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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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.
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Why You Shouldn’t Skip Ahead: The Case for Mastery-Based Learning
One of the most common requests from piano students is to skip ahead. “Can we learn this piece instead?” “I don’t need scales; can we just work on repertoire?” “Why do we have to learn this before moving on?” The impulse is understandable.
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How to Support Your Child’s Piano Journey Without Becoming the Practice Police
Every piano parent has been there. Your child sits down at the bench, plays through their piece once (maybe), then announces they are done. You know the recital is in three weeks. You know what their teacher assigned.
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What Age Should My Child Start Piano Lessons?
One of the most common questions I get from parents in the Clearwater area is: Is my child old enough to start piano? After years of teaching students of all ages, I have some honest thoughts on the matter.
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It’s Never Too Late to Learn to Play the Piano
Every professional musician was once a beginner. The only difference between them and you is that they started. Your time is now.
