Understanding Key Signatures

Understanding key signatures is all about learning your 12 major and relative minor scales. And in this article we’re going to help you make sense of all of those terms. In fact, you may be happy to learn that there is a little trick that we can use to quickly determine which major key a…

Piano Success – 5 Tips to Help You

Piano success is attainable for every student of every age and ability. As a longtime piano teacher, I’ve been asked every question possible regarding piano lessons: Am I too old to begin? Is my son/daughter/grandchild too young too begin? Do I need a piano? A keyboard? Do I need to practice everyday? For how long?…

Establishing a Practice Routine at Home

In this article we’ll discuss the importance of establishing a practice routine in order to achieve piano success at home. As is said, “practice makes perfect.” Everyone assumes that they understand what this means. But one thing we’ve learned after years of teaching students of all levels of ability is this – students need to…

What Are Half-Steps and Whole-Steps?

In this article we’re going to answer the question, “What are half-steps and whole-steps?” For starters, half-steps and whole-steps are an important concept in music, and they are especially important building blocks for constructing things like chords and scales. One of the especially nice things about the piano is that it is a very visual…

Learning the piano at home

The Internet has drastically changed how we learn and process information. With YouTube and other online video sites, it’s easy to find a tutorial on just about anything. However, this unfettered access to information can cause students to learn less, not more. It’s a fact that information overload can result in a loss of ability…