"My 6 year old daughter really loves the piano and wants to learn to play, but when I try to help her she gets very upset with me. What should I do? Help!"

The piano mom who asked this question has jumped into a Lion’s Den that I call the parent trap. If this is you, don’t feel bad, I’m the angel who can help you out. But first, let me explain how this trap works.

When parents move out of the parental role and into the role of piano teacher, young children can become confused and anxious. Why? Because, the expectations of children are that Mom and Dad will always play a specific role that protects their emotional security. Because children must have their emotional needs to feel loved and secure met before they can learn, they may refuse to allow a parent to be the piano teacher, even when they want to learn. And surprisingly, the child who really wants to play the piano may resist a parent’s help even more! So, how does a parent get out of this trap?

Be supportive without being in control. From the time your child approached the age of two they have most likely been sending you the same conflicting message over and over: I need you – Let me do it myself! Get used to this because it doesn’t really go away when kids get older. To deal with this parents get two choices. They get to be in charge, or they get to be in control. But parents can’t do both, they have to make a choice. Now you might be thinking this is some kind of a joke. These choices are the same. Not so – they are very different.

Being in control requires parents to make all choices for children without their participation in the decision, such as when to practice, what songs to learn, and how fast they should progress. The problem here is this ignores children’s need for independence. To gain control, students may actively resist practicing at the appointed time and become angry, or become very passive, claiming they are just unable to learn new skills.

Being in charge recognizes children’s needs for independence but provides needed support and guidance. It allows children to make choices among options you identify for them, which lets them do it themselves while still receiving needed protection. To stay out of the Lion’s Den, enroll your child in piano lessons with an instructor who follows an authoritative teaching model and continue this model at home.

Authoritative Model Teaches Ownership and Responsibility

• Parent/Teacher is in charge of setting appropriate consequences for their child’s behaviors. Child is given choices to make reasonable decisions within protected limits where they can learn from their mistakes.
• Child learns to take initiative and trusts their ability to make intelligent decisions and to act responsibly.
• Child learns to be assertive and can ask adults for information and guidance, but accepts ownership and responsibility for their decisions.

How can parents get out of the Lion’s Den and support their young in piano at home?

Jump Out!

The easiest way to jump out of the parent trap is to reverse roles. For example, after your child comes home from piano lessons, ask them to teach you what they’ve learned, because you want to learn it too! This lets your child be in control as they share their special piano knowledge with you. Kids can’t resist this. It’s just so much fun to be the teacher, and children love to reverse roles! Your young teacher will probably even correct your playing, and tell you that you’re doing it all wrong, especially if you play their song perfectly! So, be wiling to make a few silly mistakes that your little teacher can have fun correcting. Just don’t get defensive. I can guarantee you’ll get a lot of mileage out of this strategy that keeps piano moms and dads from falling into the lion’s den!

To learn the best way to share the gift of music with children visit Amazon.com for my Piano Adventure Stories for Children These exciting Piano Adventure stores for children ages 5 to 11 feature the loveable characters, Mrs. Treble Beary and her passionate, new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Children love following along with Albeart to Mrs. Treble Beary’s piano studio in Musical Acres Forest. Here they learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand and appreciate! Piano students laugh and giggle while reading Little Bear’s Musical Garden and Little Bear’s Piano Goals.

For a wealth of f’ree information and piano music online visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources Don’t Wait to Share the Gift of Music!

When my students are learning to pick out the melody I tell them to first begin with a song they know.

(First it is important that you know the letter names of the white notes on the piano and the C scale – for more info see www.thepianobyear.com)

When you are picking out the melody to a song, choose something easy like Happy Birthday to You or Row, Row, Row, your Boat. This gives you some great practice without being too difficult. Here’s the thought process for picking out the melody to Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

1. Begin on the note Middle C with your right hand. (If you know where the C-Chord is, play it first so you can hear the full chord before beginning.)

2. Of course the first three pitches to the first 3 words is the same. Therefore, the melody (tune) note to the song will be the same fir the first three words…like this:

C C C
Row, row, row your boat…

Notice how that the melody note changes (it goes up only a little bit) for the words your boat…progressing up with each word. NOTE: I’m using the word up because it indicates the pitch has moved to a higher sound.

So, when looking at the higher notes after C…the next note could be D or E (depending on how much the melody note is raised). Well, when you listen to melody notes rise on the words your boat you’ll hear that the change is very little. Therefore, the melody note for your boat must be D then E…like this:

C C C D E
Row, row, row your boat…

3. Notice how the first part of the word gently is the same note as boat (ie., it doesn’t go higher or lower than the melody note for boat. The pitch for the last part of the word gently lowers back to the same pitch as your…like this:

C C C D E E D
Row, row, row your boat…gent-ly down the stream.

Notice how down the stream the pitch continues to rise. What are the next three melody notes? You try!

Did you get it? It should be:

C C C D E E D E F G
Row, row, row your boat…gent-ly down the stream.

Last of all, notice how the very next melody note for the word Merrily goes much higher than the melody note for stream. Guessing, where do you think the melody note will fall? Will it fall on A (the next note higher than G)? Probably not…because the melody not for Merrily is MUCH higher than the melody note for stream. Try C! That’s it! Try to finish the song…when you’re done, check it to see if you were right!

The melody to the rest of the song should appear like this:

C C C D E E D E F G
Row, row, row your boat…gent-ly down the stream.

C C C G G G E E E C C C G F E D C
Merrily merrily merrily merrily…life is but a dream.

For more information about playing by ear, check out the information on my website at www.thepianobyear.com!

Matthew Stephens has been teaching students to play piano by ear for over 17 years. Having grown up in a Pentecostal Church and being the pianist for the the services, playing the piano by ear was a very important talent to possess. For a full biography, visit http://www.thepianobyear.com

Why is it easy to compose piano music?

Because you have to start from where you are. This should be fairly easy; Otherwise you have not started from where you are.

A suggestion is to start writing piano pieces for beginners in a progressive order. The idea is that as the pieces get more complicated for the player they will also become more complicated for you to notate and compose and you will subsequently learn as you write.

How is composing beneficial for your piano playing?

1. Your compositional endeavours will make you more and more aware of intrinsic musical subtleties in the music of other composers. When you start to think and feel like a composer you will also become a better performer as well. Performing is also a creative process similar to composing.

2. When you compose you will become a better sight reader.

I remember an assignment I had many years ago when I wrote the music to a musical. It made me aware of many notational problems I had not taken the time to solve for myself before.

When I started to play my piano music again I was astonished when realizing it was much easier for me to sight read complicated piano sheet music. The reason for this I concluded was my concentrated effort to notate my own piano music.

The process to play something with my fingers and and then try to notate the music on manuscript paper was so to speak a reversed sight reading exercise.

What about manuscript paper?

You can use a notation program or you can write on paper or use both approaches. I suggest that you start writing on paper the way that composers have done for centuries.

Composing piano sheet music by hand on manuscript paper is a cheap and effective exercise to learn the various sheet music symbols.

Very often I jot down musical ideas on ordinary white paper after drawing five lines by hand. It works fine if you can’t find your manuscript paper. You can buy manuscript paper for sheet music or print out your favorite format for free on the site http://www.blanksheetmusic.net

In conclusion, composing piano sheet music can become a natural part of your daily practice routine.

Spend half an hour a day composing your own piano sheet music and you will increase your musical knowledge and become an even better musician!

And remember; Composing piano sheet music is fun!

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free sheet music and learn to play resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com

What a great instrument the piano is – white keys, black keys, and 88 tones make it incredibly versatile!

Most students take it upon themselves to try and master this instrument. They begin to learn note reading and go through a series of books before they are ready to play the music of the masters.

If only they realized that a world of free improvisation was waiting for them on the black keys, they too could experience the joy of improvisation right away. They might even forget about note-reading for a while and actually enjoy themselves as actual music was being made.

For example, take the lesson Oriental Sunrise. This is a black key improvisation based on the E flat minor pentatonic scale. Now, when most people hear the term black key improvisation they think of children banging on the piano creating some kind of noise. And while this has its place, the adult can create quite a beautiful sound by using only the black keys.

The secret is in how the keys are played. Anyone can go to the piano, sit down and play. The keys are there and are readily accessible. However, one person may just plunk around while another is able to create music. It’s all about sensitivity! The sensitive musician is able to create music using only a few notes. The non-musician can not. They have to learn to get in touch with themselves first.

If you can go to the piano, play a black key improvisation, and make it sound like music, you are way, way ahead of the game! You understand that it’s not how many notes or chords you know, it’s how they are played that makes the difference!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

So you want to be more creative when playing piano. Many students wish they could just sit down and improvise their own music but don’t know how to begin.

They think if they can’t play a fugue like Bach, they are untalented. Or, they think the music that comes out of them must be sophisticated or it’s not worth anything. Fortunately, there is a style of piano playing that bypasses this academic snobbism and allows the beginning (and advanced) student to be more creative.

The New Age piano style is geared towards improvisation and creativity specifically because it requires very little in the way of technical know-how. What it does require is the courage to just sit in front of the piano and allow for the creative act; allow being the important verb here.

Many students wonder why they have problems improvising. When I explain to them that the problem is not with technique but attitude, they look at me surprised. After all, aren’t they willing to learn? Of course! But they must first shun the creative genius persona and be willing to let go and let the music tell them where it wants to go.

Once students understand that they aren’t in charge of creating music, they begin to have that knowing inward smile. They have discovered that the secret to being creative at the piano is to release all expectations of good or bad and focus on the process. Then they can relax and fully enjoy all that music has to offer.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Here’s a method I use that works. First, sit down at your piano or keyboard and just improvise. I suggest improvising first because music that is created in this way is at its freshest. It’s not adulterated or thought up. It is pure inspiration. Now, there will come times during improvisation where you may say to yourself, this is nice and I’d like to develop it. You see, now you have an original melody to develop.

The trick is you don’t need a lot of material to begin with. JUST TWO BARS IS ENOUGH to start you on your way. I usually work within 8-bar phrases so I know that the melody will usually end or repeat itself after 8-bars. I say usually because sometimes, the melody does not want to fit nice and neat into a predefined 8-bar phrase. But more times than not, the 8-bar phrase will serve you well

Now, to be able to grow the initial 2-bars of inspired melody into 8, you can either harmonize the melody with a few chords or just write out the rest of the melody as it comes. Once I have the first 2-bars, I usually have already identified what Key the piece will be in. It then becomes a matter of choosing a few chords from the Key and the rest of the material is easily flushed out into 8-bars. In the piece Rainforest, I use 2 chords for an entire 8-bar phrase ( 4-bars for G Maj. and 4 for E-minor) and improvise the melody on top.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Have you ever listened to your favorite pianist and wondered why their music felt so alive? What was it you wondered. Was it technique? Maybe, but probably not. Technique can allow you to play difficult passages. It can’t give you the X factor that careful listeners can discern.

Perhaps it was the personality of the performer that drew you in. Personality is great but will only take you so far as a pianist. After all, if they can’t see you, it’s just the music that’s heard.

So what is it? What is it that makes one pianist sound alive while another sounds like they just don’t have it? You may think it’s how much someone has practiced or how many years of conservatory is under the belt. It’s none of these. The best players, the ones whose music has something otherworldly about it, have relinquished control of their egos and allowed their higher source to take over and guide them! That’s it.

They may not say it, but if you notice, the best players never take full credit for their playing. In fact, most players at this level will say nothing unless pressed to. You see, once the ego is out of the equation, the player is free! And once free, the music is allowed to flow and move through the player as if? yes – as if it is something coming from another world – or at least a higher place.

To make your piano playing come alive, you must let go and allow the music to take over. I know I keep saying this but only because it’s true. As soon as you think that you are a good player or even a bad one, you’re setting yourself up to fall. Certainly, it’s OK to have a healthy does of self-esteem and admit that you feel good about your playing but…

Here’s an interesting tidbit. Do you know why Mozart only wrote first drafts and never scribbled anything out? It’s because he trusted himself so much that he knew that his first drafts were the best ones. That is, he learned to get out of the way and let the music speak through him.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Chords. They’re amazing. There’s no doubt about it. Especially when it comes to piano playing and the Open Position Chord. Here we can use both hands to create music with. The chord is broken up into its main elements and its voicing is spread out which gives it a nice open sound. The sound that’s perfect for the New Age style.

To use the OPC requires little more than fingering the chord itself because once the chord is played, music comes out. All that’s required now is to be able to experiment with the sounds and textures. It’s absolutely critical that the thinking mind stop and feeling be allowed to come to the front.

This is possible by adopting an attitude of abeyance. Not being concerned with what’s coming out of you.

For example in Lesson 20: Reflections in Water, I use the OPC to create a gentle mood. How? By first allowing myself to get in right-brain mode, then letting my fingers do the walking! I know what the chords are, I know that I’ll be using the OPC. I then let it all go and let my feeling lead me to where it wants to go and this always leads to the ideal music.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

So, you want to learn the piano. But you don’t want to spend years learning how to read music.

That’s understandable. Learning piano doesn’t have to be the hard chore so many believe it to be. In fact, it can be quite easy IF YOU START BY LEARNING CHORDS!

For example, in the lesson Reflections in Water, available below, we have four chords and a scale to create music with. We don’t need to read music and we don’t need piano tabs either. All we need is to learn how to finger one chord position and play the C Major scale. Then we can use these materials to create music with.

Learning piano this way is infinitely easier (and more rewarding!) than learning how to note read because we create it ourselves!

Once we have the chords under our fingers, we can explore the piano in a way that may never have been possible for you before. Many piano students don’t believe they have talent or skill to improvise but this is simply not true. All that is required is the desire to try it. Once students jump in the water, they can’t wait to take a swim and then they’re hooked!

Learning piano without years of lessons is not difficult. All it takes is the ability to learn a few chords and then experiment with them.

Now, if learning classical repertoire is your goal, then of course you’re going to have to learn how to read music. But reading music is not necessary in order to play the piano. Learning chords is!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Do you remember finger-painting as a child? How fun it was. How exciting to be able to dip your fingers into a color that called out to you and put it on paper. The excitement of it all came from the feeling that you were an explorer, looking into uncharted territories of your own creative source.

Now music can be that way too! All that is necessary is to understand that you don’t need any special talent or ability to create music with. Two chords are enough to begin experiencing the joy of spontaneous expression. In the lesson Oriental Sunrise we have 2 chords to play around with. And two chords are more than enough to create with

The problem that most adults have is the ability to relinquish control. They want to be able to make decisions and direct the music to where they want it to go. And of course, they lose the ability to create. Why? Because they believe they must make decisions as to what notes to play, what chords, how fast, etc. It can be very threatening for some to allow for mistakes.

Many adults feel that they must be perfect. But it is this perfectionism that destroys the spirit and stops any creative impetus dead in its tracks. The solution to all of this is to remember the finger-painting child within each of us. Each of us knows intuitively what colors call to us the most. The key is to be able to trust that intuition, and let it guide you!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!