Hello Ashlee, great lesson! I had a similar idea not long ago. I covered my hands and keyboard with a towel so I could still read the music but wouldn’t be tempted to look down. That helped. But I still have so far to go. So did your lesson on jumping your hand from chord to chord. That was very cool and I was surprised at how well it works but I still need more practice there too! Thank you for all your videos!
Yes. I've used eyes closed when practicing pieces with leaps, especially Ragtime. But now I'm going to try this using is on a Beethoven Sonata that I've been working on forever! Thanks, Ashlee. Looking forward to your event in January!
Wow! I'm a new piano learner. I have been at it for about 3 years. I love Chopin and have been trying to figure out his Prelude in E minor Op.28, No.4. Your chord progression lesson using this piece is a revelation! My goal this week is to work on it for 7 days and report back! Thank you for your clear and precise teaching! Can't wait for January's workshop!!!
When i was a kid, i would lay in bed at night and play my guitar in the dark. I'm just learning keyboard, and I've tried it with my eyes closed. It's hard. I think maybe going in with a solid understanding of what key i'm in. (Decided that last night.) Brilliant using the close inversions to start with.
I;ve practiced eyes closes, but not extensively. I did it with stride bass, and tried to get 10 in a row. And it's been a while. It was only two weeks ago that my teacher asked me to close the book and play from memory...and I couldn't. So I started practicing by going back to my Level One books. I just sent my family and teachers two 2-voice Bach Chorales that I played from memory. My teacher is off for two weeks, so I won't see her for a while. Challenge accepted. In French they say dans une quinzaine, which means 15 days, for when they want to say two weeks, which is 14 days. You rarely see the French winning Gold at Mathematics competitions.. MdR Mort de Rire, French for LOL
I've found that I can mostly play with my eyes closed, but after watching this I will do more of that. Mostly I keep my eyes open but just to read the chords while not looking at the keyboard at all, so would you consider that the same?
Try it with eyes closed more specifically on difficult transitions, spots where you definitely can’t do eyes closed, etc. it will challenge you and make you better.
I have a question. When I play the piano cords, some fingers are louder than others so the chord sounds a little strange. I play folk guitar so my left hand is much stronger than my right even though I am right handed. Any suggestions? Thank you!
She has a video about this. The basic thing is to try playing fewer notes and then add the others in. I think she recommends careful fingering and doing all the combinations of two of the notes for 3 note chords. You need the top note (usually) to be a bit stronger than the other two.
Thank you @hippophile! That’s exactly right! In addition, you wanna make sure that you were playing with rounded fingers on the edge of the keys… Depending on the chords you are playing in the fingers you are using, there are obviously different lengths involved. The more you can stay on the edge of the keys, the more control that you develop over every individual note of the cord and the better chance you have of playing them all the same time.
Eyes closed. Definitely. However, as a trained musician, you are thinking about practicing these three chords, C G and F. In reality you are practicing a five chord set, but the duplicate C chords make you think "three chords". Physiologically though, it is four separate moves: C-G, G-C, C-F and F-C. So before adding the F major, practice the move from C major-F major, back and forth. eyes open then closed. Then do all three chords. It is best, especially for the not so talented or advanced, to practice in "moves" at first, always hooking the new move only with the previous move, before reviewing by doing several moves in a row. Make it a rule to work systematically and to do sections that are too small rather than too big. I compare it to eating a steak. Even a tough steak is edible if you cut the pieces small enough. But you will choke on even the most tender steak it you take too big a bite. An additional idea is to use the physiological capacity called "residual visual memory" (or something like that). I call it taking a "flash picture". Start with eyes closed. Open them and close them immediately, like the flash of a flash picture. There will be a residual visual image of what was in your visual field. Pause a few seconds for the image go into memory. One can take several "flash pictures" of the same image, letting each "flash" add more essential detail to the memory. Over time, by adding many "flash pictures" together and combining them with motor memory, one doesn't need to be a genius to have a reliable working visual and motor memory of the keyboard. As for number of repetitions: one must practice each move until one feels like they "have it". though several tries will probably be necessary until one really "has it". One thing I learned at X State Aggravation, where I got my 99% useless degree, is that for efficient learning, 5 repetitions is usually an optimum number. It is usually enough for a new neural pathway to be established, but not wo many as to oversaturate the nervous system. Of course it needs to be reinforced over successive days, but in experimenting with the idea, it seems mostly valid. I've noticed that after 5 repetitions, time number 6 is usually terrific, but time number 7 starts to get uncertain, or boring or even fall apart. So I think the one prof who really knew what they were doing was right about the 5 repetitions principle. P.S. I can tell you have a superior nervous system because you are able to talk so fast. You might suggest to your students that they go to the gear icon, settings, and turn the playback speed to 0.75. I think that might be easier than for you to try, with probably mixed results, to talk slower. Fortunately, unlike school, TH-cam and replays allow us to scroll back and listen to things more than once.
Wow. Wow. and Wow. Never thought about closing my eyes while practicing. My mind is blown. Thank you.
You are very welcome!
You are a very smart and great teacher! Thank you for this lesson!!
Thanks for the kind words!
I have been using this method particularly for boogie bass lines.
Love it!!
Hello Ashlee, great lesson! I had a similar idea not long ago. I covered my hands and keyboard with a towel so I could still read the music but wouldn’t be tempted to look down. That helped. But I still have so far to go. So did your lesson on jumping your hand from chord to chord. That was very cool and I was surprised at how well it works but I still need more practice there too! Thank you for all your videos!
This is great to hear! You’re welcome, glad it’s helpful!
Yes. I've used eyes closed when practicing pieces with leaps, especially Ragtime. But now I'm going to try this using is on a Beethoven Sonata that I've been working on forever! Thanks, Ashlee. Looking forward to your event in January!
You’re very welcome - great idea and can’t wait to see you there!
Wow! I'm a new piano learner. I have been at it for about 3 years. I love Chopin and have been trying to figure out his Prelude in E minor Op.28, No.4. Your chord progression lesson using this piece is a revelation! My goal this week is to work on it for 7 days and report back! Thank you for your clear and precise teaching! Can't wait for January's workshop!!!
Yay! Can’t wait to hear how it goes and me too, I’m looking forward to January! Woohoo!
When i was a kid, i would lay in bed at night and play my guitar in the dark. I'm just learning keyboard, and I've tried it with my eyes closed. It's hard. I think maybe going in with a solid understanding of what key i'm in. (Decided that last night.) Brilliant using the close inversions to start with.
That’s awesome!! And yeah - start simple and you’ll get it!
I'm a self taught learner but gonna try this with chords progression & sometime scales.thx
Awesome!
Great idea. I will try this with 251 progressions, which I'm currently working on learning better. Seems it can only help. Thanks!
This is absolutely essential for complex hand independence.
playing with eyes closed is a torture! but I agree that is really THE key to progress, together with working on rhithm!
I;ve practiced eyes closes, but not extensively. I did it with stride bass, and tried to get 10 in a row. And it's been a while.
It was only two weeks ago that my teacher asked me to close the book and play from memory...and I couldn't. So I started practicing by going back to my Level One books. I just sent my family and teachers two 2-voice Bach Chorales that I played from memory.
My teacher is off for two weeks, so I won't see her for a while. Challenge accepted.
In French they say dans une quinzaine, which means 15 days, for when they want to say two weeks, which is 14 days. You rarely see the French winning Gold at Mathematics competitions..
MdR Mort de Rire, French for LOL
Maybe because if you see someone every two weeks, you are seeing them on day 15 from your last visit? Idk
I've found that I can mostly play with my eyes closed, but after watching this I will do more of that. Mostly I keep my eyes open but just to read the chords while not looking at the keyboard at all, so would you consider that the same?
Try it with eyes closed more specifically on difficult transitions, spots where you definitely can’t do eyes closed, etc. it will challenge you and make you better.
My keyboard exploded, so thanks for that. ;-)
Back when I took piano as a kid, I was taught none of this.
I’m a noob at piano, but I actually did this with scales… it’s really useful
Right? A total game changer. Awesome to hear.
@
Yes, absolutely..
Nice channel with good ideas and great youthful enthuiasm! But what does it mean, "10X your chord progressions"?
Everything. Hahaha jk the idea is to make all of your chord progressions significantly better - in other words, play chords more musically!
Eyes closed is a technique I use often.
I have a question. When I play the piano cords, some fingers are louder than others so the chord sounds a little strange. I play folk guitar so my left hand is much stronger than my right even though I am right handed. Any suggestions? Thank you!
She has a video about this. The basic thing is to try playing fewer notes and then add the others in. I think she recommends careful fingering and doing all the combinations of two of the notes for 3 note chords. You need the top note (usually) to be a bit stronger than the other two.
Thank you @hippophile! That’s exactly right! In addition, you wanna make sure that you were playing with rounded fingers on the edge of the keys… Depending on the chords you are playing in the fingers you are using, there are obviously different lengths involved. The more you can stay on the edge of the keys, the more control that you develop over every individual note of the cord and the better chance you have of playing them all the same time.
Yes eyes shut when I learned it
What are the chord names in this song?
I’d recommend you google an analysis of the piece - you can usually find them pretty easily.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏🙏🙏
Eyes closed. Definitely.
However, as a trained musician, you are thinking about practicing these three chords, C G and F. In reality you are practicing a five chord set, but the duplicate C chords make you think "three chords". Physiologically though, it is four separate moves: C-G, G-C, C-F and F-C. So before adding the F major, practice the move from C major-F major, back and forth. eyes open then closed. Then do all three chords. It is best, especially for the not so talented or advanced, to practice in "moves" at first, always hooking the new move only with the previous move, before reviewing by doing several moves in a row.
Make it a rule to work systematically and to do sections that are too small rather than too big. I compare it to eating a steak. Even a tough steak is edible if you cut the pieces small enough. But you will choke on even the most tender steak it you take too big a bite.
An additional idea is to use the physiological capacity called "residual visual memory" (or something like that). I call it taking a "flash picture". Start with eyes closed. Open them and close them immediately, like the flash of a flash picture. There will be a residual visual image of what was in your visual field. Pause a few seconds for the image go into memory. One can take several "flash pictures" of the same image, letting each "flash" add more essential detail to the memory. Over time, by adding many "flash pictures" together and combining them with motor memory, one doesn't need to be a genius to have a reliable working visual and motor memory of the keyboard.
As for number of repetitions: one must practice each move until one feels like they "have it". though several tries will probably be necessary until one really "has it". One thing I learned at X State Aggravation, where I got my 99% useless degree, is that for efficient learning, 5 repetitions is usually an optimum number. It is usually enough for a new neural pathway to be established, but not wo many as to oversaturate the nervous system. Of course it needs to be reinforced over successive days, but in experimenting with the idea, it seems mostly valid. I've noticed that after 5 repetitions, time number 6 is usually terrific, but time number 7 starts to get uncertain, or boring or even fall apart. So I think the one prof who really knew what they were doing was right about the 5 repetitions principle.
P.S. I can tell you have a superior nervous system because you are able to talk so fast. You might suggest to your students that they go to the gear icon, settings, and turn the playback speed to 0.75. I think that might be easier than for you to try, with probably mixed results, to talk slower. Fortunately, unlike school, TH-cam and replays allow us to scroll back and listen to things more than once.
If you had a British accent, you would be Emma Thompson.😮
😂
😂😂😂