Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales
The majority of our piano journey is spent privately in the practise room, so it is important to find musical fulfilment here.
Andrew’s book How to Practise Music offers a radical, holistic and healthy approach to practising any instrument. Pianodao supports this landmark publication with several in-depth articles and reflective blog posts concerning this crucial and endlessly interesting topic…
Continue reading Effective PracticeSupporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales
Did your last practice session leave you feeling a bit like a corpse, or was your piano playing totally on fire?
Reflecting on our practice is not just a good idea, but an essential component of making the tangible progress that we all hope for whenever we sit down at the piano. Remember, it is the quality of our practice which makes the real difference, not just the quantity.
So what has your practice looked like in recent weeks?
How can you improve it, and develop a more effective approach?
Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales
They say that “practice makes permanent”, and while that isn’t strictly true, the point is well made that inattention to the details when practising music can lead to long-term problems when it comes to playing, performing, or recording a piece.
Inattention to detail is often the symptom of impatience, a rush to reach the finishing-line and play the whole piece with a measure of fluency. We can’t wait! Perhaps we have listened to an inspiring recording and want our own playing to communicate the same flow of emotion and impact.
We too easily forget that such electrifying playing is typically only possible with detailed and careful preparation. And that very often, the most striking element of a performance is the clarity with which the details in the music are vividly brought to life.
Continue reading Attention to DetailsSupporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales
Keeping you own Piano Journal is an idea that is so simple it seems obvious, yet so powerful that it could transform your piano journey in the months and years ahead.
In my book How to Practise Music, I wrote the following to suggest adult learners keep a piano journal:
“Older learners often like to keep their own journal in which they write a more reflective account of their practice journey, which may or may not be shared with a teacher. These can be excellent tools for structuring practice sessions, probing for solutions, or looking back on previous work.”
It is a suggestion I unpacked in more detail in my article Keeping Your Own Piano Journal, which fascinatingly proved to be one of the most popular posts ever published on this site.
That article includes an explanation of what a piano journal is, what the benefits of keeping one are, how to get started, and questions that you might wish to reflect on in your piano journal.
I won’t rehash the answers given in that article, but I want to let you know about a new gift book from Edition Peters, a simple but gorgeously presented notebook which could be the ideal repository for your reflections and tool for piano journaling over the next year.
Continue reading Your New Piano JournalSupporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales
The Einstellung Effect is a form of cognitive bias which happens when our existing knowledge or habitual ways of thinking influence our approach to solving fresh problems as we encounter them.
Rather than exploring innovative, bespoke solutions, we too often simply fall back on the familiar. This can hinder our ability to find more effective answers, and prevents us from discovering better strategies or ideas.
As the writer Anthony T. DeBenedet, M.D. explains in his bestselling book Playful Intelligence (2018):
“The Einstellung Effect is the development of a mechanised state of mind, referring to a predisposition to solve a problem based on previous experience, even though a better way to solve the problem exists. Einstellung is essentially the negative effect, or influence, of previous experience when solving new problems.”
Ironically, the more expert we become, the less wise and flexible we can actually be when it comes to recognising the value of fresh ideas. We box ourselves in with a belief that ours is the best or only way.
As DeBenedet puts it, we’re stuck,
“If we rely too much on our past experience to solve a problem, we allow the brain’s connections that have always fired together to continue firing (and wiring!) together. This is how we get stuck.”
And because piano playing has a strong cognitive element, the Einstellung Effect can impact our progress here too. Here’s a few of the signs:
Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales
I wish that I could tell you that playing the piano is a completely benign and entirely safe activity. But that would be untrue, because although practice is not inherently dangerous, it can certainly pose challenges and potential dangers to any player, both mental and physical.
Physically, the risks of tension, fatigue and repetitive strain injury are a common concern. Mentally, musicians face fears of inadequacy, self-doubt and performance anxiety, all of which can combine to affect our practice and general well-being.
It is only by acknowledging and addressing these concerns and challenges that we can cultivate a healthy and productive practice routine…
Continue reading Dangerous Piano PracticeSupporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”
Lao Tau’s Tao Te Ching contains, in chapter 64, perhaps the most famous line in Daoist philosophy (quoting above from Solala Towler’s rendition).
Shedding further light on Lao Tzu’s philosophy, we read in the verses shortly before this:
“Deal with the difficult while it is easy.
Create the large from the small…
The largest tree grows from a tiny shoot.
The highest tower is built brick by brick.”
These words offer an important blueprint for how we might approach any task, including learning a new piece of piano music.
They also provide us with the ammunition we need in order to stop putting off our practice, and overcome procrastination. Let’s consider how.
Continue reading Practice or Procrastination?Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales
In my book How to Practise Music, I wrote the following to suggest adult learners keep a piano journal:
“Older learners often like to keep their own journal in which they write a more reflective account of their practice journey, which may or may not be shared with a teacher. These can be excellent tools for structuring practice sessions, probing for solutions, or looking back on previous work.”
It is a suggestion I unpack a little in the book, but in this post I want to explain the concept and potential benefits in more depth, as well as offering some practical tips to help you get started…
Continue reading Keeping Your Own Piano JournalGuest Post written by Philip Fowke
I am delighted to include this incredibly helpful post from the internationally acclaimed concert pianist, recording artist and teacher Philip Fowke.
I had the pleasure of working alongside Philip on the faculty of the Thinking Pianist course, where he shared this very wise advice. I was delighted that he asked me to publish this article, that his words of wisdom might reach a wider, ongoing audience.
How to Practise Music is an affordable pocketbook packed with practical tips to empower your musical progress.
The book is my first publication with Hal Leonard, the world’s leading music publishing company.
How to Practise Music is described by the publishers in these words, and is available in both UK and US versions (Practice/Practise):
“The essential, pocket-sized companion for every musician. Accessible and authoritative, How to Practise Music is an ideal guide for anyone learning to play music. Suitable for instrumentalists and vocalists of any genre, this comprehensive handbook will give you a better idea of how to practise music, good reasons for doing so, and the confidence to succeed. “
Purchase US English Edition here
There are digital versions for Amazon Kindle and Apple Books. The book is also available from the RNIB Bookstore, which aims to open up the world of reading to those with a print disability, including dyslexia, partial sight, and blindness.
Continue reading How to Practise Music
