Sight Reading At The Piano

By John Hart

Sight-reading is the reading and performing of a piece of music, especially when the performer has not seen it before. It’s a musical skill that develops over a long period of time, and requires diligent practice and much patience. Many beginning pianists mistakenly believe that their sight-reading skill will develop as they continue playing the same pieces over and over again. The truth is – excellent sight-reading skill develops more quickly when the student frequently becomes engaged with new music.

Here are a few practical suggestions for the development of music sight-reading skill:

• As much as possible, keep your eyes on the music, not on the keyboard. (It’s similar to developing typing skill: if you don’t look at your hands, you can type faster!)
• Focus on the direction of the notes. (Did the note move up or down? Did it move to a line or a space, etc.)
• Take some time each day to memorize the names of notes, as well as their position on the piano. (Each written note has a specific place on the piano where it is played.) With all the new technology that is available to us these days, it is very easy to find an application for practicing this skill. One of my favorites for the Ipad is called, “Music Reading Essentials v2.1” by Apricot Digital Publishing. Another is called “Piano Tutor” by Smileyapps.com. I use this one for intermediate and advanced students.
• Other than your recital pieces, don’t become overly concerned with playing all your pieces at 100% perfection. A good performance is only one aspect of musicianship; the other is on-going skill development. Some piano teachers advocate the use of a sight-reading book for daily practice which enables the student to develop sight-reading skill sequentially.

Suggested Apps:

Music Reading Essentials

Piano Tutor

Learning Music Should Be Fun And Full Of Feeling!

By Justin Tamminga

I teach guitar, bass and drums.  I have a deep passion for music and teaching music. Music has been my friend, my therapist and a way to stay grounded and vibrant.  I love that moment when one of my students’ “get it,” their eyes light up and they smile (or try to hide the smile and remain “cool”) while intently playing and FEELING the music.  The point where they are feeling it is when I realize that it is going to stick and I feel honored to have given them something that will help them and bring them joy for a lifetime.

In my humble opinion, simply practicing and repeating a flurry of notes and chords so that you can build the muscle memory and be able to repeat the song perfectly with your eyes closed is not why we were given music.  Music was given to us to add to the feelings and emotions we encounter on a daily basis.  It is there for us to tap into to make us happy, to push us and inspire us.  To help us experience deeper feelings that we may not even be comfortable with.  We all have that song that makes us feel like we are going to cry.  You either embrace it or run and turn it off - if you turned it off, next time embrace it and let yourself feel something.  Don’t be afraid to feel. 

Learning and playing music should be the same experience.  Learn as much as you can.  Challenge yourself to play more difficult parts but don’t forget to simply PLAY.  Even if it is a simple chord progression or two notes.. If it is able to lift you away or make you feel anything, tap into it.  Live in that moment for a bit.  The best songs are the ones with the simplest arrangements.  I encourage my students to practice the lesson we have been working on but to try to adapt it into their own style, find their own melodies and more importantly, have fun.  I feel that this is how you can truly learn and understand music and the instrument you are playing.  This way you are using music to it’s full potential and can contribute and connect to the world by sharing your own thoughts and feelings.

How to Prepare and Get Totally AWSOM Results From Your First Guitar Lesson

By Michaud Savage

Hey there! My name is Michaud and I'm the new guitar teacher with AWSOM. I'm very excited to be a part of this team of wonderful music teachers, and am looking forward to meeting all of you who want to learn guitar!!! But in the meanwhile, I thought it might be a good idea to share a few ways to help you get started before the first lesson.

First and most importantly- pick up your instrument :-D! Get comfortable holding your guitar; see how it sounds, how it feels to pluck each string; stuff like that. Remember, instruments can make big sounds, but they are fragile, so be careful and gentle. Play free! Playing free and fast! Playing free and slow..... Experiment!!!!!!

Next, go ahead a look online and learn the different names of the parts of the guitar (like the neck, body, face, back, the bell); this information is useful in understanding how to talk about the guitar in a lesson. And then, the most important thing of all when learning how to play guitar, is learning the tuning. The tuning is super important in understanding your instrument, and so if you can show up to your first lesson with that in the bag, you're going to be starting out with gusto.

There are some of the beginning things you can do to get a head start on your lesson. To review:

• Play your instrument

• Know the guitar parts

• ****Learn the tuning of your guitar****

Have fun getting to know your instrument, and I look forward to our lesson together!

Keeping Your Musical Balance

By John Hart

We’ve heard for years about the importance of maintaining balance in our work lives, our diets, and our exercise. In general, too much of any one thing is not good for us. This principle applies to the study of music as well. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the study of music was well-balanced, some time given both to reproducing the music of others as well as inventing one’s own music. In the late 1800’s, the emphasis shifted almost entirely to music reproduction. Even today, many piano teachers teach students only the skill of sight-reading with the purpose of performing someone else’s music.

My goal as a piano teacher is to teach a balance of the following 5 skills as students are ready:

1. Sight-reading (playing easier pieces that can be learned in approximately 1-2 weeks)
2. Performing (playing repertoire that has been polished over time)
3. Playing by Ear (playing without reference to sheet music)
4. Improvisation (creating music at the piano without preplanning)
5. Composition (inventing a piece using music notation)

Very young students should spend the majority of their time becoming proficient in the first skill before advancing to the others. For more information on this topic, read “Redefining the Teaching of Musical Performance” by Gary E. McPherson.” http://www-usr.rider.edu/~vrme/v16n1/volume6/visions/summer7.pdf

“But Mom! I Don’t Want To Practice!”

By Andrew White

When I was 8, I remember sitting on my bed in floods of tears coming up with every excuse why I did not want to practice! I couldn’t practice because my finger hurt, because the piano needed tuning, because I had lost my book, because my brother was practicing, because, because because... And now I run a music school! How did that happen?

Occasionally, I get to hear some great reasons for a lack of practice that week, and a handful of times have heard kids say “I just don’t want to play piano anymore” to which I reply, “Oh no! I said that when I was your age, and now I run a music school – be careful what you wish for!” Practicing an instrument is something that takes time and effort. At first it comes easily, but when pieces get more challenging it can become a tougher daily task to achieve.

Some parents take the view that their kids should practice on their own without any reminders – good luck! I love music but I also required daily reminders – “Andrew, you need to practice the piano!” Sometimes I happily obliged, sometimes I kicked up a fit. But, I appreciated the reminder because it made me all the more excited for my lesson knowing that I was well prepared for it. 

This week, try reminding your kid on a daily basis to practice their instrument, sit with them, enjoy their achievements in it and praise them for their efforts! I guarantee it will make their lesson day something they look forward to even more!

Interested in reading more about practicing? http://aficionada.hubpages.com/hub/Whose-Responsibility-Is-My-Childs-Music-Lesson-Practice

Ankita's Top Tips for Learning Music!

We had some outstanding entries for our blog post competition. The winner receives the privilege of having their post as AWSOM's very first blog entry, and the winner is... Ankita K!

Top Ten Tips to Learn an Instrument

By: Ankita Kumar

Here are my top ten tips to learn an instrument:

1. Make sure you actually want to learn the instrument. When you’re forced, you don’t do your best.
2. Put all your effort into learning it. Keep practicing; it’s important.
3. Getting a teacher who’s a professional is important too. It’s ideal to have someone teach you instead of you teaching yourself. You can make many mistakes and continue them.
4. Try using different brands of piano books, the different tips in each piano book would be helpful.
5. Using theory books would also be helpful, it’s like having homework but instead of math it’s about the instrument you’re learning!!! Theory would help with learning the notes, and all kinds of things.
6. Make sure you’re having fun learning the instrument. It’s important to have the excitement and the will to learn it.
7. Always start with the basics. As you become better, you advance to the harder pieces of music.
8. Make sure you are comfortable while playing the instrument, have your back straight and your chin-up.
9. Make goals, like practice every day for thirty minutes or master a piece of music by the end of the week.
10. Before you start any piano session, it’s best to warm up your fingers, like do scales.