Why The Piano Is So Much Cooler Than Any Other Instrument

That’s right. I said it. The piano is way cooler than any other instrument on the planet.

That doesn’t mean I don’t love all types of musical instruments, because I do. I actually used to play trumpet in my younger years and I loved it.

I love my brother and sister musicians and have huge respect for anyone who learns to play an instrument well, so please understand this blog post is all in good fun.

I can’t play the guitar, at least not very well. And I sure can’t play the trombone, so hear me when I say that it takes time and dedication to be good at any instrument. Every instrument is needed to make the world of music the full and wonderful place that it is.

So that being said, here is why the piano is better than any other instrument.

Why The Piano Is So Much Cooler Than Any Other Instrument

1. The piano is the only instrument that is laid out horizontally instead of vertically. It is easier to see what you are doing and understand what is going on. The guitar is vertical. Wind instruments are either vertical or use valve combinations. Most instruments tend to be very confusing at first. But the piano makes sense. You can look at a piano and start to see the patterns. You can see the black note pattern of 2 and 3. That’s why I think the piano is the best instrument to learn first. It’s not just because I am a piano player. It’s because of the way it is laid out which makes it easier to understand and learn music theory.

2. It is super easy to play the piano. Anyone can do it. You don’t have to worry about the proper breathing techniques. Or proper mouth placement. You can just bang on the keys and music comes out. Now, that’s not to say it doesn’t take some time to learn how to make the piano sound good. But to create a sound on the piano is pretty easy compared to other instruments.

3. You can’t play the piano out of tune. As long as the piano has been properly tuned by a professional, you will play in tune every time. There is nothing you can do in your playing to make the piano sound out of tune. I can’t think of any other instruments like that. With the guitar, you have to make sure your fingers are placed right in the center of the tabs. With wind instruments, there are a million things that can cause you to play out of tune like breath support, proper embouchure, your mouthpiece, etc. But with the piano, you just sit down and play.

4. The piano makes you a one-man-band. More than any other instrument, you have everything you need in the piano. Your left hand can cover the bass and rhythm. Your right hand can cover the harmony and melody. You don’t need any other instruments to make a full sound. That’s why you see a lot of piano bars around the world. Have you ever seen a guitar bar or a drum bar?

5. Piano players can play two things at the same time. With piano you have two hands, each playing different parts. Piano players have to be able to read bass clef and treble clef. We can do it all. It’s true that guitar players use both hands, but one is only for strumming or picking. Drummers are for sure the kings of rhythmic coordination, but still, they don’t have to read notes, only rhythms. With piano, we do it all - rhythm, harmony and melody. Left hand and right hand. Bass clef and treble clef.

The best place to start.

I could go on and on but my main purpose for this blog post is to show you all the wonderful qualities of the piano. If you are thinking of learning more about music, or you have a child that you want to expose to the world of music, I highly recommend starting with the piano. They may move on to other instruments down the road, but starting with the piano is going to give them a huge jump start.

What if I don’t want to buy a piano?

The one thing that can be challenging with the piano, is buying and making room for an actual piano. But I have good news for you. With all the amazing technology in the world these days, there are some amazing keyboards out there that sound and feel just like a piano. These keyboards are easy to move, easy to make room for and always stay in tune.

I actually made a Keyboard For Beginners guide. It will give you my top 5 suggestions for really affordable keyboards that sound and feel great. Hit the button below to get the guide for free!

Whatever instrument you land on, I can’t wait to see where it takes you. There is nothing like being able to play a musical instrument. I may be partial to the piano, but the truth is you can’t go wrong. Just pick one and get started today.

Why do I need a piano teacher?

We live in an amazing age. Anything we want to learn is just a Google search away.

Just last weekend I learned how to change the headlight lamp in my car. A simple task for a mechanic, but for me, it was a mystery until I watched two and a half minutes of a YouTube video and suddenly I was an expert.

I think it is amazing what we can learn at the drop of a hat. You used to have to at least get into a car and go to a library. But now all the answers we need are in our laps. Pretty cool.

There are some things, however, that still require some human interaction. Especially if you want to get really good at something.

For instance, to figure out how to fix my car headlight, I just needed to watch a video. But if I wanted to become a mechanic and open my own garage, I would need something more. I would need a mentor to teach me and show me the ropes.

I would also need a guide to help me sort through the information overload that is the internet. Sure there are videos for everything I want to learn, but to become an expert, what order do I watch the videos in? What do I do first? Who do I trust? Which videos are giving me correct information and which videos are creating bad habits in me?

So when people ask me “Why do I need a piano teacher?” here are the 5 reasons I give them:

1. You need a guide. To learn something so complex as piano, you need a guide. There is so much information out there, how can you possibly know where to start? You need someone who can make sense of all the noise out there and show you exactly what to do. They can give you a step by step plan and help you figure out what your musical goals are.

2. You need a mentor. An expert who knows their craft inside and out, can teach you all the subtle things along the way that videos can’t teach you. You can watch them do their thing, in person. You can literally look over their shoulder and see how they do it. Then you can ask them questions and have an instant dialogue instead of hoping some YouTube creator answers your comment when they get around to it.

3. You need accountability. We all have done it. We say we want to do something, we may even start, but usually, we give up quick. We get distracted and make excuses. A teacher keeps you accountable. When you know you have a lesson on Tuesday, you are much more likely to sit down and practice.

4. You need motivation. A teacher is more than just a human YouTube video. They are an actual person. And since they are a person, they can tell when another person needs a push. Your teacher is there to encourage you, to remind you why you started taking piano lessons in the first place. You can think of your piano teacher as a personal trainer. They are there to give you the push you need when you need it. They will keep you focused and headed towards your goal.

5. You need a chance to perform. This may be the biggest thing a YouTube video cannot give you - a chance to actually perform in front of people. A really important part of learning any instrument is being able to show off your hard work. Knowing that you are going to perform a piece in front of people will drive you to work harder. It makes you a better musician. You get to perform in front of your teacher weekly. And then, as a student of your teacher, you get to participate in student recitals where you can perform in front of your friends and family. The feeling of accomplishment you get after performing something in public that you have worked really hard, is truly an amazing feeling. And I promise, once you do it once, you will want to do it again.

The bottom line is if you are serious about becoming a piano player, you need a piano teacher. With all the amazing strides in technology, there is no substitute for the real thing. The tried and true mentor to apprentice relationship still wins every time.

And surely there are some videos you can use along the way to help you learn certain things in more detail. The combination of YouTube and a teacher can make you anything you want to be. And if you want to be a piano player, we have got some amazing teachers just waiting to meet you!

What Age Should My Child Start Piano Lessons

We have been addressing many of our Frequently Asked Questions lately through our blog. I have another good one for you today. This is a question we get a lot.

At what age should my child start piano lessons?

I am going to give you a short answer and then a little longer answer. If you want the short answer, here it is: 5 years old

Now, here is the longer answer. It really depends on your child. We have had 3 year old students who do really great. These kids have shown a lot of interest in music from day one. These are the kids who are always banging on the toy drums or going up to the piano and banging the keys. If your kid is one of these kids who does these things without provocation, then it might not be a bad idea to start piano lessons a little younger - say around 3 years old. I wouldn’t go any younger than that.

That being said, it is not a good idea to force your kid to take piano lesson at that young of an age. They are not quite mature enough to understand why they need to practice or do anything the teacher says, so really it is a waste of time and energy if they are not already seeking it out. If this is your child, I would wait until they are a little older.

5 years old is just about the perfect age.

At 5 years old, they are still young enough to learn things extremely quickly, but they are old enough to start to understand why they need to practice. Even though it doesn’t seem like much, 5-year-olds have a lot more patience than 3-year-olds. They are old enough to sit through a full lesson without getting too distracted.

At 5 years old, they are old enough to start to see the value of learning music. They are also old enough to be familiar with some music that they like and your teacher can use this interest to keep the child engaged.

Should you force your child to take lessons if they don’t want to?

This could be a whole other blog post, but since we are having this conversation now I think it’s a good time to address it. Again, I have a short answer and a long answer to this question. The short answer is yes.

The longer answer is still yes, but I want to tell you why. If you have kids, you know their interests change daily. They may be really excited about music one day, but I guarantee that won’t be every day. Piano practice can never compare to watching a movie on Netflix or playing video games. When you sign your kids up for piano lessons, you need to be prepared for some resistance.

A lot of kids won’t know they even like the piano until they have been in lessons for a few years. It takes time to learn the skills to be able to play a more complex song. If you let them quit right away, they will never get there. Plus, there is something that happens to us when we put time into something. We become more and more committed to it the more time we invest in it. This goes for adults and for kids.

I didn’t want to take piano lessons. I wanted to play outside with my friends. I hated having to go to my lessons. But my parents made me stick it out. They encouraged me to practice. And now I play and teach piano for a living. I love music and I can’t imagine my life without it.

I am very thankful to my parents for making me take piano lessons when I was 5. By the time I was 9 or 10 , I really started to love it. Whether your kid is a prodigy waiting to happen or is just exploring what he or she might be interested in, there is no time like the present to get them started.

For most kids, you want to start them around the age of 5 or 6, whether they want to do it or not. Try to explain how fun it will be to be able to play their favorite songs. Once you get them to their lesson and they bond with their teacher, they will start to like it.

When can I let them quit?

And if they just absolutely hate every day of it, give them two years. Make them stick it out for two years. If they still want to quit, then let them. But I need to tell you this first. Almost all of the adult students we teach were the kids whose parents let them quit right away. And they tell us they have regretted it ever since.

So encourage your kids to stick it out. They are learning so many life skills from piano lessons that will serve them for the rest of their lives. It is totally worth it.

And then maybe one day your kid will grow up and write a blog post like this and thank you for making them take piano lessons. How cool would that be?

P.S. Thank you mom and dad. You guys were right!

Love,
Chris

Why New Year's Resolutions Are The New Black?

It’s a new year. Are you ready?

This is such an exciting time of year. This is the time to set new goals. Try new things. Make new plans. Dream and hope for the future. This is the time to get back to work on the person you truly want to be.

A lot of folks, however, get skeptical about this concept. They are the ones who make it very clear that they are against making new year’s resolutions.

And sure, we all have made a few that we didn’t stick to, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying.

The History Of New Year’s Resolutions

I think many years ago making New Year’s resolutions was the “it” thing. Everybody was doing it. Every year people would make big proclamations about what they were going to accomplish in the upcoming year. They would gather around the water cooler and share with each other what their plans were. People got excited and people did some big things.

But then the next generation came along. We saw all these people, our elders, making these big proclamations. Even though some of them did big things, we chose to focus on the ones who did not follow through. Time after time, year after year, we watched these people fail at what they said they would do.

When it came time for us to make our resolutions, we didn’t want anything to do them. We didn’t want to be like those who came before us. We felt embarrassed for them and vowed to do whatever it took to be different.

So then NOT making resolutions became the “it” thing. The cool thing to do became talking about how much better you are than others because you don’t make New Year’s resolutions.

Don’t believe me? Try telling some people at your next party that you made a New Year’s resolution. You won’t finish the sentence before someone jumps in to tell you how stupid you are for doing it and how much better they are than you because they don’t.

People love to share their opinions, whether they are right or wrong. But what are these same people accomplishing in their lives?

Here is the truth that all these bitter people ignore…

People who win at life are people who make goals.

And goals are just another fancy word for resolutions. I challenge you to find one millionaire who doesn’t set goals every year. You won’t find one. At least not one who earned the money instead of inheriting it or winning the lottery.

Do you think the great athletes in history became that way by accident? Of course not. They set goals. And the same goes for musicians. You don’t become a great singer or piano player by wishing or hoping. You become great by setting goals and going to work.

People who win set goals. So if you want to win at life, it’s time to start making New Year’s resolutions again. It’s time to make resolutions cool again. We have had plenty of years of being too cool for them, it’s time to bring them back.

This is the time.

This is not the time to try and “cool” ourselves into a worldwide depression. This is the time to get up, set goals and try again. This is the time to push ourselves to do new things. This is the time to show all those who gave up that hope is alive and well.

It’s up to us as the next generation to take New Year’s resolutions back and show what they can really do. Don’t be afraid and don’t be too cool to win at the things you want to win at in life. We only get a short amount of time to do these things, so make some goals and let’s get to work.

Why you are practicing the piano too long

We’ve all heard it a million times. To be good at something, you have to practice.

It’s true. There is no way around that.

Matter of fact, the truth is, to be good at something, you have to practice A LOT!

For most people, the piano is an extra-curricular activity. We all have jobs, school, friends, sports, Netflix shows to catch up on, and we’d like to get some sleep in there too if possible.

How are we supposed to fit in piano practice? Even more, how are we supposed to fit in A LOT of piano practice?

Here is the answer.

Stop practicing so long.

So many of us think that in order to get good at the piano, we have to sit there and practice for hours on end. In a perfect world, yes that would be great. But here is what happens in the real world.

You tell yourself that in order to get good at the piano you have to practice at least an hour a day. You start off strong, but then life gets busy. Next thing you know, you have one full day after another and you can’t find an hour anywhere to practice. So instead of practicing a little bit, you blow it all off saying something like “If I can’t get my full hour of practice in then what’s the point?”

After a few weeks of that, you stop trying. Eventually, you don’t even touch the piano anymore. You quit taking lessons because you are frustrated and not making the kind of progress you wanted to.

Sound familiar?

Here is the truth that most people won’t tell you.

You don’t have to practice for an hour for it to count.

You don’t even have to practice for 30 minutes for it to count. Little chunks of practice go a long way.

What if you could practice 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there? Do you think you could find that time? Of course you could.

And you know what else? You would probably enjoy yourself more because you feel way less pressure to sit there for an hour torturing yourself.

And guess what? 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there still adds up to the same amount of practice. Matter of fact, I guarantee you will actually get MORE practice in this way because you are not blowing the whole thing off because you can’t get a full hour of practice in.

So here is your permission to let yourself off the hook. Stop telling yourself you have to practice an hour every day. Stop telling yourself if you don’t, then it’s not even worth practicing at all. It’s not true.

You don’t have to practice as long as you think you do.

You don’t have to be a piano practice superhero. Try getting in 10 minutes before and after work or school. Those 10 minute practices will add up fast and by the time you are sitting at your next lesson, you will see some serious improvement.

And remember, the whole reason you got into this piano thing was to have fun. Let those 10 minute practices be a break from your busy day. A little mini-musical meditation.

I’ll take 10 minutes of peace over 60 minutes of torture any day.

How to trick your brain into thinking you have practiced something longer than you have

Learning to play piano is not just about showing up to your piano lesson and playing some scales. Most of the learning actually happens at home when you practice. And really, the majority of your learning happens in your brain when you are sleeping.

Let me explain.

Have you ever had the experience where you are trying to learn something really hard on the piano. You figure if you just practice long enough, you will be able to do it, right? After an hour or so, you start to hit the wall. You start actually making more mistakes than when you started?

How can you actually be worse at something after practicing it for an hour?

When you practice, you can only practice for so long straight until your brain starts to shut off. We’ve all experienced it. We start getting sloppy, making more mistakes.

It’s because your brain has not had time to process everything you just practiced. Our brains are busy keeping us a live during the day. Telling our lungs to breathe, our heart to pump blood, taking in information, telling our hands and feet to move.

When our brains shut down for the night, that is when they finally have a chance to process all the other information, like all the practicing you did.

Most of our real learning happens in our sleep. Your brain needs some peace and quiet to connect all the dots. To create new nuero-transmitter connections and to solidify into your body and soul all that you practiced.

That is why when you come back to something the next day, you feel refreshed and you can play what you practiced just a little better than the day before.

Yes it does take a lot of repetition to get good at something. But it also takes a lot of downtime. There is no way to rush that process. Well, there is one way.

What is “Spaced Repetition?”

The answer is Spaced Repetition. All this means is having multiple shorter practices spread out over time instead of one long practice. It means doing 10-15 minute practices followed by breaks. These breaks can be minutes, hours or days, but the breaks are crucial. The breaks allow your brain to process all the information and in doing so, they actually speed up your progress.

You could compare this to a HIIT workout. These are all the rage in the fitness world right now because they work great and take a fraction of the time of a “normal” workout.

In a HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workout, you do short bursts of high-intensity training followed by short bursts of recovery time. Each burst lasts 30 seconds to a minute. You do this cycle 4 or 5 times and your workout is done in 15-20 minutes.

And here is the best part - these workouts work! They have been proven to do just as much for your fitness if not more than a lower intensity, longer workout.

Practicing piano works the exact same way.

When you do hard cardio for shorter intervals, you are tricking your body into thinking you have worked out longer than you have. When you practice piano in short bursts more often, you are tricking your brain into thinking you have practiced more than you have.

Here is what to do…

Instead of practicing for hours and hours on end, try practicing something for 15 minutes. Then walk away for 15 minutes. Come back and practice it again for 15 minutes. Break. Repeat.

This process over a few days will trick your brain into thinking that more time has gone by than actually has. It will make the connections quicker. And suddenly you will be able to play that thing like you have been playing it for weeks or months. You basically sped up the process by getting your brain to process more in smaller chunks.

Say you are getting ready to play a recital and you only have a few days to get a very hard passage down. Is that even possible?

If you beat your head against the wall with super long practices, you will just get frustrated and you won’t be able to play it that well. But if you practice smart, and give your brain the rest it needs, you can absolutely learn something hard in only a few days.

It totally works.

Give yourself a break.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of hours of practice sometimes. But you just need to know when to walk away and give yourself a break. This is especially true if you are just practicing one little part of a piece or a riff over and over. If you practice for hours, that is fine, just make sure you mix up what you are practicing. Take breaks. And get some sleep.

I am giving you permission to practice less. I am giving you permission to take more breaks. Now it’s up to you to try it and see if it works. I think you are going to like the results.

And your brain will thank you for it.

Why You Should Practice Piano While Watching TV

A few weeks back, we talked about why you should practice piano with your eyes closed. If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to give it a read HERE. Now let’s talk about another technique I’m a big fan of.

Practicing the piano while watching TV.

I don’t know how many piano teachers will tell you to practice in front of the TV, but I’m going to go out on a limb and tell you to do it. Maybe not every time, but there are some times it is appropriate. Let me explain.

Repetition is your friend.

A big part of learning any new skill is repetition. With piano, we need to do some things over and over and over again. The reason for this is that we are training our muscle memory to kick in. If we do something enough, it becomes automatic. When it becomes automatic, we don’t have to think as much about what we are doing. Once we are free to think of other things, we can focus more on the other parts we are playing.

Does your family hate you yet?

We see this show up a lot with left-hand techniques. There is a chord progression I teach my students called The Dance Progression. The biggest hurdle to overcome when playing this progression is the syncopation between the left hand and the right hand.

The left hand is just playing a repetitive bass line of constant eighth notes. The key to getting this whole progression down is to practice the left-hand part a lot. I mean a lot a lot. Like obsessively. If your family or your roommate doesn’t hate you yet for playing it so much, you aren’t practicing it enough.

Once you get the left hand down and muscle memory kicks in, then you are free to focus more on the right-hand part and start getting the syncopation down. But that won’t happen until the left hand is on auto-pilot.

TV to the rescue…

A great way to get this left-hand part down is to practice it while watching TV. This does two things.

1. It is a monotonous thing to practice, so the TV distracts you and keeps you entertained as you play this left-hand part over and over again

2. Playing this left-hand part while watching TV trains you to play it consistently while focusing on other things. It helps kickstart your muscle memory. When it’s time to add in the right hand, you will be much more prepared because your mind is already used to keeping the left hand going while you do other things.

I highly recommend this TV technique for super monotonous passages that you are having a hard time getting down. Don’t get me wrong, at first, you need to focus on the part to make sure you are playing it right. But once you have the idea down, turn on the TV and take the repetition train to obsession town!

Repetition is the answer to 90% of the questions I get from my students. If you can’t play something it’s only because you are trying to play it too fast or you haven’t practiced it enough. That’s pretty much it.

I get it, though. Sometimes it’s hard to sit down and practice something over and over and over again. It gets boring and frustrating. It’s definitely not easy and that is why everyone is not a great piano player. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from A League Of Their Own:

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”

But there is good news. There are a couple of things we can do to make it a little more manageable. One is to practice in small chunks of time. And the other is to turn on the TV while you practice the most repetitive stuff.

This week in your practice time, try it and see if it helps. And at the very least, you will be able to get caught up on all your favorite shows. If you can get better at the piano at the same time, then it’s a win-win!

Why You Should Practice Piano With Your Eyes Closed

We get a lot of questions from students and parents about piano lessons and how to practice. With so much information out there, it’s hard to know the difference sometimes between what is worth your time and what is a waste of time.

I thought it might be helpful to do some blog posts answering some of our most frequently asked questions about piano and piano lessons.

This is the third blog post in our series of answering these frequently asked questions.

FAQ #3: How do I get a better feel for the piano?

This question comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s “How do I play the piano and keep my eyes on the music?” or “How do I get more confident at playing the piano?” or “How do I play scales and chords without messing up so much.”

There are obviously many answers to these questions. The most obvious is that with more practice comes more confidence. But I want to give you a specific way to practice that will boost your confidence, increase your accuracy and help you keep your eyes on the music at all times.

Practice with your eyes closed.

Here is what I want you to do. Start practicing your scales first with your eyes closed. This teaches you to trust your ears and your fingers instead of your eyes. The key thing to remember when doing this is that it is ok to miss some notes. You are going to for a while. But that is exactly how you learn and get a better feel for the piano.

Just go for it and don’t overthink it. Close your eyes and play your scales. When you miss a note, don’t sweat it, just keep going. Do this every day that you practice. Over the course of a week or two, you will find that you can do it without any mistakes. That means you are learning to trust your fingers and you are getting a good feel for the piano. This will open up so many doors for you while playing!

Once you have mastered your scales, I want you to work on playing arpeggios with your eyes closed. This is the next level because now you are skipping notes whereas a scale has notes in succession. Don’t worry though. Just start doing it and don’t overthink it.

Again you are going to miss a lot of notes. That is the point. But again, over a few weeks, you will notice you are making less mistakes and your arpeggios will be a lot cleaner.

If you want to take it to the next level, try memorizing a simple piece and practice playing that piece with your eyes closed. This will take some more time but you can totally do it. Once you learn to trust your ears and your fingers, you are free. You will play cleaner. You will learn things quicker. You will have so much more confidence at the piano.

If You Ever Doubt That This Will Work, Remember This…

If ever you doubt that any of this is possible, just watch Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles play the piano. Stevie was blind from birth and Ray was blind from a young age. They both learned how to play the piano without any eyesight. And I think we can all agree that they are both exceptional piano players. If they can do it, so can you. They didn’t get good at the piano by some miracle from above. They got good by practicing, never giving up, and building confidence at the piano by trusting their ears and their fingers.

Learning piano is a lifelong journey. It is an ongoing process. You don’t have to be Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles. You just have to be you. If you are better this week than you were last week, then you are succeeding. You are doing it! And that’s huge. You should be really proud of yourself.

Try this technique of playing with your eyes closed and leave us a comment. Let us know how you did!

I Am Done Playing The Piano

I have a confession to make.

I used to work at Applebee’s.

Man, it feels so good to say it out loud.

Anyhoo, it was actually a pretty fun job. I made a lot of friends there and learned a lot about people.

I learned a very valuable lesson while working there too. It is actually the answer to one of our most Frequently Asked Questions about the piano and piano lessons.

FAQ #2: When Am I Done Taking Piano Lessons?

This is a short story about one of my Applebuddy’s. I honestly don’t remember her name so let’s call her Sarah.

Sarah had just started working at Applebees and she had to spend a little time with me while she was being trained. At first, we totally hit it off because we both played the piano.

You know how it goes at a job where you don’t know anybody. You try to find anything in common so that you have something to chat about to make the time go faster. Sarah and I were chatting about playing the piano that day. And I asked her if she still played. This was her response,

“No, I don’t play anymore. It got to the point where I could play everything so I was done.”

That response floored me. For so many reasons. Done? A real musician would never be “done.” There is always so much more to learn. There is always another level to get to. Even the most incredible piano players in the world are still learning new things. They would never say they were “done.”

No real musician would say they could play everything. What does that even mean? Can you play every Rachmaninoff piece to perfection? Do you know how to play every jazz standard ever written? Do you know how to play all of the harmonic modes and use them in a solo improvisation?

Of course, she didn’t. She got done with her first-year method book and got bored. She gave up and quit. And then told herself she “knew everything” to make herself feel better about quitting.

Either that or she really doesn’t get it. I’m guessing it’s a little of both.

My point is that if you want to be a real musician, you need to buckle in for the ride. It is a lifelong journey that never ends. You never get “done.” You never know everything. Every time you sit down at the piano, it’s a chance to learn something new.

That is the magic of music. It is never-ending. Sure there are milestones along the way that you want to celebrate like learning a big piece or being able to play a song from memory. But if you truly have the heart of a musician, you will never want to stop learning and growing. You won’t be able to because once you start you are hooked.

Is that you? Do you dream about learning the next song or getting better at some run or lick? BTW, It’s ok if that’s not you. You can be a casual music lover and still really enjoy playing the piano.

But if you’re like me, and you have the fire within you, I’m here to tell you that you can be the player you dream of being. Matter of fact, you will be, if you never quit, and embrace the lifelong journey that is being a musician. It’s quite a ride.

Just remember what you signed up for when you get into a new song and it’s harder than you want it to be. Remember why you started this in the first place. You are capable of amazing things including playing this new song that has you stuck. Take a deep breath and dive in.

Most people quit right before they get to the good part. The good part is coming on the next page and you are going to get there because you don’t quit.

I would much rather be one of the few piano players who can’t “play everything” than one of the many who decided they were “done.” I hope you will join me.

Why your kids should play video games

I still remember getting my first Nintendo. And my first Nintendo was THE first Nintendo.

That’s right kids, I was there when the first Nintendo came out. It was an exciting time.

I used to love playing all the classics - Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3…ok it was a lot of Mario but it was also a lot of fun.

When my mom finally made me shut it off at night, I would head off to bed but the game stuck with me. In particular, the MUSIC from the game stuck with me.

I would spend the rest of the night humming Mario’s theme song. When it was raining out and I was feeling sad, I would hum the underground Mario song. You know the one I’m talking about.

The point is, these simple little tunes were memorable even back then. The sound wasn’t good. They had what seems like ancient technology compared to today’s standards, but we all still knew the songs. Somehow those composers made those songs come alive with the limited 16-bit technology that they had.

And a lot of those songs are still considered classics. Kids and adults both still want to learn the Mario Bros. theme song to this day.

There is a reason for that.

Today the technology has improved so much it makes those old games seem almost laughable. Nowadays, composers can use full symphony orchestras to create the soundtracks to these games. Playing a video game now is like walking into a movie. It’s a magical, wonderful place and the music plays a huge role in that.

Don’t believe me? Try turning the sound off next time your kid is playing his favorite game. He will lose his mind!

When kids and adults play video games, they are actually learning a lot. Hand-eye coordination for one. But I’m here to talk about what they are learning from the music.

Without even knowing, gamers are exposing themselves to intricate works of art. Beautiful soundscapes that inform our imagination.

That’s right - your kid is learning while he is playing video games!

And I bet when he walks away from the game (Finally….after you yank the controller from his hands and hide it in the attic), he will walk away humming the tune. Just like I did all those years ago. That song will stick with him. Maybe for the rest of his life.

What if you could teach him how to play that song on the piano? How excited would he be to learn the song and be able to play it for his friends! Oh man. He would be the hit of the party.

And as exciting and fun as that would be for him, he also gets to learn a whole lot about music along the way. Not just music, but discipline and appreciation for the beautiful things in life.

You are molding a genuine, caring human being. And video games can be a big part of creating the person you want him to be.

Video games are here to stay. And I think that’s ok. You don’t have to fight it. Instead, learn to embrace it. Video games are amazing works of art. And maybe sometime soon, when your kid is playing his game, you can close your eyes and just listen. I bet you may just love what you hear.

Mario would be proud.