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How to Practice Creatively – Identifying the Problem – Part 9 of 9

Welcome to the final article in this series, How To Practice Creatively! If you've read all of the previous articles in this series, you may be wondering why I saved "Identifying the Problem" for last.  That's because this is the longest and most involved part of creative practicing. Finding creative solutions is the most

By |2017-09-29T08:55:48-04:00October 12th, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Piano, Practice, Technique|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

How to Practice Creatively – Just Playin’ – Part 8 of 9

So far in this series I've talked about being very focused on practicing, detailing what specific tasks you should plan for each day, troubleshooting your problems, creative ways you can maximize your time and enjoyment at the piano. But there's one very important part that's missing from the process - what I call "Just

By |2017-09-29T08:55:20-04:00October 5th, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Piano, Practice, Technique|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Performance Anxiety – Part 7 of 8 – Self-Assessment

We come to the last component of dealing with performance anxiety: self-assessment. This part comes after a performance is over usually, although one can do this anywhere in the process (EXCEPT during a performance! that’s a no-no!). This is where you reflect on first what went well, and when you’re ready to think about

By |2017-09-27T12:26:37-04:00September 28th, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Performance, Piano, Practice, Tutorials, Voice|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Performance Anxiety – Part 6 of 8 – Having the Right Perspective

When you play in front of an audience, it can appear that they are against you. After all, you have a group of some size - whether just a few, or thousands - facing you and outnumbering you! Even though most people know in their conscious minds that they're not really against you, this perspective can play tricks

By |2017-09-27T12:43:59-04:00September 23rd, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Performance, Piano, Practice, Tutorials, Voice|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

How to Practice Creatively – Daily Practice – Part 7 of 9

To some of you, the idea of practicing every day seemed fairly obvious when you decided to take up piano. But I know that for others, this is a real struggle. Sometimes, you desire to get to it, but you have so many demands on you during the day that by the time you get

By |2017-09-27T12:30:01-04:00September 14th, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Piano, Practice, Technique|Tags: , , , |2 Comments

How to Practice Creatively – Listen To Your Body – Part 5 of 9

Many times we get so focused on the sound that we want and the desire to get to the point where we can play our piece and just enjoy hearing it, that we ignore the signals our body is trying to tell us when something is not quite right with our technique. Sometimes the technique

By |2017-09-27T12:41:23-04:00August 31st, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Piano, Practice, Technique|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Performance Anxiety – Part 5 of 8 – Inner Dialogue & Musicality

Every human has feelings to a certain degree or another. Most of us understand the display of feeling in others, and so when we encounter music - which is a means of depicting emotion through sound - we “get it”. However, being able to get that emotion to come out of our fingers or

By |2017-09-23T16:40:20-04:00August 31st, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Performance, Piano, Practice, Tutorials, Voice|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Performance Anxiety – Part 4 of 8 – What’s Really at Stake?

The process of dealing with Performance Anxiety needs to contain some healthy doses of perspective and self-reflection. Ask yourself questions like: Why am I doing this? Is there really anything at stake other than my pride? Am I afraid of disappointing a teacher (either real or imagined pressure)? Am I trying to prove to

By |2017-08-30T11:15:53-04:00August 25th, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Performance, Piano, Practice, Tutorials, Voice|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

How to Practice Creatively – Slow Practice – Part 4 of 9

Practice S-L-O-W-L-Y I can’t stress this enough. I even typed it slowly for emphasis.  Most people who have studied some piano are aware of the concept of slow practice, but many do not employ this technique to its fullest potential. You may even be wondering why this would be a part of Creative Practicing that is supposed

By |2017-08-30T11:41:20-04:00August 24th, 2017|Categories: Lesson, Piano, Practice, Technique|Tags: , , , |0 Comments