Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Circle of 5ths Challenge starts tomorrow. I will be releasing a short a day for the month of January.
If you would like an email, one exercise a day in your inbox you can sign up here: frazierpianostudio.com/challenges/circle/
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Let me tell you about when I taught private piano lessons at the university.
I taught lessons to non-music-majors and non-piano-major music students.
So this would include vocalist wanting to improve their piano. Or music therapy majors that needed to pass their piano proficiency exams.
As well as complete beginners or advanced players that weren't studying music at university.
12 Intense Weeks
This set up a curious teaching situation. In a typical teacher student situation in private studio I might teach a student for several years or until they graduate High School.
In a university semester I had 12 weeks.
I had to figure out what level they were at, set goals, and help them improve.
I didn't have 2-3 weeks to figure them out.
-- Establish a process
What I figured out is a process that worked well for students at any level.
I developed a really clear syllabus, even though the administration didn't require a syllabus at all. This laid out all the expectations up front.
-- Establish expectations
Clear expectations helped students to succeed.
"Students will rise to the level of expectation." -- quote from Stand and Deliver
I also had 2 recitals throughout the semester. A mid-term and a final. They had to learn 2 different pieces and they had to be new pieces. (I had some students try to skate by with old repertoire.)
Consistency is key
I also had students report on their practice time. This accountability makes a huge difference.
Sure students could lie about how much they practiced, but my experience was that the self reporting of time spent matched the preparedness and progress at the piano.
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If students followed the process and put in the work, they got better. No matter what level they came in at.
I was very clear about expectations at the beginning. So if it wasn't what the student was expecting they would drop the course for the semester.
(Amazingly I had one student who was surprised that I required them to practice. They wanted to "talk about piano." Those were his words.)
That's probably enough rambling for today.
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Would you rather have a piano with all the keys
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Would you rather have a piano without
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If I had to pick one skill to master at the piano, or even music in general, it would be the circle of 5ths.
Everything else makes sense when you understand how it works.
It's like Neo seeing the matrix. You can't unsee it once you get it.
I would say 99% of all chord progressions fall into somewhere in the circle.
Failure is a teacher
I was playing some postlude music in church on Sunday. Someone requested O Holy Night.
I was playing it by ear and I did really well until I came to the chorus. Those weird chords of the chorus.
It does this modal thing: vi -> iii -> ii.
iii to ii is kind of weird. And that's what tripped me up. Thinking about it I realized at that point it deviates from the circle of 5ths. The rest of the song I was pretty comfortable.
So my point is...
If you can do the circle well you can play 99% percent of most songs. That 1% is the tricky part.
The Challenge
Coming up January 2024 I am running a Circle of 5ths Challenge. I am releasing a short a day on YouTube and on my website.
If you would like to get an email a day with these exercises in you inbox you can sign up below.
βfrazierpianostudio.com/challenges/circle/β
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I'm going to do a Circle of 5ths Challenge in January. I will release a short a day with an exercise.
If you want an email dropped in your inbox everyday you can sign up here:
π frazierpianostudio.com/challenges/circle/
If you want a PDF of all the exercises you can get it here:
π frazierpianostudio.ck.page/products/circle-of-5thsβ¦
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I had chatGPT generate a bio for me for an upcoming gig. Pretty funny.
In the quiet land where mountains tall do stand, there dwells a fellow named Ryan, with skills both bright and grand. A Master's in Piano, a maestro with the keys, from classics to jazz, his melody doth please. By day, in software's realm, codes he doth engineer, but on YouTube's wide canvas, his knowledge doth appear. In '03 he arrived, in the mountains found his way, and with family by his side, in their love he'd always stay. A teacher at heart, he guides with gentle hand, in the world of music and tech, in Middle-earth he stands. πΉποΈππ§ββοΈ #PianoMaestroOfMiddleEarth #CodeWizardOfTheShire #MountainFamilyKeeper
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I just created a 5 page PDF "Blues Piano Guide" as a visual guide to help you learn jazz blues piano. The chord possessions and licks are in the style of Oscar Peterson, Red Garland, and Wynton Kelly.
Get it at frazierpianostudio.com/blues
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What is the most important aspect of music?
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Greatest pianist of all time
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Think Better. Play Better. Play some piano and some jazz.