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Curiously, my audio memory is very strong. I can hear music in my head clearly and in detail, even songs and pieces I haven't heard in years. This does not translate to "finger-memory".
The sadness of my piano life is not my fingers but my dumb brain . No matter how intensely I practice and memorize a piece, if I step away from it for a week I'll forget 30% of it. Curiously, my audio memory is very strong. I can hear music in my head clearly and in detail, even songs and pieces I haven't heard in years. This does not translate to "finger-memory".
He does two different "tracks" according to what the student wants: (1) learn currently popular songs or (2) learn didactic music in the classical tradition (e.g. Czerny). In either track he's really teaching music theory: most popular music will be I-IV-V; jazzy music with turnarounds do ii-V-I tricks, etc. He doesn't teach an instrument, he teaches music.
It's funny, I've had almost the same experience: decided to start playing again during Covid, and wanted to use the midi port to gamify things a bit. I've been using Synthesia[1] on an iPad, which also lets you take an arbitrary MIDI file and practice it. On the off-chance that this will inspire the article's author for their development, or simply for the curious, this has been my experience with it: The primary mod…
The way I learn is by bars, repeatedly re-playing bars say, 1 to 4, until I get them, them 3 to 7, until I get them, etc.. But most piano apps want you to start playing from start to end slow, then faster, etc.
So: piano apps should allow breaking a piece into bars, allow you to repeat those bars again and again until you exceed certain score. Maybe even keep track of which bars are harder to play, and repeating the difficult bars more often, etc.
The sadness of my piano life is not my fingers but my dumb brain . No matter how intensely I practice and memorize a piece, if I step away from it for a week I'll forget 30% of it. Curiously, my audio memory is very strong. I can hear music in my head clearly and in detail, even songs and pieces I haven't heard in years. This does not translate to "finger-memory".
When you practice and learn a piece, how exactly to you practice and memorize it?
But I do go through spurts, where I practice every day but then for whatever reason step away from days or 1-2 weeks, which might be killing the neuron connections.
I also round-robin my nighttime between piano, guitar, and composition, which probably ain't helping.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When you practice and learn a piece, how exactly to you practice and memorize it?
Slowly and deliberately, focusing on the parts that elude me (i.e., I'll skip the intro and other sections that are 100% solid in muscle memory). Paying attention to fingerings. I'll usually focus on 1-2 pieces at any given time. But I do go through spurts, where I practice every day but then for whatever reason step away from days or 1-2 weeks, which might be killing the neuron connections. I also round-robin my nig…
I also play piano, guitar, and compose, and I used to struggle with memorizing, but I've been reading a lot of piano practicing theory and have drastically upgraded my finger memory, mostly by using these resources:
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=12590.0 (look for Bernhard's post)
Loosely, stop using sheet music except when you're initially memorizing the piece, learn music in much smaller chunks than initially expected, and play entirely from memory whenever possible, even when you're practicing the repetition of something.
The fact that you can remember music easily in your head means that if you spend 1-3 years really banging out the hand-brain connection, you might be able to rocket your playing forward. Raw improvisation where you think of the melody before you play it will help, too, if you don't already do that.
It's funny, I've had almost the same experience: decided to start playing again during Covid, and wanted to use the midi port to gamify things a bit. I've been using Synthesia[1] on an iPad, which also lets you take an arbitrary MIDI file and practice it. On the off-chance that this will inspire the article's author for their development, or simply for the curious, this has been my experience with it: The primary mod…
I think what's missing on most "piano-games" is that it doesn't really mirror the way I learn a piece. The way I learn is by bars, repeatedly re-playing bars say, 1 to 4, until I get them, them 3 to 7, until I get them, etc.. But most piano apps want you to start playing from start to end slow, then faster, etc. So: piano apps should allow breaking a piece into bars, allow you to repeat those bars again and again unt…
(Not affiliated, just something I personally use)
This will not teach you to play piano. It will teach you how to play beginner piano badly, and then will create intense confusion if you try to learn harder pieces because you will not have learned basic finger techniques - which include counter-intuitive finger-over/under moves and unexpected hand position changes that anticipate what you need to play next. Piano sheet music includes these finger position hints. Unf…
too often lessons are sadistic chores
ps: I also beg to differ about finger pattern, I've seen some seasoned piano players doing just whatever worked, the kinetics of playing allow for more than one pattern most of the time
This will not teach you to play piano. It will teach you how to play beginner piano badly, and then will create intense confusion if you try to learn harder pieces because you will not have learned basic finger techniques - which include counter-intuitive finger-over/under moves and unexpected hand position changes that anticipate what you need to play next. Piano sheet music includes these finger position hints. Unf…
If you're happy hitting grade 1 and hitting that brick wall just to have some fun, the apps do have their place, because these are people who wouldn't otherwise shell out for a teacher. It may even help people gauge whether or not they like an instrument before they move forward or change instruments.
I do 100% agree with you though that for anyone who wants to be even remotely serious, the cost of a teacher is a very good investment.