Tag: Chicago piano instructor
The Importance of Balancing Academics and Creative Activities for Kids.
That’s it, look at the date! Mid September! We are officially in “back to school ” mode. All kids are either meeting new friends or reuniting with the ones of the previous year. All the classrooms are full of students being distracted by the beautiful sun right outside the windows. They’re missing the long and…
The benefit of art.
Did You Know?Young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours on three days each week through at least one full year are: Young artists, as compared with their peers, are likely to: The facts are that arts education… Businesses understand that arts education…
Benefits of learning drums for children.
Learning to play the drums can have many benefits for children, including:
All is good, and yet. Part 3.
In my last post I was about to do a big reveal on how to cope with the frustration of hitting a plateau. I mentioned Isaac Asimov who used to have 5 or 6 projects going at once, and jump from one to the other if he were to get a writer’s block. I then…
All is good, and yet. Part 2.
So, what do you do when you have a difficult passage and you hit a plateau? Do you feel the red of anger climb to your face? Do you bunch your hands in a fist? Do you smash your keyboard with said fist? Do you howl at the moon? Do you grow big claws? Do…
All is good, and yet.
Sometimes you are confronted with puzzling situations. You do everything right, you have all your ducks in a row and yet, you don’t get the results you were expecting. No matter the amount of work, the dedication, the thought, the care, you can’t make headway. It’s like you’ve stepped in a pile of glue that…
It depends.
The common sense dictates that in order to make a living in music, you need to spend some time on an instrument. Quite some time. A considerable amount of time. All you time. Yes, but that’s a maybe. It depends. We all know the artists that has killed themselves over practice, the people who never…
Protecting your lessons. Part 2.
In this second part, I need to say that you also need to carve a space in your life to practice your music, one that is sacred, non-negotiable and regular like a clock. For instance, you can decide that very Monday Tuesday Thursday and Saturday, you do 30 minutes of practice from 6 to 6:30,…
Protecting your lessons. Part 1.
So you’ve decided to take some piano or drum lessons. You’ve got the instrument, the teacher and you’ve bee practicing regularly. But then, something comes to disturb the picture and you have to stop because life is what’s happening when you’re making other plans (John Lennon). So your time on the keys shrink then disappear…
What to learn on the drums. Part 2.
After those two concepts that are coordination and speed, you get nimbleness. That’s the ability to navigate the drum kit presented in front of you, going from a tom to a crash cymbal to a hi hat in a swift and elegant movement. It requires a lot of practice and dedication and if you do…