, or even worse, can’t play at all! I play for my students regularly as I believe
that observing and listening to your teacher performing is very much part of the learning
process. It also does wonders in motivating aspiring students. (Note: YES, we definitely
play VERY WELL. Greg has played seven times with full orchestra including twice with
the Fort Worth Symphony in 1999 and 2004 and once with the Kansas City Philharmonic
performing the Prokofiev III Piano Concerto. He has appeared in numerous recitals in
Italy, France, Japan, and throughout the United States. Greg has been on the faculty at
both University of Missouri Kansas City and the University of Central Oklahoma teaching
private piano and class piano. Miho Fisher received her B.M and M.M. in piano
performance studying under maestro and silver-medalist at the International Cliburn
Piano Competition, Dr. Valery Kuleshov at the University of Central Oklahoma. Miho
served on the faculty of the University of Central Oklahoma teaching class and applied
piano as well as serving as the string division accompanist. Miho is now staff
accompanist at Oklahoma Christian University.)
Learning the answers to these questions will definitely help you make a wiser decision
concerning this most important choice in your own or your child’s musical education.
What Age Should I Start My Child in Piano Lessons?

Parents who give their children the gift of a musical education start them out on a path
that will enrich their lives in so many ways. Studying music develops discipline, hand-eye
coordination, intelligence, and creates a skill that can bring happiness to both the
performer and to all who listen. According to a recent article in the LA Times, 6-year-olds
who received keyboard instruction had more brain growth and better fine motor skills
than their peers. Piano lessons are such a great thing, why not get started as soon as
possible?
IS IT EVER TOO EARLY?

It is true that you can find videos on YouTube of three-year-olds playing Mozart, but that
doesn’t mean that a three-year-old who likes plunking on the piano keys should be signed
up for lessons. Children under the age of five who show an interest in the piano should be
allowed to explore and learn on their own time table. They probably won’t respond well to
an adult-imposed learning structure. Instead, parents of children under age five should be
doing things to cultivate a general interest in music. Singing, dancing, listening to recorded
music, and enrolling in a good preschool music program will allow a child to have fun
exploring music and prepare for studying an instrument when the time is right.
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR READINESS

The best time to start piano lessons will be different for every child, but most will be ready
between the ages of 5 1/2 to 8 years old. Here is a short checklist of things a child needs to
get a good start as a piano student:
1. Size of Hand
A child who is taking piano lessons should be comfortable placing five fingers on five
adjacent white keys. For some five-year-olds, that’s a big stretch! Before beginning piano
lessons, make sure your child’s hands have grown enough to be comfortable using a
keyboard.
2. Finger Independence
A child who is taking piano lessons needs to be able to move individual fingers. A child who
can use three different fingers on three black keys to play “Hot Cross Buns” is ready for
lessons. A child who can only play by picking out the tune with one finger is probably not
ready.
3. Interest in Music and Desire to Learn
At any age, motivation is an important factor of readiness. If a child does not want to take
piano lessons, then the parent should instead spend time cultivating interest in music.
A WORD ABOUT READING

Piano students who use a book based method may do better if they begin at age seven or
eight, after they are beginning to read words with more fluency. Students who begin with
an ear-based method, such as the Suzuki Method (or my Suzuki/Yamaha hybrid), can start
earlier at age five or six.
IS IT EVER TOO LATE?

Piano students can start lessons after age eight and all the way up to adult, but it is true
that there are some advantages to starting earlier. For one thing, children who are eight or
younger have suppler hands. Older children who have never studied an instrument, and
even adult learners, often have to deal with more finger awkwardness. This can be
overcome with desire and practice, but it will take more effort. There are also studies
showing that young children can learn complex brain skills like languages more easily than
older children and adults because their brains are still developing. These years are really a
window of opportunity to develop musical intelligence. Older students can learn too; it will
just take more effort.
Another reason it is easier for younger children to start piano lessons is the amount of
available time they have to practice. Older kids and teenagers usually fill up their lives with
other interests. A child who starts in first grade and gets in six years of piano by middle
school is more likely to be advanced enough to want to stick with it even as life gets busier.
So what is the best age to begin piano lessons? For a child who meets all the requirements
of hand size, finger independence, and desire, the answer is, as soon as possible! Take
advantage of the opportunity to immerse your young child’s mind in the language of music.
If those prime years of opportunity have already passed, it is never too late for a child with
a real desire to learn. Studying music at any age is good for body, mind, and spirit, and
something to enjoy for a lifetime.
How to Choose the Best Piano/Keyboard for Beginning

Piano Lessons?
A beginning piano student needs a good instrument. Think about it. If you wanted your
child to play soccer, would you send your child out on the field in a pair of cheap flip-flops,
or would you make sure your child had a good pair of shoes? Shoes, of course! On the other
hand, does your child need professional-quality $100 soccer cleats? Maybe not on the first
day.
As a parent, you want to make sure your beginning piano student has a good experience
while learning to play, but you’re probably not ready to go out and buy a baby grand. That’s
fine. To help you decide what will be best for your child and your budget, let’s talk about
the options.
A KEYBOARD INSTRUMENT FOR YOUR HOME

There are three basic categories of keyboard instruments available. The largest and most
expensive, and also the best when it comes to developing piano skills, are the acoustic
pianos. There are also many good digital pianos, which are smaller, less expensive, and do a
decent job of mimicking the sound and feel of an acoustic instrument. A third category, the
electronic keyboard, is the least expensive option, but an electronic keyboard may not
have the right touch to develop hand strength for a beginning pianist, or enough keys to
play a wide range of music.
A quality acoustic instrument that produces sound from real strings and real wood offers a
level of responsiveness and a range of dynamics and tone color than even the nicest digital
piano cannot match. The sooner a student has the opportunity to practice on an acoustic
instrument with that kind of nuanced musical responsiveness, the better. True, acoustic
pianos are expensive. The typical price range for a quality acoustic upright (also called
“vertical”) piano is $4,000 to $8,000. If you want a grand or baby grand piano, expect to
pay $6,000 to $10,000 or more.
Not sure about buying? Many piano stores have affordable acoustic piano rental
programs. If you already have a piano, or plan to purchase or rent a used instrument, be
sure it is in tune and the keys are in good working order. An acoustic piano in poor
condition will only cause frustration and hinder the progress a beginning student.
Digital pianos are designed to sound and feel as much like an acoustic piano as possible.
Keys are weighted to provide the right resistance to touch, and are sensitive to speed and
pressure to give a range of dynamics (loud and soft). They come installed in a cabinet-style
console, and are smaller and less expensive than an upright piano, usually $1,000-$2,000.
While it’s impossible to entirely simulate the experience of playing on an acoustic piano,
there’s nothing wrong with starting a beginning student on a digital piano. In fact, a quality
digital piano would be much better than an old out-of-tune acoustic piano with sticky or
broken keys!
Electronic keyboards are the most affordable way to get started, but learning piano on a
non-weighted non-full-size keyboard is less than ideal and could even be discouraging. We
recommend upgrading to at least a digital piano as soon as possible.
If you’re not ready to spend several hundred to a few thousand dollars on an instrument,
your beginning student can get started with an electronic keyboard. Electronic keyboards
come in many sizes and prices. Rather than trying to mimic the experience of playing on a
real piano, they are designed to be mini synthesizers, and many come with lots of different
instrument sounds and even pre-recorded rhythm tracks. What’s most important for a
new piano student will be the number of keys and whether or not the keys are weighted.
Remember that learning on a keyboard with 88 weighted keys gives a student a big
advantage. The weighted keys build hand strength and respond more like the keys of an
acoustic piano, making it easier for an advancing student to move on. Most electronic
keyboards do not have weighted keys.
The two piano stores I recommend in the Oklahoma City metro are Bruce Music (Jordan
Bruce is a very nice, thoughtful and honest piano tuner, renovator, and rebuilder and sells
both new and used quality instruments at a fair price) and Edmond Music at 33rd and
Broadway with multiple locations throughout the metro.
What to Expect at Your Very First Piano Lesson?

Nervous about your first piano lesson? You’re not alone! It’s only natural. The piano is a
daunting instrument – so many keys, so little time! There’s nothing to be nervous about.
With a little bit of preparation, you can start your piano-playing journey without any
worries whatsoever.
HOW TO PREPARE
First of all, relax. It all comes down to your mindset. Before your first lesson, think about
your goals. Do you want to someday play at Carnegie Hall? Do you want to play in a band
or just noodle around at home? It helps to know exactly where you want to go. Of course,
starting small is always the best strategy. Get the basics of piano down: scales, beginner
exercises, and maybe one simple tune. Your first lesson will be all about your introduction
to the instrument. Just remember, the professional musician playing Carnegie Hall this
weekend was once exactly where you are now!
CHAT WITH YOUR TEACHER

Every good student begins with a good teacher. Establishing a solid teacher-student
relationship is important, so don’t be afraid to ask questions. Your teacher will likely ask
you what your goals are – so if you followed the above step, you’re prepared for this! Feel
free to name some songs you’ve always wanted to play or your favorite artists. At this time,
you can ask about studio policies as well. Any advanced knowledge of what to expect can
go a long way to ease those first-day jitters.
BE PATIENT
Once again, your results are highly dependent on your state of mind. You’re not going to be
playing Rachmaninoff at your first lesson – you’re more likely to start with a major scale,
probably in the key of C Major. These basic scales and exercises may not be the most fun at
first, but they’re the best thing you can learn for control over the instrument. You’ll get to
the fun songs and melodies with time!
WHAT CONTROL?
The piano is a big instrument, but it’s also a delicate instrument. Tap a finger lightly on one
key; see how lightly you can tap. Notice how the sound takes on a soft, almost bell-like
quality. Now strike that key harder. Notice how the sound brightens and becomes more
percussive. Training the fingers to control these piano dynamics is one of the basics of
piano study. Again, don’t discount the simple exercises your teacher starts you out with!
They’ll come in handy – we promise!
A ONE AND A TWO AND A…

Your teacher will probably teach you some basic exercises, and expect you to practice
them on a daily basis (or whatever you’re able to work into your schedule). These are
basically repetitive melodies designed to get your fingers used to playing. For years, a
popular exercise routine was the Hanon method, a series of exercises to strengthen the
fingers for virtuoso performance. Many teachers rely on these exercises for their students,
but not everyone does. When they don’t, it’s usually for one reason: Hanon exercises can
be a tad boring! Some teachers try to combat this by using more interesting melodies and
exercises that make practicing fun as well as effective.
The piano is a truly a one-of-a-kind instrument. No other instrument gives you the entire
tonal range of the orchestra right at your fingertips. Learning the basics of piano may not
take you straight to Carnegie Hall, but the joy you’ll receive from learning this awe-
inspiring instrument will take you somewhere far greater – to a world where music is at
your command.
10 Piano Apps Worth the Download!

You might think of your smartphone as something your music teacher asks you to turn off
before your lesson. With the right apps, however, it can move from being a distraction to a
tool that helps you practice, play, and learn about music wherever you are! Here are eight
apps every pianist should have for Android or iOS.
METRONOME
Metronome for iOS
The simplest and most common tool for the beginner pianist is a
metronome. If you’ve taken at least a few piano lessons, the
myriad uses of the device have likely already been drilled into
you. When starting out, a metronome teaches you basic rhythm
and helps you stay on tempo while you’re playing. Downloading a
metronome app on your smartphone saves you a trip to the store
and consolidates your gear.
Unlike the old-school wooden contraptions, you may have seen,

some metronomes piano apps have extra
features. Metronome stands out on iOS for using a custom timer
built by clock software specialists, which is more accurate than the standard iOS code most
metronome apps use.
A good choice for Android users is Metronome Beats, which combines great features with
a developer who actually responds to user concerns and bugs.
SHEET MUSIC
forScore for iOS
Have you noticed some more forward-thinking musicians

ditching the three-ring binder or stack of loose-leaf sheet
music for an iPad on their music stand at live gigs?
Chances are, they were running forScore. A sheet music
organizer might seem like a simple app that’s hard to do
wrong. Maybe you even think opening up some PDFs in Adobe Reader is close enough. But
aside from organization and easy search ability, the key component of forScore is speed.
You’ll never know how slowly the pages in e-readers or PDF apps turn until you are waiting
on one to know what note you need to play next! Musicians call forScore’s turning “near-
instantaneous” and “as fast as paper.” On Android, Midi Sheet Music is the clear leader. It
doesn’t have the across-the-board professional acceptance that forScore does, but it is
free (without ads!).
MUSIC THEORY AND EAR TRAINING

Tenuto for Android
Depending on your instructor and your curriculum, you may

already get a healthy dose of music theory within your lessons. A
great way to use technology to supplement your lessons,
however, is to use piano apps that focus on music theory and ear
training.
Here, both iOS and Android have excellent solutions

with Tenuto and Perfect Ear, respectively. Both apps solve the
problem many have with learning theory from a book by
including interactive keyboards that show you what you’re
playing and why it adheres to a specific rule of music theory.
Exercises and quizzes keep you sharp by turning work into games. Do games really
accelerate the learning process? Well, just think about how easy it was to memorize the
names of all of those Pokémon!
VIRTUOSO PIANO FOR IOS

Once you’ve resigned yourself to playing this way, the iOS piano
app of choice is Virtuoso Piano Free 2 HD. The app does
everything it can to replicate the key-tickling experience on a
touchscreen, and while it’s better suited to the larger keys on a
full-sized iPad, you might be surprised at the creative solutions
you can come up with if you have six iPhones to play on at once.
The Android equivalent Perfect Piano is even more flexible,

supporting external Midi keyboards over USB OTG so you can
make use of the practice games and recording features in a more
tactile way.
Perhaps more than any other pursuit, learning piano is best done one-on-one with
a private instructor. None of these piano apps can take the place of that relationship, but
they can definitely keep you motivated at home or when you’re on the road. The more
resources and tools you have at your fingertips, the faster you’ll learn!
EVERNOTE
Free or $28.99/year (see below)
This app is not made specifically for piano learners, but it's one of our favorite apps for
taking notes...and more. You can download the Evernote app on all your devices, so that
any notes you take on your iPad will also be available on your computer and your mobile
phone.
This means you can easily go back and forth between devices - for example, maybe you
want to jot down a quick reminder to yourself while you're at the piano, and then later sit
down at your computer to do some research, draft a message to your teacher, or anything
else that's more convenient to do on a regular keyboard.
What's great about Evernote is the ability to add audio recordings to a note. Create a new
note with your iPad, tap the microphone icon, and play - it's that simple. Give the note a
title, and add written notes if you want. Remember last week, when we said that you
should be recording yourself often? Well, this is a great way to keep those recordings
organized, so that you can easily go back and review your progress.
Another neat feature is the ability to share notes. Just ask your teacher/student to
download Evernote for free, and share notes or notebooks with them. They'll be able to
see your notes, listen to your recordings, and add their own comments.
All of the functions we just described are available with a free Evernote account, which is
pretty awesome! However, the total size of the notes you make per month will be capped
at 60MB, which might not be enough if you're making a lot of recordings. $3.49/month (or
$28.99/year) gets you a monthly limit of 1 GB. Start with the free account and see if it's the
right tool for you - you can always upgrade as needed.
MUSIC JOURNAL
Free, or $7.99 for unlimited space
If you want to keep a close eye on what exactly is being practiced, and for
how long, Music Journal may be the app for you. It doesn't have the same
power and versatility as Evernote - you can't add recordings, for example - but it may just
meet your specific needs.
Here's how it works: choose the song or exercise you're playing, or add a new one. Then
start the timer, and stop it when you're ready to move on to something else, and/or add a
text note about what you're doing. The app can then generate graphs showing how long
you practiced each day, and what your average time per day was that week. You can also
see the total time you've put into each individual piece. You can even share this
information in the form of an email, helping your teacher diagnose the problems you've
been having.
The app also includes a built-in metronome to help you keep track of your efforts to
gradually work a piece up to speed. Again, it will produce a graph showing your progress
over time as you slowly increase the speed you can play at. We found it a bit annoying that
you couldn't simply enter a number in beats per minute (instead, you have to tap buttons
to increase or decrease the speed), but it's still a very handy function.
You can download the free version of the app to start. If you use it enough, you may have
to pay $7.99 to unlock unlimited space for all your data.
RHYTHM LAB
$3.49
One of the hardest things about learning the piano is how many things
you need to think about at once: notes on a staff, notes on a keyboard,
key signatures, fingerings...and of course rhythm. You should be practicing each of these
things separately as well as together.
Rhythm Lab is a great tool for this, letting you focus on reading rhythms correctly without
having to worry about pitch. Choose the speed you're comfortable with, listen to the
metronome, and tap out the rhythm. The app gives you real-time feedback to let you know
how you're doing.
The app's rhythm patterns are organized by difficulty, and include rhythms for both one
and two hands. This is a great way to improve your speed and accuracy in reading and
playing rhythms.
ANYTUNE
Free, or up to $16.99 for all the bells and whistles
The great thing about learning to read music is that you can sit down and
immediately play a new piece. Alas, not all songs have been written down
and made available as sheet music. Sooner or later you're likely to come across a song you
love, but you just can't find the music anywhere.
This is why it's worth developing your ear, and the ability to identify melodies and chord
progressions. In fact, if you're studying a formal music curriculum, this kind of ear training
will probably be included. But sometimes the music goes by so fast that it's hard to figure
out what's going on.
Enter Anytune. This app lets you import a song from your iTunes library, slow it down
without distorting the pitch, and loop sections that you want to focus on. This is a great
way to either figure out how to play a song by ear or transcribe it. It's a valuable skill to
have, and will make you a more versatile musician, and more capable of playing any music
you want!
WOLFIE
From $10/month
Once you move beyond basic piano pieces, you'll find yourself constantly having to stop to
turn a page. Wolfie offers a simple solution - it listens to where you are in the piece, and
turns the page for you!
For piano players, this is perhaps one of the app's biggest advantages, but there are others:
similar to e-books for your e-reader, Wolfie lets you download and store sheet music on
your iPad. Other features include a built-in metronome and an audio recorder.
E-readers have been rapidly changing how we read books, and apps like Wolfie promise to
do the same with sheet music. The app is free to download, and includes free music, so it's
definitely worth trying out.
SINGSPIEL
Free content, full access to popular sheet music from $5.33/month
Your piano teacher can't follow you home and watch you practice every
day, but we've tried to design our own app to be the next best thing!
We all know that simply playing through a piece repeatedly isn't a very efficient way to
make progress. Teachers will always tell you to focus on practicing just the difficult
parts over and over. When students make mistakes in their lessons, they'll point out the
problem and circle it in the music.
But of course, teachers can't always be looking over their students' shoulders. That's why
we wanted to design an app that gives you the same kind of feedback your teacher would.
Something that might encourage you to step back and figure out what parts of a piece need
the most work.
Like Tonara, Singspiel "listens" to your playing. Unlike Tonara, it gives you real-time
feedback. Not only that, it remembers how you played it in the past, and lets you
actually see where you repeatedly make mistakes. You can choose from any piece in our
library, including easy and intermediate pieces - both classical music and the latest hits!
Teachers can also use Singspiel's teacher's dashboard to track their students' progress,
which means that they can get a better sense of how their students are
practicing, what they're practicing, and what guidance they need to improve.
If you want a rich and interesting sheet music library always at your fingertips, and games
that actually help you diagnose areas for improvement, try Singspiel out and see if it's the
right tool for you.
There are a ton of apps designed to help us be more efficient, better informed - and more
entertained! We think these 6 apps are a great place to begin if you want to use your iPad
to support your piano practice, and help you improve faster.
How Traditional Piano Lessons May Actually Cripple Your

Child – And How You Can Avoid Their Pain
--Original Article HERE
The commonly accepted traditional methods of

teaching beginners to play the piano are about as
dangerous for the mentality of our children as
throwing them alone into the middle of the ocean to
teach them to swim. They are as painful as pulling
teeth without anesthesia. Even though we love
music and have an endless desire to learn the music
language, the majority of the existing methods of
teaching music instruments is a waste of time,
money and energy for most people. This is because
they were primarily designed for the low
percentage of musically gifted people. As for the
average person- these lessons aren't only useless,
but may cause incurable wounds, and as a result
could negatively affect the character of the learner and his perception of life in general.
This is exactly why there is an abundance of different systems and methods of teaching
music, but only a little amount of people who can actually play and sight-read. Our society
is sharply separated into the small stratum of music experts and all of the illiterate masses
that can't read music at all. Piano lessons have been associated with so many
disappointments passed from one generation to another that the amount of people that
still want their children to study music decreases every year. This has had a negative
impact on the development of music as a language, on music as a performing art and on the
music industry in general. For example, according to the Blue Book of Pianos, since the
year 1956, the total number of piano sales has dropped to half as much. Music publicists,
performers and music teachers greatly suffer from a lack of interest from the general
public to study music. However, the greatest damage that music illiteracy brings to public
education is its impoverishing of our perception, limiting our imaginations, and weakening
our minds and creativity. Currently, the crisis is being worsened by music recording
technology, which has weakened the motivation of people to receive a music education at
all. Why struggle, if in order to hear music all you have to do is push a button on a CD
player?
The currently existing systems of teaching music are as absurd and ineffective as the
teaching of literacy in the Middle Ages. Then, scholars learned in the Latin language, which
was extraneous to their perceptions, by memorizing large texts from the teacher's drills.
This is why teaching one to be literate was selective, individual, and was offered only to the
most mature adults and teenagers. Only prodigies with extraordinary memory and
analytical abilities were able to advance from mere acquaintance with a bunch of senseless
sounds to their comprehension and structure. In the Middle Ages, it was also commonly
believed that literacy was just for a selected few people and that global illiteracy wasn't to
be questioned.
Luckily, today the methods of teaching children literacy have improved so drastically that
we are able to teach every child to read and write from as young as 6 years old in a group
setting in public schools. We've forgotten how literacy was earned in the Middle Ages long
ago. More than that! Even recent existing methods (for example, the popular method in
which children were required to memorize the shape of letters, rather than the sound,
developed by Scott Foresman in the 50's-60's) are considered absurd.
However, music education is still based on

the blunders related to the ignorance of the
most important psychological rules of
human perception. This throws us back onto
educational traditions from several
centuries ago, and puts the mentality of
contemporary people in danger. The errors
of music pedagogy are not as innocent as we
used to think them. They contribute to the
low self-esteem and disappointment of our
children, and kill the desire to study music at
all. This is the real reason for the total music
illiteracy of people. The cutting of budgets in public music education is the only material
proof of the general catastrophe.
PIANO AS A STARTING POINT FOR LEARNING MUSIC

Piano could and should be the starting point of the music education for every person
beginning from the age of 2 years old, because the piano is considered to be the 'king' of all
instruments. I truly consider the piano to be the most important instrument of intellectual
training for young children. The piano is the perfect tool for children's development at the
preschooler's age.
 To produce a sound on the piano (for very small children, a keyboard) is not as hard
and challenging as on other instruments.
 It doesn't require an established music ear to produce a correct sound, like the
violin, but it is able to develop the music ear.
 The linear and regular placement of piano keys helps one to understand the rules of
music notation.
 To play the piano, a musician has to use both hands equally, and every finger has to
work as hard as the others.
 The necessity to apply the verticality of music notes to the horizontal layout of the
piano keys promotes spatial thinking in the piano player.
Playing piano has the ability to develop symphonic thinking, like in an orchestra of multiple
sounds. Because our perception of a chord is the perception of space in sounds, and vice
versa, melody gives the feeling of time.
Considering all of these advantages, the piano could become a tutor for every child
learning the music language from early childhood. All it takes is looking at the existing
methods of teaching music with the eyes of men in the 21 century. We have to try to
improve the way we teach music as soon as possible, because we have to stop the
constraint on the mentalities of our children first.
I hope that you will be interested in reading the observations that I have managed to
collect during the last 29 years of my music-pedagogical career. Perhaps, you will use this
insight to decide: "Is it worth it to continue to defend the established principals of teaching
music, or not?"
"PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT" - WHAT EXACTLY IS IMPROVING OUR

EXISTING MUSIC PEDAGOGY
"Practice makes perfect" is a very popular saying among music teachers. This phrase is
repeated so often that nobody realizes the teacher's meaning of it. You could perfect the
act of plowing a field as much as you like, but if you forgot to plant any seeds into it, all of
that work would be worthless. If we want to teach a child to swim, he'd have to spend a
large amount of time in the water to learn. This is the only way to build swimming skills. If
we teach a child to read fluently, he has to spend most of his time reading - not listening to
our explanations of how to do so. Yet, in music class, children are still forced to study
theory before they can even touch an instrument. For a beginner, music theory is
something absolutely new and absurd. The child is unable to rely on his previous
experience, since he has none. The 'practice' in this case results to nothing but mechanical
drills. In most cases, the traditional pedagogy has had this exact drilling in mind when using
the word "practice" - the most frustrating, laborious and ineffective work, with results that
don't fairly reflect the time and energy invested.
Every child collects enough audio, visual, and tactile experience by perceiving sounds,
images, and feelings firsthand. This experience can be used as a reliable basis for learning
music and playing the piano. In order to learn anything, the person's active thinking
process must be involved, based on his life experience. Yet traditional systems of teaching
music cross all of the student's experience out, starting from a white page. The student is
then stuffed with new and strange theory information and coded abstract images, which
are alien to his perception. We all hate Spam and we put signs on our doors that say 'No
soliciting'. Yet in music class, the teacher constantly solicits the minds of our children with
needless theory Spam, which their perception does not require without any experience of
reading music.
"Practice makes perfect" in this context sounds like a spell, like the only way out of a dead
end situation. Cramming without the support of a child's established practical experience
is the only help he has in handling new information without really understanding it. In
order to properly understand and memorize, the student must find regularity and a
principle of organization in the material. This is the reason children learn grammar rules in
any language only after they've learned to speak it, and are capable of reading and writing
comprehensively.
As a result, the memorization of music pieces is similar to memorizing a French poem by

imitating the way it sounds while actually having no idea what it means. Children are not
reading music, but drilling it bar by bar. When music is learned this way, it is more easily
forgotten and doesn't build a solid enough base for the future music development of the
child. This causes irretrievable damage to the mentality of the children, because they see
that they put forth too much effort for only a tiny result. When learned with this much
labor, the 'right' movements of the hands and fingers promote a 'perfectionism' complex.
The students are horrified to play something new 'incorrectly' - with the wrong fingers,
wrong hands and with no 'dynamics' approved by the teacher. After such tremendous
inputs of time and energy into this kind of activity, the result is rather negative in the long
run. The mechanically learned piece of music does not contribute to familiarity with the
music language and does not help the student to understand it. The child is unable to see
the whole picture because he gets too caught up with the minor details.
DOES EVERY GOOD BOY REALLY DO FINE?

The system of teaching theory brings more chaos to our children's minds. For example, the
mnemonically based formula 'Every Good Boy Does Fine' slows the development of the
recognition, differentiation and reading of music notes. The sounds of music move up and
down in the forwards and backwards directions freely, and the preset sequence of English
words (FACE) or sentences (All Cows Eat Grass) loses impact when flipped around. In fact,
it prevents the development of fluent reading in beginners' minds. 'Good does’ boy every
fine', 'fine every does good boy,' or 'ECAF,' just does not make any sense to students, who
are aligned to the logic of speech.
On the other hand, it is absolutely necessarily for every beginner to know the order of
music sounds and music keys back and forth, from any point on the Grand Staff the way we
know our own room's plan enough to move through it in total darkness. We need to know
this sequence in order to possess an awareness of music space and to be able to freely
move in it. This is exactly why even when pressing only one key, a beginner has to picture
which keys are around, in one step or in 2 steps, etc., in order to feel free to deliberately
move in any direction and group the hands' muscles before the fingers can hit them
precisely. But 'Every Good Boy Does Fine' does not give the child freedom to shift freely
because it ties the child's mind to the short leash of the English phrase. This ploy is like a
single, unstable rope over a precipice that music teachers use as a bridge for students who
never developed the ability to balance.
HOW THE 'TRADITIONAL' WAY OF TEACHING PIANO DAMAGES THE

DEVELOPMENT OF THE FINE MOTOR SKILLS OF BEGINNERS
People's skills are such a vulnerable area of their development that forcing progress could
cause permanent damage. It is the same as forcefully opening a flower bud's petals before
it is ready to do so itself. Despite the fact that the official motto of piano education is "Do it
right from the very first," this pressure contradicts the very nature of the formation,
development and perfection of skills. It is very sad that this dangerous outrage upon the
nature of human muscle development is so welcomed in music pedagogy and maims one
generation of people after another.
First, a child must learn to stand firmly on his feet and to keep his balance, before he can
feel confident and strong enough to make his first step. Only after learning to walk is he
capable of running and jumping, and only when all of these skills are developed is he ready
to learn to dance with rhythm. No adult in his right mind would ever decide to teach a
barely standing and bouncing toddler to perform ballet.
Considering the analogy of walking, there are certain stages of the development of piano
fine motor skills:
 Finding the correct keys using any fingers
 Finding the correct keys with the proper fingers
 Playing keys with different duration (rhythm)
 Playing in consideration to the tempo and pulse
 Playing in consideration to the quality of the sounds (dynamics, character, etc.)
Under no circumstances should the child be pushed to the next level before he
accomplishes the previous stage!
Another important rule is that in accordance with the nature of skill development, each
person has to walk - not study the theory on how to do it. He has all the rights on earth to
walk the way he can. A majority of people understands that at the first performance, any
skill will reflect some clumsiness. For music pedagogy, this rule of nature is just a ligament.
Most piano teachers demand even sounds, precise rhythm and an expressive performance
with ideally rounded hands from even 3-year-old toddlers, who have just learned to find
themselves on the piano keys!
When a child is learning to walk, he should be able to see the ground and to know where is
he going and where he is located. It would be extremely cruel to cover the child's eyes in
order to teach him to walk in the darkness and 'to feel' the ground without even getting a
good look to begin with, forcing the child to imagine the road in his mind. However, during
piano lessons, children are not allowed to see what the names are of the keys that they
press. Instead of this, teachers demand that their students project the order of the keys in
their minds. The coordination of the development and assimilation of the keyboard as a
walking space for the fingers is offered to students with no support of vision.
Consideration of all of the additional demands leads to an overcharging of the child's

perception and pushes his muscles to work under terrible stress. It is fraught with
irreversible consequences not only for fine motor skill development, but also for the
nervous system in general.
In order for you to understand how this exactly happens, imagine what life would be like if
our city authorities had decided to take all of the street names down. Try to recall your
own nerves' sensations in an unfamiliar neighborhood while trying to find a certain
address, especially if you were running late. Children's nerves stay in that condition during
piano lessons most of the time! A pain in the neck, lifted shoulders, clamped hands - all of
this is a consequence of forceful treatment of muscle development with no consideration
to the child's health.
It is a fact that the fear of getting hurt and the fear of uncertainty can often enslave our
muscles. This defending reaction, given to us by nature, is used to free our reserves to
solve the most urgent problems using analytical comprehension first. The griping muscles
and injuries of young players are due to the stress of an informational overload. Thus, the
abundance of analytical problems blocks the assimilation of coordination skills, causing the
muscles to become rigid. This could cause many injuries to our children, from physical to
spiritual, and could fasten many complexes, which are very influential to the formation of
their personality.
HOW 'TRADITIONAL' WAYS OF TEACHING PIANO HOLD BACK THE MUSIC

EAR DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN
Music was born from the human throat. Scientists, with the help of electronic devices, have
proved that the throat participates in the process of music perception. More than that: the
ear's and the voice's development are tightly interrelated. With the help of voice exercises,
it is possible to develop one's music ear. In fact, even people who could not carry a tune
before can earn the capability to sing and write advanced melodies by ear.
On the other hand, without voicing notions, it is impossible to develop an adequate

thinking process. Saying new words and sentences out loud is the most natural and
common method of mastering any language. This is why teaching children to read with
phonics was a real break-through in public education. This smart approach helped our
children to rely on their formed audio and vocal experience and it increased the
effectiveness of reading by several times. With the help of phonic teaching, it is possible to
teach even preschoolers how to read.
Bearing on the Alphabet system in music class is an obstacle to music education indeed,
because it does not rely on the human voice and on articulation, but instead tries to thrust
abstract symbols into sound. It creates artificial difficulties in the forming process of the
music ear and thinking of children, because the very important organ of music perception
is not involved in the process of study. In this scenario, a child is forced to learn with a skill
that he never mastered - the skill of memorizing abstract symbols, which do not have
anything to do with music sounds.
As a result, the formed system of music education produces 2 types of musically

'handicapped' people - the first type is capable of sight reading, but is unable to play by ear
and improvise, and the second type can play everything by ear, but cannot read. The gap
between musical sound and the child's perception of it with time becomes a disaster in the
human mind, and half-educated musicians are very common.
Many teachers, however, understand the importance of singing during the process of
learning music. They try to use the letters of the Alphabet as syllables for singing. But this
is a very bad idea that can damage the underdeveloped and vulnerable vocal cords of
children. Judge for yourself: 'Ei,' and 'Ef,' are two 'locked' syllables, based on the vowel 'A',
which is one of the most uncomfortable for singing. Other syllables - 'Bi', 'Ci,','Di" 'Eee,' and
'Djee,' all use the same vowel 'E,' which is one of the most tensed, and come out through a
clenched jaw, giving 5 notes out of 7 the same timber 'color.'
The most convenient and time-proven system of names for music notes is Solfegio, known
as Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol etc., created in the 10th century by Gvido from Arezzo (an Italian
monk who also invented the Staff and notes). These syllables were developing and in use
for 11 centuries. Solfegio offers the most balanced and comfortable vowels for the human
throat. They are extremely helpful for vocal, ear, and music memory development along
with the music perception of every individual, regardless of his music aptitude.
Without 'voicing' music the way children 'voice' words at the beginning of their study, they
are being deprived of the opportunity to develop their music ear, memory and thinking.
The alphabet names for notes were specially designed only for those who have an inborn
talent, giving others little chance to succeed in learning the music language.
THE 'TRADITIONAL' GRAND STAFF - IS LIKE 'WAR AND PEACE' FOR

BEGINNERS
It is very easy to tell a children's book from a novel by its bright and colorful appearance,
and large fonts and pictures used to help to understand the meaning of the writing visually.
These 'hints' help the child to rely on the established skill of the visual world's perception
with an opportunity to develop his abstract thinking and imagination. The texts for
children who are just learning to read usually consist of small sentences, not volumetric
paragraphs, and as a rule, do not have more than 5-7 lines of words on one page.
The amount of lines is sometimes crucial to the visual perception of any written material.
Everybody knows that. This rule is followed by all people with common sense - teachers,
editors, parents. Music pedagogy managed to ignore that rule also! There is nothing more
complicated in understanding and comprehensive learning than the 'traditional' Grand

Staff.
The Grand Staff's appearance is not just intimidating to children, but also to adults -
beginners, too. The Grand Staff consists of a minimum of 10 lines and 12 spaces.
Completely, there are 22 graphically similar lines of music text. For fluent reading, the
beginner's eyes have to see and operate through all of these lines at once. According to the
research of Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909), the founder of memory psychology, the
ability of our memory is limited and can't keep up with more than 7 new elements at the
same time. In order to operate more elements with no stress, you have to gather them in-
groups and systemize them. At the heart of any memorization (especially visual), if there
aren't mechanical drills, one has to organize the materials. The art of memorization is in the
ability to see and to think systematically.
However, it is very hard to understand the lines and spaces of the Grand Staff, because the
graphics of it are not literally what they represent. In fact, the black, thin lines and white,
wide spaces are equal stitches, like in chess. The beginner's mind sees thin black lines and
thick spaces and gets the wrong impression: that the black lines are important stitches and
the spaces are just breaks between them, like in books. The traditional black and white
graphics of the Grand Staff hold meaning to professionals who have experience reading
music. However, there are no hints for the eyes of beginners to determine what is most
important and how to focus on it. More than that: the note duration graphic is more
expressive than the note's pitch. But to beginners, who have an underdeveloped
coordination and are busy looking for the correct keys, rhythm is not their top priority.
I don't know of any 'classical' method that's ever created learning materials capable of
training the eyesight of beginners to determine each line or space on the fly. I never saw
any flash cards or software meant to develop their vision to instantly recognize space and
line notes with the help of a subsidiary graphic. I didn't see the use of colors and images
that are capable of attracting the vision of a beginner as a decoder of abstract rules, as with
pictures in children's books. Reading lines and spaces, however, is a crucial task because
music notes share a similar appearance, and their difference in pitch can only be
determined by their place on the black and white 'roads'.
Only the experienced eye of a musician has the ability to 'catch' all of the 22 tracks of
coded music writing accurately, having enough of an attention span to see the lines of the
Grand Staff volumetrically, in a system, and in graphical correlation with each other. For
the vision of any child-beginner, though, there is no difference between the notes on the
second or third line, or between two adjacent notes, whether they are on the same track or
on a different one. Without this kind of 'music vision,' the human eye is nothing but useless
dead weight, which can only confuse a beginner perceiving the music text.
The 'solution' to the blind situation described earlier- memorizing the notes with the help
of words and phrases, places the entire load on the student's brain, rather than his visual
perception. Along with all other loads, this is too much to handle for the child's mind,
stretching its responsibilities to inconceivable limits.
If you find a music textbook with cheerful and fun pictures and colorfully presented 'rest
signs,' Clefs, or other symbols of music writing, do not jump to the conclusion that it is a
good book. Whimsical music notes disguised as people, animals or other creatures, and
music lines colored like a rainbow aren't always able to teach your child to read music. First
of all, colors CAN'T explain sounds. All of these attempts to color each note in 7 different
ways to 'explain' their differences are nothing but a mess that is not going to help your
child. Secondly, before you get too excited, try to analyze what the graphics are exactly
about and to what senses they are applied. What is this book trying to explain? Is any of
this visual 'fuzz' actually helping the child to 'decode' the Grand Staff principals, or is it only
another element that 'stuffs' him with even more theory information? If so, all of these
cute characters will only overload his mind. Please remember that this is only more
'Theory Spam,' which can lead to future disappointments.
The arrangement of notes on the Grand Staff constitutes a harmonious 'mirror' system,
but the majority of students have no idea about it. This system is so vivid, simple and
understandable, that it can always solve the question of memorizing and finding any note
of any octave on the fly. The system per se is a music visual combined with an articulate
alphabet, and to know the system is as important as knowing your multiplication tables in
math, or the table of elements in chemistry. Thanks to this system, it is possible to find any
key related to any note and to understand the logic of music space in general. But the
majority of the 'traditional' methods prefer to teach music notes and music keys
separately, one by one, without any reliance on the music system, denying our children any
prospective.
"PLAYING WITH SHEET MUSIC," OR THE APOTHEOSIS OF STRUGGLES

Everyone knows that playing with sheet music is one of the most important stages of music
education. In fact, that is the exact reason - to be able to play by reading sheet music - that
the majority of people take piano lessons. They envision themselves being able to open any
book and to fluently read it. This is the ground breaking difference and misunderstanding
between the wide masses and piano teachers. For the masses, music is a language that they
want to learn to play for themselves. For most music professionals, music is an art meant to
be performed on stage for others. No English teacher will ever dare to make every child
that is just beginning to learn how to spell words and read to do so while acting and using
theatrical expressiveness. Maybe because when the whole world gained some literacy, it
brought the realization to us that everybody should know how to read and write, but only
the gifted can master these skills to the artistic level. In the music pedagogy, the idea that
students should play artistically or not play at all is still cultivating. This puts all musically
inclined and artistically gifted children on a podium and precipitates all others into the
abyss of blame, making them ashamed of themselves, hurt and disappointed, and losing
confidence.
The ways of teaching to play with sheet music itself are the most nonsensical in the world
of pedagogy practice. All of the student's senses and skills, such as coordination, vision, ear
and voice, are developed separately by the piano teachers while using theory and
explanations as a major tool! Thus, the piano teacher practically explains to the child's
hands how they are supposed to move and look when they touch piano keys. The child's
ears are told what they are supposed to hear. The eyes are instructed on where they have
to look and what they have to see, and the head is advised on what it has to think during
the process. The child's voice does not get any attention at all most of the time, because it
is considered unimportant.
If, after all these hours of explanations and incredible struggles, the child actually starts to
play exercises and to guess the right notes, it does not bring him any closer to fluent sight
reading. This is because he doesn't know how to do everything he learned separately at the
same time. I do not know any nutritionist that would recommend feeding a child an
enormous meal once a week. Yet, almost every piano teacher tries to shove all of the skills
and knowledge into a child with total impunity, never stopping to ask, "isn't this too much
for the child's comprehension and mental health?"
One of the oldest skills a child has ever developed from birth is copying. Through imitation,
children learn to talk and to move by looking at adults and 'mirroring' them. This is why the
direction of the lines of text and the writing of them is the same. 'Monkey see, monkey do,'
is the smartest way to teach kids new tricks and to perceive the world. When it comes to
playing the piano with sheet music, things aren't done this way at all. Music notes are
placed on the music Staff vertically while the corresponding keys sit horizontally. This is
the last drop for many beginners, leaving them completely lost and frustrated. Already
overloaded with way too many puzzles and abstract theory information, they just can't
handle any more!
Developed separately, all of the child's skills start to conflict with each other, rather than
work as a team to handle the task. They hold the progress of reading (which is not already
fluent) even further down. Previously learned piano exercises provide absolutely no help
for note reading and theory, while knowledge of theory alone has nothing to do with hand
coordination. The music ear can't participate in this activity at all, because while producing
one note at a time, it is hard to hear any music. As a result, the child, 'prepared' to play with
the music sheet feels like a puppy with a huge boulder of information tied to his neck.
Struggling to make it from one note to another, and trying to find the corresponding key to
each note, beginners aren't left with too many choices: either quit all this unpleasant
business, or start to drill music text while cramming. In both cases, they lose the inspiration
to study music and to love it for the rest of their lives.
The vision, coordination, hearing and thinking of any person must interact in a rational and
healthy balance. Any educated professional should understand that while focusing on one
thing, you cannot equally focus on another. But whatever the plan is, skills have to be at
the heart of every lesson, and especially piano lessons! There are two very important rules
of didactics: '1. You have to move gradually from the simple to the more complicated and 2.
You have to move gradually from the specific to the abstract.' These rules were selected by
the world's pedagogy centuries ago, and following them is essential.
Every system of teaching music that is offered to our children to play with notes using the
traditional black and white Grand Staff is in fact violating these didactic rules. It makes the
balance between the development of coordination skills, vision, and abstract thinking
practically impossible. The demand to develop coordination skills in conjunction with
music reading at an equal proportion is the same as downloading modern, advanced
computer games on a Pentium I.
The only solution to this dilemma is to find a healthy balance that could be a simplified
presentation of the Grand Staff, with as many visual hints for the beginner's eyes and
coordination as possible. The more we develop these basic skills, the more room we free
for a more advanced level of education - the thinking process and the ability to analyze all
of the information. The skills of playing piano by no means can conflict with each other or
to get in each other's way. It is very important to move beginners to the more advanced
steps of the regular Grand Staff gradually, and to keep the balance between mental
thinking and motor and visual skills in a stable and healthy proportion. This is the main
principal of organizing the smartest and stress-free curriculum for children and beginners
of any age in the world's pedagogy.
THE SUFFERING, THAT BECAME A LAW

Children love to learn new things successfully. Otherwise, they do not like to learn at all.
Traditional music pedagogy, for most of its long existence, has lost several generations of
people and has contributed to the total music illiteracy in the world. It has cultivated
musically illiterate presidents and governments and it didn't accomplish anything better
than a tricky explanation of its failure. According to this explanation, the struggles that our
children go through by dealing with the absurd teaching of music fundamentals are the
only right and legitimate way of learning. As any dentist would say, that it is as professional
as pulling teeth without anesthesia.
For the long time that people have existed, we've gotten used to thinking that the aptitude
to study music is a God-given gift. God is much more generous than people used to think of
Him. The ability to hear and differentiate music sounds, sing and play with sheet music and
to write music down by ear can be earned by every average person. It is possible to learn
all these skills in group settings in public schools. I understand this is hard to believe. Yet,
once upon a time, it was hard to believe that you could get to New York from Houston in
only a couple of hours, to speak with a friend in another part of town through a tube, or to
have a box that shows movies. It only takes desire to fix the problem with music education
now, and music literacy will become a part of everyone's life. Most importantly, we need
the motivation to make it happen, and the courage to understand that these changes are
for the better.

PIANO MAGIC - Your Ultimate Guide To Awesome Piano Lessons

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YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO AWESOME PIANO LESSONS

Greg Fisher | Fisher Piano Studio | June, 2017

Chat with Your Teacher ..........................................................................................................................34

14 Reasons Every Child Should Take Piano Lessons

PIANO LESSONS INCREASE I.Q.

It’s no coincidence that Einstein was a master violinist

IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION

INCREASE MATHEMATICAL ABILITY

IMPROVE FOCUS, SELF-ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE

IMPROVED PHYSICAL SKILLS INCLUDING FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND

INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF BRAIN MEMORY

PIANO LESSONS REFINE DISCIPLINE AND STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE

Fisher Students ALL take Trophies Home 1

 Self-discipline helps you to think before you act

But let’s be honest now, children don’t just pop out of

The lesson learned by music students is that in order to

LEARN CULTURAL HISTORY

IMPROVE LISTENING SKILLS

So do our relationships. Good communication is one of the most important aspects of

PIANO LESSONS WILL HELP HANDLE PRESSURES IN LIFE

IMPROVED GRADES AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

PLAYING PIANO MAKES US MORE COMPASSIONATE

LEARN TO REACT WELL WITH CRITICISM AND REACT BETTER TO SUCCESS

PLAYING PIANO MAKES BETTER TEAM PLAYERS

Parents Absolutely Should Gently Force Their Kids to Take

Oppenheimer happily acknowledges that, for all his

Musicians, I expect you to save the planet!

Welcome address to freshman parents at Boston Conservatory, given by

I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world,

15 Basics You Should Know About Supporting Your Child

Choosing a music teacher for your child or yourself

1. What is your professional background?

3. Would I or my child have any input in the instruction process?

4. What are the parents’ responsibilities concerning practice?

5. Do you have a written music school policy?

7. Where do you teach?

8. Does "fun" have a place in the process?

9. How often do you actually play?

What Age Should I Start My Child in Piano Lessons?

IS IT EVER TOO EARLY?

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR READINESS

3. Interest in Music and Desire to Learn

A WORD ABOUT READING

IS IT EVER TOO LATE?

How to Choose the Best Piano/Keyboard for Beginning

A KEYBOARD INSTRUMENT FOR YOUR HOME

What to Expect at Your Very First Piano Lesson?

CHAT WITH YOUR TEACHER

A ONE AND A TWO AND A…

10 Piano Apps Worth the Download!

Unlike the old-school wooden contraptions, you may have seen,

Have you noticed some more forward-thinking musicians

MUSIC THEORY AND EAR TRAINING

Depending on your instructor and your curriculum, you may

Here, both iOS and Android have excellent solutions

VIRTUOSO PIANO FOR IOS

The Android equivalent Perfect Piano is even more flexible,

How Traditional Piano Lessons May Actually Cripple Your

The commonly accepted traditional methods of

However, music education is still based on

PIANO AS A STARTING POINT FOR LEARNING MUSIC