A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Learning how to play piano should be an enjoyable journey, not a boring chore –
– and the first step can make all the difference!
‘Arm’ yourself with knowledge and step with confidence on a road full of exciting musical discoveries!
Inspired from your suggestions, I decided to create, especially for you guys, a step-by-step Video Course based on Nikolaev’s Russian School of Piano Playing – the most important method book for beginners (grades 1-2) that we use in the Russian Piano School.
In each progressive lesson I’m going to focus on several pieces from this book – analyzing all their expressive and technical challenges and showing you how to practice them for developing all your pianistic skills harmoniously. The difficulty of the pieces increases with each lesson!
So, are you ready to learn the secrets of the Russian piano school? Now they are ‘tailored’ especially for beginners!
Lesson No. 1 is an introductory one. On top of giving you detailed practice tips for the first 7 pieces from Nikolaev’s School, I also share with you the fundamental ‘building blocks’ of piano playing – information that all beginners (and their teachers) should know.
Lesson No. 1.
Getting Started. The 3 Main Piano Pillars. The Basic Playing Movements. Picking Out by Ear Easy Melodies. The Basics of Musical Notation.
0o.14. Nikolaev’s Russian School of Piano Playing – a short overview.
0o.56. The 3 Main Piano Pillars that should be harmoniously combined in a beginner’s practice.
02.37. Let’s have fun! Learning the correct posture and key attack while picking out by ear easy melodies.
03.40. The Basic Playing Movements.
05.58. Piano Fingering. Our Fingers and Their Numbers.
06.36. What is non-legato? Practicing Piece No. 6 – Corn-Flower.
09.26. The first 7 pieces from Nikolaev’s School: detailed demonstration.
13.05. Inventing your own melodies.
14.34. Picking out by ear your favorite songs.
15.11. Starting to explore the Basics of Musical Notation.
16.05. The Main Note Durations: the whole note, the half note and the quarter note.
16.46. The Main Time Signatures.
17.52. The Basics of Conducting
19.12. The Staff and the Clefs.
At the end of this lesson, I’ll remind you one more time that in every little piece you play, you should try to understand its meaning and character – and to reflect it in your performance! That’s how brilliant playing skills are formed – and this is the first step of the road that leads to amazing expressive and technical achievements and, of course, to lots of joy and fulfillment!
One more thing: Even if this is a project for beginners, it will be useful for piano teachers as well – and for all those pianists who want to correct their basic playing skills and to acquire a new perspective on the fundamentals of piano playing.
Now that you have successfully taken the first step of this new and exciting journey – are you ready to move to the next level?
Become a member of my Piano Coaching Program at PianoCareerAcademy.com and get access to all the other lessons for beginners from this series – and to hundreds of other exclusive piano playing tutorials that reveal the secrets of the Russian piano school! Don’t forget that you’ll also be able to ask me ANY piano question, anytime, and receive personalized, detailed, professional piano guidance!
And now – a little advice:
Taking the first step takes courage. Many people have dreams and goals – but only a few will actually take action for making them come true. Why? Because they’re afraid of the long road ahead. Because they’re afraid of failing. Because they’re afraid of hardships and disappointments.
It’s time for a change of attitude! Instead of being afraid of the future, focus on the present and enjoy the ride!
Being a beginner is a wonderful experience. This is the time when everything is possible! This is the time to be curious, to ask questions and be fascinated by all the unexpected discoveries you make! This is the time to grow, to change, to become a better person and musician! And this is also the time to have fun and ENJOY EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!!!
A journey of unlimited musical possibilities begins today – with this single step that will change your perspective on piano playing and will open before your eyes new piano horizons.
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