What Lessons Are Like

If you are considering taking piano lessons for the first time, you may be wondering, "What actually happens during the lesson?". To help answer that question, I wanted to share a summary of what happened during two lessons I taught today

Student 1: Building Rhythmic Foundations

My first student was working on Serenade for Strings, and like many developing pianists, she had fallen into a common trap: uneven pacing. She would rush through familiar passages and hesitate at difficult ones, creating an inconsistent performance.

This is where the metronome becomes invaluable. I had her slow down significantly and focus on matching each note to the click. The goal wasn't speed—it was evenness and control.

Quarter Notes vs. Eighth Notes

We spent time clarifying a concept that seems simple but is absolutely foundational: the difference between quarter notes and eighth notes.

• Quarter notes land on each metronome click—one note per beat

• Eighth notes land on the click and in between—two notes per beat, twice as fast

To reinforce this, I had her practice alternating between quarter and eighth notes on a single key. This isolated drill removes the complexity of reading music or coordinating different fingers, allowing the student to focus purely on internalizing the rhythmic relationship.

The Art of Careful Observation

During sight-reading Exercise 6, my student demonstrated something important: she correctly identified a tied note and played it once instead of twice. This kind of careful observation is exactly what sight-reading is about—not just playing the notes, but understanding what the notation is telling you.

Music Theory in Context

A wonderful teaching moment emerged when examining my student's composition. She had composed a little piece using two chords, she could identify one as a C major chord but didn't know what the one was with the notes B-D-G. I helped her identify it as a G major chord in an inversion.

This is music theory at its best—not abstract rules memorized from a textbook, but concepts discovered in the student's own creative work. The chord contains the same notes as G-B-D (the root position G major chord), just in a different order. In the context of C major, this is the V chord, which creates tension that wants to resolve back to C.

Student 2: Advanced Technique and Musical Problem-Solving

My second student is working at a more advanced level, focusing on building speed by using the metronome and overcoming a difficult passage in the piece he is working on.

The 10 BPM Rule: Building Speed That Lasts

We worked on three specific technical challenges with clear benchmarks:

• C major scale in thirds → eighth notes at 120 BPM

• Left-hand staccato eighth notes → 100 BPM

• 16th notes → 70 BPM (left hand) / 90 BPM (right hand)

The key to technical progress is incremental advancement. My instruction: increase the metronome by 10 BPM at a time, and play each tempo twice cleanly before moving up. This prevents the common mistake of pushing for speed before accuracy is established.

The Psychology of Difficult Passages

An important teaching moment came when discussing my student's work on Chopin's Rain Drop Prelude. He had been stuck on a particularly difficult measure, and it was blocking his progress on the entire piece.

This is a common trap: students encounter one challenging measure and spend all their practice time on that single spot, never moving forward. The problem is twofold:

• You train your fingers to stop at that measure, creating a mental and physical break point

• You delay learning the rest of the piece, which might actually be easier and more motivating

My advice was to work on the next four bars in parallel with the difficult measure. This keeps momentum going and prevents frustration.

The Importance of Not Pausing

Another crucial point came up during scale practice. When my student was uncertain about a note, he would pause mid-scale to think about it. This seems harmless, but it's actually training a bad habit.

When you pause during a scale or passage, you're teaching your fingers that it's okay to break the flow. In performance, you can't pause to think—you need to keep going. If you're uncertain, it's better to play a wrong note and keep moving than to stop.

The solution? When you find yourself pausing, stop and isolate the problem spot, then loop that spot several times to fix it before putting it back in context.

Celebrating Progress

One of the highlights of this lesson was explicitly praising my student's hand positioning, which has visibly improved over recent weeks. This kind of technical refinement often goes unnoticed by students themselves, but it's fundamental to efficient, injury-free playing.

Good hand position isn't just about aesthetics, it allows for greater speed, better control, and reduced fatigue.

My Teaching Philosophy: Building Independent Musicians

Piano teaching is about much more than showing students which keys to press. It's about building habits of careful observation, disciplined practice, and persistent problem-solving. It's about celebrating small victories—a correctly identified tied note, a phrase played evenly with the metronome, improved hand position.

Most importantly, it's about teaching students to be their own teachers. The metronome, the practice strategies, the careful observation—these are all tools that students will use long after the lesson ends. My job isn't to be present for every practice session; it's to equip students with the knowledge and discipline to guide their own musical growth.

Every lesson is a step forward in that journey, and I'm grateful to work with students who bring curiosity, dedication, and a willingness to embrace both the challenges and the joys of musical learning.

Clear Practice Goals for the Week

Every lesson ends with actionable practice goals. Here's what my students are working on:

Student 1

• Practice the right-hand of Serenade for Strings slowly with metronome

• Drill quarter/eighth note alternation on a single key

• Learn Exercise 6 hands together

Student 2

• C major scale in thirds → eighth notes to 120 BPM (increment by 10, repeat twice cleanly)

• Left-hand staccato eighth notes → reach 100 BPM

• 16th notes → 70 BPM left hand, 90 BPM right hand

• ContinueRain Drop Prelude, advance to next 4 bars

If you're interested in piano lessons that focus on building solid technique, musical understanding, and independent practice skills, I'd love to hear from you. Every student's journey is unique, and I tailor my teaching approach to meet each individual where they are.