33 Tips to Becoming a Great Pianist

I have noticed that this article could help. I agree with their comment that you are like a horse pulling carriage with eyemask. You don't know what's happening around you nor where you are heading to. Well, for that matter, it could be said to any other skill learning as well.

You need some kind of whole picture to measure your progress. Although there are some double notation, this list covers the themes nicely. I'll be going through item-by-item on this blog.

So tune in on us within a week.

33 Tips to Becoming a Great Pianist: "In our piano teaching studio at Piano University we have identified 33 distinct skill that must be developed if a person wants to play up to the limit of her or his potential. Here they are:

1 - Hand & Body Position -- Should you look down at your hands? How to use 'eye flips'

2 - The key to productive practice -- Spaced repetition

3 - Attitude -- how it affects your learning

4 - How & when to pedal. Using explosive dynamics

5 - Exposure: why it's critically important

6 - Ear Training -- Intervals from 2nds to 13ths

7 - Fingering -- which finger do you use when?

8 - Chord substitutions that create fantastic sounds

9 - Chord recognition -- how to recognize what chord is being used

10 - Musical vocabulary: tempo words, form words

11- Arranging: how is your 'bag of tricks' coming along? 'Head arrangments'

12 - Melodic sense: how does the melody relate to the chords?

13 - Sight-reading: 7 fundamentals you just cannot ignore

14 - Key orientation: Can you think in the key you're playing in?

15 - Scanning the score before you start playing

16 - Mental practice -- how to learn music in bed

17 - Repertoire: Why you need one to be prepared for any opportunity

18 - Goal setting: How good can you get? Is there a limit?

19 - Rhythm awareness -- samba, bossa nova, bolero, etc.

20 - Why knowing music history is important to you

21 - Idea stealing -- how and where & from who

22 - 12-bar blues; creating a motif; 'blue notes'

23 - Extended chords: 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, suspensions

24 - Technique acquisition: rubber balls, fingering drills

25 - Harmonization: Using I, IV & V to harmonize

26 - Key identification: Recognizing key signatures

27 - Voicing: Open, closed, registers, color tones

28 - Improvisation: Making music right out of your head

29 - Harmony & theory: How much should you know?

30 - Stylistic devices: Western, boogie, jazz, etc.

31 - Analysis: How to understand what you're hearing

32 - Riffs & runs & fills: How to develop them

33 - Cross-pollination: The best of all worlds!