3 Ways Practice Has Changed My Life

If you'd asked me 2 years ago if I'd write a post like this, I would have laughed it off. 

I have been a professional keyboard player for 20 years. During my undergrad in music composition, I remember practicing long hard hours until late in the night completing assignments and working on my music.  

It wasn't uncommon for me to work from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. practicing, only to get up at 7 a.m. I would go to class at 8 a.m. and then repeat that cycle. ( Oh, to be young again! )

After my undergrad, I began to be very complacent about my skills. I only practiced when it was necessary for upcoming performances. 

Then everything changed. 

I started getting work with players that were much better than I was. I was recording often, and I wasn't liking what I was hearing. Worse yet, I started to notice my students were refusing to practice. 

I needed to do better and set a better example. 

A fellow teacher posted an article about the 100 days of practice.  This Instagram tag, propagated by Hilary Hahn, encourages musicians to post videos of their practice process. 

I got inspired, and I got to work.

Here's what I got out of it that was really unexpected: 

#1 - Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is typically defined as the quality of wanting to complete one's work thoroughly. 

 This is definitely not one of my natural personality traits. 

I had the honor of studying with an incredible classical piano teacher.  I remember that he suggested to me that I should complete small tasks unrelated to music to improve my playing. 

Clean your room, and don't stop till everything is in order (that includes no random clutter in your closet.) Dust every shelf in the house.  Put your book collection in alphabetical order. 

This sounded like some kind of waterboarding technique to me. How was that going to help anything? 

Of course, like any good student, I didn't take my teacher's advice. But the 100 days of practice changed my mind. 

I was surprised to find that instead of feelings of torture or pain, it left me with a sense of purpose. A feeling of completion and accomplishment at the end of the day. A high, if you will.

#2 - Habit/Scheduling 

I decided early on in the process of the 100 days of practice that I needed a set daily time for practicing. 

I'm not one for morning routines. Or much routine at all, frankly. 

I have actually found that redundant daily patterns really drove me nuts, so I've avoided them. 

Maybe it's because I'm a creative.  I'm totally into a Nightingale Conant kind of workday. 

However, I was surprised to find that a set practice time was an unexpected joy. 

The day felt more intentional, less random, and chaotic. It also felt more productive and full of purpose. 

This made me rethink scheduling and habits. I've been experimenting with blocking my days, which has been immensely rewarding. I was really inspired by a TED talk about POD to try and combine a scheduled routine with a sense of creative openness. 

Maybe routine and creativity can coexist. 

Maybe I am a creature of habit.....creative habits. 

#3 - Grit

Yet another characteristic I don't really associate with.....

The Angela Duckworth book on the Subject of Grit and outstanding performance was a great read. I'm fascinated by top-flight performance and was intrigued by the ideas the book laid out. 

I really didn't take an opportunity to apply that knowledge until I started my practice journey. 

Showing up, day after day, and working on things you aren't good at doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Certainly, it improves your skill, but it can wear away at your mindset if you allow it to. 

Something interesting happens when you practice that I did not expect. You get used to doing things that you can't do. You get used to tackling a new problem every day and facing things that you're afraid of. It starts to become a game, like a daily Rubik's cube. It becomes fun. 

Daily practice wasn't easy or fun all the time, but it's become part of my life and a joy for me. 

I wish the same for you!  

Perform Piano...Save The Planet!

When it's time to step onstage into the bright lights shining down on you, and the crowd is cheering wildly for the show to start, there are so many feelings that can hit you all at once.  Excitement, elation, nervousness, euphoria… and then the adrenaline kicks in with the first note!

There is so much fulfillment in performing music for a live audience. The great Billy Joel once said: 

“I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.” 

It's on stage where we are able to deliver an experience to the audience, one that might stick with them for their whole lives. Although the audience may be contrived of many different individuals with various backgrounds and outlooks, the music somehow brings everyone together on one frequency and unites the audience, merging everyone participating into a collective consciousness. 

“Art should teach spirituality by showing a person a portion of himself that he would not discover otherwise." - Bill Evans

When we are performing music for someone, whether it be for a theatre full of people or in the living room for a couple of friends, we are opening windows of creativity within the minds and hearts of those listening. As musicians, we can help show others a piece of themselves that they had not seen before.

Through this art we can shine a different perspective into people's lives that can fill in another piece of the puzzle we are all helping each other figuring out.  With each note placement, it is like painting through strokes of sound waves onto the canvas of silence. We connect with the intention of the composition and vibrate the space around us.

The piano is an amazing instrument in the way we are able to play like an arranger would write for an orchestra. The sheer spectrum of the instrument coupled with the 10 fingers of each player allows for an amazing ability to access all frequency zones of the low-mid- high ranges.

Also with the two arms of the pianist, we are able to divide up different rhythms between the two hands, therefore a plethora of syncopations are also possible just from one player!  The depth of expression that can be achieved is infinite and really allows the personality of each individual to shine. 

With so much power from one instrument also comes the responsibility of the player. It is through the medium of piano that we are able to share our interpretations with the world not only of the great works of the past, (everything from Bach & Duke Ellington to Bob Dylan & The Allman Brothers) but also our present-day music that tells a story about our culture and the current state of the world we live in. With this power of resonance with the human spirit through aural vibrations, we are able to morph the reality around us into a world that is hopefully better off when we leave it then when we entered it.

So find the music that inspires your soul, and chances are that same music will help inspire others around you! Then it is up to you how you share that music with the world, and someday maybe it will influence you to write your own music that tells your own story about the world.

Then take it to the stage (whether it be a small coffeehouse or large concert hall), let the lights shine down, and give it your best to inspire others to be the best version of themselves they can be. This could be just one way that we create a better world to live in for ourselves and the people of the future.

Look At That Motorcycle

“We are the music makers,
    And we are the dreamers of dreams”

-Arthur O’Shaughnessy/Willy Wonka

It’s my 8th birthday and I’m jumping out of my skin in anticipation of what might be behind the enormous piece of plywood my parents have carefully placed across the entrance to our living room. “We’re waiting for Grandpa to get here,” my mother cheerfully says, as the seconds continue to tick by, ever so glacially. 

My grandpa FINALLY arrives, walks across the kitchen, peeks behind the plywood, and exclaims “Oh my, look at that motorcycle in there!”  I assumed from the look of annoyance on my mother’s face that he’d given away the surprise, as I tried to pretend that I hadn’t heard him. 

I could hardly contain my excitement- “I’m getting a motorcycle!!!”  I immediately began to speculate as to how many girls the only eight-year-old boy in his school could pick up.

The plywood was pulled back and they had me close my eyes, as they led me slowly into the living room.  Images swirled in my mind. “Was it dark blue… or even better… shiny red, with gold sparkles?  What color is my helmet?!?  Do I get to wear cool boots and leather gloves?!?!?”

Suddenly, they stopped me in the center of the living room.  The moment of the big reveal had come!  “OK, open your eyes,” I heard someone say.  I opened them. There, sitting right before my eyes, was…. a piano. 

I did my best impersonation of an excited boy, but I suspect that the look on my face revealed a less-than-enthusiastic response from what my parents had hoped for.  It took a while for my mom to forgive my grandpa for having built up my expectations, but it took absolutely no time at all for me to realize that I’d been given one of the greatest gifts anyone could ever receive:  the gift of making music at the piano.

The piano and I have been best friends ever since, always there for me whenever I needed to express whatever emotion required expression in any particular moment.  In fact, there’s never been a time when I didn’t walk away from playing the piano not feeling at least a little more alive than when I’d started.

My goal is to spark that same lifelong passion for making music in my students, whether they wind up doing it in a professional capacity, purely for the sake of enjoyment, or they simply need a friend to turn to who will always be there and will never let them down.  

Since everyone learns differently and has different musical interests and goals as to what they want to achieve, I carefully tailor my teaching methods to the learning styles of each individual student.  I especially enjoy teaching students with special needs (or “special gifts,” as I prefer to say).  

But regardless of the type of student, the common element is a desire to give students a fundamental understanding of the language of music, so that no matter what style(s) they want to play, whether by ear or via the printed page, they know what it is they are expressing.

Making music is, after all, and above all else, about communicating in a way that bypasses the head and goes straight to the heart, which is why, like Sondheim, I consider teaching to be the sacred profession. As Oscar Hammerstein said, “By your pupils, you’ll be taught” and at the end of the day, I find my students to be my greatest teachers. 

Who could ask for anything more?

Piano: My Songwriting Secret-Weapon

In the world of music, it’s common to hear the phrase “anyone can write a song.” You might hear people muttering it to their friends as they leave a pop concert, or rolling their eyes after listening to the Billboard top 100 playlist.

The truth is - a lot goes into the songwriting process. One of my secret weapons in the songwriting process is the piano.

 What you hear when you listen to a song is primarily two things: lyrics (the words) and music (the instruments and melodies). What you don’t hear is the time it takes to pour into creating clever rhymes, literary devices, images, and structure that make up a song. Any song can check those things off the list, but what makes a song really stand out?

 A great song has a perfect marriage between the music and the lyrics. The music will speak in moments of silence between lyrics, and will support and uphold the emotional intent of the lyrics. We’ve all had a good cry over a song.

Think about that song- what was satisfying to you? Was it the upper register on the piano ringing out a nostalgic sound, tied in with the perfectly timed words that hit you right in the heart? Usually these songs are so brilliantly crafted that both the music and the lyrics are primary players in the game.

 So, let’s talk piano. I’ve been playing piano longer than I’ve been writing songs, but I just recently realized in the last 5 years how imperative piano skills are in the songwriting process. Here’s a peek into my process, that you might find helpful if you already know piano, or if you’re interested in learning how to play- this could sell you!

 If you were to break the songwriting process down from the musical perspective, songs are basically made up of chords, or even simpler, triads. Different chord qualities produce different emotions or moods. For example, a minor chord produces a more ominous sound, whereas a major chord evokes a feeling of happiness or stability. Just like you have to make decisions about chords, you have to decide how you will arrange them. Different chord progressions produce different journey’s for the listener.

Once you have your chords, you can really expand on the basic triads you’re playing to enhance the song. If you listen to any classic rock song, you’ve probably heard an electric guitar solo before, and if you’ve been to a rock show, you know how much that solo gets the crowd going.

Solos, riffs, musical hooks, any little extra thing that makes the song more memorable and emotionally satisfying, is born out of the chords that you choose. The better you know the piano or instrument of choice, the more interesting you can make the song because the opportunities are endless.

 You don’t have to be an expert pianist, and you don’t even have to know how to play piano to be able to get good at the songwriting process. The most exciting part about this is that there is always more to learn. There are always more grooves to choose from or create yourself. You can make a song as standard or unique as you want it when you know the piano. You can always start simple and expand your songs as you get better and learn more.

Now go, listen to the songs you like and study them. Dig into the piano, or start if you never have before. Write good songs and share them with the world! We need good songs!