Tag: Chicago piano teacher

  • Up to what option?

    As the people who follow this blog know, I have a family band. It’s called “The little G Band”. If I can, I’ll attach a link to our promo video. We usually play concert inside. And usually we invite as many people as possible and we try to deliver as energetic of a show as…

  • Playful technique

    When I first started to teach, I was doing technique a certain way, the way I was taught. At the conservatory or at Berklee, I learnt how to hold a pair of sticks, get some speed, do some combination of stroke, etc. And all of that is fine and great. So, when I got my…

  • What do you want?

    The job of a musician is not a job. I mean that being a musician could be so many thing that there is no such thing as being a musician per say. One can be a producer. One can be a player. A teacher. A promoter (Simon Cowell). A composer. A DJ. A performer (Stomp!).…

  • Party in the plate!

    If you ever watched “Kitchen Nightmare” with Gordon Ramsay, it becomes quickly apparent that although a prompt service is really important in the restaurant business, it is nothing compared to what is in the plate. What about the decor, the music, the atmosphere? Those are a maybe. But the sauce with the twang, the tenderness…

  • Learning from others.

    I have been teaching since 1989. That’s before the dinosaurs. In that time, I’ve always taught drums. Only in the last 12 years have I taught piano. I have been fortunate to be able to explain the different concepts of music to the students who have been asking for my help. I don’t have a…

  • This blog

    I have been writing regularly now for almost 1 full month. I do write a lot. Two blogs a day 5 days a week is no small potatoes. I’m lucky, it comes pretty easy to me. The benefit of this blog is to get out the tons of ideas and concepts that I’ve been using…

  • Humor

    I don’t think there is a tool as useful for teaching anything as humor. This is a favorite of mine. But it’s always a risky one: what if people do not get the joke? Humor is essential when you have a 7 years old who’s approaching a minor scale for the first time. She might…

  • Teaching is embracing chaos

    I have a friend who’s considering becoming a music teacher. He is someone I admire. He works out every day, he never skips. He doesn’t spend time on his phone, he reads. He practices his instrument thoroughly and he’s great at his current job, highly regarded by his boss. He’s balanced in all things, whether…

  • Where is the fun?

    The new generation seems to be obsessed with fun. If it is not fun, they look at their phone. I’ve seen teenagers and young adult look at a circus act with mild interest only to go back to their portable screen after 10 seconds. That’s the way now. Or so it seems. So, as teachers,…

  • Do not think it is easy

    Musicians are all too often seen under the wrong light. The general population sees us as talented, and lazy. I want to talk about the laziness. I have never met a lazy working musician. We all have this common trait: we don’t count the hours we spend at work. Now, I know that our work…