Piano Lessons in Escondido, CA

Instruments: Piano

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
Practice a piece separate into different sections: technical challenging part, rhythm challenging part, themes, mood change, pedaling and etc. The concept is like doing oil painting, adding layers by layers. First, separate each layers, practice until 80 percent satisfaction. Then, do two or three layers together, like: rhythm with technical challenging part, mood changes with pedaling. Add more layers together practice toward the goal. At last, combine all these layers, and paint the perfect "picture". Some students tend to practice from the beginning to the end. This will result in the beginning is better than the rest which can cause unbalanced situation for future. Listening and recording is also another important factor in practicing, record yourself and you will find so many blind spots which you didn't realize when you practice.

How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
According to the research, the best time to start lessons are between 6-9. In my personal opinion, it's better for a child to start lesson when the child already knows the alphabet. It's important because they need to at least know the letters in order to know the notes names. During that time period, children already has stepped into school, they learn how to sit down and pay attention consistently for a while. Being able to sit down and pay attention for at least half a hour is basic for piano practicing. It's ideal for parents to give the child musical environment and atmosphere in the preschool years. It's one of the early ways of nurturing children's sense of music.

Why did you choose your primary instrument?
One of the greatest gift from my parents is allowing me to start as a pianist. Personally I consider piano is the greatest instrument ever invented in human history. It is passionate and intense yet very logical. It's the most healing instrument yet not too overwhelmingly emotional. It's a lonely instrument yet not so lonely because it can be an orchestra by itself. It is complicated and challenging to the most extent of an instrument can be. There are uncountable literature written for solo piano and collaborative piano. Piano is also a good instrument to develop coordination between left and right hand.

What do you think is the hardest thing to master on your instrument?
I would consider the part of being a performer to connect with the audience. No matter how hard you've tried and prepared for the performance, I always wonder how I can build connection with my audience. If you play for audience who don't know music, it's even harder to connect with them. And most people just interested in listening to the piece whether is smooth or not to determine if the performance is good. It's sometimes really kind of frustrated to see what you've been working so hard but people don't even care enough to understand. But the more performance I play, I find that I can just play the piece like telling a story, not too overdone the drama, it appears to be the most natural way of expression. My teacher told me as long as you convey the musical interpretation through fine expressions then your audience will get it.

What is your dream piece to perform and why?
Rachmaninoff

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