How to Achieve Breakthroughs in Your Piano Playing

OK...so you've reached the point in your piano playing that you're feeling a bit stuck, or just need an extra "oomph" to get you through to the next level in your playing.

You're not alone and in fact, every musician faces this type of a plateau in their musical journey several times along the way.

The tension that you feel in wanting to move ahead is actually very positive as it means you are in fact ready to move ahead with your skills and knowledge.

There are 3 specific things that you can do now that will help bring that breakthrough into your playing.

So let's turn that frustration into action so you can see some positive growth and results!

Think of the time you spend with your piano as a relationship.

The more time you spend with someone, the better you know them, the more comfortable you feel with them, and the more a part of you and your life they become.

It's the same with your piano! The more you practice, the more comfortable you are with the keyboard, reading music, playing different rhythms and key signatures; and you find your connection to the piano and to music grows.

Repetition is key in learning the piano. It takes time to learn our scales, exercises, and pieces. It takes more than one practice session to learn certain passages in our music as we tackle new rhythms or chords.

If you're already practicing say for 15 minutes everyday yet you're not seeing the growth you'd like to in your playing, then try increasing your practice time to 45 minutes a day, or even an hour.

The main point is to make sure that you are already practicing each day, or at least most days of the week, and then add to that time so you are able to accomplish more each day.

Now we'll look at the 2nd thing you need to do to open the door to those breakthroughs!

To help you with all that extra practicing you're doing, you want to get a private teacher so you can be sure that you're playing everything right.

Having outside professional input is critical for us to have answers to our questions, receive encouragement and helpful tips, and help us learn new skills and master harder pieces.

There are a number of ways you can find a private teacher:

• Through your school
• Local College or University
• Church or local place of worship
• Online

Private teachers can also help us connect with other pianists and can advise us about educational options for those that want to study piano in college and beyond.

Music Theory is important to learn so we understand what we are actually playing and it will help us to play better and learn faster.

Actually, there's more than just music theory to include in this section. There are also things like:

• Sight reading
• Ear Training
• Chord Structures
• Articulations

Including these things in your daily piano practice will increase your knowledge of the language of music much faster. A private teacher can really help with learning all of this and there are some free sites online that offer music theory lessons and practice sessions.

Now let's put all of this together and work with each one at our keyboard!

In this video I go much more in depth about how to practice, things to look for in a good piano teacher, the benefits of online piano lessons, the specific elements of music theory that you need to be learning, and much more!

You can go through the whole video at one sitting or you can address one of these items at a time and then come back to the next one when you're ready.

Using these 3 tips in your practicing will move you into the next level of your playing much faster; especially if you apply them each time you practice.

Ready for that breakthrough? Come practice with me!