Why Learning How to Read Music Can Actually Hinder Your Progress at the Piano

If you're a classically trained pianist, you probably can read music extremely well. But you probably can't just go to the piano, sit down, and play what you feel!

It's a sad but true fact. For most classically trained students, improvisation and just "being" at the piano is not an option. This isn't to say that they don't want to improvise and create their own music. They just don't know how to do it!

Listen.. It's not their fault at all! You see, their training consists of spending years upon years learning how to play the music of dead composers. And while the music of "the masters" is great and worthy of hearing, it isn't something coming from you.

Writers don't have this problem. If someone interested in learning the art of short-story writing was told that they would have to spend 4 years copying another novelists work, they would go insane.

Painters also don't have this problem. A watercolorist would laugh in your face if you told him that you learned how to paint by assiduously copying another painters work. In fact, music may be the only art where students are actually taught NOT to be creative! Think about it.

Reading music is just one aspect of the process. It's like reading the words in a good book. We all can do it but most of us wouldn't be able to actually create what was on the written page. Now all of this begs the question of why so many people devote so much of their time to note-reading. I think the answer is simple - it's what's always been done and it's something that piano teachers (usually on a pedestal) push their students into learning.

Listen carefully... You don't need to read music in order to play piano! As a matter of fact, learning how to note read before learning how to improvise and use chords at the piano can be a major deterrent to creative piano playing.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit http://www.quiescencemusic.com now and get a FREE piano lesson!

Learning Piano Without Years of Lessons!
So, you want to learn the piano. But you don't want to spend years learning how to read music.That's understandable. Learning...

Piano Lesson: Do You Know What You Learn When You Play Piano?
I guess you are learning to play piano in order to become a better pianist. Do you know that there are many secret learning p...

Why Most Piano Teachers Can’t Help You Create Your Own Music!
Most piano teachers have no problem teaching technique or note reading from textbooks. This is what they're good at. In fact,...

Discover Piano Map to Keyboard Treasure - And Read It!
To discover keyboard treasure and achieve your musical potential, imagine a globe of the earth. Visualize the northern hemisp...

Piano Lessons - Learn a New Piece of Music Every Week
Don't let your beginning student get stuck trying to learn a piece of music that is really just too difficult for them. Don't...

Piano Lesson for Children - Expanding Keyboard Knowledge
Sometimes children in piano lessons can get stuck playing well in one hand position where they feel secure, but become comple...

Piano Lessons - How Parents Can Support their Child’s Piano Teacher
Parents can play an important role supporting their child's piano lessons and their piano teacher. However, about a third of ...

Learn Piano and Impress Your Friends!
In a group of people there is the one who can sit down at the piano and wow the crowd with his or her ability to play the pia...

What’s so Funny About Peace, Love, and New Age Piano?
You know, I'm getting sick and tired of people putting down New Age music. Especially when most of the people who say they do...

Nature Sounds and New Age Piano
If ever there were two things made for each other, it would have to be New Age piano music and nature sounds. After all, New ...

Piano Lesson Games for Kids Make Music Learning Fun
Generally young children who enjoy educational activities such as reading, coloring, crafts and word games also enjoy playing...

How to Play Piano in Less Than 1 Hour!
If you're looking for a way to quickly play the piano you're going to love this. Listen... most of you already know that the ...

The Piano Keyboard and the Open Position Chord
Did you know that the piano keyboard is not used to its fullest potential? And that thousands of beginning piano students sta...

Twelve Days of Piano Christmas Gifts for Kids
Christmas is a great time of year to give your child taking piano lessons musical gifts and encourage them to reach their mus...

Piano Lessons for Kids - Piano Tips for Young Students That Really Work
Learning strategies are important for piano students. Having developed great learning strategies over years of teaching exper...

Piano Lesson: Learn To Play Jingle Bells Without Piano Sheet Music
In this piano lesson we will learn to play piano Christmas music. We will use piano tab notation so you don't need to read pi...

Mozart Effect - Not the Only Game in Town
There seems to be a substantial body of evidence in support of the Mozart Effect. While skeptics advice us to take the whole...

Developing an Appreciation of Classical Music
Classical music is at once one of the best known and least understood forms of music, and many music fans who feel they would...

A Guide To Piano
Pianos are referred to by some people as the mother of all instruments, and are amongst the most widely played musical instru...

Piano Lesson Recital Party Idea - The Harvest Mini Recital
Children in piano lessons need opportunities to perform, but all of these don't need to involve a formal recital with kids dr...