It’s tempting to be swayed into taking the so called ‘easy road’ when learning piano, and time and time again I see things that claim to help beginners in their learning and their progress when actually they can be more of a hinderance.
For those of you thinking of starting - and for those of you already on your way - please try and steer clear of the following:
1 - The Ridley Method
I don’t strongly object to online courses such as those developed by Stephen Ridley in which he teaches you four chords and then teaches you how to embellish them, but ultimately it is setting you up for one thing and one thing alone: a party trick.
Yes, you can impress your friends.
No, a course such as this won’t:
Improve your understanding of music (including theory)
Develop your ability to read music
Focus on proper technique to aid your progress beyond the course’s intention
Teach you much that is worthwhile to play on its own anyway
Alternative: If you like the idea of learning online / digitally, there are a plethora of apps available to download onto your phone or tablet that can assist. I personally have heard great things about Simply Piano, which opens up a much greater learning opportunity. It should still be noted, however, that you need to source something that will help you focus on getting the right technique and contextualising the music you are learning to help develop your instinct and ear. In other words, apps are a great kickstart but to get the best from them you really need to use them alongside a piano teacher.
2 - Learning Piano with Note Labels
Last year I taught a lady who was suffering with dementia, and I have to say that - whilst the intention of the lessons were to keep her mind active and both myself and her daughter had resolved that she wouldn’t be able to learn the piano in a conventional way - these labels were incredibly useful.
However, I bought them solely for that purpose.
The cognitive approach to learning anything is that you need to give yourself the opportunity to at least try and remember, and all these labels will do is create a safety net that you can continually reference - even if you don’t recognise yourself doing it.
Therefore, when you remove them (or worse - try and play on someone else’s piano and you don’t have them to hand!) then it can be a significant obstacle. The best thing that you can do is actively learn the notes to begin with.
Alternative: If you are struggling to learn the note names, try one of these whiteboards instead. Before a practice session, write the names of the notes on the keyboard to help secure them in your mind (start in different places each time and try going out of order too!), then if you still require a prompt keep the whiteboard on your music stand / on the wall / on top of the piano for easy reference should you need it. This way, as you look at the keys you aren’t automatically being spoon-fed the information and you can look up only what you need to - and what you do look up is information that you’ve worked out for yourself in the first instance!
3 - Hand Correctors
Spectacularly big no no from me!
Picture the scene: your hands are unique. There is literally not a single pair of hands in the world like yours. Even your two hands aren’t exact mirror images of one another.
Even if you were to meet somebody whose dimensions were exactly the same, you have to take everything into account:
Your own finger strength
Conditions that may affect your playing (tendonitis, arthritis etc.)
Your overall body heat
Your height and arm length and how this affects the angle of your arm against the piano
On the basis that I have never in my life seen a ‘custom made hand corrector’, I think it’s safe to assume that it is potentially not only a hinderance to you - but actually dangerous - to consider using hand correctors. Especially if you practice and play a lot.
Alternative: At the risk of sounding boring, there isn’t really a better alternative than practising and just getting it right to begin with. You’ll find what works for you. Exercises such as scales and arpeggios and development exercises such as those laid out by Hanon and Schmitt are great starting points for beginners, but the general rule is that if your playing is causing you pain (not to be confused by fatigue if you play a lot which is, I dare say, a lot more normal) then revert back to some basis exercises and pieces and really try and focus on the angle and movements of your hand to ensure minimal strain.
4 - Finger Exercisers
The difference between finger exercisers and hand correctors is that hand correctors put your whole hand into the correct place whilst you play (theoretically) whereas finger exercisers are often portable little tools that you can use to keep your fingers moving. They often have buttons that you click down and make little exercises with - rather like a slightly more sophisticated fidget toy.
And what is wrong with that?
Aside from a repeat of all points above (not catering for everybody’s different fingers, conditions etc.) it actually doesn’t do much good by way of improving the fingers because the motion required of the fingers is very different to the motion required when playing piano. These exercisers rely on you pressing the button down as if it were a button or a valve on a trumpet, whereas - as we know - correct depression of a piano key rarely comes from the fingers alone but from a combination of arm position, wrist movement and then finger strength.
Alternative: Again, I could just repeat the points above and suggest using finger exercises on the actual piano itself seeing as that is the actual instrument that you actually want to strengthen your fingers for (!), and whilst this is true, I will just take the opportunity to throw in the need to keep the wrist exercised and a PowerBall is a great tool for this. The combination of keeping fingers agile and the wrist strong is your best bet at progressing.
5 - Music Stands
This one I put out there to all pupils learning on keyboards and digital pianos. After all, a music stand isn’t actually a gimmick. But…read on!
Unfortunately, thanks to the the way that everything now is a ploy to get you to spend more money, your will find that entry level keyboards and digital pianos usually already force extra investment from you nowadays in the form of a speaker / amp (even if they have them built in, they usually sound poor) and a proper pedal (they usually come with a foot switch).
Increasingly, however - and largely due to the fact they many of these keyboards and digital pianos are being used for live performance, I reckon - they don’t come with a music stand built in.
Here’s what you need to know when learning piano:
A music stand is one of the most fundamental things you can have!
If you are learning on a keyboard or digital piano that doesn’t have a music stand, it’s time to invest in one. Consider it an investment as if you are serious about learning piano then you will be getting a better instrument anyway. The extra money will buy you better sound quality, better pedal, better speaker quality and a music stand which will give you a much better piano playing mindset that trying to squeeze one in behind your existing digital piano.
Alternative: Literally a keyboard / digital piano with a music stand built in!
Jack Mitchell Smith is a piano teacher based in Macclesfield, Cheshire. Click here to find out more.
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