A Monthly Technique Plan For Advanced Contemporary Pianists

So...

I crafted this plan to get my technique sparkling this year.  (I assure you that there were no diet or exercise plans in my new year's resolutions, but there are musical resolutions.)

This is a plan that should work for most pianists.  I will start it officially tomorrow and see how it goes.  (I'll report back here with the results).

***UPDATE:  1/13/2019.  I've been trying the "monthly technique plan" I posted for several days,  and realized that I had some duplicate exercises listed on the original Google doc I posted.  I also thought the organization was not logical enough so I re-ordered the exercises for a more logical flow, in the hopes that this will help me and others to memorize the routine.  So, here is my latest plan.  I will start practicing based on this plan today and update you periodically with edits and progress reports on how I'm doing! I do want to tell you that I already feel more accuracy and technical competency in my playing of pieces.  It's taking me about 45-minutes a day to get through the routine (I suspect this number is a bit inflated due to my interruptions and note-taking while I practice).  My knuckle joints are a bit sore in a tired way, but I'm keeping my pulse on this and will make sure it doesn't worsen. ***

HERE'S THE NEW, UPDATED PRACTICE PLAN FOR ADVANCED PIANISTS AND ADVANCED STUDENTS:  

CLICK THE LINK AT THE RIGHT---------->  TONAL-BASED PRACTICE SYSTEM:  A KEY A DAY, A MONTHLY SYSTEM TO DEVELOP FLUENCY AND TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY IN ALL 12 MAJOR, MINOR, AND BLUES KEYS
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eoxHpuhYbo8jXvFylz27CHbuLAdlIc3M/view?usp=sharing

Why is better technique on my bucket list for 2019?  Well, I had a few events lately with difficult passages.  I did practice them, but when it came time to execute the difficult passage during the performance, I was faking it at best.  I didn't get the level of detail in there that I should have.  My fingers just wouldn't fly fast enough for certain technical tasks (rapid trills, trills in thirds, rapid 16th note passages).  I did have a baby a few years ago, and practice has been difficult to fit in, but this is no excuse.  I'm determined to rise early to exercise my fingers!  

Here's what I've spent the better part of a morning on:

Monthly Technique Plan for Advanced Contemporary Pianists

*** Click the link above for a printable version. ***

Here is the plan, at a glance (below).  Focus on 1 key a day, doing the exercises below.  Now...here's a disclaimer alert:  I haven't tried this yet but I will time it this week and report back on how many minutes (or hours!) of your time this will gobble up.

Do you subscribe to this blog, or my YouTube channel?  There's lots of valuable information in both places, and I would highly recommend it if you're into piano, jazz, classical, or piano-teaching!

Summer Trial of Piano Lessons: A Huge Success!

Summer Trial for Purcellville and Loudoun Area Piano Students:  www.piano2go.com

Our Popular Summer Trial is a Smashing Success!

It's high time for me to review the success of our 6-lesson summer trial program.  So far this summer, we've enrolled 10 students in our summer trial (1 60 minute student, 1 45-minute student, and 8 half-hour students), all of whom found Piano 2 Go's summer program on Google. Also over the summer, we lost a family of 4 students in July who moved out of the area, 5 students in June who were away too much over the summer or simply don't attend through the summer, and two families who deducted a family member from their enrollment.  That's a loss of 11 students, or roughly 22% of my class roster at the time.  I also expect 5 - 10 hours of student absences a week, due to students traveling or attending summer camps.  I know from experience to expect this every year, but what does a piano studio owner do with the extra time on her hands?  The summer trial is a great way to turn the vacancies and vacation cancellations into opportunities for new customers.  New customers get to experience my dependability and assess teacher-student compatibility before signing on to a longer-term relationship.  The program is also discounted (1 free lesson and I waive the travel fee) so families love the value!

Lessons can take the format of summer camp if desired, and we can do fun projects such as learning top-40 pop songs, doing 12-bar blues duets and jazz jams with the teacher, and supplementing with rhythm games and hand drum accompaniment.  I can even tote my Roland speaker along and teach kids improvisation while accompanied by YouTube backing tracks.

So what happens in the fall?  I will be able to place most of those who are available for low-demand times right away (pre-3pm and weekends) and those needing prime-time slots (3pm - 7pm) are usually be happy to wait a few months for a regular slot.  In the meantime, I e-mail my weekly cancellations every Sunday, and students on the wait list can pop into those times until a regular, recurring time slot is available.  This system has been working beautifully for the summer months, and families are happy to select from the weekly cancellation list.  In fact, there hasn't been one week my summer trial students haven't found a cancelled time that works for them each week.  I've even been able to offer several trial students a regular, recurring time.  

So I'd say our summer trial program has been a huge success!  I've been having a great time getting to know new students this summer and look forward to incorporating as many new faces as possible into the fall schedule.  Next year, the only thing I plan to do a bit differently is to offer a 4-lesson trial as well, for those who join up later in the summer.  So bookmark our website (www.piano2go.com) and look ahead for our 2018 summer trial programs!  

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For more information on Piano 2 Go's mobile lesson service or summer trial program, visit our website at www.piano2go.com!