The Book

I have been asked to follow Michael Aaron Piano Course book by my school. I am starting with the Grade I book. Since I have completed over half of the John Thompson’s Grade I book, the initial lessons seem simple to me. Overall, I feel the learning curve is steeper in the John Thompson book.

I want to be able to play and record all of the exercises in the book and upload them all to YouTube. The idea of uploading them in public domain would motivate me to practice a piece long enough that I get fluent with it, at a decent tempo, with the right dynamics.

I am not sure as to how many exercises should I target for every day. Two exercises a day might be a good number though. Since the initial exercises are very elementary, I will run through them in a day and record all of them. I will upload as many as possible on my YouTube channel

Subsequently I will record and upload each exercise as I learn them, along with an embedded video here on HowILearntPiano.

Keeping recordings of your playing can help in multiple ways. First, it helps you realise if you are playing on time. Next, it also lets you hear if you are playing musically or mechanically. Hitting the right notes at exactly the right time does not make the piece sound musical. Its like a computer reading out a passage, correct but monotonous. Instead the performer needs to play with expressions, which is why there are dynamics and on top of that the performer has the freedom to add his unique style to the piece as well. In the initial period, my focus is always on playing the right notes. But as time progresses, I should play more and more musically. Having recordings would help me compare if I am improving in that aspect as well or not.

With that in mind, I am going to start my recordings today. They should be available on my channel soon enough.