Tag: piano teacher

  • 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…

  • 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…