🕘 Timestamps 0:00 Intro 0:35 The RULE 2:12 Retain it in Your Brain 3:53 Play the Jazer Game 4:48 Game rule 1 6:23 Game rule 2 9:09 AAR is the way to go
I've been playing the piano for 35 years now. Completed Grade 8 classical piano exams, benn through 3 wonderful piano teachers and I must say Jazer, that you have all the wisdom of my piano teachers. You are 💯 % correct ! I've used these techniques and they yield fantastic results. It's hard work but so worth it. Thank you for all the effort and passion you put into your videos. You are an excellent teacher ❤ God bless
I guess this is why I can learn pieces in only like 6 hours of practice. I've been subconsciously using this method (or at least similar, I don't count the amount of correct tries I just do as many as I feel fit until I think I got it), because for one, it works for me, and for two, I can't bring myself to play wrong notes. I hate it. I love hearing the actual piece, and hear it as it comes together. So I pause to think- pause to think- and I'm not satisfied with one section until I've got it down completely.
As a personal trainer and novice piano player, doing 100 push-ups for a wrong note is genius. I never imagined learning piano could also build muscle mass. Thanks Jazer!
You don't have to answer, but I'd really like to know: do you seriously do 100 pushups after each mistake? And is that something you can do easily? (I couldn't do 100 pushups to save my life... and whatever number of pushups I could manage, I don't think I'd be able to play the piano afterwards!)
@@gerardvila4685It's ok, start with less, e.g. 5, start on knees, then full body, and the muscle strength will build up while still being able to play :-) It is, of course, meant to be a bit of a joke, but also works nicely - my children stopped saying bad words when pushups were the punishment :-)
I’m a newly retired early intermediate pianist. I have found that breaking the piece down like you did (smaller chunks, hands separately, etc) works well. One thing I’ve had to incorporate was, if I’m working on just one measure, always play at least one note into the next measure. Otherwise I find that the bar line becomes too visual for my brain and may mess up my phrasing or worse, cause hesitation, which I have been working hard to eliminate from my playing.
yes! my teacher always does this with me. we work to the downbeat and then the puzzle pieces fit together because i already know the transition to the next part.
playing musically is more to do with phrasing. So practising a Phrase that inevitably goes into to the next bar, will be better for the brain to understand not just the notes, but the musicality and structure when you start to speed up. Phrasing is key and your brain will understand that better than strictly applying bars.
I saw an interview once with some famous pianist I don’t recall. When he was asked about why he is so good at the piano he replied “it’s easy, I just don’t practice wrong notes.”
Not playing a wrong note in the beginning is essential and part of The Tradition. What is missing here is that the speed of playing in the end is inversely related to the speed of practicing. The slower you start practicing, the faster you will be able to play it.
🤯 for the past month I've hit a speed wall on both Chopin's 2 & 4th etudes. I know I can play them slowly and accurately, but increased speed on 2 gives me arm cramps--I know I need to decrease the finger movements for every note. Okay, I'll go back and reduce the speed by half for a week and see how it goes.
@polymath6475 That's because you're ready to up your game. Now you need to not only practice without any wrong NOTES, but without any wrong MOTIONS (i.e., tension). It's not the speed that's making you cramp up; 999 times out of 1000 the problem is trying to go faster by "muscling" through it. Learning to play fast is a SUBTRACTIVE process, not an additive one; we just need to get out of our own way. At this point you need to hone your mind-body connection and become super sensitive to where you're contracting more muscles than necessary to do the job, long before it actually feels tense or cramped up. Like almost at a cellular level. We arrive at fast playing by EASING into it, not by busting the door down. FWIW, hope it helps!
Your comment about playing a short section 7 times right is a HUGE Game changer for me... I have learned more from you than all the other teachers I have had in the past 50 years....
I always work with phrases, not measures. When the phrase is long or has a particularly difficult segment, I divide it but I make sure to keep each segment I practice musically meaningful in of itself. That way when I join it back together it's like assembling a sentence from words rath erth anch unks from arbi trar ybar line s.😊
Haha I LOVE your explanation of that. "That way when I join it back together it's like assembling a sentence from words rath erth anch unks from arbi trar ybar line s." 👍👍
I tell all of my students that there are three more important things than speed; 1. Correct notes, 2. Correct fingering., and 3 correct timing. I love the idea of seven times correctly, but the fingering has to be exactly the same as well. Just getting right notes isn’t enough. Also, it’s helpful to give your brain a chance to sort things out. Neuropathways take time to develop so that the information going between our hands and brain can flow smoothly (muscle memory). As you’ve stated, your brain gets confused if you do it differently each time.
Indeed, I teach my students the same digitation/fingers on each passage and I correct them if they don't use the same ones, because if not, they'll develop bad muscle memory.
Took this lesson over to the guitar... This was the best piece of advice that I've heard in a long time. So simple but yet such a big game changer. Thank you
Over the years I reckon I've watched maybe a hundred videos on piano technique, and I'd say this is the only one that gets to the heart of it, and tells me how to practise effectively. Seriously ! Many thanks.
I almost have 2 years playing the piano and since I study with these tips I learn and play much better than before. I'm learning Sonata in C Major and I'm really happy because I progress every week a lot. Thank you so much for the content, Jazzer! Sorry if my English is not so good. A hug from Barcelona!
This is about the BEST advice ever. Of course it’s common sense but also easy to forget. Now I practice this way and the benefits are obvious. What I also practice when I find myself “stuck” is put the piece aside for a couple of days. When I resume I don’t start from the beginning but focus entirely on the bars that have given me grief.
I’m a 64 yr old beginner and new to this channel, so I don’t know if you do this too but, Sometimes I will single out the most difficult phrase and learn to play that perfectly first, before learning the rest of the piece. it gives me confidence knowing that if I can do this part I can be successful with the rest of it. Also, when playing; in the back of my mind sits the knowledge that even if I stumble through other parts of the music, I know it will be smooth sailing when I get to the toughest part and when I do sail through it there is a little rush of serotonin as a reward. Loving your videos. Keep ‘‘em coming.
Agree with all of this. It's tempting to play the entire piece over and over from the sheet music when you still have errors because you have some of it down and it feels good to get that "success" feeling from playing your best measures and phrases. This eats up a lot of time and energy. It's much more efficient to do smaller chunks and memorize/correct as you go.
I play Celtic harp and learning new tunes can be overwhelming when playing with other musicians. This method of learning a new piece is wonderful. It works!
Absolutely - You're describing Finger Memory. Some people have a greater predilection for this than others - hence how some pianists can memorise with ease - like me. The next issue is technique Oh how I'd love to have both. This is the first time I've encountered my own musical memory possibly explained. - it's a natural talent but only utilised by the 'don't play a wrong note method' which I've done for decades. It's great to see this. My practise method is to 'play the difficult passages first as slow as it takes to eradicate any notational mistakes' - You are training your brain to communicate with your fingers with the correct notes. Every wrong note leaves a memory in the brain and every time you play that wrong note, your brain is memorising it as the correct one. Whenever I've explained this to other musicians my view gets dismissed. Now I know I'm not crazy like they think. And they still perform with sheetmusic, too terrified to rely on their brain and the natural memory due to bad learning habits. Because from the moment you put up a new piece of sheetmusic and play the first note, your brain is memorizing it. It's so difficult to eradicate wrong memory. I have abandoned some wonderful piano compositions because years ago I learnt wrong harmonies/notes and I cant relearn as my brain still had automatic initial memory when performing under pressure - no matter how much time spent re- learning correctly. It's great playing at home, but performing at a concert under stress , the brain reverts back to the previous memory. At age 64, its become easier to learn pieces from scratch rather than try to eradicate deep rooted memory of existing repertoire . I've ruined pieces from ineffective practise 40 years ago- the brain is very powerful and never forgets that initial finger memory. I wish I'd realised what damage I was creating in my 20s for later on. Thank you for this video. I hope my long😂 comment helps someone x😮
This is very interesting. I have similar issues with my playing if I haven't used the AAR method on a piece. Or if I have learned someone's name incorrectly. What I learn first sticks like glue. So out of nowhere the early mistakes re-emerge, even after it's been corrected long ago.
This is very very insightful stuff!! I'm the sort who needs sheet music in front of me, otherwise I can't play anything. My son who's 9 years old is the opposite. His sight reading is terrible but after a couple of passes, he can memorise the whole thing. Granted these are easy grade 7 sight reading pieces but he's got repertoire pieces like Clair de lune, moonlight sonata 3rd movement and prelude in G minor by rach that he can play from memory. I've never understood how he does that and you might have just given me the insight I need to help him on his piano journey.
You need to reintegrate your ears with your muscle memory! Try to find some synthesia videos. Where you can see the color of the keys light up. Also just curious did you learn these tunes under a teacher? The older I get the more I see why having a good teacher is important. I’m self taught but boy I regret not having a teacher.
I'm 64 - brand new to the piano, first instrument I've ever tried to learn. Watched the AAR video last night and tried it out today. This is excellent advice from JL - it made a huge difference to the rate at which I learned. Also felt a lot more comfortable and confident about my playing by the end of my practice session. Can't wait to get going with it again tomorrow.
I'm 70 and hadn't played in 50 years but about 4 months ago, decided I would buy a piano and just get back into it. I got my new Yamaha P225 yesterday and it was a humbling to stare at that keyboard and not knowing how to start. So I decided to go back to square one and find out where I stood. Over those 4 months of thinking about it, I watched a ton of these videos. This site takes the trophy. Since yesterday, I've decided to find a piece I am determined to learn, to focus on chords and arpeggios, and now this, never play a wrong note. This really gets me amped for practice later today. I call that a good start. I expect to go pro in a couple of weeks. Maybe. OK, that'll never happen but I am now sure I will enjoy the relearning part. BTW, that link to the 2023-2024 Piano Syllabus (I forget what video it was on) was exactly what I needed yesterday . Provides a good reference for tracking my progress and exposing weaknesses. So now I have a plan. Thank you Jazer!
OMG this makes so much sense, I wish I knew about it 40 years ago! One thing I would mention only hinted at in the video, to aid learning I always play every note using the same finger every time. Usually it’s obvious which finger to use but sometimes it’s not so work out the most comfortable fingering and note those down on the score 1-5. The brain doesn’t actually learn the notes of a piece of music in muscle memory, it only learns the transitional movements between the notes so it’s important to always use the same fingering.
Great video advice! I’m passing this along to all my students as it confirms everything I tell them. I particularly love what you said about suffering for a few minutes. Although using little pieces of candy to motivate beginners’ suffering does help! They get to pick out several jelly beans or m&ms to reflect the number of times to play correctly. Every time they get the intended passage correct, they get to keep/eat their treat. For every wrong attempt, I eat their choice with great joy and drama. So you better believe they pay attention!!! Lol. May I add? 1 special attention to fingering. Even if you play the correct note but use inconsistent or inefficient fingering it can spell trouble. 2. We do use the correct rhythm so the melody makes sense and starts becoming integrated into their aural conceptions. I don’t allow beginners to gloss over half notes or play eights same as quarters. Yes, that happens!! 🙄Lol. 3. We call your “pause play” stop prepare for difficult spots. Very helpful! 4. And I also stress using proper touches too: staccato, a good firm connected legato, slurs, lifts on rest etc. We use a slow metronome to allow our brains and eyes time to signal our fingers. Except on stop prepare of course. So, the right note at the right time with the correct finger and correct intention. I call this the mechanical phase of learning. Once it’s learned and sped up close to final tempo, we start adding expression: dynamics, balance, tempo bends etc. Thank you so much for addressing and correcting bad practice habits. 😊 it’s great advice and reminders to all of us.
YES! Learning the incorrect fingering (or not being consistent with fingering) is just as bad as his "play it 10 times wrong hoping for an 11th different outcome" because it just solidifies muscle memory for inefficient fingering! Ditto for proper note durations - it's very easy (even for advanced pianists!) to get used to hearing wrong notes or sloppy phrasing. PS. The candy trick sounds awesome. 😊
JL's efficient method and this excellent reply can save a novice pianist years of frustration from trial-and-error practice. And these pedagogical concepts can be applied to disciplines beyond piano study. I'm a high school English teacher who loves Bach, and I'm using these concepts to help my students with their research essays. Thank you for taking the time to post!
This makes a lot of sense to me. As he was talking, I was wondering whether practicing the wrong rhythm would also create a faulty "muscle memory", just as much as repeating the wrong notes would. I wonder whether any neurologist or psychologist has done experiments to test this: which aspects of playing piano pieces take priority in the memory mechanisms of the brain? (Note sequence, rhythm, fingering, dynamics). Or maybe scientific studies are not needed -- experienced teachers like you can answer the question!😊
Love your pause to think method… it allows your hands and your ear to build a musical thought, like a sentence, without losing or jumbling its meaning. It also, on the pragmatic side, teaches your brain to be fully ready for those tricky moments in transitions, fugues or places where the melodic voicing is moving, changing or overlapping.
I heard a lot of similar advices from my piano teacher but Jazer, you deliver the same idea the way that is way more convincing. This is what sets apart the best teacher from a good ones. Thanks a huge lot man!
exakt. Jazer vermittelt auch Leidenschaft und Feuer fürs Klavierspielen. Man spürt , dass er dafür lebt ! Die Tipps und Anleitungen sind die besten, die ich bisher gefunden habe . Vielen vielen Dank Jazer !
Don’t understimate the fact that it’s the second person from whom you hear this advice. An advice given by only one person is always more difficult to trust to.
My old teacher used to be exactly like him and give me the most helpful and interesting advices :) even after I thought there’s nothing to learn anymore, she still found new techniques and things to teach me, such an awesome teacher. She was always so passionate when playing the piano too, no matter how simple the piece was. She now switched career paths unfortunately but she hasn’t lost her passion for music It was a sad moment when I realised that I won’t receive any of her advices ever again lol Nevertheless, the advices she gave me will forever be cherished by me and lead me through the new music pieces ahead of me Idk why I’m even telling random people about my teacher but well I guess the right teacher can change the perspective of something so much. Her piano playing genuinely inspired me to become like her because it was just full of life whenever she played
It works…I can’t believe it and it’s totally memorized….Thank you…The piece is Bachs French Suite no 5 The Allemande..Now working on speed and rhythm…I love practicing without the music…I am not quite an intermediate player but I only want to leafnclassical pieces that I love. I am 74, playing a few years but only recently found my musical path. Life is wonderful, with music in it.
I’ve been playing for about 8-9 years and this applies to one of the methods i use. The method is slightly weird. Say the piece I’m playing is one page and consists of 20 measures (which it will never be that short but this is just an example). I will scan the piece, name some notes I find confusing, and then I practice starting at measure 20. I practice making sure I get all notes of that measure correct and then I move on to measure 19 and so on. My teacher calls it “practicing backwards” but don’t ACTUALLY PLAY THE NOTES BACKWARDS. You just start at the last measure of the song or a certain part and slowly add the measures behind it. Eventually, I’m able to play the part I need to in a short amount of time with almost perfect accuracy. It somehow works way quicker than practicing it forwards. (Idk the logic behind that and neither does my teacher we just know it works 😂). Hope this can help someone too
I've heard that called "reverse chaining.". It's actually not unusual. Pimsleur, the language course program, actually starts with teaching the end of a new word first, and then builds on syllables to get to the beginning, and then repeating the whole word. Just what you said.
Thanks for this advice. I have been struggling with a piece for a couple of weeks and kept repeating wrong notes. I used your method for an hour and I seem to have solved the problem. I am a late beginner. My brain must have been confused because of conflicting input of information but was surprisingly generous when I treated it with a bit of respect. I liked your analogy of a dance teacher not being consistent and confusing the students. Amazing !!
The key you mentioned about not to confuse the brain by making errors (variations) makes a lot of sense ! It also gives peace of mind, and could be applicable to all learning: never rush when learning ! Small steps...
Great advice Jazer! As a beginner i must say that your videos are one of the most proffesional but at the same time easier to follow i have seen! Thanks for all your effort in creating these videos for everyone!!
Something I have also found useful is doing small sections at a time is to learn the piece back to front. Such as learning just the last 4 bars first. Then the last 8. Then the last 12, 16, and so forth. It also tends help in a performance that if there IS some issue, it will probably be early in the piece, and you will finish strong.
Thanks, and very true. Also the small breaks not only give the brain time to process the next move, it also gives the muscles some fresh blood before the next move. playing with a soft touch further relax muscles and speed things up.
I watched this about a week ago, and it's really stuck with me. I feel like I already knew that stumbling along (particularly when "learning via sight reading") would mean I wouldn't retain what I was playing. But actually being strict as you suggest has worked amazingly. Thank you Jazer :)
great hint, thanks! so intuitive it is. what i wondered is handling finding fingerings. this needs to go first, right, otherwise my brain gets even more confused. i realized that finding fingerings properly already is 50% of the practice. then comes your excellent rule.
This method works wonders! To help with the boredom, once or twice per practice session I let myself do everything wrong; I'll play too fast, use both hands, breeze over mistakes, everything. It's probably not the best practice, but I've found that it also helps me get rid of tension and remember why I love the piece. Also, I can see the progress I've made in this session alone, which makes me excited to keep practicing (the correct way)!
I do the same thing, I use the same scale and techniques from the thing I'm learning and use it to improvise for a couple of minutes and then go back to it.
Oh, I'm so glad you commented this. I kept thinking all his tips were great, but my ADHD makes it real hard to repeat things this strictly. I'm totally gonna try your idea out!
@@jennhoff03 I have ADHD too and if involving play and improvisation every now and then keeps you actually practicing and learning that's better than stopping because of frustration and boredom. Plus it has the added benefit of improving your improv if your also working towards that. The same applies to visual art and creative writing. Free play cycled with technique/theory and imitation. Just cycling between those modes, when one of them starts to get overly annoying.
I love finding new ways to help support my brain 🧠 to be and do it’s best. This is really an overall life lesson that many should be following on a daily bases. There are other things that I am working on that I will for sure be applying this practice to, because it’s unacceptable at this point for me to continue experiencing errors if I am aiming for perfection. Thanks a ton.
This was actually very helpful. I sat down and started playing 2-3 measures at the time, slowly, pausing after each measure to think what comes next and prepare my fingers for it. After a while a noticed that my hands are no longer idle but actually anticipate the next measure without me even thinking about it, especially my left hand. Thank you!
This is my first introduction to your channel. You are a brilliant teacher! Yes to everything you say. Have complete control of the music right from the beginning. Play slowly and with purpose to every note. Do not allow wrong notes.
My teacher (I’m a 78 yr old relearning after some 60 years absence!) uses your method, its five x Right in a Row, But often working just 3 - 4 notes to the note that was wrong, plus the next note, for continuity. Adding in, gradually more notes. Also hands separately if necessary and SLOWLY! I’ve subscribed I like your careful explanations.
As a piano teacher myself, this is EXACTLY how I tell my students to practice !! 😀 This method is soooo efficient ! (I say « 5 times in a row » for complete beginners or young children and « 10 times in a row » for more advanced students, but the idea is the same).
I’m a clarinetist, but I learned the following practice technique from a pianist. His idea was to practice unevenly, slowing down in the “difficult” spot. I practice slowly, softly, with the musical message and with good instrumental techniques and slow down more where I’m unsure or I notice I’ve made a mistake previously. Day after day practice like this works well for me. I think this fits with what you’re talking about in this video.
Totally agree. Go slow and correct. Repeat and repeat. Speed will follow automatically if you go slow and correctly. Expression is the final (and to me most rewarding) part that comes after mastering a piece slowly and correctly. Especially young players: Speed is NOT the sign of mastery !
You sir, are a very gifted instructor. From another instructor (45 years) in an entirely different field. Your students are very lucky, and as I pluck away on my piano (not being able to read music in real time), I am enjoying not only the piano instruction, but the masterful way in which you convey the information. Not telling, but true teaching. Regards, Mike
I find it helpful to practice difficult passages by playing hands alone, in very short sections (maybe even less than a measure), 7 times correctly, then add one or two more notes and play that 7 times correctly, then add one or two more notes, etc. Thank you, Jazer, for your very informative and to-the-point videos!!
This techique is so simple yet so clutch.... I'm self taught and never had a teacher so nobody has ever forced me to play with accuracy. I started a new piece last week and made more progress in the last hour than I have over the entire week! Thank you sir for the great tip!
I've decided to test your theory, and it held-up brilliantly! I have been fascinated by Shubert's Impromptu #2 since I heard it accompanying a silent film many years ago, but I had no idea what it's called or who wrote it until this video. I am totally self-taught with a pathetic foundation in music theory and my sense of fingering is enough to fracture knuckles. Using your tips, I was stunned by the progress made by the right hand in just one hour. I was so excited that I kept going for another hour. When I looked at the keys this morning I remembered all of it, even before coffee! With the right mindset, this is possible! Any decent teacher will attest that a hack like me (too cheap for lessons, too proud not to do it) has no business approaching a tune like this, and until last night I agreed. Today, it's all a load of banana oil! Thanks Jazer! Now, we need to cover pedaling!
You have had such a huge impact on my learning. Every time I get tired of a new piece I am trying to learn is always because I forget this principle and spend too much time goofing around instead of learning the correct notes from the start.
I use your method since I watched your previous video about this and I have to say that it's really working for me. It's really a pleasure to be able to memorize pieces. Even very long pieces. I just finished memorizing the 3rd ballade by Chopin. Thank you very much!
Congrats! It's such a great piece. I used to play it years ago so I'll have to come back to it and get it back in my fingers. I'll practice it with this new method.
My husband has a saying that he tells all of his students: “perfect practice makes perfect “! This applies 100% to your technique here! I can’t wait to try it at the piano. Thank you!!
Really good video. I'm interested in how you generally plan your practice sessions. How many days do you repeat the technique until it's solid? When do you summarize the individual sections? How do you approach pieces that can't be practiced in one day due to their length? Thanks in advance.
Great lesson. Just found this guy & love his tutorship. I took classical piano lessons for 5 years when I started playing piano. One of the first things my piano teacher taught me was this: "Practice does NOT make perfect, practice makes habit. Only perfect practice makes perfect." I will add this: YOU can play anything perfectly, if you slow it down enough. ***Accuracy Before Speed***
Such a great vid. I always love how you also explain how our brains work as you give suggestions. The AAR method requires some discipline, but the results are worth it. I also got the suggestion to decide on two things before starting to practice: decide whether you are going to play (continuously, without going back to repeat to previous parts to correct it) or to practice (with the intention of improving or correcting parts). The first one helps me to continue playing when I eventually perform despite making some mistakes (because of being nervous). The second one is where I apply the AAR method. But the distinction (or the decision before starting a practice session) should be there.
When the piece is already "digested", playing continuously (run-through) is useful at the beginning of the session to spot the weak points/sections and focus with AAR method to improve and polish
Indeed, that's my practice routine - a run-through, then polish up on the weak spots (where I use the AAR method). I didn't make the distinction in my first year; I feel I've made better progress after that suggestion.
Hi, I have started playing the piano on my new Alesis Recital 88 keys about a week ago and have adopted straight away your rule to avoid bad habits when playing wrong notes and it's working really well for me, so thanks for sharing this great tip 😊
Thanks for a great video! I've been doing something like this for almost 10 years now - and before that I practiced in a suboptimal way for 30 years. I believe almost 100% in the message of your video. However, I do add some additional elements to my routine: I practice with a metronome. Why? Because in my experience, pianists are very eager to "make it sound good" and play at tempo. So when they hit a passage they know well, they will accelerate and then, due to ego, not go back to the slow tempo when they hit that next fast passage. This ruins practice. A metronome is an unbribable indicator of tempo. You play at that tempo the whole piece (and you split it up into manageable sections, like a page or a bar or phrase) and only when you hit 100% accuracy at that tempo, you can raise the tempo and go again. I usually raise my tempo by around 10 bpm each time. I do not require myself to practice each passage at one tempo for 7 times. Sometimes if I play it 100% correct two times in a row, I raise the tempo by 10 bpm and go again. This requires more discipline of course, but in my opinion, you can learn to love the metronome and your playing will become more consistent, you learn the rhythm from the start and you will get "absolute rhythm" in your brain - where you more or less play at the same tempo every time, because it feels right. I often test this by clapping the tempo before engaging the metronome to see how close I am in my mind - only to find I'm usually very very close. And finally: I use the tempo as an indicator for when a song is too difficult. If I can't play it 100% correct at 60 bpm (fourth notes), then maybe the piece is too hard for my current level. Also, if the piece is very fast, then the 60 bpm beat indicates eight notes instead. Adapt the idea to the piece you are practicing currently.
I totally agree with you about the metronome and I work exactly the same way as you. But I also agree with Jazer. I think metronome, playing slowly and many other techniques like changing the rhythm, playing while singing the notes,... are many ways to learn a piece with different advantages. I can train with metronome and then stop the metronome and play slowly if I feel I need it.
Hi, i am in Initial grade and 38yrs old. I was playing with hit and trial method and was going to stop taking classes. Came across ur videos few days back and for the first time i played "Boogie"well at my class today and it was approved. Thank you so so much for your tips.
Excellent advice. I've adopted this method a while back from another source and it absolutely works. Instead of singing an entire verse over and over, I focus on where I'm stumbling and do it over and over until I get it right. Then play it altogether and it falls right into place.
I suck at playing the piano, but I have had classical training and almost never lost interest in a piece I was playing. Listen to this man! He is telling the truth!
Hi thanks for the ways of practicing. And I was wondering how would you practice a new piece from slow to fast? Cause sometimes I feel like the slow speed I can handle it, but once it’s getting faster, I feel like I’m gonna out of control, and keep touching wrong notes or my muscle gets tense. Is there any tips that you recommend for this progression?thanks a lot.
I've experienced this too. I think it's very important to search for good sensation when playing right and slow. Not only think to play the right notes, but also in the right way. That is if you have a scale progression for example, is your wrist accompanying the movement, even when playing slowly. If you have complex chords with wide extension, is your hand relaxed, not curved, even when playing slowly ? I think playing slowly should not only help you retain the notes but also feel the right techniques. A good teacher will notice wrong technique and correct it and that will really help get faster while keeping the right notes.
I'm from Brazil, I consider myself a beginner at piano but intermediate in music. I always divided the phrases from each work to study them separately, this includes learning each hand separately and putting everything together. Kisses from Brazil. ❤
This. Is. Incredible. I can’t believe how correct you are!!!!! I am practicing my first jazz piece, which is rather complex. The speed comes on its own, but the accuracy is fantastic!! Thank you for changing my view! Oh, as long as I do warm ups first!!
My god, this EXACTLY what I say to my students, especially the 'imagine something awful would happen if you played a wrong note' thing😂. I talk about the exploding piano player. And about making mistakes is worse than not practising at all because you wind up learning it wrong.
How horrifying! Many students already are scared or feel intimidated. I would think that would be defeating and make them feel even more nervous. I try to be encouraging, and not condemn them for making a mistake, then show them this method to correct those mistakes. 'exploding piano player'? REALLY??
@tgp-rq2wi It's done in good humour, as I'm sure Jazer meant when he talked about being electrocuted or receiving a punishment (at 0.54). Its a joke and something I only say with students who I'm sure will get the funny side of it - I'm pretty sure I'm not traumatising anyone, it's just a way to convey to a student how much it matters to play mindfully and not let those mistakes happen. What is traumatising is having to perform when you know you're not fully on top of a piece, that's way worse than a silly joke that often provides a bit of light relief during focused work in a piano lesson😉
Great video and message. I've heard you mention never allowing a wrong note in other videos, and I try to keep it in mind, but I often get caught up with enjoying piece, melodically and rhythmically, and slip into letting mistakes happen. I remember hearing that the difference between a professional musician and amateur is that the amateur will replay a passage until the mistake is corrected and just move on, while a pro will work on the passage until the mistake never happens again. I've also heard the 7x perfectly from other sources. Thanks for posting this.
IMO it's absolutely fine to play do playthroughs every now and then where you just play the piece through to the best of your ability and have fun. That gives you some enjoyment, and also highlights the difficult parts you can focus on in the following repetitive practice sessions.
But you also said" Don't look at the piano , don't look at your hand " only look at the sheet music and aim for 100% accuracy. Not looking at the piano , and aiming for 100% accuracy while learning a COMLETELY new piece(harder than the previous one you learned) is an insanely hard thing to do unless you like play in 3 bpm. Yeah accuracy is very important , but 100% accuracy in the first tries without looking at your fingers in new pieces ... cmon we are not robots you know that's not possible unless .... you are very very advanced but then you actually don't need jazer lee's tutorials.
Both are important, don’t look at fingers, get it 100% right. One needs to add a couple of additional skills into the mix. First, getting to know where all the notes are without looking is really useful - it takes a few weeks or months of practising finding notes and chords anywhere without looking, and also having the background habit of knowing where you fingers are at all times, as if you were saying to yourself where they are all the time except not in words in the front of your attention. Second, this practise / memorise / perfect in small blocks also utilises a memory for music, which requires developing the background habit of seeing patterns which are not, say, four or eight separately named notes but are a B Flat arpeggio or a B Flat scale. This, plus a developing short term memory, makes the short block practice method quite feasible.
i’m a piano teacher currently (5 years of teaching, 15 years of playing). The first thing i always tell my students is don’t look. You can take a quick glance but that’s all you’re getting. Notes >>>>> over everything
I love, love, love this technique! This is exactly what I have needed to hear. I have found that when I make a mistake early on in learning a piece that it crops up later after I have learned to play it correctly. Those early mistakes are tenacious! Can't wait to put your technique to work today!
I was just starting to apply this method, but this video helped crystalize the purpose in my head so i could pass it on to my students with confidence. Thank you!
I'm 75 and restarting my piano playing after a long hiatus! I am so glad I happened upon this video and its message...as I find it very difficult to learn and remember like I did when I was a teenager. I have the sheet music for many songs I just had transcribed and wish to learn them as quickly as possible. Your video makes perfect sense to me and I thank you immensely for posting it for my aged brain!
52 years ago I had the privilege of studying under William Revelli. He bragged about no one in his Michigan band would play until they were able to do it perfectly. And then he explained how. Years later I strove to teach this to my high school band students by breaking it all down in a system for them to use. Your system here picks up on about the fourth level of six that I used, as I had to assume they were looking at each passage completely “cold”. Yes! Wrong notes (mistakes) are the enemy, because we have to great effort to unlearn them before we can relearn it the right way. And even then our brain is confused. Your method is the same as what should happen in all teaching situations. Loving your wisdom.
The best advice EVER. Every aspect of Jazer's advice makes sense and every aspect should be carefully understood and applied. There is no doubt that following Jazer's advice and technique WILL change the way you learn pieces and WILL make learning faster, more accurate and more rewarding. I was brought up (meaning: no teacher ever taught me good practice technique) on the "hit and miss" system and it simply does not work: since when did practising wrong notes EVER help you learn a piece? Thank you Jazer.
Im a beginner playing keyboard since 1 year and practice your way allmost since the beginning and i think it works well for me and i have fun making music and i feel my success. Im getting better fast when i learn a song bar for bar. That worked out very well for me. Thank you a lot for your great tutorial and learning videos.
Yes. I recently learned a similar method. So play a passage at the correct tempo. If you can only play the first note then stop there. Eventually add the second note when you are comfortable with the first note. Then the third note, and so on. Always at tempo. And the correct rhythm. If you make a mistake, start over. It's similar to what you are doing and also works really well.
I do generally do this, but sometimes I forget, but it is definitely the right approach. I also practice transitioning from one position to another, slowly making sure I know exactly what fingers I should be using. It takes time, but it's worth it. Playing something over and over without making sure you get it correct every time and continuously getting it wrong is very frustrating.
Thank you very much. This rule is amazing and quite simple and easy to accomplish in small measures. I am a beginner and feeling discouraged. But now I feel inspired to try again following this one rule of not allowing myself to play a wrong note.
I think your insight is correct and the reason we don't want to do that is because we're impatient with ourselves. Rushing through a piece and hitting the wrong notes over and over never sounds good. Thank you for sharing this with us.
When I first started playing guitar one of the best pieces of advice I ever got, and it certainly works, was to break the piece you want to play into small sections, then play each piece so slowly that you don't make a mistake and do it 10 times. Your muscle memory eventually takes over and you can gradually speed up until you are playing at the right tempo. Playing a piece at the tempo it should be played right from the off is so much more difficult than playing it as slowly as possible. Basically play it so slowly thats its virtually impossible to make a mistake!
Excellent. Excellent. As a cornerstone of learning the Don't Play Wrong Notes rule is essential. I find it helpful to connect the chunks. Example: three measures: A B C. Learn A. Learn B. Connect A+B. Learn C. Connect B+C. Lastly connect A+B+C. Ad infinitum. I find the deep concentration of this approach is very satisfying and not at all boring. Then add rhythm, dynamics, phrasing, etc.
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🕘 Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:35 The RULE
2:12 Retain it in Your Brain
3:53 Play the Jazer Game
4:48 Game rule 1
6:23 Game rule 2
9:09 AAR is the way to go
I've been playing the piano for 35 years now. Completed Grade 8 classical piano exams, benn through 3 wonderful piano teachers and I must say Jazer, that you have all the wisdom of my piano teachers. You are 💯 % correct ! I've used these techniques and they yield fantastic results. It's hard work but so worth it. Thank you for all the effort and passion you put into your videos. You are an excellent teacher ❤ God bless
I guess this is why I can learn pieces in only like 6 hours of practice. I've been subconsciously using this method (or at least similar, I don't count the amount of correct tries I just do as many as I feel fit until I think I got it), because for one, it works for me, and for two, I can't bring myself to play wrong notes. I hate it. I love hearing the actual piece, and hear it as it comes together. So I pause to think- pause to think- and I'm not satisfied with one section until I've got it down completely.
May I know the name of song you play in game rule 2? I really love it❤
Fantastic tip's of practicing
Well done 👍👍👍👍
Augustine violinist from Malaysia
Amazing video, thanks
As a personal trainer and novice piano player, doing 100 push-ups for a wrong note is genius. I never imagined learning piano could also build muscle mass. Thanks Jazer!
I'm going to be so in shape...😂
Funny, I should've in great shape soon😂😂
You don't have to answer, but I'd really like to know: do you seriously do 100 pushups after each mistake? And is that something you can do easily? (I couldn't do 100 pushups to save my life... and whatever number of pushups I could manage, I don't think I'd be able to play the piano afterwards!)
@@gerardvila4685It's ok, start with less, e.g. 5, start on knees, then full body, and the muscle strength will build up while still being able to play :-)
It is, of course, meant to be a bit of a joke, but also works nicely - my children stopped saying bad words when pushups were the punishment :-)
I would be doing push ups all day!! (66)
I’m a newly retired early intermediate pianist. I have found that breaking the piece down like you did (smaller chunks, hands separately, etc) works well. One thing I’ve had to incorporate was, if I’m working on just one measure, always play at least one note into the next measure. Otherwise I find that the bar line becomes too visual for my brain and may mess up my phrasing or worse, cause hesitation, which I have been working hard to eliminate from my playing.
That makes sense to go one note beyond the measure. That way there is a connection to the next measure in your memory and in your fingers.
Good to know
I agree about bar lines. Instead of bars I always practice phrases or segments of phrases that still make musical sense.
yes! my teacher always does this with me. we work to the downbeat and then the puzzle pieces fit together because i already know the transition to the next part.
playing musically is more to do with phrasing. So practising a Phrase that inevitably goes into to the next bar, will be better for the brain to understand not just the notes, but the musicality and structure when you start to speed up.
Phrasing is key and your brain will understand that better than strictly applying bars.
I saw an interview once with some famous pianist I don’t recall. When he was asked about why he is so good at the piano he replied “it’s easy, I just don’t practice wrong notes.”
Vladimir Horowitz said that.
Not playing a wrong note in the beginning is essential and part of The Tradition. What is missing here is that the speed of playing in the end is inversely related to the speed of practicing. The slower you start practicing, the faster you will be able to play it.
Indeed.
so, it’s ok to practice a hard part really really slow and short, as long as i dont hit the wrong notes?
@@noahvandenheuvel6836 of course, unless you do that you might never learn the difficult passages.
🤯 for the past month I've hit a speed wall on both Chopin's 2 & 4th etudes. I know I can play them slowly and accurately, but increased speed on 2 gives me arm cramps--I know I need to decrease the finger movements for every note. Okay, I'll go back and reduce the speed by half for a week and see how it goes.
@polymath6475 That's because you're ready to up your game. Now you need to not only practice without any wrong NOTES, but without any wrong MOTIONS (i.e., tension). It's not the speed that's making you cramp up; 999 times out of 1000 the problem is trying to go faster by "muscling" through it. Learning to play fast is a SUBTRACTIVE process, not an additive one; we just need to get out of our own way.
At this point you need to hone your mind-body connection and become super sensitive to where you're contracting more muscles than necessary to do the job, long before it actually feels tense or cramped up. Like almost at a cellular level. We arrive at fast playing by EASING into it, not by busting the door down. FWIW, hope it helps!
Your comment about playing a short section 7 times right is a HUGE Game changer for me... I have learned more from you than all the other teachers I have had in the past 50 years....
“I don’t allow myself to play a wrong note” I never realized this was a choice 😂
Best comment ever!
At some point. I’m a professional pianist and the number 1 rules in learning is to not practice the wrong thing.
Make it like driving: one wrong move is a wreck beyond recoverable measure.
I always work with phrases, not measures. When the phrase is long or has a particularly difficult segment, I divide it but I make sure to keep each segment I practice musically meaningful in of itself. That way when I join it back together it's like assembling a sentence from words rath erth anch unks from arbi trar ybar line s.😊
Haha I LOVE your explanation of that. "That way when I join it back together it's like assembling a sentence from words rath erth anch unks from arbi trar ybar line s." 👍👍
I work with phrases also. I find it to be the best way to learn, especially if you already know how to sing the song.
this is such a genius comment
I work with phrases when learning digitation/fingers and I do it slowwwwww so it's always the same fingers.
The problem is most people don’t even understand what phrase is until welllll later in their study. Lucky I had a great instructor.
I tell all of my students that there are three more important things than speed; 1. Correct notes, 2. Correct fingering., and 3 correct timing. I love the idea of seven times correctly, but the fingering has to be exactly the same as well. Just getting right notes isn’t enough. Also, it’s helpful to give your brain a chance to sort things out. Neuropathways take time to develop so that the information going between our hands and brain can flow smoothly (muscle memory). As you’ve stated, your brain gets confused if you do it differently each time.
Indeed, I teach my students the same digitation/fingers on each passage and I correct them if they don't use the same ones, because if not, they'll develop bad muscle memory.
Great to read that from our teachers (I hear that from mine). Thanks for all the advice). Physical memory (muscles and fingers).
why does it matter where my fingers are if im playing the correct notes?
Took this lesson over to the guitar... This was the best piece of advice that I've heard in a long time. So simple but yet such a big game changer. Thank you
This is the best advice. I also write in the fingerings to ensure I play it the exact same way each time 🎶🎹
I do that too especially for tricky parts!
Over the years I reckon I've watched maybe a hundred videos on piano technique, and I'd say this is the only one that gets to the heart of it, and tells me how to practise effectively. Seriously ! Many thanks.
I almost have 2 years playing the piano and since I study with these tips I learn and play much better than before. I'm learning Sonata in C Major and I'm really happy because I progress every week a lot. Thank you so much for the content, Jazzer! Sorry if my English is not so good. A hug from Barcelona!
Your English is excellent 😊 a lot every week ❤
Indeed. Shalom!
@@tiffcat1100Very much so! I was born and raised in America, and the average person there, and the average person online has blatantly bad grammar.
This is about the BEST advice ever. Of course it’s common sense but also easy to forget. Now I practice this way and the benefits are obvious. What I also practice when I find myself “stuck” is put the piece aside for a couple of days. When I resume I don’t start from the beginning but focus entirely on the bars that have given me grief.
I’m a 64 yr old beginner and new to this channel, so I don’t know if you do this too but, Sometimes I will single out the most difficult phrase and learn to play that perfectly first, before learning the rest of the piece. it gives me confidence knowing that if I can do this part I can be successful with the rest of it. Also, when playing; in the back of my mind sits the knowledge that even if I stumble through other parts of the music, I know it will be smooth sailing when I get to the toughest part and when I do sail through it there is a little rush of serotonin as a reward. Loving your videos. Keep ‘‘em coming.
Agree with all of this. It's tempting to play the entire piece over and over from the sheet music when you still have errors because you have some of it down and it feels good to get that "success" feeling from playing your best measures and phrases. This eats up a lot of time and energy. It's much more efficient to do smaller chunks and memorize/correct as you go.
I play Celtic harp and learning new tunes can be overwhelming when playing with other musicians. This method of learning a new piece is wonderful. It works!
Absolutely - You're describing Finger Memory. Some people have a greater predilection for this than others - hence how some pianists can memorise with ease - like me.
The next issue is technique Oh how I'd love to have both.
This is the first time I've encountered my own musical memory possibly explained.
- it's a natural talent but only utilised by the 'don't play a wrong note method' which I've done for decades. It's great to see this. My practise method is to 'play the difficult passages first as slow as it takes to eradicate any notational mistakes' - You are training your brain to communicate with your fingers with the correct notes. Every wrong note leaves a memory in the brain and every time you play that wrong note, your brain is memorising it as the correct one.
Whenever I've explained this to other musicians my view gets dismissed. Now I know I'm not crazy like they think.
And they still perform with sheetmusic, too terrified to rely on their brain and the natural memory due to bad learning habits.
Because from the moment you put up a new piece of sheetmusic and play the first note, your brain is memorizing it.
It's so difficult to eradicate wrong memory. I have abandoned some wonderful piano compositions because years ago I learnt wrong harmonies/notes and I cant relearn as my brain still had automatic initial memory when performing under pressure - no matter how much time spent re- learning correctly. It's great playing at home, but performing at a concert under stress , the brain reverts back to the previous memory.
At age 64, its become easier to learn pieces from scratch rather than try to eradicate deep rooted memory of existing repertoire . I've ruined pieces from ineffective practise 40 years ago- the brain is very powerful and never forgets that initial finger memory.
I wish I'd realised what damage I was creating in my 20s for later on.
Thank you for this video. I hope my long😂 comment helps someone x😮
This is very interesting. I have similar issues with my playing if I haven't used the AAR method on a piece. Or if I have learned someone's name incorrectly. What I learn first sticks like glue. So out of nowhere the early mistakes re-emerge, even after it's been corrected long ago.
This is very very insightful stuff!! I'm the sort who needs sheet music in front of me, otherwise I can't play anything. My son who's 9 years old is the opposite. His sight reading is terrible but after a couple of passes, he can memorise the whole thing. Granted these are easy grade 7 sight reading pieces but he's got repertoire pieces like Clair de lune, moonlight sonata 3rd movement and prelude in G minor by rach that he can play from memory.
I've never understood how he does that and you might have just given me the insight I need to help him on his piano journey.
You need to reintegrate your ears with your muscle memory! Try to find some synthesia videos. Where you can see the color of the keys light up. Also just curious did you learn these tunes under a teacher? The older I get the more I see why having a good teacher is important. I’m self taught but boy I regret not having a teacher.
I'm a ballet teacher and not sure how I ended up here but this is a really good lesson about learning. Thank you
I'm 64 - brand new to the piano, first instrument I've ever tried to learn. Watched the AAR video last night and tried it out today. This is excellent advice from JL - it made a huge difference to the rate at which I learned. Also felt a lot more comfortable and confident about my playing by the end of my practice session. Can't wait to get going with it again tomorrow.
@@nicolaspeters2555 how is playing the piano fearlessness
The older you are, the scarier it can be to learn a whole new skill.
I'm 70 and hadn't played in 50 years but about 4 months ago, decided I would buy a piano and just get back into it. I got my new Yamaha P225 yesterday and it was a humbling to stare at that keyboard and not knowing how to start. So I decided to go back to square one and find out where I stood. Over those 4 months of thinking about it, I watched a ton of these videos. This site takes the trophy. Since yesterday, I've decided to find a piece I am determined to learn, to focus on chords and arpeggios, and now this, never play a wrong note. This really gets me amped for practice later today. I call that a good start. I expect to go pro in a couple of weeks. Maybe. OK, that'll never happen but I am now sure I will enjoy the relearning part.
BTW, that link to the 2023-2024 Piano Syllabus (I forget what video it was on) was exactly what I needed yesterday . Provides a good reference for tracking my progress and exposing weaknesses. So now I have a plan. Thank you Jazer!
OMG this makes so much sense, I wish I knew about it 40 years ago! One thing I would mention only hinted at in the video, to aid learning I always play every note using the same finger every time. Usually it’s obvious which finger to use but sometimes it’s not so work out the most comfortable fingering and note those down on the score 1-5. The brain doesn’t actually learn the notes of a piece of music in muscle memory, it only learns the transitional movements between the notes so it’s important to always use the same fingering.
I think you might be right there 😅
Great video advice! I’m passing this along to all my students as it confirms everything I tell them. I particularly love what you said about suffering for a few minutes. Although using little pieces of candy to motivate beginners’ suffering does help! They get to pick out several jelly beans or m&ms to reflect the number of times to play correctly. Every time they get the intended passage correct, they get to keep/eat their treat. For every wrong attempt, I eat their choice with great joy and drama. So you better believe they pay attention!!! Lol.
May I add?
1 special attention to fingering. Even if you play the correct note but use inconsistent or inefficient fingering it can spell trouble.
2. We do use the correct rhythm so the melody makes sense and starts becoming integrated into their aural conceptions. I don’t allow beginners to gloss over half notes or play eights same as quarters. Yes, that happens!! 🙄Lol.
3. We call your “pause play” stop prepare for difficult spots. Very helpful!
4. And I also stress using proper touches too: staccato, a good firm connected legato, slurs, lifts on rest etc.
We use a slow metronome to allow our brains and eyes time to signal our fingers. Except on stop prepare of course.
So, the right note at the right time with the correct finger and correct intention. I call this the mechanical phase of learning. Once it’s learned and sped up close to final tempo, we start adding expression: dynamics, balance, tempo bends etc.
Thank you so much for addressing and correcting bad practice habits. 😊 it’s great advice and reminders to all of us.
You seem like a wonderful teacher! All the best!
YES! Learning the incorrect fingering (or not being consistent with fingering) is just as bad as his "play it 10 times wrong hoping for an 11th different outcome" because it just solidifies muscle memory for inefficient fingering! Ditto for proper note durations - it's very easy (even for advanced pianists!) to get used to hearing wrong notes or sloppy phrasing. PS. The candy trick sounds awesome. 😊
JL's efficient method and this excellent reply can save a novice pianist years of frustration from trial-and-error practice. And these pedagogical concepts can be applied to disciplines beyond piano study. I'm a high school English teacher who loves Bach, and I'm using these concepts to help my students with their research essays. Thank you for taking the time to post!
This makes a lot of sense to me. As he was talking, I was wondering whether practicing the wrong rhythm would also create a faulty "muscle memory", just as much as repeating the wrong notes would. I wonder whether any neurologist or psychologist has done experiments to test this: which aspects of playing piano pieces take priority in the memory mechanisms of the brain? (Note sequence, rhythm, fingering, dynamics). Or maybe scientific studies are not needed -- experienced teachers like you can answer the question!😊
Love this!!
Love your pause to think method… it allows your hands and your ear to build a musical thought, like a sentence, without losing or jumbling its meaning. It also, on the pragmatic side, teaches your brain to be fully ready for those tricky moments in transitions, fugues or places where the melodic voicing is moving, changing or overlapping.
That's make sense
I heard a lot of similar advices from my piano teacher but Jazer, you deliver the same idea the way that is way more convincing. This is what sets apart the best teacher from a good ones. Thanks a huge lot man!
exakt. Jazer vermittelt auch Leidenschaft und Feuer fürs Klavierspielen. Man spürt , dass er dafür lebt ! Die Tipps und Anleitungen sind die besten, die ich bisher gefunden habe . Vielen vielen Dank Jazer !
Don’t understimate the fact that it’s the second person from whom you hear this advice.
An advice given by only one person is always more difficult to trust to.
My old teacher used to be exactly like him and give me the most helpful and interesting advices :) even after I thought there’s nothing to learn anymore, she still found new techniques and things to teach me, such an awesome teacher. She was always so passionate when playing the piano too, no matter how simple the piece was.
She now switched career paths unfortunately but she hasn’t lost her passion for music
It was a sad moment when I realised that I won’t receive any of her advices ever again lol
Nevertheless, the advices she gave me will forever be cherished by me and lead me through the new music pieces ahead of me
Idk why I’m even telling random people about my teacher but well I guess the right teacher can change the perspective of something so much. Her piano playing genuinely inspired me to become like her because it was just full of life whenever she played
It works…I can’t believe it and it’s totally memorized….Thank you…The piece is Bachs French Suite no 5 The Allemande..Now working on speed and rhythm…I love practicing without the music…I am not quite an intermediate player but I only want to leafnclassical pieces that I love. I am 74, playing a few years but only recently found my musical path. Life is wonderful, with music in it.
I’ve been playing for about 8-9 years and this applies to one of the methods i use. The method is slightly weird. Say the piece I’m playing is one page and consists of 20 measures (which it will never be that short but this is just an example). I will scan the piece, name some notes I find confusing, and then I practice starting at measure 20. I practice making sure I get all notes of that measure correct and then I move on to measure 19 and so on. My teacher calls it “practicing backwards” but don’t ACTUALLY PLAY THE NOTES BACKWARDS. You just start at the last measure of the song or a certain part and slowly add the measures behind it. Eventually, I’m able to play the part I need to in a short amount of time with almost perfect accuracy. It somehow works way quicker than practicing it forwards. (Idk the logic behind that and neither does my teacher we just know it works 😂). Hope this can help someone too
I've heard that called "reverse chaining.". It's actually not unusual. Pimsleur, the language course program, actually starts with teaching the end of a new word first, and then builds on syllables to get to the beginning, and then repeating the whole word. Just what you said.
Thanks for this advice. I have been struggling with a piece for a couple of weeks and kept repeating wrong notes. I used your method for an hour and I seem to have solved the problem. I am a late beginner. My brain must have been confused because of conflicting input of information but was surprisingly generous when I treated it with a bit of respect. I liked your analogy of a dance teacher not being consistent and confusing the students. Amazing !!
The key you mentioned about not to confuse the brain by making errors (variations) makes a lot of sense ! It also gives peace of mind, and could be applicable to all learning: never rush when learning ! Small steps...
Years ago, my piano teacher told me to practice this way. It works! Thanks for the refresher.
Great advice Jazer! As a beginner i must say that your videos are one of the most proffesional but at the same time easier to follow i have seen! Thanks for all your effort in creating these videos for everyone!!
Something I have also found useful is doing small sections at a time is to learn the piece back to front. Such as learning just the last 4 bars first. Then the last 8. Then the last 12, 16, and so forth. It also tends help in a performance that if there IS some issue, it will probably be early in the piece, and you will finish strong.
That's already a professional way of studying. I found that out after years of playing...
Thanks, and very true. Also the small breaks not only give the brain time to process the next move, it also gives the muscles some fresh blood before the next move.
playing with a soft touch further relax muscles and speed things up.
I watched this about a week ago, and it's really stuck with me. I feel like I already knew that stumbling along (particularly when "learning via sight reading") would mean I wouldn't retain what I was playing. But actually being strict as you suggest has worked amazingly.
Thank you Jazer :)
Jazer, millions thanks ❤❤❤Please, make a video about how to push key for beautiful sound
great hint, thanks! so intuitive it is. what i wondered is handling finding fingerings. this needs to go first, right, otherwise my brain gets even more confused. i realized that finding fingerings properly already is 50% of the practice. then comes your excellent rule.
This method works wonders! To help with the boredom, once or twice per practice session I let myself do everything wrong; I'll play too fast, use both hands, breeze over mistakes, everything. It's probably not the best practice, but I've found that it also helps me get rid of tension and remember why I love the piece. Also, I can see the progress I've made in this session alone, which makes me excited to keep practicing (the correct way)!
Man, this incredible helps me too.
I do the same thing, I use the same scale and techniques from the thing I'm learning and use it to improvise for a couple of minutes and then go back to it.
Oh, I'm so glad you commented this. I kept thinking all his tips were great, but my ADHD makes it real hard to repeat things this strictly. I'm totally gonna try your idea out!
@@jennhoff03 I have ADHD too and if involving play and improvisation every now and then keeps you actually practicing and learning that's better than stopping because of frustration and boredom. Plus it has the added benefit of improving your improv if your also working towards that. The same applies to visual art and creative writing. Free play cycled with technique/theory and imitation. Just cycling between those modes, when one of them starts to get overly annoying.
What I like about your lesson is your confidence and enthusiasm on the positive outcomes. Will try it out. Thanks!
I love finding new ways to help support my brain 🧠 to be and do it’s best. This is really an overall life lesson that many should be following on a daily bases. There are other things that I am working on that I will for sure be applying this practice to, because it’s unacceptable at this point for me to continue experiencing errors if I am aiming for perfection. Thanks a ton.
This was actually very helpful. I sat down and started playing 2-3 measures at the time, slowly, pausing after each measure to think what comes next and prepare my fingers for it. After a while a noticed that my hands are no longer idle but actually anticipate the next measure without me even thinking about it, especially my left hand. Thank you!
You're a good guy! I appreciate these motivational videos. They help us "beginner-intermediate" piano players that need motivation.
This is my first introduction to your channel. You are a brilliant teacher! Yes to everything you say. Have complete control of the music right from the beginning. Play slowly and with purpose to every note. Do not allow wrong notes.
Thanks very much Jazer for your well-produced, consistent and (very) useful content. ❤
My teacher (I’m a 78 yr old relearning after some 60 years absence!) uses your method, its five x Right in a Row, But often working just 3 - 4 notes to the note that was wrong, plus the next note, for continuity. Adding in, gradually more notes. Also hands separately if necessary and SLOWLY! I’ve subscribed I like your careful explanations.
You're right, never practice both handed ( if you're not already a very advanced player ). Tip: start with the left hand and play it by heart.
Folks like to say "practice makes perfect". But it's more that "practice makes permanent". If you practice wrong, it'll be permanently wrong!
I'll simplify the sentence. "Practice makes habit"!
Good habit makes good result. Bad habit makes bad result. Perfect habit makes perfect result!
Ooooh, I like that!
Perfect practice makes perfect.
As a piano teacher myself, this is EXACTLY how I tell my students to practice !! 😀
This method is soooo efficient !
(I say « 5 times in a row » for complete beginners or young children and « 10 times in a row » for more advanced students, but the idea is the same).
Thank you Jazer 🙏❤️.. I will try it .. !!! 7 times in a row with any wrong notes !!! I will show this way also to my 8yo daughter .. 🤗
Thank you Jazer ...brilliant advice
I’m a clarinetist, but I learned the following practice technique from a pianist. His idea was to practice unevenly, slowing down in the “difficult” spot. I practice slowly, softly, with the musical message and with good instrumental techniques and slow down more where I’m unsure or I notice I’ve made a mistake previously. Day after day practice like this works well for me. I think this fits with what you’re talking about in this video.
Totally agree. Go slow and correct. Repeat and repeat. Speed will follow automatically if you go slow and correctly. Expression is the final (and to me most rewarding) part that comes after mastering a piece slowly and correctly. Especially young players: Speed is NOT the sign of mastery !
You sir, are a very gifted instructor. From another instructor (45 years) in an entirely different field. Your students are very lucky, and as I pluck away on my piano (not being able to read music in real time), I am enjoying not only the piano instruction, but the masterful way in which you convey the information. Not telling, but true teaching. Regards, Mike
❄
I find it helpful to practice difficult passages by playing hands alone, in very short sections (maybe even less than a measure), 7 times correctly, then add one or two more notes and play that 7 times correctly, then add one or two more notes, etc.
Thank you, Jazer, for your very informative and to-the-point videos!!
For those of us with less patience, four times correctly in succession is enough to master a passage--provided you do it every day!
@@bobsteiner9209but why 4 times? Should it not be as much as I get control and clarity?
This techique is so simple yet so clutch.... I'm self taught and never had a teacher so nobody has ever forced me to play with accuracy. I started a new piece last week and made more progress in the last hour than I have over the entire week! Thank you sir for the great tip!
I've decided to test your theory, and it held-up brilliantly! I have been fascinated by Shubert's Impromptu #2 since I heard it accompanying a silent film many years ago, but I had no idea what it's called or who wrote it until this video. I am totally self-taught with a pathetic foundation in music theory and my sense of fingering is enough to fracture knuckles. Using your tips, I was stunned by the progress made by the right hand in just one hour. I was so excited that I kept going for another hour. When I looked at the keys this morning I remembered all of it, even before coffee! With the right mindset, this is possible! Any decent teacher will attest that a hack like me (too cheap for lessons, too proud not to do it) has no business approaching a tune like this, and until last night I agreed. Today, it's all a load of banana oil! Thanks Jazer! Now, we need to cover pedaling!
You have had such a huge impact on my learning. Every time I get tired of a new piece I am trying to learn is always because I forget this principle and spend too much time goofing around instead of learning the correct notes from the start.
I use your method since I watched your previous video about this and I have to say that it's really working for me. It's really a pleasure to be able to memorize pieces. Even very long pieces. I just finished memorizing the 3rd ballade by Chopin. Thank you very much!
Congrats! It's such a great piece. I used to play it years ago so I'll have to come back to it and get it back in my fingers. I'll practice it with this new method.
My husband has a saying that he tells all of his students: “perfect practice makes perfect “! This applies 100% to your technique here! I can’t wait to try it at the piano. Thank you!!
Another great video. No one explains things better.
Nice, will definitely give this a a go...nicely made vid bro thx😊
Really good video. I'm interested in how you generally plan your practice sessions. How many days do you repeat the technique until it's solid? When do you summarize the individual sections? How do you approach pieces that can't be practiced in one day due to their length? Thanks in advance.
Great lesson. Just found this guy & love his tutorship. I took classical piano lessons for 5 years when I started playing piano. One of the first things my piano teacher taught me was this: "Practice does NOT make perfect, practice makes habit. Only perfect practice makes perfect." I will add this: YOU can play anything perfectly, if you slow it down enough. ***Accuracy Before Speed***
Such a great vid. I always love how you also explain how our brains work as you give suggestions. The AAR method requires some discipline, but the results are worth it.
I also got the suggestion to decide on two things before starting to practice: decide whether you are going to play (continuously, without going back to repeat to previous parts to correct it) or to practice (with the intention of improving or correcting parts). The first one helps me to continue playing when I eventually perform despite making some mistakes (because of being nervous). The second one is where I apply the AAR method. But the distinction (or the decision before starting a practice session) should be there.
When the piece is already "digested", playing continuously (run-through) is useful at the beginning of the session to spot the weak points/sections and focus with AAR method to improve and polish
Indeed, that's my practice routine - a run-through, then polish up on the weak spots (where I use the AAR method). I didn't make the distinction in my first year; I feel I've made better progress after that suggestion.
Hi, I have started playing the piano on my new Alesis Recital 88 keys about a week ago and have adopted straight away your rule to avoid bad habits when playing wrong notes and it's working really well for me, so thanks for sharing this great tip 😊
Love the way you expain everything! Truly enjoying your lessons and already looking forward to my next practice session! Keep 'em coming, Jazer!
Thanks for a great video! I've been doing something like this for almost 10 years now - and before that I practiced in a suboptimal way for 30 years. I believe almost 100% in the message of your video. However, I do add some additional elements to my routine: I practice with a metronome. Why? Because in my experience, pianists are very eager to "make it sound good" and play at tempo. So when they hit a passage they know well, they will accelerate and then, due to ego, not go back to the slow tempo when they hit that next fast passage. This ruins practice.
A metronome is an unbribable indicator of tempo. You play at that tempo the whole piece (and you split it up into manageable sections, like a page or a bar or phrase) and only when you hit 100% accuracy at that tempo, you can raise the tempo and go again. I usually raise my tempo by around 10 bpm each time. I do not require myself to practice each passage at one tempo for 7 times. Sometimes if I play it 100% correct two times in a row, I raise the tempo by 10 bpm and go again.
This requires more discipline of course, but in my opinion, you can learn to love the metronome and your playing will become more consistent, you learn the rhythm from the start and you will get "absolute rhythm" in your brain - where you more or less play at the same tempo every time, because it feels right. I often test this by clapping the tempo before engaging the metronome to see how close I am in my mind - only to find I'm usually very very close.
And finally: I use the tempo as an indicator for when a song is too difficult. If I can't play it 100% correct at 60 bpm (fourth notes), then maybe the piece is too hard for my current level. Also, if the piece is very fast, then the 60 bpm beat indicates eight notes instead. Adapt the idea to the piece you are practicing currently.
I totally agree with you about the metronome and I work exactly the same way as you. But I also agree with Jazer. I think metronome, playing slowly and many other techniques like changing the rhythm, playing while singing the notes,... are many ways to learn a piece with different advantages. I can train with metronome and then stop the metronome and play slowly if I feel I need it.
Hi, i am in Initial grade and 38yrs old. I was playing with hit and trial method and was going to stop taking classes. Came across ur videos few days back and for the first time i played "Boogie"well at my class today and it was approved. Thank you so so much for your tips.
The piano is not about brute force! It’s about elegance! Eloquence! ❤❤ 😅 🎹 I like this! 😮
Excellent advice. I've adopted this method a while back from another source and it absolutely works. Instead of singing an entire verse over and over, I focus on where I'm stumbling and do it over and over until I get it right. Then play it altogether and it falls right into place.
I use the pause to think method already, and also hands separately if it really is too much coordination for the beginning. It really works well 👍🏼
I suck at playing the piano, but I have had classical training and almost never lost interest in a piece I was playing. Listen to this man! He is telling the truth!
Hi thanks for the ways of practicing. And I was wondering how would you practice a new piece from slow to fast? Cause sometimes I feel like the slow speed I can handle it, but once it’s getting faster, I feel like I’m gonna out of control, and keep touching wrong notes or my muscle gets tense. Is there any tips that you recommend for this progression?thanks a lot.
I've experienced this too. I think it's very important to search for good sensation when playing right and slow. Not only think to play the right notes, but also in the right way. That is if you have a scale progression for example, is your wrist accompanying the movement, even when playing slowly. If you have complex chords with wide extension, is your hand relaxed, not curved, even when playing slowly ? I think playing slowly should not only help you retain the notes but also feel the right techniques. A good teacher will notice wrong technique and correct it and that will really help get faster while keeping the right notes.
I'm from Brazil, I consider myself a beginner at piano but intermediate in music. I always divided the phrases from each work to study them separately, this includes learning each hand separately and putting everything together. Kisses from Brazil. ❤
What music is at 4:13? Sounds really nice
Schubert impromptu op90 no.2
This. Is. Incredible. I can’t believe how correct you are!!!!! I am practicing my first jazz piece, which is rather complex. The speed comes on its own, but the accuracy is fantastic!! Thank you for changing my view! Oh, as long as I do warm ups first!!
My god, this EXACTLY what I say to my students, especially the 'imagine something awful would happen if you played a wrong note' thing😂. I talk about the exploding piano player. And about making mistakes is worse than not practising at all because you wind up learning it wrong.
How horrifying! Many students already are scared or feel intimidated. I would think that would be defeating and make them feel even more nervous.
I try to be encouraging, and not condemn them for making a mistake, then show them this method to correct those mistakes.
'exploding piano player'? REALLY??
@tgp-rq2wi It's done in good humour, as I'm sure Jazer meant when he talked about being electrocuted or receiving a punishment (at 0.54). Its a joke and something I only say with students who I'm sure will get the funny side of it - I'm pretty sure I'm not traumatising anyone, it's just a way to convey to a student how much it matters to play mindfully and not let those mistakes happen. What is traumatising is having to perform when you know you're not fully on top of a piece, that's way worse than a silly joke that often provides a bit of light relief during focused work in a piano lesson😉
Great video and message. I've heard you mention never allowing a wrong note in other videos, and I try to keep it in mind, but I often get caught up with enjoying piece, melodically and rhythmically, and slip into letting mistakes happen. I remember hearing that the difference between a professional musician and amateur is that the amateur will replay a passage until the mistake is corrected and just move on, while a pro will work on the passage until the mistake never happens again. I've also heard the 7x perfectly from other sources. Thanks for posting this.
IMO it's absolutely fine to play do playthroughs every now and then where you just play the piece through to the best of your ability and have fun. That gives you some enjoyment, and also highlights the difficult parts you can focus on in the following repetitive practice sessions.
But you also said" Don't look at the piano , don't look at your hand " only look at the sheet music and aim for 100% accuracy. Not looking at the piano , and aiming for 100% accuracy while learning a COMLETELY new piece(harder than the previous one you learned) is an insanely hard thing to do unless you like play in 3 bpm. Yeah accuracy is very important , but 100% accuracy in the first tries without looking at your fingers in new pieces ... cmon we are not robots you know that's not possible unless .... you are very very advanced but then you actually don't need jazer lee's tutorials.
Both are important, don’t look at fingers, get it 100% right. One needs to add a couple of additional skills into the mix. First, getting to know where all the notes are without looking is really useful - it takes a few weeks or months of practising finding notes and chords anywhere without looking, and also having the background habit of knowing where you fingers are at all times, as if you were saying to yourself where they are all the time except not in words in the front of your attention. Second, this practise / memorise / perfect in small blocks also utilises a memory for music, which requires developing the background habit of seeing patterns which are not, say, four or eight separately named notes but are a B Flat arpeggio or a B Flat scale. This, plus a developing short term memory, makes the short block practice method quite feasible.
If you need to do it at 3bpm then do it. You’ll get better and you’ll start at a higher bpm faster than you think
i’m a piano teacher currently (5 years of teaching, 15 years of playing). The first thing i always tell my students is don’t look. You can take a quick glance but that’s all you’re getting. Notes >>>>> over everything
This makes so much sense that the obviousness of it makes it easy to overlook.
I love, love, love this technique! This is exactly what I have needed to hear. I have found that when I make a mistake early on in learning a piece that it crops up later after I have learned to play it correctly. Those early mistakes are tenacious! Can't wait to put your technique to work today!
Thank you! Very helpful, as I seem to have issues on change of position in a piece I'm learning I'm going to use the stop and thing part
Realy good tips, Thanks ;-)
I am a guitar player but your advice is always spot on!
you're absolutely right, of course. thx for explaining why it's so important and how it works, wish i'd seen this about 50 years ago...
I was just starting to apply this method, but this video helped crystalize the purpose in my head so i could pass it on to my students with confidence. Thank you!
I'm 75 and restarting my piano playing after a long hiatus! I am so glad I happened upon this video and its message...as I find it very difficult to learn and remember like I did when I was a teenager. I have the sheet music for many songs I just had transcribed and wish to learn them as quickly as possible. Your video makes perfect sense to me and I thank you immensely for posting it for my aged brain!
Makes sense! Forget rhythm and beat, so you dont hit wrong keys TY! This is the best channel TY
52 years ago I had the privilege of studying under William Revelli. He bragged about no one in his Michigan band would play until they were able to do it perfectly. And then he explained how. Years later I strove to teach this to my high school band students by breaking it all down in a system for them to use. Your system here picks up on about the fourth level of six that I used, as I had to assume they were looking at each passage completely “cold”.
Yes! Wrong notes (mistakes) are the enemy, because we have to great effort to unlearn them before we can relearn it the right way. And even then our brain is confused. Your method is the same as what should happen in all teaching situations. Loving your wisdom.
The best advice EVER. Every aspect of Jazer's advice makes sense and every aspect should be carefully understood and applied. There is no doubt that following Jazer's advice and technique WILL change the way you learn pieces and WILL make learning faster, more accurate and more rewarding. I was brought up (meaning: no teacher ever taught me good practice technique) on the "hit and miss" system and it simply does not work: since when did practising wrong notes EVER help you learn a piece? Thank you Jazer.
Pedagogy, style of teaching, refines skill delivery, student learning! HUGE insights here and appreciated! Thanks
Im a beginner playing keyboard since 1 year and practice your way allmost since the beginning and i think it works well for me and i have fun making music and i feel my success. Im getting better fast when i learn a song bar for bar. That worked out very well for me. Thank you a lot for your great tutorial and learning videos.
Id like to add to also always use the same fingers for a section
Thank you--seven times over! This is the clearest explanation of a sound method imaginable.
Yes. I recently learned a similar method. So play a passage at the correct tempo. If you can only play the first note then stop there. Eventually add the second note when you are comfortable with the first note. Then the third note, and so on. Always at tempo. And the correct rhythm. If you make a mistake, start over. It's similar to what you are doing and also works really well.
I do generally do this, but sometimes I forget, but it is definitely the right approach. I also practice transitioning from one position to another, slowly making sure I know exactly what fingers I should be using. It takes time, but it's worth it. Playing something over and over without making sure you get it correct every time and continuously getting it wrong is very frustrating.
Thank you very much. This rule is amazing and quite simple and easy to accomplish in small measures. I am a beginner and feeling discouraged. But now I feel inspired to try again following this one rule of not allowing myself to play a wrong note.
You are the best theacher! Also, I think that sing at the same time, when we are playing is very helpfull for learn a piano piece. Thank you!
I think your insight is correct and the reason we don't want to do that is because we're impatient with ourselves. Rushing through a piece and hitting the wrong notes over and over never sounds good. Thank you for sharing this with us.
When I first started playing guitar one of the best pieces of advice I ever got, and it certainly works, was to break the piece you want to play into small sections, then play each piece so slowly that you don't make a mistake and do it 10 times. Your muscle memory eventually takes over and you can gradually speed up until you are playing at the right tempo. Playing a piece at the tempo it should be played right from the off is so much more difficult than playing it as slowly as possible. Basically play it so slowly thats its virtually impossible to make a mistake!
Excellent. Excellent. As a cornerstone of learning the Don't Play Wrong Notes rule is essential. I find it helpful to connect the chunks. Example: three measures: A B C. Learn A. Learn B. Connect A+B. Learn C. Connect B+C. Lastly connect A+B+C. Ad infinitum. I find the deep concentration of this approach is very satisfying and not at all boring. Then add rhythm, dynamics, phrasing, etc.
Dear Jazer, I just love what you do and how you do it, and find it incredibly helpful, like this piece too. Thank you!
This is amazing.
This "pause to think" changed everything for me.
Thanks a lot.
I love this! Love your enthusiasm for piano as well. GUILTY for the wrong note thing.