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When I first became a piano major in college, I worked like I had a fire lit under my bum.
I can't recall another time I extended so much effort in my life, I was practicing 6-8 hours every day - including many weekends - for years. But it makes sense: as a first-generation Korean-American, I come from a working class family - physical exertion was the only way. My professor lauded my work ethic, my colleagues - supposedly - admired my discipline and I progressed immensely through brute force alone. But anyone in their right mind would've hated my approach. They wouldn't just balk at the crazy amount of hours I put in, but dismiss my practice philosophy (if I even had one) as tedious and boring. To which I completely concur. Looking back at those days, I can objectively say I wasted more than half of those hours I spent practicing. If I had a time machine, you bet I would go back and do things completely differently. Fact is, the conventional, traditional approach - repetition after repetition a.k.a. no-painno-gain - is still the dominant one today. To succeed, you need bust your butt day after day ... month after month ... year after bloody year. If you put in the time, everything will work out. So suck it up buttercup, put your hours in and deal with it - that's just the way it is. Only it isn't. The truth is that it's not going to magically work out for you if you just put in the hours alone. The good news is that there's a better way, one that's less painful and way more fun. The key to practice that sticks is not endless hours of mental and physical exertion. It's using time-proven, science-tested strategies based on variety, maximum concentration and enjoyment. So in today's article, I'm going to share the concepts that have radically changed the way I teach and practice piano. If you apply these concepts, I'll bet you my left eyeball that you'll get incredible results - results you wouldn't have dreamed were even possible. Here's the gameplan: in each section, we'll go into depth on a single concept. I'll not only provide explanations and benefits, but examples of how I've applied each concept in my personal and professional life. I hope you'll be able to take what you learn here to craft your own personal, strategic, and fun sessions for piano success - whatever that means to you. Ready to have your mind blown? How to Break Down Piano Practice
Question: How do you eat a pizza?
Answer: One slice at a time. You could be a smart aleck and say one bite at a time, but the point is you don't just inhale the whole thing - unless you're a competitive eater. Yet this is how most people approach work, and what's the result? Procrastination becomes our best friend and worst enemy. This is because our minds aren't built to deal with huge, massive projects in one go - we have a difficult time processing a ton of information at once. For instance, pay attention to how you feel when I mention:
The reason your eyes are glazing over is because it puts your mind in a sink-or-swim mentality. The solution is to small-chunk: divide your entire workload into manageable segments. This comes naturally for us anyway. For example:
Stories have a beginning, middle and end. Songs have hooks, verses and choruses. Each house is built brick by brick. Small-chunking not only creates a structure that your mind can make sense of, but a process that is more efficient than the normal guns-ablazing, damn-the-torpedoes approach. I've used this idea to build many long-lasting habits over time. For instance, at one point in my life I was meditating up to 30 minutes a day. But I started with 5. My current stretching routine is a little over a half hour. Yet it began as 10 seconds (per stretch). Stephen King suggest the same for writing, which is to do so one word at a time. Pretend you're working on a sonata. Most students default to practicing the whole piece from beginning to end. Now, if that sonata was a table then this would be like putting all your attention on the surface: you can enforce the top as much as you want, but if even one of those legs are flimsy then the entire edifice will collapse. Practicing in small chunks strengthens each column and ensures your construct will stand on solid ground. Think of each leg as a portion of your sonata: the technical name of each part is exposition, development and recapitulation. But you don't even need these terms - you can simply use numbers or letters. For example:
Here's where it gets interesting. Now that you have your major (macro) sections, you can divide them even further (micro). If you're using numbers, then your exposition becomes 1a, 1b, 1c and so on. If using letters, it becomes A1, A2, A3, etc. Besides making sure your sonata is sturdy, here are some other benefits you'll reap by small-chunking:
Making these divisions are especially valuable when working from memory: when you memorize each chunk separately they become "signposts" to guide you during performance. It's kind of like including enough pit-stops on a road trip - even more paramount if you have a weak bladder. Now, a word of warning: don't mistake difficulty for attention-span. This is another reason why it's a bad idea to practice your entire piece from beginning to end - this results in a strong intro, mediocre middle, and weak ending. Once you've subtracted enough - created enough signposts and distilled a unit to a manageable nugget - then you add. Notes become measures, measures become phrases, phrases become a micro-section (A1, 1a), micro turns into macro (A, B, C, 1, 2, 3) and eventually you have the whole thing. Let's use technique as an another example. If you're learning a traditional 4-octave scale, start from the smallest unit. When I teach this to a student, this is the progression:
What about rhythm? No problem. We can even use this approach for one of the most difficult patterns - polyrhythms (2 different rhythms occurring at the same time). Just start with a single beat - play a triplet in one hand against 2 notes in the other. After this gets easier, add another beat. Rinse and repeat until you're able to do pull off an entire string. If you start small enough, anything is possible. Onto our next concept. The Spice of LifeBruce Lee once said, "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." This is something everyone can understand: single-minded, undistracted effort. Due to my culture and heritage, I was basically indoctrinated into this work-till-you-drop mentality. Not that I'm ashamed of it in any way - I'm proud of the discipline I inherited working alongside my family in our businesses. So when I got serious about piano, I was like a hammer that saw everything as a nail - and my practice was just as straightforward: if 5 reps weren't enough I'd try 20, 50, 100 ... to infinity and beyond! But like I said in the beginning of this article, all that hard work led to ... bare results. It makes you wonder, why be so industrious if the returns don't justify the means? So what's the alternative to this nose-to-the-grindstone work style? The secret is to tweak Bruce Lee's original saying:
Allow me to introduce our next concept: varied practice. I came across varied practice in the book How We Learn, by Benedict Carey. It's a book you can't miss - the next 2 concepts I'll discuss are also from this book. Here's one of the studies: Researchers at the University of Ottawa observed 36 eight-year olds who were enrolled in a 12-week Saturday morning PE course at the local gym. They split the group into two. The exercise of choice was beanbag tossing. The first group was allotted 6 practice sessions. For each session, they were allowed 24 shots at a distance of 3 feet. But the second group varied their practice. They had 2 targets to practice on, one target from 2 feet and another from 4 feet away - this was the only difference. At the end of 12 weeks, the researchers had both groups perform a final test. The caveat was that it was from the distance of 3 feet, to which the first group was already accustomed. Before you object to the fairness of the test, check this out: despite the disadvantage, the second group still outperformed the first (3-feet only) group. As a Lakers fan, this makes me wonder how many more championships would have been won if Shaq varied his free throws. Anyways. This isn't limited to physical activities, you can also vary environments. A college student can use this on a smaller scale. Let's say they're struggling with a paper or project - in this scenario you can deploy the Grand Gesture. This idea comes from Cal Newport, author of Deep Work and other noteworthy books. In Deep Work, he shares how J.K. Rowling finished the last part of The Deathly Hallows by checking into the five-star Balmoral Hotel located in downtown Edinburgh. The hotel was not only her inspiration for Hogwarts, but provided a nice change of pace from house chores and loud kids. She ended up staying ... until she finished the book ... at a cost of more than $1,000 per night. Now, if your dinner is usually top ramen then you barely have the funds for a Motel 6. But on a smaller, more affordable level, you can retreat to the corner of a library or local cafe. You can also mix things up by changing the way you work. I once read that Ernest Hemingway wrote standing up. So what did I do? I purchased a standing desk and the change of pace has been super. It's nice to get off my butt as much as possible, considering how much time I stay seated teaching private lessons and practicing piano. And the change in physical posture has a clear, positive effect on my productivity. So we've covered beanbag tossing, changing locales and writing - now let's talk piano. Furthermore, I'll demonstrate the utility of varied practice with one simple pattern. Here are all the different ways you could practice a single scale:
Like small-chunking and the other concepts you'll learn today, varied practice is only limited by your imagination. Productive Multi-TaskingWhen TiVo came out, commercials were instantly made irrelevant. All of a sudden, you didn't need to sit through endless advertisements. And smartphones have taken things to a whole new level. These devices have made things a thousand times more convenient, but that convenience comes at a price - the scattering of our attention. I mean, people can't even wait in line for one minute before zombifying themselves on their screens - swiping from app to app, switching from video to video. However, it might surprise you when I say this is the general idea behind our next concept: Interleaving. Out of all the concepts you'll learn today, this is one's my absolute favorite and I'm convinced you'll love after you give it a try. Interleaving is mixing related but distinct material during study sessions. If you were learning to cook, this would be like chopping vegetables, listening to a cooking podcast, reading a recipe book, and watching video demonstrations ... in one session. It's similar to varied practice. But whereas varied practice is more vertical - sticking with a single problem - interleaving is lateral, moving across different problems with the same goal. Instead of climbing up a ladder, you jump to a different one. Here's a second study from How We Learn. Researchers tested 2 different groups on a painting project/assignment:
Just like the last study, the second group (mixed-study) outperformed the first group (blocked-study) - 65% to 50%. The researchers ran this trial on a separate group of undergraduates with the exact same results. If we applied interleaving to exercise, it would look something like cross-fit or what's called a "bro set." Instead of repeating an exercise with rest periods, you immediately switch to a different one. For example, doing squats after a set of pushups, or jumping jacks after crunches. When I first discovered a love for books, I intuitively used this strategy to read for hours at a time. When I got bored with a book, or my concentration waned, I'd immediately switch to another one. Which is why I always had a minimum of 5 books on me at all times. Here's how I apply it to my language studies. I schedule my sessions using the pomodoro technique. Each block of time is spent on one of the following categories:
Ideally, I'd be able to do this all in one session but I usually sprinkle these activities throughout the day. You can take it a step further by interleaving un-related activities. In one session you could:
And there's no specific order to do these in - many times I'll just show up to my desk and do what I feel like in the moment. But perhaps the most important benefit is that it transfers to the real world better. It's like that saying about school, what you learn in the classroom stays in the classroom - the content you learn from a textbook doesn't automatically transfer to your real life. Canine enthusiasts know what I'm talking about. When you're training a dog, you need to put them in a variety of situations. Your pup might be an angel at home, but in a new place with all kinds of stimuli all that coaching will go out the window. This is also why so many of my students will say the same thing week after week, "but I played so much better at home." It's easy to rattle off successful performance after performance at home, but at a public venue it's a different story. So instead of controlling every scenario, interleaving introduces randomness, which is more like the real world. This grates against our nature because we're pattern-recognition machines we need an explanation for everything (even if there isn't one). But like Neo says in The Matrix, "there is no spoon." So here's how I use interleaving to practice. My regimen consists of:
For musicianship I could try transposing a Bach minuet into a few different keys, playing through chord progressions and working out some jazz harmonies. Technique consists of playing scales, etudes, and arpeggios but in a random order - or even jumping back and forth from scale to etude to arpeggio. Repertoire can comprise multiple genres as well as different levels of difficulty. But as much fun as I have in my own daily practice sessions, I believe my students get much more enjoyment out of interleaving. Here's what a typical lesson looks like:
Most times I'll follow a certain sequence, other days there's no preset order. The unpredictability keeps them on their toes and the momentum generated helps us fly through our lesson time - all while keeping their concentration at a maximum level.
The combinations that interleaving allows you, unlike my credit cards, are limitless.
Space, The Final Repetition
We're all familiar with the phrase, "don't just stand there, do something!"
But this final concept advocates the opposite, "don't just do something, stand there!" This is the spacing effect or spaced repetition. This is why:
Now, this time a story from How We Learn. In 1982, 19-year-old Polish college student Piotr Wozniak built a database of about 3,000 words and 1,400 scientific facts in English (he really wanted to learn the language). He experimented by structuring and scheduling the material in different ways. Soon, he noticed a pattern: after a single session, Wozniak could recall a new word for a couple days. But if he restudied it the very next day, that retention lasted for a week. And after a third review session (2 weeks after the first) he could remember it for almost a month. In other words, you'll remember something if you're told 3 times in a row - but you'll remember it longer if you're told in ten-minute intervals. Around my home, this is a natural phenomenon: my wife will hum the melody of a song she just taught a student earlier that day ... ten minutes later I'm humming the same (damn) tune subconsciously. Spaced repetition is by far today's most time-efficient learning strategy: you're able to learn and memorize better - and more easily - by spreading review sessions over increasingly longer periods of time. It's like an investment compounding, only it's your brain. Fluent Forever is an app that uses this to great effect. I practice with it daily and it's how I've been able to keep thousands of words memorized in a few different languages. This is something I naturally do with (good) books. If it's worth my time, I'll re-read a book after a spell. And almost every time I come away from that second reading knowing more. As a side note, there's an adage that many serious bookworms know about: you get more out of great literature the more times you re-read them. It's also how to not kill yourself as a writer: the most useful piece of advice I ever read was to just stop entirely when you get stuck and come back the next day. Yes people, giving up is an effective technique. Here's how I apply spaced repetition to piano lessons. First, I look at it from a micro level. If a student is having a hard time with a difficult passage, I'll have them practice juuust until they're near their "breaking" point. Right before they reach that moment, we'll work on something completely different. After about 5 minutes or so we come back to the very same passage and nearly every time you'll hear them say, "hey, it's easier for some reason." At which point you silently mouth, "spaced repetition." Second, the macro level. This is my go-to concept when preparing a student for a recital, especially if it's their first performance. For first-time recitalists, it's beneficial to schedule their mock performances as far ahead as possible since the wait periods in between practice rehearsals will be getting longer and longer (to utilize the spacing effect properly).
This lets us take full advantage of spaced repetition - the more cycles a student goes through, the better the result will be when they step on stage for the very first time.
This also works equally well, if not better, for memorization. Ever since I became a devoted spaced repeater (tempted to say space cowboy), I've been able to keep repertoire memorized with just a few review sessions per year! To see examples of how I do this, grab a copy of The Rhapsody Practice Guide - which is included in the Rhapsody Starter Pack (sign up for the newsletter and you'll be taken to a page where you'll receive it at a discount). However, this concept really shines when introducing brand new material to the student. As a teacher, if you internalize this concept and are able to teach it well, you can use this for everything:
And what's even more ridiculous ... they don't even have to practice at home. I once had a student who was really bad at note-reading (almost as bad as my sightreading). For the life of me he would never practice flashcards at home no matter how many times I begged him to. So we only did them at the lesson - it took him 6 months to read basic notes. For 6 whole months, we did flashcards once a week. It frustrated me to no end, but the point is we eventually got there. Moving on. Here's a sample plan involving scales - but remember you can extrapolate this to just about anything. Keep in mind this is a situation where the student has never played a scale before. I'll have them play a one-octave scale once at the lesson (with one hand). Then they'll play it again ... a week later. If all goes well, we'll do more spaced repetition within the lesson. If we're not at this point, we just wait another week to try again. Once they're past this stage, I can then assign the student that scale to practice for the entire week. But I only do this if I'm positive they can play correctly. This is has to do with encoding success practicing correctly from the start. It's also because I give them no instructions whatsoever. Seriously. If you opened up their instruction book, all it would say is, "technique: one scale, one octave, hands separate." Then we baby-step this process until they're able to practice both hands to at least two octaves. Sometimes the lazy approach pays off. Less Is More
The mainstream advice for success is to add, add, add. But doing this turns you into the "busy" person at the office - having a million things on your plate while contributing little value.
But it's really about elimination - what not to do. As someone who spent their entire childhood in the family business, this was a hard pill for me to swallow. I always believed that you could achieve anything as long as you worked hard for it. But I took a look in the mirror one day and realized the results didn't justify the time I (wasted) spent.
Most people will take what they read today and promptly forget it. They just don't want to believe you can get more done with less effort.
I hope you're not one of them. Toiling by the sweat of one's brow says one thing, it's my way or the highway. But what's the point if that highway leads you off a steep cliff? Isaac Newton once said he succeeded because he stood on the shoulders of giants. The smartest way to achieve success in this world is to take the lessons that great people before you have learned. In fact, to go through the same difficulties even though it's avoidable is stupid. If you got something out of today's article - heck if you even read this whole monster of a post - it means you value your time. Look, I love hard work as much as anyone else. It feels great to be productive, to be exhausted at the end of the day knowing you left nothing on the table. But between practicing hard and practicing smart, I'll choose the latter every single time. Process over results. Yes. But that process is useless if you're not getting outsized returns. So here's a toast, cheers to the preposterous results you'll get if you use what you've learned today. Happy practicing!
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Best Way to Learn Piano
After a student piano recital, one of my wife's clients made a remark about how "professional" my students' hands looked on stage.
That client was talking about hand posture. My technical explanation: to deploy the hands and fingers in an optimal way to play with proper, relaxed technique. Funny thing is ... I've never taught hand posture. Sure, I make corrections here and there during lessons but it's hardly a main focus. So how is it that most, if not all, of my students develop great hand posture? Drum roll please ... because they watch my YouTube videos. When I first started teaching privately, I was eager to find any tool to help my students succeed. So I experimented with recording videos and uploading them to YouTube. Fast forward to today, this was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Whether you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced pianist, I'm convinced that online videos are the greatest resource available to you today. So in the rest of this article, I'm going to share the top 3 reasons why online (YouTube) videos are the best investment of your time when learning piano. At the end of this post I'll also include a free link to my Faber Collection Guide, a curated list of the most popular sheet music series I've ever taught. Vision Is KingDr. John Medina - author of Brain Rules says that "vision is king." This is true not only for adults, but even for children at the youngest age - babies immediately begin using visual cues to learn without being taught a single thing. And according to further research cited in the book, visual processing takes up about half(!) of your brain's resources. It also doesn't matter how well-honed your other senses are:
Additionally, another test showed that people could remember up to 2,500 pictures with 90% accuracy when shown the same images several days later - more unbelievable is that they saw each picture for only 10 seconds. Further research from the book indicated that presentations given without pictures - purely text or oral - were far less efficient than presentations given with them. For oral presentations, people remembered 10% of what they heard after a couple hours. When pictures were added, their memory jumped to 65%! This is also a prime strategy when learning languages. A valuable book on language acquisition, Fluent Forever, advises aspiring polyglots to pair words with pure images instead of direct translations. Imagine you saw the word caballo (Spanish for horse) on a flashcard. When you flip that card over, you should see a photo of a horse and not the definition in English. You remember more easily by not relying on a word-for-word translation. But there's more to this story. We have these things called mirror neurons: specific neurons that get fired in our brain whenever we simply observe an action. This means by merely watching someone do something, we almost feel the same sensation of having done it - monkey see, monkey do. This article from themusiciansbrain.com discusses this in more detail and I highly suggest you check it out after you finish up here. But here's the highlight I remember the most: these so-called imitation neurons are activated in a musician's brain ... even without sound. WITHOUT SOUND!!! This partly explains the phenomenon behind mental practice. For example, if you saw me out-and-about you would notice I tap my fingers a lot. But what you think is an annoying habit is actually me playing a Beethoven sonata. By the way, this is a frequent go-to technique for professional musicians when they don't have an instrument to practice on. Let's take this idea even deeper. Here's a story from the book, The Talent Code. The author, Daniel Coyle, met Carolyn Xie, who was a top-ranked Chinese-American 8 year-old tennis player in the entire country (at the time). He noticed she had the typical tennis prodigy's game, except for one thing ... her backhand. Instead of hitting tennis balls with the usual two-handed grip, she hit them one-handed ... Ã la Roger Federer (one of the greatest tennis players ever). In fact, she did it exactly like Roger Federer. When Coyle pressed her on this, she had no idea what he was talking about. He was taken aback by this curious statement, but later discovered that Xie and her entire family were rabid Federer fans. In her short life, she had watched nearly every single match Roger Federer ever played - and simply absorbed his backhand without realizing it. So in theory, this is why my students develop impressive hand posture - by absorbing mine through videos. A picture most definitely is worth a thousand words. But we not only mimic everything we see, we also emulate what we hear. To illustrate, a short vignette from my personal life: I once visited a colleague in Chicago, who had recently befriended two amiable Irish lads. And wouldn't you know? Just after a day I not only picked up their slang, but their accent - along with a healthy appreciation for Guinness. This is why videos are such a powerful resource: they tap into your vision as well as your hearing. And remember, because of mirror neurons they also tap into your tactile (touch) senses as well. A formidable triple-threat combination. Strike a Pose
Now when it comes to learning piano, or anything else for that matter, I submit to you what I believe to be the most important question ever:
If you're attempting to learn on your own, this question gets magnified tenfold. This wasn't much of an issue during the classical era. During those times, piano students reportedly had lessons every day (they also never had smartphones, but that's a topic for another time). Contrast that to today: most students only have a half hour lesson once a week - which means they have 6 days to get things wrong. In a perfect world, daily lessons are the way to go. But who can afford that? This is the main reason I started recording videos and posting them on YouTube. I was not only frustrated with students doing the complete opposite of what was instructed, but realized they needed a model for reference. In laymen's terms, they needed an example to imitate (there's that word again). This makes videos the perfect example - they're virtual demonstrations students can access at any time, any place. I also don't say a thing in these recordings - the majority of my videos are just me playing the entire song or piece from start to end. Explanation is unnecessary! Let's read on to see why this is the case. In the book The Inner Game of Tennis, Timothy Gallwey, author, shares how he taught fifty-year-old beginners of tennis to play decent games ... ... within 20 minutes ... ... without a single word of instruction! He taught with his mouth shut - something a lot of educators should do more of. Side note: Gallwey also co-wrote The Inner Game of Music, a highly suggested read on the psychology of performance. What better way to learn, especially something like piano, than being shown exactly the way it's done? As an aside, I find it sadly hilarious when I get YouTube comments on a certain video complaining about the accuracy of my playing - while my students use the exact same video for great results. Some people will lie to themselves no matter how much concrete evidence is staring them in the face. But remember ... the tape doesn't lie. Videos are not only a safeguard (hopefully) against human bias, but also remove much of the complexity in piano playing. This is particularly important for a beginning student: the less they have to think, the more mental resources they have at their beck-and-call (which hopefully translates into high-quality practice). It's just like productivity - the less (trivial) decisions you need to make, the more concentration you have in reserve. For you more experienced players out there, videos can represent benchmarks rather than models. But even if you're at the intermediate level or beyond, there are always going to be more challenging pieces for you to learn - so you'll still need tools like videos (or audio recordings) at your disposal. Lastly, videos are the most accurate model for learning piano because they satisfy all the requirements for corrective feedback, which - according to Scott Young - is the best form of feedback. Here's the definition from his book, Ultralearning: corrective feedback tells you what you're doing wrong and how to fix it. Now, I'm not saying you'll be able to do this right off the bat. When I teach a complete beginner it can take anywhere from a week to a month for them to get the hang of videos for self-study. But no matter how long it takes, they always get there. One last word of advice: if you're learning without the aid of an expert, you're going to need a BOATLOAD of patience - and objectivity. Instant EducationJ.S. Bach once walked 250 miles to hear the music of master organist Dietrich Buxtehude. Compare that to today - some people won't even drive 5 miles on the weekend to get food (totally not talking about myself here). We'll naturally (lazily) seek the most convenient option available - unless your last name's Bach. For example, see:
Services you can access in seconds, apps available in the palm of your hands, products brought to your door with a tap of your finger. Even when you're out-and-about, and not burying your face in your phone, what food options do you notice? A fast-food joint lollapalooza. Admittedly, healthy choices are becoming more abundant but junk food is still the winner by a land slide - because it's cheap and quick (convenient). And it's the same with my piano studio. The egoist in me would like to boast that people come to me for quality, professional teaching. But 99% of the time it's because ... I'm down the street. So here's the most important reason why online videos are an unrivaled resource: they're easily accessible. What else is more straightforward than opening your YouTube app? With a little practice, the whole process could probably take less than a second (not that you should try). And what an amazing place to learn it is! You can find topics on everything. For me, YouTube has been the single wellspring of information I've both spend the most time on and learned the most from (besides books). It's amazing that I can search up a video on an established author or noteworthy thinker, instead of walking 250 miles. And even better is when a YouTuber actually documents their whole journey - so you know their results have been field-tested. This is super useful for when you need to fix something around the house (saving hundreds of dollars) or tear apart a dungeness crab (tasty) for the very first time. Not to mention that it's all FREE, so don't you dare complain about ads. Now, this doesn't mean you shouldn't ever shell out cash. Once you vet the source, something like an online course can be a shortcut in terms of the learning process. Still, I love the fact that there's no price tag on what we can learn these days. The easier a tool is to access, the more you'll use it. So unless something better than YouTube comes along, that's what you'll be using for the immediate future. Best PracticesNow onto some practical suggestions, as in how to best utilize online/YouTube videos. There are four ways to learn with videos:
If you're a beginner, you most definitely want to watch before you play. It's because:
I can't say this enough: make sure you develop proper practice habits from the start. In my experience, it has always been easier to teach a student from scratch. hen I get a transfer student for the first time, we usually spend the majority of piano lessons fixing bad habits they've developed. For example, I have an amazing student who just started with me 2 months ago. But during the waiting period (a year or so) before our first lesson, he self-taught himself with YouTube videos. Though my jaw dropped when I initially saw what he could do, our lessons have been geared towards correcting faulty technique. Now, if you're at the intermediate level then you can watch videos after (or while) you try a new piece out - since your skills are more established. You can also use videos to practice more challenging music, repertoire that's beyond your current level. It's a superb way to amplify your progress. Next, you can view videos away from the piano - when you're not physically practicing. This is very handy because you can tap into spaced repetition. You do this by watching throughout the day at different times. So instead of looking at a video 5 times in a row, you'll understand a LOT more by spreading those repetitions out. This method was scientifically researched. In How We Learn, studies showed that traditional repetition actually made you worse. By the way, you can also apply spaced repetition to physical practice. Lastly, you can play along with the videos (simultaneously). For obvious reasons, this is the most precise way to practice: you hear all the correct notes and proper rhythm in real time. A word of warning though: you can make a massive amount of progress with this approach, but be careful not to use it as a crutch. Mistake-free, accelerated learning is exhilarating! You want to avoid a situation where you constantly have the answer handed to you. Without challenge, it's not real learning. So I suggest using a combination of all four methods described. Variety of practice is what will lead you to tremendous improvement. Fin
As promised, click this link for recommended sheet music. Videos have made a stupendous difference for my students, so I'm excited to see what you'll achieve with them!
I can't help but feel a bit jealous, if I had YouTube growing up I'm convinced I'd be a radically different pianist today. Ah well ... it's the journey that counts. So I rest my case. I hope I've convinced you that online videos as the best modern resource we have to learn piano - they've definitely become a permanent staple of my teaching process. When I first recorded a simple YouTube video for a single student, I never thought I'd end up recording a complete curriculum for my entire studio - or even start my own YouTube channel. But ... you can bet I'm always on the lookout to see what amazing new learning tool is on the horizon. Even as an old dog, you can always learn new tricks. Happy Practicing!
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I've had my fair share of train-wreck performances, I remember playing passages in the wrong key or forgetting the very first note.
I've also seen colleagues engage in all types of strange rituals backstage. Pacing frantically back-and-forth, repeating mantras over-and-over again, desperately rubbing their good luck charms or facing the corner of a wall and staring blankly into space. The only thing missing was an elaborate seance over a ouija board. Stage fright causes us to act out in all sorts of weird ways and sometimes you feel like it's out of your control. Well, you can do something about it. Let me show you how. How to Overcome Your Performance AnxietyThe Root of Performance AnxietyWhat is it about stage fright that makes it feel so devastating or life-threatening? Well, from a biological perspective ... it's because it's actual fear. For the longest time, humans survived in tribes. And survival meant being part of a cohesive unit - in other words, not standing out. If you did, one of the following two scenarios would have happened:
So we feel this on a subconscious level since our "software" hasn't been updated to the modern times we live in. When we're walking up to the stage, getting ready for a job interview, or preparing for a public presentation, we get locked into this "fight or flight" mode. We imagine the crowd is "against" us. And since we can't run away, we have no choice but to prepare for battle. This is why it's so hard to get out of our comfort zone and why exhibitions feel like life or death. Modernity and Performance AnxietyWe fight against our ancestral tendencies as well as a modern disease: Perfectionism. This is also what fuels our backstage anxiety. Most students aim for a "perfect" performance, which usually means getting every single note correct. This is not only unrealistic, but a terrible goal to begin with. Because even if they succeeded, what would be the result? An accurate but boring, soulless, and robotic performance - while looking absolutely miserable on stage. Not only that, trying not to make a mistake means you actually make more of them. This has to do with the usual advice we get, which is "don't be scared" or "don't be nervous." This makes the problem worse because your mind focuses on whatever's in front of it, good or bad. Don't be scared gets translated into don't be scared. It's like trying not to think of a pink elephant. And the opposite approach doesn't work either. For example, when you're told to "be more confident." For one thing, what does that even mean? If you can't formulate an actual plan then it's just wishful thinking. And secondly, you need reference experiences. If a student has never performed before then this wishy-washy advice won't work. What's even worse is if they've had traumatic public experiences - failing miserably in front of all their peers. No amount of practice can fix this alone. You can try to give them whatever advice you want, but their brain will keep looping endlessly on these disappointments. The Blessed OnesAs if this wasn't complicated enough, mainstream advice can work for some students. But that's because they have a different set-point. Let me explain: I am in no way a naturally happy person - most of the time I'm brooding or lost in thought. Does this mean I'm depressed all the time? Not at all, it just means my happiness setpoint is lower than average. It's almost like my standards for being happy are higher (don't judge). So if you have a naturally jubilant friend who never seems to be in a bad mood, her setpoint is likely way above normal (or she's a psychopath). When these vague suggestions work, these students most likely have a higher "confidence" set-point. For example, I have at least one student who tells me she's never been nervous for a performance - even when it was her first time(!). It’s All GoodNow, one effective way to overcome stage fright is to learn the art of the reframe. Reframing is interpreting something in a different (negative or positive) way. It's like how some people have everything in life but always think "the grass is greener on the other side." This is explains why two people can look at the same situation but have completely different reactions to it. Road rage is one example - ever had someone flip you the bird for something you didn't do? So instead of avoiding fear, tell yourself it's okay to be nervous. Even better, it's good to be nervous. Doing so creates acceptance instead of resistance. It's good because it shows you care. Think about it for a second, if you weren't nervous at all then you could miss damn-near every note and not give a hoot. You would have questionable character, but not a shred of anxiety. Now, the amount of nervousness is going to differ for every student. Besides their setpoints, this is usually caused by a lack of experience. The less experience you have, the more nervous you'll feel and vice versa. As a side note, I actually believe that your nerves never go away. When you gain more experience, you just get more comfortable with the feeling of nervousness. NextThe following strategies I'm going to lay out for you are meant for the first-time performer but can be adapted for any level. Before we get into the specific plan, let's first talk about mindset - because the best advice in the world won't work if you believe you're going to fail. Earlier, I mentioned how detrimental the perfectionist mindset is. Along those lines, believing and imagining you'll be 100% successful isn't good either. Why? Because a first-time performer has no idea what's going to happen. For example, if a student has been visualizing their ideal performance going off without a hitch, what's going to happen when it doesn't go as planned? When they're confronted with an alternate reality than the one they've created, the results can be disastrous. The better approach is to expect mistakes since this is what's most likely to happen. This is to do is get them out of their heads. Bad performances occur when the students make the whole experience about themselves. It's understandable, but too self-important. This is how amateurs think, while professionals put themselves in the shoes of their audience. They obsess over how their fans are experiencing the entire event. One way to help them understand is by asking them to pay attention to what the other recitalists are doing - usually staring off into the abyss. The message I hope they hear is that everyone is just as nervous as they are. I also help them realize that the crowd actually wants them to succeed. Think about it, what kind of demonic people would want a grade-schooler to crash and burn? The PlanBy now, the student has hopefully developed a more positive attitude and expectation towards performance. Once they're fully bought-in, we can start planning and preparation. But first, an important concept: encode success. I stumbled across this idea from the book Practice Perfect. The basic gist is to make success is inevitable. But what does this mean? As I've been repeating over-and-over again, success is NOT a note-perfect performance. It's the student enjoying the process as much as possible, overcoming any setbacks or challenges, and avoiding traumatic experiences. The ultimate goal is for them to look forward to the next (every) recital. So far, the success rate is 100% (humble brag). And for this to happen, the preparation is designed to help each student succeed in the easiest possible way. One way is to pick a goal they can understand and achieve - like not giving up. They can forget notes, play the wrong rhythm, get lost in their music ... it doesn't matter as long as they make it to the last note. Mission complete. Two other ways are picking sheet music they've been playing for a long time or having them play in the program as soon as possible, since waiting too long can be stressful. Additionally, recital preparations are began as far ahead as possible - usually 3 months before their first performance. And even if it's not the student's first time playing in public, we want to do this anyway. This is because I only organize 2 recitals per year. Since there's a lot of downtime in between these events, it's necessary to plan ahead because fewer opportunities magnify the pressure they feel. As a side note, if the student has more performance opportunities throughout the year, you can sidestep a lot of these suggestions and learn through simple trial-and-error. But this concept still helps. Action
We now know that stage fright is created because of our ancient biology and perfectionist mindset.
Earlier, I mentioned another reason is that the student doesn't know what to expect. So the best way to plan for the unknown is through rehearsals. We "rehearse" what will happen for sure:
And of course I provide a healthy amount of loud, enthusiastic applause. We'll practice this sequence as much as humanly possible, until they no longer have to think about it. Why do these simple actions help? Because it gives the student a sense of control. These are the things they can accomplish no matter how their actual performance goes. This helps develop stage presence, i.e. how comfortable someone is under the spotlight. Ideally, instead of focusing on their nervousness they'll simply complete each action - like a checklist. Now once they're comfortable, I increase the challenge by recording them. Just like they say the camera adds ten pounds, this creates a heavier atmosphere. We make the rehearsals more difficult to make the actual performance easier. But let's say the student is still stressing out and putting too much pressure on themselves. In that case, I'll have them practice failing. The goal is for them to actually make mistakes. For example, if the student makes 3 errors - and I've ask for 5 - we've failed to accomplish this task. They begin to understand that mistakes are part of the process and have more fun making them. But here's the kicker: they have to practice overcoming any rough spots. The ability to get out of a tricky situation is the most important skill they'll need on stage. Lastly, I tell them that the preparation is more important than the actual result. If they've put the work in, what happens at the recital doesn't matter - at least to me. ConclusionBefore you go, I want to leave you with a few more suggestions. Piano performance isn't the only way to overcome performance anxiety - think of any public venue as an opportunity to practice. Try striking up a conversation with a complete stranger - if that sounds intimidating pretend you're asking for directions or suggestions. You can also join your local Toastmasters to practice public speaking in a supportive environment. Opportunities abound and the more experience you wrack up the more overall confidence you'll have. You'll be able to refer back to these encounters with the knowledge you've succeeded in the past and can do it again. And if you're serious about your piano practice, performance is something you must go through. What's the point of practice if you don't share your progress? That's like me writing this blog post and never publishing it. So I hope you've learned something about stage fright today, or even changed the way you approach it. Remember to set the bar as low as possible and be satisfied with any amount of progress you make at each juncture. Use what you learned today and I hope your next performance will be a great one. Happy practicing!
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When you're starting or learning something completely new - like setting up a piano teaching business - the worst thing you can do is figure out everything by yourself.
You might eventually get through it, but you'll end up wasting a LOT of time. Instead of reinventing the wheel, learn from someone who's been there and done that. Someone like ... ME! How to Start a Piano Studio
So here's what to expect. We'll learn how to:
I wrote this blog post so that if you're an aspiring teacher with ZERO students, you can build a successful piano studio in half the time and pain it took me to do it. And even if you're not a piano teacher, I promise you'll learn some solid business principles. Now, I don't recommend planning these action steps in order. Instead, read the entire thing first and then plan out what you're going to do - everyone's journey is different. However, here's one SUPER-IMPORTANT point: Finish all of these stages as fast as humanly possible - it'll make sense at the end. And whatever you do, don't neglect anything. Think of all of this as one well-oiled machine - every moving part has to be working correctly at all times. Okay ... Let's get you some students!! Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?
What do you bring to the table? In other words ... what's your USP?
USP stands for "Unique Selling Proposition." This is about what makes you unique. What makes you so ... you. This might be the most important point in today's article. The reason is this: if you get your USP dialed down, you won't have any competition. Imagine there are 20 piano teachers in your area, what makes you special? What makes you different? Let's take an example from Seth Godin's book, "Purple Cow." Imagine you're driving by a field, and in that field you see nothing but cows. They don't stand out, you just drive right past them. But what if one of those cows was purple? I don't know about you, but I'd hop right out of my (parked) vehicle and examine that strange mammal up close - while taking plenty of selfies. So don't try to be "the best piano teacher" (a regular 'ol bovine) but a piano teacher who offers additional services or has special skills that no one else has (a purple cow). Here's a personal example of how I try to be as "purple" as possible:
One skill by itself might not make a difference, but the magic is when you combine everything together. And if you were a parent choosing a piano studio, how much would these additional services be worth to you? Answer: A LOT. So you must have other things to offer than just piano lessons. Sit down and spend as much time as possible to figure this out. Look to your free time for additional clues:
Now, you might not come up with anything. If that's the case, just get out there and start learning about as many different things as you can! Work with what you have - while learning new skills - and your USP will eventually develop over time. And even if you think you have your USP down, do this anyway. Here's one last suggestion:
But Wait ... There's More!
If your USP is the "what," now we're going to talk about the "how."
You've gotta learn to communicate your message in the clearest way possible. It's time for you to learn about ... sales. Now, there seems to be a stigma around selling, but remember that sales is only sleezy if it's done bad (just like a cheesy pickup line). At its heart, true selling is about filling a need in someone's life. It's about showing the prospect that it's in their best interest to work with you. By the way, you don't want to be marketing to everyone (a.k.a. don't be a cow). It's counter-intuitive, but by focusing on a smaller pool of prospects, you'll get more business (not less). Narrowing your message not only attracts the right people, but repels the wrong ones. Think of this process as a series of interviews. For example, most companies will usually go through several rounds until they settle on a handful of candidates. So how do we narrow down your choices to find ideal clients who are the perfect fit? Let's start with question numero uno:
It's like wanting to be in a relationship: The more you can define the qualities you look for in a partner, the easier time you'll have finding that special someone. And just like figuring out your USP, this will take time. You need to be as specific as possible. This is challenging because it involves putting yourself in the other person's shoes. You can't accomplish this goal without a healthy dose of empathy. Here's a useful example: Many businesses work on developing an avatar. No I'm not talking about those freaky looking neon-blue creatures, an avatar is a representation of a single person who represents their entire target audience. This person could be a 35-year old accountant with a wife and 2 kids who enjoys parasailing in their free time (don't ask me how I came up with that). So the more closely you define your own avatar, the more precise your communication will be. When that person comes across your message, they'll feel like you're speaking directly to them - almost like you're reading their mind. Now for question #2:
There's really no easy answer for this. The best suggestion I have is for you to think of all the products you have in your own life, ones that you enjoy or absolutely love. Make a list of everything these products do for you and what makes them special - as well as how the brands communicate with you. Other useful questions:
Answer these questions using as many business examples as possible (such as Amazon and Uber). One last piece of advice is to remember that what other people think of you matters more than what you think of yourself. Go Fish
Let's talk about students ... how to get them.
Your first and immediate goal should be to get just ONE student (even if you have a few, just pretend you don't have any). This is because you need to small-chunk the entire process. There are many steps involved, and thinking of all of them at once is too overwhelming. So how many ways are there to get students? Two:
Let's take a look at the first one - in the following section, I'll give you advice on cost-effective (zero-dollar) strategies. The Social Network
Start with your current social network, because it's going to be the easiest way to get your first student - since people who know you, trust you.
Reach out to everyone you know. Ask friends, family, acquaintances or colleagues - anyone you have a connection to. And don't worry if you're not close to the people you contact, a lot of my own opportunities have come from people I've only met once or twice in my life. In my experience, most people are more than willing to help you - even if they don't get anything in return (but try your best to pay them back). In addition, hit up your local venues: small businesses, mom-and-pop shops, restaurants, cafes, the community center, etc. Many of these places will have a community board. And if you're savvy enough to print your own business cards, leave those with them as well. Let Freedom Ring
I 100% believe you'll get at least a few students out of this approach, but let's say you've had limited success. If you're not happy with the results, here's a foolproof way to get more students instantly ...
Teach for free. This might not be a popular choice, but it's a GUARANTEED way to get more students in the shortest amount of time possible - while gaining a ton of experience. There's always demand for free. Additionally, since you have nothing to lose you get to test out any ideas you have - no matter how off-the-wall they might be. And if you end up doing a great job, those prospects will become paying clients. But if not getting paid sounds too risky to you, add in some constraints such as offering the first month free or 50% off. SIDE NOTE: Once you have some students, ASK THEM FOR REFERRALS! It drives me nuts when people leave a valuable source untapped - and one that's right in front of their face! And speaking of referrals, sweeten the pot for your current clients. Offer them free lessons or some other type of reward. Yes, you'll end up losing income in the short term but if you get 2 or 3 new students out of it, I'd say it's a good deal. It's important to give people incentives to help you - help them help you, that is. Would You Like Fries With That?
Now, if you'd rather watch paint dry than teach for free, here's one last suggestion. This is the most traditional and popular route - mostly because the previously mentioned methods have some risk involved.
Get a job at a music studio. Side note: If you plan on operating your own brick-and-mortar studio one day, it's an excellent way to see for yourself what's involved. Now, a caveat is that the usual requirement is a college degree (and often teaching experience). But if you get past the job interview, you'll get your first student almost immediately. However, once you have a steady paycheck - and ideally have some money left over - you need to quit as soon as possible. You might be thinking, "what are you talking about? I just got this job and you're telling me to skedaddle?" Well, let me explain from my personal experience (I've worked at a few studios myself). They will usually take more than half of your hourly rate. So if they charge $40 per hour, you're taking home $18 - or even less. And it will be a year or more for a meager raise (if they even offer you one). Perhaps that sounds okay to you - I'm not saying there's anything wrong with what they're doing. As a business owner, it's not a bright idea to pay your teachers more than you pay yourself. The bigger reason to get out of there is that you have no control over your work environment. You have no say when it comes to their policy, as well as getting to choose your own students. You teach who they tell you to teach and work when they tell you to work. And if a student is a no show? Usually, you not only don't get paid, but end up with a half hour (or more time) to kill. And don't forget, they can fire you at any time they want without any warning whatsoever - read up on the pitfalls of being a contracted laborer. In short, they don't care about keeping you happy. You're just there to make them money. This lack of control will make you miserable (unless you don't like making decisions). So if you choose to go this route, get in and learn what you can. Then get out as fast as possible - that is, if you want to be your own boss one day. Of course, this is assuming that it's not a good work environment. Personally, I never found a place I wanted to stay at - but who knows what would've happened had I found a great boss. Now ... If you end up leaving, you might consider our next action step slightly immoral: Take as many students with you as you can. You might say, "isn't that shady?" If this is what you're thinking, remember:
Yes, I've done this in the past. And no, I didn't have any problems with it. This is because I sincerely believed my students would be worse off if I left them there. Which makes sense, because a business owner that doesn't care about his or her teachers definitely doesn't care about the students. So ... should you be upfront with them? Should you let the studio owner know exactly what you're planning? Personally, I'd totally be okay with it. Heck, I might even be motivated to work with you (I like ambitious people). But I'd imagine you're better off keeping this tactic to yourself. If You Build It, Maaaaybe They'll Come
Now let's talk about getting the word out about who you are - we're going to focus on marketing.
Think about Zoom and Uber Eats. Why did they EXPLODE in popularity when the pandemic hit? Well ... they were online and everyone was home - DUH. But it's also because they were in position to capture everyone's attention at the right time. And where is everyone's attention these days? On their phone, a.k.a. the internet. So let's look at some ways to get that attention for yourself. Cast Your Net Wide
Get on as many different platforms as possible. Position yourself everywhere you think people might be looking for piano lessons - and even places where you don't think they're looking (you'd be surprised).
And make sure the messages are relevant to your target audience (a.k.a. don't SPAM people). Remember that your language needs to be specific. We're on all the platforms but we're not marketing to everyone. I don't have time to go into it here, but here's a bare minimum of what you'll need to set up:
I say bare minimum because there are many more out there. You also want to be on the lookout for any emerging platforms (social media, apps, websites, etc.) as well. This is because they all have a "life cycle." Remember when Friendster and Myspace were popular? If you don't know what I'm talking about ... I envy your youth. Well, the same fate awaits Instagram as well as everything else. You just don't know when it's going to happen. The other reason you want to be everywhere is that you don't know in advance which source will be the most effective. Where the traffic comes from will most likely be different for everyone. For example, I get most of my students online (Yelp or Google). However, nearly all of my wife's students have been through word-of-mouth (personal referrals). Now, once you have this set up it's time to ask for reviews and testimonials. Don't be bashful. If you want people to sign up with you, they need to be able to trust you first. And there's no better way to do this than by showing them what your current clients think about you. So once you have these reviews and testimonials, plaster them all over the place. This is social proof - like that guy you knew in high school who got all the girls. The ladies were willing to date him because he had an excellent track record to back it up. When you're done with that, you'll need to actively develop content (blogging, videos, podcasts, etc.). Imagine your online presence is a fire - content is the wood that keeps it burning. If you just set everything up and leave it as-is, it will slowly die out. So what type of content should you post? That depends on your USP. If you did a good job developing it - and you've done enough research to know what you're talking about - the content should naturally arise. By the way, all the amount of advertising and marketing in the world is not going to help you if people are confused about who you are and what you do - especially if you're the one confusing them Hmmm ... clear communication seems to be a theme ... Measure What Matters
So once you've "lit" that fire - and you're keeping it going with content - you should be getting a lot of inquiries.
Next, start capturing data. You're going to measure everything - how many hits you're getting on what platforms as well as what type of person is contacting you. DO NOT skip this step. The reason why is you'll either verify you're on the right track or notice you'll have to change things up. This is because the type of business you get depends on what's out there. In other words, the market. Here's a personal example. When I started out, I thought there would be plenty of demand for intermediate classical pianists. What did I base this on? Pure Imagination (cue Willy Wonka). What did I get instead? Beginners. Literally nothing but beginners - for years (and to this day). Which was actually a great experience for me - when you know how to teach complete beginners, you can teach anyone. Not to mention the market for beginners is HUGE. So, you might want to have a studio full of little Mozarts ... but reality doesn't care. You can't change what's out there, you have to work with what's available (unless you're willing to pack up your bags and move). Now, that might change later, because once you have an established reputation - and people are spreading the word about you - it becomes possible to create demand where there previously wasn't. But if you're not getting enough bites, you need to change your messaging because people aren't buying what you're selling. Home Improvement
If you made it this far, give yourself a healthy round of applause. Get yourself something nice because you've done a LOT of hard work and you deserve it.
Now I want to share one of my favorite sayings in life:
And a second one:
This means you must simply work on improving. Tirelessly. Endlessly. Read books. Attend workshops. Watch masterclasses. Absorb EVERY bit of knowledge that you can. And don't just stick to purely piano or classical music. Nearly everything I've learned that has helped me to become a better teacher, I've learned outside of piano. Technical and personal skills. Why do you gotta keep going? It's because I've seen so many successful businesses STOP DOING THINGS THAT ARE WORKING. Either that or the quality of their service or product just slips to a pathetic level. The hardest thing is to stay patient and to continue to strive for progress - if you're dedicated to mastery, you have a long way to go. So how do you keep yourself from giving up? Honor the process. When you purely focus your attention on the action itself, it keeps you motivated and happy. You enjoy what you're doing because you enjoy it - and it keeps your mind off of results. If it's going to be a long road ahead, you better enjoy it as much as possible. And remember, don't get complacent - it only takes one bad experience to lose a good client and student. Endgame
Let's say you've "done" it. You're successful, at least on your own terms.
I would then have 2 questions for you:
And even if you answered yes to both questions, remember that anything can happen. I pray that you have a long, fruitful life devoid of any tragedy. But for the sake of argument, let's play Devil's Advocate. What if something happened one day and you weren't able to teach any more? Like ... permanently? Look, I can't imagine retiring from teaching any time soon. But not having the ability to teach and play piano seems like a total nightmare. That scenario would definitely be one of the worst experiences I could ever imagine going through. That being said, I have plenty of other interests and skills I could fall back on. If you can't say the same, then that's your entire source of income down the drain. Not only that, if you haven't learned to be good at anything else you're basically starting over. When you're young it doesn't matter so much, you've got drive and plenty of time to look forward to. But when you're older, you don't have that luxury. So start thinking about it now, pleeeeease listen to what I have to say. If you want to be set for life there's more work to be done. Now even if you're healthy for the rest of your life, there's a limit to how many students you can teach in a day, or even want to teach. If you want to make more money this way, the only way is to increase your hours. Of course you should be raising your rates too, but there's a limit to that as well. So ... do you want to work more hours? Do you really want to be up until 9pm every day? Trading your time for more money ultimately means less time to do other things you enjoy - as well as learning new skills to increase your value (and your rate). Instead of putting in more time for money, how about putting in time for more time AND money? It's about having options. Doing something because you want to, not because you have to. What I mean is you need to set up a system. Something that makes money for you without needing to consistently put in more hours. If this doesn't make sense, let's define teaching piano as active income (one-on-one) and setting up a system as passive income (one-to-many). One way to set up passive income is to open your own music studio and hire teachers. I'll be honest, to me this is the least appealing choice (but hey, everyone's different). It's just because there's so much upfront work involved. Not only that, you need to know the ins and outs of everything. There's also a ton of risk involved - according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, 1 out of 5 businesses fail within the first year and after 5 years half will fail. And you incur a LOT of debt, such as a business loan (if you can even get approved). On top of that, there's more expenses - rental, insurance, taxes, licenses - AND you need to find a venue to teach at (finding a place to rent is NOT easy). Not to mention the responsibility of training every single employee you hire. As the official business owner, teacher AND manager, you are responsible for everything my friend. But if you're up for the challenge, go for it! Just do it while you're still young. What I've found to be a better option is teaching what I know online - instead of working in your business, you work on it. So you can start a YouTube channel, get really good at social media - and perhaps create an online course or an ebook - or start a blog (like me). Don't get me wrong, it still takes a ton of patience and effort but the result is being able to make money without constantly increasing your hours. Now you might even do something completely different at this point - like workshops. It's not exactly passive income, but if you can get a lot of people to sign up you're making a lot of cash at once. And these are not the only choices, the opportunities are endless - it really depends on your resourcefulness. For example, I remember mentoring a colleague of mine a few years back. He took what he learned and set up an audio recording/engineering business during the pandemic AND while he was still a college student. Whatever the case, decide what you want to do. NOW. You've Got This
So there you have it, my master plan for any piano teacher starting from ground zero. I hope you take what you've learned here and use it for your own success.
Remember to come back and re-read this post as many times as necessary, you'll have better results - it takes time to fully internalize each step. There are definitely many ups and downs in your future and on your toughest days you'll want to quit, but remember that you've got this. Every problem has a solution and even if you don't find one here, use what you learn to find your own answers. Don't depend on luck - be deliberate in your actions and you'll have good results. I wish you nothing but success. Happy practicing!
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So you've taken the leap. You finally bought your piano or keyboard and found your ideal teacher. Then you wonder, "How do I get ready for the first lesson?"
aaaaand ... you draw a blank. In a perfect world, your piano teacher would prepare everything you need - and I'd have a free lifetime supply of Lebanese kebab. We both know that's not going to happen (sad face). You're probably never going to find the "perfect" piano teacher, which means you'll have to do some homework. Well ... I've done it for you. Here's a simple guide to prepare you on what to know, and what to expect, before your first piano lesson. Before Your First Piano LessonYour Heart's Desire
Know exactly what you want before your first lesson. Do this one thing and you're already in the top 90% of piano students. I can't tell you how many times a client hasn't even decided, by our first lesson, what music they want to play. Either that or they leave everything up to me.
What musical interests do you lean towards? Furthermore, does your teacher know how to actually teach it? Because learning something like jazz can be a totally different path than playing classical music. Also, how serious are you? Do you want to work on fundamental piano skills and develop solid technique? Or are you looking for a laidback approach? At the very least, know what you want to play and how much time you can dedicate to practice. Let's Play Limbo
Lower your expectations! This is especially important for you older students out there. Though I have a great track record when it comes to kids, I can't say the same for adults.
It's frustrating, because the reasons they ended up quitting were purely psychological. I can't say for certain what they were thinking (though I've been there many times), but if I had to put it into words ... it's fear of failure. So here's an effective, but counterintuitive, suggestion: expect to fail. This does not mean to be a sourpuss. You still want to have positive expectations you'll succeed in the long run. But it's the long run. Let's say you have expectations of success from the very first lesson. What if it doesn't go the way you want? That's going to discourage you. This is because you will judge yourself according to those expectations. So I find it's better to have no expectations. No expectations = no judgment. And no judgment means no pressure. Now I'm not saying to not have a goal, the problem has to do with setting it so high that it's too difficult to reach. Let's take writing as an example: A novice writer will look at a blank page and visualize the entire project (be it an essay, short story or, God forbid, a novel). If you approach writing like this, you'll be so overwhelmed you won't even start. A better idea is to set and achieve smaller goals (also known as benchmarking). The more goals you reach, the easier it is to keep things going. As Stephen King says, "you write one word at a time." You can't win the war if you lose each battle. Can't get that entire paper done? Write a page. Can't do a page? Write a paragraph, a sentence, a single word. This is not about taking it easy on yourself (in a way it is), it's about setting realistic goals you can achieve on a deadline. Side note: If you're interested in the topic of goal-setting, I highly suggest you google "S.M.A.R.T. goals" (after you're done reading wink wink). And no matter what happens, don't blame yourself. This one lesson is not a make-it or break-it moment. What new students don't realize is that I'm thinking at least one year ahead from where they're at. They can only see what's in front of them, yet I see the thousands of babysteps that will lead to their destination. At Your Lesson
So the big day is finally here. Your goal shouldn't be to just jump straight into the material. Think of the first lesson(s) as a "feeling out" process.
Remember to: 1. Ask Questions and 2. Bring a notebook (in addition to your instructions booklet) Curiosity Didn't Kill The Cat
Here's a sample action plan to discuss with your piano teacher:
The better your teacher knows you, the more effective your plan will be. Ideally, he or she will be asking you the following questions:
Additional questions: How many days (weekly) are you planning to practice? Will you take any breaks from lessons during the year? If you do take breaks, what will your strategy be?
Now let's say you don't get any of these questions. Then you need to go first. I know it's not easy, remember the last time when you were in grade school? How did you feel asking a question in front of the entire classroom? If your experience was like mine, 1 of 2 things happened. You either didn't ask because you were petrified (too many eyeballs on you) or you did ask and the teacher criticized you in front of everyone. And you said to yourself, "NEVER AGAIN!" So even if there's only one person in front of you, subconsciously you're still feeling like the (unwanted) center-of-attention on that day in the classroom. This is also one of the reasons why we lose our natural curiosity over time. I know it's hard, but you still have to go first. Remember, good questions lead to better lessons. Watch Out For This
Now, let's talk about a deceptive problem that I call "Authority Syndrome."
What happens is we tend to automatically defer to people in positions of authority (whether they're knowledgeable or not). And many times, these "authorities" can be arrogant just because they have the credentials - ever been pulled over by a nice police officer? Now I'm not saying to talk back to that policeman (because that's a fast way to double your traffic ticket), but when you're paying to see a professional it's a different story. This is important, because most professionals let their ego cloud their judgment. This applies especially to schoolteachers. Think about it: the public education system has been FAILING for years (if not decades), yet you're going to have a hard time convincing ANYONE they're doing ANYTHING the wrong way. What they don't understand is that book smarts don't equal street smarts and a degree doesn't replace real-world experience. So if you're dealing with someone like this, what I suggest is doing some homework ahead of time. It will change how they see you. When it's clear you've done some research, and know some of their terms and methods, they're no longer an authority talking down to you. They become a collaborator. But if they stubbornly insist on their way or the highway, I suggest you drop them immediately and begin a new search. At my lessons, I tell all my students - no matter what age they are - that I want more questions out of them. I want them to understand that it's a good thing. It's also a way to remind myself that I don't know it all. If you're still a little nervous, remember this: It's coming out of your wallet. Get a good return on your investment and don't let those dollars go to waste. The Pen Is Mighty
It's a myth that successful people remember everything. In reality, they write everything down. I mean if Beethoven carried a notebook, I think we should too.
My best pupils are always taking notes (they really pay attention). Unfortunately, the majority of students don't and have to be constantly reminded to write down important things. Don't make that mistake, write those notes! It's because no one cares about your lessons but you (yes, even your piano teacher won't care as much as you do). By taking the time to write your own notes, you're proving to yourself how bad you want this. You're showing initiative. Personally, I ALWAYS have my laptop open while I'm teaching. I'll often have a flash of insight, or have an important thought, during the lesson. I'll make a note on it immediately, since I don't want to risk forgetting. And I always explain to my students what I'm doing. When it's their turn to write, I give them as much time (and silence) as they need. By the way, your teacher should feel flattered when you take notes. It shows you're paying attention - and speaking of attention, just the very act of note-taking snaps you out of any passiveness. Also, make sure you don't judge what you write down (this goes for questions as well). Write down anything and everything. If you start thinking, "is this good enough?" then you'll end up in paralysis analysis (meaning no notes and no bueno). Now, in the long run about 90% of your notes may be useless (though that percentage will be much smaller if it's your first time). But listen to me when I tell you that the remaining 10% will be eventually become pure gold. Remember, note-taking is just like piano: It takes practice. The Big Picture
Do NOT make a big deal out of your first lesson. It's really not that important - no expectations, remember?
First experiences just feel like a big deal. But you do want to ask, "can I commit long term?" Because life will definitely get in the way and you'll have no shortage of challenges to both your personal and professional life. Also consider how far your teacher lives from you. Even if you find a really good teacher, a tough commute can sap your motivation real quick (something I sadly know from experience). Another factor is cash (dollar, dollar bill y'all). Besides forking up the money for a piano or keyboard, the bills for lessons will definitely add up. So make sure you're in a good place financially. But if you're strapped for cash, and can't wait to get started, group piano lessons are a good alternative. Although I personally don't think too much of them, group lessons are waaay more affordable and you get to play alongside fellow students (something you don't get at private lessons). Of course there are many strategies you'll find on this blog to help you through rough times, but just having a firm commitment will make things much easier.
It's all in the preparation. Any good carpenter knows that you measure twice and cut once. And Abraham Lincoln famously said, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
And once you do get started, stay alert at your lesson. Happy practicing! You Got This
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