Why Harpsichord Music Is Full of Ornaments
If you’ve looked at a page of French harpsichord music,…
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Bach and Handel at the Keyboard, and Why Bach’s Suites Stayed in Piano Lessons
Almost every piano student meets Bach. A minuet from the…
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Rameau for Piano Students and the Showpieces He Wrote
Ask a music student what Jean-Philippe Rameau is known for…
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Recital Decorum: How to Bow, What to Wear, and How to Be a Great Audience
Most families think of a recital as the two minutes…
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When Is the Best Time of Year to Start Piano Lessons?
Every August, my inbox fills with a version of the…
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What Kind of Piano or Keyboard Do You Need to Start Lessons?
You do not need to spend a fortune to start piano lessons, but the instrument you practice on shapes everything about how you learn. Here is what actually matters: 88 keys, weighted hammer action, and touch sensitivity.
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What to Expect at Your First Piano Lesson
The decision is made, the first lesson is on the…
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Why Beginners Can’t Skip the Fundamentals (What Running Taught Me About Piano)
One of my students came to me this week with…
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Is Playing Music Good for the Brain? What the Research Actually Says
Learning to play an instrument changes the brain in measurable…
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The Fastest Path to Reading Music Fluently
Many pianists taught to read music letter-by-letter progress slowly through scores, silently naming each note: E, G, B, D, F. They can decipher any piece eventually, but fluent sight-reading remains elusive. Intelligence and musical sensitivity are not the bottleneck. Method is. Research on how accomplished sight-readers actually process musical notation reveals a starkly different strategy. Fluent readers do not name individual letters. Instead, they read by shapes, contours, and spatial patterns anchored to a handful of landmark notes. This insight offers a faster pathway to fluent reading for students at any level.
