Frequently asked questions
How fast can I learn?
• You can learn to read music in a few hours. Playing the piano takes practice!
• There are no overnight piano players. Just getting your fingers to do what your brain is telling them takes practice because you have to gain muscle control. But don’t be discouraged. Playing the piano is rewarding, whether you are doing it for yourself or have the goal of playing for others to enjoy
Can anyone learn to play the piano?
• Anyone with enough moveable fingers can learn to play the piano. You can’t play the piano yet because you don’t know how. Doing different things simultaneously is something you learn to do and will get better at if you practise
• The solution: get a teacher and practise regularly. It takes two years to go from an absolute beginner to being an intermediate player
Practising for 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours: how much is enough?
Is there such a thing as practising too much? Is there an optimal number of hours that one should practise?
• Practising too much is a waste of time. Why? For one, very little productive learning takes place when we practise this way. This is why we can practise a piece for hours, days or weeks, and still not feel that we’ve improved all that much
• Even worse, you are digging yourself a hole by practising this way because what this model of practising does is strengthen undesirable habits and errors literaly making it more likely that you will make mistakes more consistently in the future. This makes it more difficult to correct these habits in the future – so you are actually adding to the amount of future practice time you will need in order to eliminate these bad habits and tendencies
Children learn faster than adults
Reality: there is no difference.
In my personal experience of teaching both children and adults, the idea that a child’s brain is more receptive is incorrect. It’s just a illusion that the child may be able to absorb new material faster than the adult.
However, what the child often doesn’t have is desire. The adult really wants to study piano and this great desire creates the type of focus that is needed for quick learning. In fact, adults who have this intention, often from wanting to make up for “lost time” often learn faster than children!
Do I have to study classical music before I can play pop or jazz?
The idea that you must study classical music first is incorrect. In fact, even if one’s goal is to focus strictly on classical music there is great value in studying popular chord technique and improvisation
The best way to study music theory is through popular music! This is because chords are presented in a straightforward manner as chord symbols without even having to read music! Theory knowledge can make you a better performer, a better sight-reader, a better memoriser, a better interpreter and a better overall musician, and this, of course applies equally to classical music.
The easiest way to start a path towards music theory is to study jazz or popular music with a teacher who knows how to explain chord-reading. So, one could study classical first and then popular, but remember that these are different skills that take time to master.