Christmas in July Piano Practice

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."  -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The question I like to ask my students is... "When do you practice?" Pretty much their response is after school or in the evening. So, we work with that and for sure I can hear their progress with the ones who diligently practice. However, what I found with homeschoolers and older adult students is that early morning practice is the best!

Here are a few important reasons why morning practice works:

• Sleep affects the learning of a fine motor skill in a very positive way.
• Morning practice is not as forgotten as our busy day unfolds.
• The discipline of morning practice establishes good proactive habits in other areas, too.
• You're mentally alert, in a better mood and have peace.
• Family members can hear you practice and make beautiful music.

What I have found to be true is doing a habit pattern over and over becomes built into the brain and you are more likely to keep up the new behavior... and that's a very good thing!

Here are a few approaches to practicing:

• Make the quiet parts of the song as quiet as can be and the loud parts real loud.
• Choose a song and count the rhythm quietly or aloud while you play.
• Pick the hardest part of the song and play it at least three times in a row.
• Play an easy song faster.

Some of my kiddos enjoy playing these chord progressions in their left hand:

FC /  GD /  AE /  CG

Perhaps you will combine notes from the D Minor 5 Finger Pattern with these L.H. Chords:

DA /  CG /  BbF /  CG

Another fun approach is having the right hand play a Pentascale while the left-hand plays the perfect octave interval as eighth notes. Start on C, move to F, back to C, then G to F. Try this in all the keys following the I - IV- V chords.

Congratulate yourself for having achieved what you set out to do! Now, let's take a look at an easy tutorial video on YouTube for Silent Night.

A great teaching video, Christmas Keys1, is a game changer. Here's what's inside:

Discover the power of "inversions" and how changing one note in your chord can totally alter the way a progression sounds!    Beginners: How to play an entire song with only three-fingered major chords (...also known as "major triads").    How to add fuel to your bass by understanding how "power" chords work in holiday music.    Discover the power of "walk-downs" with basic primary chords (...you'll learn this in "Silent Night")!    How to sneak in "filler 13th chords" on your right hand to keep your holiday songs sounding full at all times.

Happy Playing!

~ LadyD

 "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King