Today’s post is for people who are supporting other people in learning piano, rather than learning piano themselves (so parents, teachers, etc.). The question I have for you today is, what kind of energy are you bringing to piano lessons?

Talking about “energy” doesn’t have to be spiritual woo-woo. I think we can talk about energy in an objective way if we think about it as the way that your unique combination of interests, values, goals, and expectations merge to create the attitude you bring to each new endeavour.

Sometimes when we want our music to sound a certain way, we need to use a combination of white keys and black keys. Notes that are written on a staff are always white keys by default. So how do we fix this?

The process of learning how to read note names in piano music is really similar to the process of learning how to find your way to a friend’s house.

The first time you visit a friend, you need specific instructions in order to get there, usually in the form of an address.

Once you visit a couple of times, you won’t rely on the address as much because you’ll start to build little mental shortcuts to help you find your way.

At the beginning of this month, I got a slew of emails asking for advice on purchasing a family’s very first keyboard. Typically I’m asked which brand and model is the best entry-level keyboard for beginners, but unfortunately the answer is not that simple. There is no one model that will be right for everyone! Instead, I recommend that every family consider their needs and interests, so they can choose a keyboard that’s best for them.

If you’re at the stage in your piano journey where you're still trying to become comfortable in reading new notes, it’s okay to look for shortcuts in your music as a way of helping you understand your song.

A shortcut could be anything from noticing a note on line 2 is the same one that you labelled on line 1, or noticing that a phrase, hand position, or chord progression repeats itself.

If you want to unlock your musical creativity, your first step is both very simple and also the hardest thing you will ever do.

Are you ready?

If you want to unlock your musical creativity, you have to start taking seriously the ideas that you already have.

If you’re a parent who would like to support their child in learning piano, help them find opportunities to teach other people what they’re learning in their piano lessons.

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you really want to know a subject, teach it?” In my experience, that saying is very true — I constantly learn new aspects about music the longer I teach it — and it applies to kids as much as it applies to adults.

In my experience, the people who struggle the most with performance anxiety are musicians who identify as sensitive people.

Here’s why I think that is.

I’ve already mentioned that my post on performance mindset drew some feedback on how musicians in my social media community struggle with perfectionism. What I didn’t expect (although it makes sense in hindsight) is that people also drew a connection with performance anxiety on social media. One commenter in particular admitted they don’t post their own music on social media because of the stress of being good enough for others.

This concern over sharing one’s music or performances on social media is something I hear from a lot of people I work with. I, too, have had to overcome a fear of showing up on social media in order to build my own musical community.

One idea in particular has helped me the most in overcoming my fear of social media, and I’d like to share it with you today.