"Dalcroze Eurhythmics" is an approach to music education based on the premise that rhythm is the primary element in music, and the source for all musical rhythm may be found in the natural rhythms of the human body. The total method consists of three p...

Don�t Live in a �fools� Paradise! You Have to Practice Scales and Arpeggios to Play ANY Style of Music Let me tell you a short story... In the late 70�s, between semesters while in College, I would hang out at a popular night club in Wash...

For the 18+ years old adult, studying the piano for the first time in their life, I believe you should avoid three "pitfalls" to assure realistic progress. These pitfalls are unscrupulous online vendors, bogus review sites and well-intentioned piano ins...

You�re never too old to start learning how to play the piano. There are SO many online instruction programs today, that I know it can be very confusing. It is my intent that this article will shed some light into your search to find the most appropri...

The fastest way to learn to play piano and make music, is to count out loud. If you choose not to, then you must use a Metronome... Every student, regardless of age, thinks that he or she can count in their heads and negotiate even the simplest rhyt...

Copyright 2006 RAW Productions Too many pianists seem to have forgotten that their instrument is classified as part of the percussion family. They spend so much energy and focus on the minute details, such as which note goes where, that they lose (or ...

Copyright 2006 RAW Productions When the practicing "blahs" strike, you just need an attitude adjustment. You don't have to sweat blood to practice well. You don't even have to think of it as work, or duty, or even something that you ought to do. Sto...

Copyright 2006 RAW Productions There is no substitute for practice. By spending a couple of hours with your instrument every day you develop a special relationship with it. You need to have a regular practice routine that contains certain constant ...

Copyright 2005 RAW Productions Training your ear is much the same as training your dog: you keep shouting orders at it until it recognizes what a certain sound means. For example, if someone sat at your piano and kept playing major chords without in...

Copyright 2005 RAW Productions Shell voicings are simple but functional. They make use of the root and either the third of the seventh any chord. Sometimes referred to as "shell" voicings, these are commonly used as left-hand accompaniment in the p...

Copyright 2005 RAW Productions You are neither too young nor too old to play piano and compose. If you think otherwise, get that fairy tale out of your head. A few geniuses began at age 3 and burned out in middle age. Gustave Mahler, a modern symp...

Copyright 2005 RAW Productions If you are like most people, your performance of a piece of music "at first sight" could probably stand some improvement. Oh, to be able to breeze through a brand new piece without all the stops and starts! What you m...

Controlling the images of the mind through image projection has proven valuable not only for psychotherapy, but also as a learning aid. Visualization can have as much impact on the subconscious, memory, and entire body as a "real" experience. For exam...

One of the rules of practicing we all hear over and over is "Be sure to practice slowly." (I'm guilty of this too!) Often the result of this is a feeling of inhibition, which leads to tedium. Picture yourself filled with excitement and yearning in sett...

Rarely is a chord played with its tones contained in a single octave, the root on the bottom, the third in the middle, and the fifth on the top. Usually chords are "voiced!" This basically means that the positions of a chord's tones are scattered ov...