Tag: piano teacher

  • 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,…

  • The musician’s plague

    Musicians are often seen as people who are desperate for a job. We can all think of exception to the rule, of course, like the Elton John or Bruce Springsteen of our world, but in general, and especially if you’re at a lower level of pay and fame, the common agreement is that a musician…

  • The wild side of music.

    What is cool in music today? What is rebellious? What shocks people and make them frown? Is it Hip-Hop? Taylor Swift? Beyoncé? Being a musician making a living can sometimes be attached to the Wow factor in the way you dress, or the behavior attached to your style of music. When Hip-Hop came on the…

  • Being overwhelmed when you are self-employed.

    I have been creating my own income for three and a half decade now. I told in a blog I wrote not too long ago what my typical day is like which, in one word, is: busy. After each day, in the evening, I add up everything I did and I often think that I…

  • Packing light.

    I came to this country in 1991. I had 2 suitcases, two large ones. And that’s it. Actually, no, that’s not quite “it”. I also had my drum set with me, which is a big Madonna, we’re counting about 7 packages here. The lightest would be around 14 pounds, that’s the hi toms in his…

  • A royal waste of time.

    I’ve been hacked. This very account, the one I use to write my blogs on has been taken over by, of all people, Russians. How do I know? Because I do not understand the Cyrillic alphabet, and it was all over the dashboard of my site. I am not accusing the Russians of being particularly…

  • Anticipating versus coping.

    When you’re a musician, all to often, you’re self-employed. And, contrary to the common belief, if you are a musician who wants to stay in business, you need to get busy in order to be busy. This is the subject of this blog: where to spend your energy. I discovered very early on in my…

  • Writing notes on music sheet.

    I don’t do it often and when I do, it’s usually to specify that this note is sharpen or flatten. I do not underline the dynamics or write with red ink one word comments like “Dynamics!” or “Expression”. Why don’t I do that? I am not sure. Maybe because I estimate that what’s written on…

  • Double checking.

    It happens to me all the time. Let’s suppose I have a song to play. I’ll first listen to it. Chances are I will write it down. Once written, it’s ready to be played. Then I’m done. I throw myself on the drums and I start to play. I never go back to what I…

  • The daily practice.

    I used to practice piano maybe one hour per day. It wasn’t much. At the beginning had a very dingy little keyboard that was maybe 61 keys. I was doing the songs from the booklet that came with it. The tunes were dreadful and the way I played them even worse. But it was glorious,…