5 Tips For Piano Success

What is Piano Success?

Success very subjective and each student will have their own definition of succe
ss at the piano. For one student, piano success might be as simple as learning o
ne song at the piano. For another student, success at the piano might mean writi
ng songs, playing with others or getting more gigs.
No matter how you define success at the piano, there are 5 success tips that I w
ant to share with you to help you find success at the piano sooner!
Success Tip #1: Lessons are part of the puzzle but not the entire picture
Students have left comments on the lessons and reached out to me asking if I cou
ld show them all possible lick ideas to use over a song. While I appreciate the en
thusiasm in the student, I get concerned as their teacher.
You will not find all of the answers in one lesson. There is no one lesson that
I can recommend that will teach you improvisation or how to create a full arrang
ement.
Lessons are stepping stones. You start here (where you are in your playing right
now today) and you want to get there (whatever your piano goal is) and these less
ons are the stones that take you across the river to the other side.
You already know that this piano journey is not as easy as: This ONE Piano Lesson
will make ALL Your Piano Dreams Come True. I would ask as well, would you be hap
py if it was easy as one single lesson? Personally, I think the journey is what
makes learning the piano fun. Yes, there are challenges along the way but you ar
e a better pianist because of those challenges.
I know personally if getting my black belt (I m take karate with my son Connor) wa
s as easy as a 6-week class, it would not have the same meaning to my son and I.
Realize that you re on a journey and these lessons are designed to work together t
o teach you how to find success at the piano. You won t learn it all in one lesson
, but if you stick with it, your piano playing will be transformed forever.
Success Tip #2: You can t control mistakes, but you can control how you handle the
m
This should be obvious, but students sometimes get crushed by mistakes. I don t thin
k I need to explain to you that you really can t control whether or not you ll make
a mistake. They just happen. However, what do you do when you make a mistake?
Since this piano learning process is a journey, it behooves us to learn more abo
ut how we deal with failure.
Are you crushed by failure?
Or, do you think of it as a learning experience?
When you make a mistake, do you yell? Bang the piano? Walk away? Take a breath?
Staying in the game as I tell students is how you ll become the pianist you want to
become. Don t be afraid of a little self-analysis of how you deal with mistakes. S
ince we all make mistakes, there will be plenty of time to analyze your behavior
.
After take a close look at HOW you respond to a mistake, think about how you re go
ing to DEAL with making a mistake next time. You might even write a note to your

self that says something like The next time I make a mistake, I m not going to get
mad. Instead I will walk away from the piano, take 5 cleansing breaths and say t
o myself I can do this before trying again.
Might seem silly at first, but these types of messages and directions
re what successful people have been using for years. So they work!
Success Tip #3: 5-minutes a day of practice yields real results

to oneself a

Many students find it hard to believe that practicing the piano for only 5 minut
es a day can produce results. 5 minutes of practice a day keeps you thinking abo
ut music on a daily basis. This is better than practicing only once a week for a
n hour because your musical mind is being activated daily.
So why 5 minutes and not 10 or 20 minutes?
Of course if you can practice 30 minutes a day, you ll see greater results faster.
The reality for many busy adults is that they just don t have 30 minutes a day to
practice.
In fact, the #1 reason that students give for quitting the piano is that they do
n t have the time. See tip #5 for my thoughts on this one.
If you can practice for 5 minutes a day, the reality is that you are much more l
ikely to practice longer. For most students just beginning their practice sessio
n is the real challenge. Once they are practicing, they magically have the time
to practice for more than 5 minutes.
As adults, we often place a lot of barriers in front of the things in life that
bring us joy. We say things to ourselves like: I can t spend time with the family b
ecause I need to work. Or, I don t have the time to practice the piano because I m so
busy.
There are many reasons why we say things like this to ourselves. And, if you don t
say exactly these statements, you might think thoughts like I should have starte
d the piano years ago. Or, My fingers can t move fast enough. See the pattern?
We have a tendency to feed negative thoughts to ourselves. It doesn t make us bad
people it just makes us human!
So my suggestion is to think simple. Think of only 5 minutes a day of practice.
5 minutes is easy enough to accomplish, right? We can all spare at least 5 minut
es a day.
Give it a try you ve got nothing to lose!
Success Tip #4: You can practice anywhere
Another tip that students find hard to believe is that they can practice the pia
no anywhere. How is this possible? , they ask.
When away from the piano you practice music theory.
Right now I m on a plane travelling cross country. While in the air, I don t need an
y roll up keyboard or fancy app I ve got my brain. Here are some of the things I cou
ld practice right now at 35,000 feet:
Spell out the notes of my major scales. So D major is D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#,
D
Name what the 9th, #11 and 13th are for each key. So for the key of B they a
re C#, E# and G#
Spell my triads: major, minor, augmented and diminished

Spell my 7th chords (try spelling only 1 kind at first. For example, spell o
ut all dominant 7th chords)
Name the ii-V-I progression for all keys. Key of G: A-7 to D7 to GMaj7.
There are easily 10 more music theory items I could quiz myself on at this altit
ude, or at sea level. Point is, there is always something to practice!
Another way I used to practice was to photocopy my music and take it with me. I
would copy a song out of the real book, fold it up and stick it in my pocket. Wh
enever I had a moment, I would pull that paper out and try to memorize the chord
progression. I learned MANY songs using this method!
Success Tip #5: Time isn t given it s stolen
I want you to think of yourself as a time pirate and I want you to pillage, plunde
r and steal ALL the time you need to achieve your goals.
The reality is that we NEVER have enough time. There are always distractions tha
t are just waiting to take up your precious time. I work 9-5 (actually usually 7
:30am LOL) every day on Jazzedge, recording lessons, writing articles, sending e
mails and creating killer content for my students. But my karate class now starts
at 5pm.
There are days when I am up to my eyeballs working on a project and I think for
an instant Should I finish this project or go to karate? Of course I go to karate!
Why? Because it feeds my soul AND my body. I could easily rationalize why I can t
go. I m busy, students count on me, team members count on me, my family counts on
me. But I need to take that time for ME. Otherwise, I become useless to those a
round me because I am not FEEDING my soul.
I like to call this making deposits into my emotional bank account. If I don t make
those deposits, I have nothing to give and withdraw at a later time.
So take the time to do what feeds your soul. If you re reading this post, it s likel
y that piano feeds your soul and so it should! Playing the piano is a gift from G
od, hands down. I am grateful for the skills that I have been given.
Make the time to find out what talent you have inside. I believe that EVERYONE h
as something to say and give at the piano. Don t let the excuse of I don t have the t
ime stand in your way of finding out what talent lies within.
If you don t have the time, be a pirate and STEAL 5 minutes a day for the piano!
Here s to YOUR Piano Success!
- See more at: http://pianowithwillie.jazzedge.com/2014/09/5-tips-piano-success/
#sthash.6gHCVH0S.dpuf