Episode 6 - Making Progress

Welcome to episode 6 , thank you for joining me . If you've found this episode randomly , you can subscribe to the podcast on any of the popular podcast networks . You can subscribe to the podcast on any of the popular podcast networks , including Apple Podcasts , Spotify and iHeartRadio , or from your podcast player of choice . You can even leave reviews on there .

The podcast is also available on YouTube , but it's still audio only . You can contact me by email , website or text . The website is being upgraded . It's on Squarespace , but I'm currently experimenting with moving it to WordPress .

It's been a while since I used WordPress and there are many nice new features to look at , but , as I said before , there's always HTML , CSS and PHP to fall back on . Having watched a good number of the Gina Bachauer piano competition videos , youtube has started suggesting other music competition videos , mostly piano , but some other instruments too .

I find them an interesting source of background music for when I'm working , and often there are pieces I haven't heard before . So it's a nice change . Search for piano competition on YouTube and you'll find plenty

on YouTube and you'll find plenty . This week's review is Improve your Sight Reading , book 1 by Paul Harris . Sight reading is an important piano skill , at least that's what about half the piano YouTube channels say . The other half say that you don't need it at all .

I think you probably do need it and , as I'm all about learning skills , it's one that I'm trying to get better at and it's a topic I'll cover in a later episode of the podcast . Clearly , one of the problems with learning sight reading is getting material with which to practice .

After all , the whole point is that it is material that you haven't seen before , so you can only use each piece once . Perhaps you can use a piece from a collection , but just once . And buying new collections just to practice sight reading whilst fun will become expensive very quickly .

Luckily , there is a solution Books made specifically for sight reading practice with lots of small pieces set at a correct level . According to the experts , you should practice sight reading a level or two below your playing level , so a graded practice book will make learning the material much easier .

The Improve your Sight Reading series by Paul Harris consists of nine books , starting at the preliminary level and progressing to level eight . I have the grade 1 book . The book is 40 pages long and is broken into nine stages . The first stage are all four-bar pieces , all using C major crotchets , quarter notes and 4-4 time .

By the end of the book the pieces are eight bars , involve quavers , eighth notes and F , c and G major keys . Each stage in the book builds upon the previous one , gradually adding skills . In all there are over a hundred practice pieces in the book . Each stage starts with some rhythmic exercises , followed by some melodic exercises which match the earlier rhythms .

A couple of prepared pieces follow with questions to get you to think about the music and how you will approach it . Then you finish with a set of further pieces to let you practice the skills covered at that stage . Here's me playing one of the very early exercises from the Grade 1 book .

So if you side with the 50% of YouTube creators who think that sight reading is important , then the Paul Harris Improve your Sight Reading series appears to be a good place to start

Making Progress . To start Making progress . Getting good at something can take a long time . The more complex the thing , the longer the time . I've watched many YouTube videos that detail someone's journey from beginner to accomplished piano player and while none of them gives a definitive answer to the question how long does it take to learn the piano ?

In all cases , the phrase a very long time is close . It can be pretty off-putting , and I'm guessing that the goal being so far away is a major reason . Older people don't take up the piano as readily as the young . So why begin the journey if you're not sure you will successfully reach the end ? Because it's the journey .

We've all heard the expression that the journey is the reward , often quoted by railway companies when their trains are slow , but we all know what they mean it's the friends we make along the way . This doesn't really help with motivation . The vague promise of spots of value in a long journey is not much more enticing than the destination itself .

What can we use to provide motivation along the way ? Well , luckily , learning the piano has many places that provide motivational pick-me-ups . Every new piece of work you look at is a new , unknown one that you can work towards learning . Every piece starts as something you can't do and ends up as something you can do .

Every piece is a measurable step in your journey , but it's easy to lose track . One of the features in the current Apple Watches is backtrack when you go on a walk , you can tell the watch to record your path so that it can let you retrace your steps back to the start .

Clearly , this can be really handy if you're off exploring nature and get caught up in the walking and become lost . You get so interested in the journey that you lose track of how far you've come and forget the signposts along the way .

I used to bushwalk every weekend , but I always stayed on the marked tracks because I knew if I wandered off I'd probably have trouble getting back . For reference , I live in a town that is in the middle of 2,690 square kilometres of National Park , so there's plenty of places to get lost . Piano learning is similar .

There is a vast area that you can explore , from the equivalent of a pleasant afternoon stroll to journeys into the unknown . And , just like bushwalking , it is possible to forget the journey you have been on and just how far you've come . So you need to make a map . I've been making two .

The first is this podcast , but it is really just a way to remind myself to record some of what I am working on . Once a week I have to decide which piece I've been working on . I'll record for the last part of the show . Generally it will be the piece that I've made the most progress on or the one I'm happiest with at the time .

I've made a rule that I will record a maximum of three attempts . I usually record it after I've finished the voice work and then use the best one for the show . After all , I don't want to subject you to my finger slips or me getting lost in a piece .

The podcast episodes keep things organised and I can go back and listen just how far or how little I've progressed . I'm not suggesting that everyone go out and start a podcast to keep track of their progress , but I am going to suggest that you start recording your playing at least once a week .

You don't have to publish it anywhere , just keep it for yourself . I use the built-in recorder on my piano for the recording . It has an auto-start feature and makes it simple to get a clean recording with a piece and I don't have to worry about the background noise in the recording . Importantly , that means I can turn the heater back on .

It has to be off to do the voice recording . If your piano doesn't have a recording , then all modern mobile phones have quite good recording applications . Just put the phone on the keyboard or the piano and you'll be fine . Keep the recording with a date stamp and you'll have the equivalent of the backtrack feature on your piano adventure .

I also keep a practice diary in which I make short notes about what I did in each practice session , along with any significant progress I make on a piece . I will usually note the bar numbers of the pieces I'm learning and which hand I'm working with . It's great to be able to see how far I've come .

The first entry for the Samuel Arnold jig says bars 1 to 4 right hand , and that was 10 minutes of that practice . Bars 1 to 4 right hand , and that was 10 minutes of that practice . The most recent entry says complete , both hands , still patchy , less than 90 beats per minute . I'm looking forward to when I can write jig happy .

The piano learning journey is a long one and the destination can seem a long way off . Though every piece you master is a highlight along the way , there are many places to stop and reflect on just how far you've come . You just need to make a map as you go .

This week's YouTube recommendation is a whole channel rather than just a single video . When I started looking for my second piano , I thought I'd do more research than when I picked up the first one , so I headed to YouTube to look for piano reviews .

Obviously , the various instrument manufacturers have their own information , but for a more balanced view and for comparisons I looked to piano retailers . I think the key here is to find a retailer that carries just about every brand , so they're less likely to be biased . It also helps if they have presenters that are clearly accomplished musicians in their own right .

I found just such a channel from the Alamo Music Centre . From the name you've probably guessed that the Alamo Music Centre is in Texas . In the United States , they're in San Antonio , although they have shops in other cities throughout the country . I'm sure they would be happy to sell you an instrument .

Judging from the amount of quality material they have on the internet , I'm sure they're a reputable business . Their channel has two main presenters , ted Barsaloo and Patrick Maher , and many of their videos feature them chatting about the pianos they feature . Ted is the piano player and his choice of music is diverse . He clearly has many years of experience .

Often the videos compare a pair of instruments and other times they're just about a particular instrument , but they're always interesting , being associated with a music store business . The channel is obviously concerned with selling its goods , but it never gets in the way of an enjoyable and comprehensive review .

Rarely does price even get a mention , so don't worry about the videos just being glorified advertisements . Living in Australia , I'm clearly not in their catchment area for customers , so it's great that they make such interesting content and then share it with everyone .

If you want interesting content about a wide range of current pianos and keyboards , I'd recommend you check out Alamo Music range of current pianos and keyboards . I'd recommend you check out Alamo Music Centre's Pianos and Keyboards channel . There's a link in the show notes .

Well , that's about it for this week . If you'd like to contact me , email is the best way . You'll find me at david at pianofinallyshow and the website at wwwpianofinallyshow . In both cases , pianofinally is all one word .

The show is also on Facebook , instagram and Threads and you can subscribe from any of the popular iOS or Android podcast applications or from directories such as Apple Podcasts , spotify or YouTube Podcasts . The show notes for this episode are on the website and include a text me link which will also let you send me a message .

So until the next episode , I hope your piano stays in tune and you enjoy your time at the keys

and you enjoy your time at the keys . This week's practice recording is the Samuel Arnold gig I've been working on for the last month or so . It's from Getting to Grade 1 , edited by Alyssa Milne , with some variations to the suggested fingering . It's still well below the indicated tempo , but at least now it all hangs together .