Instant Gratification

I was looking for the Rio Olympics on my TV and just scanning the stations when I came across a program with a new method for learning to play the piano almost instantly. Being curious as to the method, I watched the program. In my opinion, the method was only good for instant gratification, because it took away the value of learning. Everything was watered down. You didn’t even have to learn the names of the notes on the piano because you taped the names on the keys. I recently made a film of what I considered to be a first lesson. Most of the time in my video is spent in learning the names of the notes and what they look like.

Yes, each note has a special look and that is what I want the student to remember. In my teaching I want to lay a strong foundation. To me, learning to play one piece is not as important as learning to be able to play many. He then went on to give the names of the lines and spaces in the treble clef. But you didn’t need to learn that wither, because in his books, the names of the lines or spaces were written into the middle of the notes. I would say that once this is done the student will not learn the names of the notes but rather read by the crutch.

It is very difficult to get a new student to have the patience to learn slowly, but correctly. I try to make it as easy as I can and within a short period of time they are reading music, a skill they will have for the rest of their life.

I just got back from a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass. We went to several demonstrations on making items of glass. One of the things we learned was that those working in glass worked for three years and then were considered beginners. My son in law and I both made something, he a flower and I a pendant. I do NOT consider myself a glass artist having made one piece nor do I think you can consider yourself a pianist by being able to play one piece.