Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso

7/23/2019 Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso

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DAVID MOTTO

Coauthor of the bestsellerMusicians Practice Planner

An Insiders Guide to Transforming YourPiano Playing in Ten Minutes a Day

THE 1O MINUTE


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THE 1O MINUTEPiano Virtuoso An Insiders Guide to Transforming Your

Piano Playing in Ten Minutes a Day

DAVID MOTTO


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Te en Minute Piano Virtuoso: An Insiders Guide to ransforming Your Piano Playing in en Minutes a Day

Copyright 2012 Molto Music Publishing Company

All rights reserved.

International copyright secured. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronicor mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written prior permissionfrom the publisher.

MOL O MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY 6244 Outlook AveOakland, CA 94605www.moltomusic.com

Cover Design: Jane Sheppard

Interior Design: Jill Cooper


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso

Copyright 2012 Molto Music Publishing Company | www.moltomusic.com

o my wife, Stephanie, for her unfailing support,creative ideas, and commitment to using music education

to help students have more opportunities in life.

o every pianist and keyboard player who has wonderedif there was a better way to learn their instrument

without all the strugglethere is, and the secrets in this book will show you how.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso | iv


Contents

Introduction viii

How to Use This Book ix

Part I: Secrets to Achieving Your Musical GoalsIn a Fraction of the Time 1

Secret 1: Practice Every Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Secret 2: Break It Down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Secret 3: Have Specific Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Secret 4: Practice Away from the Piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Secret 5: Memorize as You Go Along . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Secret 6: Get the Gear You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Secret 7: Narrow Your Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Secret 8: Understand the Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Secret 9: Play Without Stopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Secret 10: Practice the Way You Want to Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Secret 11: Position Yourself Correctly at the Piano. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Secret 12: Focus on the Solution, not the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Secret 13: Be Honest With Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Secret 14: Know the Jargon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Secret 15: Get to Know a Song Before You Learn to Play It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Secret 16: Hire a Teacher You Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Secret 17: Dont Let Yourself Learn Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Secret 18: Stay Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Secret 19: Be Your Own Teacher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Secret 20: Stay Relaxed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Secret 21: Understand the 80/20 Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Secret 22: Use a Practice Planner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Secret 23: Do Your Homework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Secret 24: Embrace Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Secret 25: Know What Not to Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Contents | v


Part II: Secrets to Mastering Any SongNo Matter How Difficult 27

Secret 26: Slow It Down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Secret 27: Always Warm Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Secret 28: Begin with the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Secret 29: Overcome the SAD Syndrome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Secret 30: Figure Out Fingerings First. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Secret 31: Tackle the Tough Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Secret 32: Use a Metronome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Secret 33: Make Your Exercises Interesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Secret 34: Repeat Your Initial Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Secret 35: Write In Your Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Secret 36: Work on Speed Last . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Secret 37: Increase Your Tempo Gradually. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Secret 38: Always be Expressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Secret 39: Show Some Emotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Secret 40: Expand Your Concentration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Secret 41: Work Only on Rhythms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Secret 42: Concentrate Exclusively on Pitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Secret 43: Set Up Practice Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Secret 44: Create Your Own Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Secret 45: Overcome the Fear Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Secret 46: Sightread Every Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Secret 47: Play by Ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Secret 48: Focus on Physical Comfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Secret 49: Stretch Out Before You Work Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Secret 50: Practice by a Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Secret 51: Use a Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Secret 52: Know How to Use Your Metronome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54


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Part III: Secrets to Inspire and Motivate YouEvery Time You Play 55

Secret 53: Know Why Youre Practicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Secret 54: Accentuate the Positive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Secret 55: Understand the Learning Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Secret 56: Reward Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Secret 57: Start with Something Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Secret 58: Buy a Piano You Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Secret 59: Make Your Goals Attainable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Secret 60: Blow Off Steam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Secret 61: Play Your Piano, Dont Work It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Secret 62: Create Consequences for Missing Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Secret 63: Schedule Your Practicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Secret 64: Dont Get Frustrated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Secret 65: Notice What You Do Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Secret 66: Set up a Pleasant Practice Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Secret 67: Put Your Practicing First. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Secret 68: Practice Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Secret 69: Play Music You Like . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Secret 70: Practice Even if You Dont Want To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Secret 71: Practice Whenever You Can . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Secret 72: Commit Yourself to the Long Term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Secret 73: Do Something Every Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Secret 74: Keep Your Piano Ready to Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Secret 75: Go Wild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Secret 76: Get Rid of Practice Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Secret 77: Have Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80


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Part IV: Secrets to Getting Ready for the StageAnd Feeling Comfortable There 81

Secret 78: Visualize the Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Secret 79: Push Beyond Your Target Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Secret 80: Use Your Inner Voice Wisely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Secret 81: Define Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Secret 82: Record Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Secret 83: Keep the Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Secret 84: Develop Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Secret 85: Create an Emotional Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Secret 86: Try a Very Long Practice Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Secret 87: Exaggerate Your Intentions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Secret 88: Shoot a Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Secret 89: Tune Out Your Friends and Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Secret 90: Practice for Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Secret 91: Understand Your Nervous Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Secret 92: Decide On a Deadline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Secret 93: Transition from Practicing to Performing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Secret 94: Practice Performing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Secret 95: Purposefully Distract Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Secret 96: Make Yourself Uncomfortable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Secret 97: Practice in Your Concert Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Secret 98: Attend Live Performances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Secret 99: Ignore Negative Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Secret 100: Turn Off the Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Secret 101: Put on Your Game Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Conclusion 106

Acknowledgements 107

About the Author 108


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso | viii


Introduction

I improve your piano skills to the point where you could play any wanted. Yes, its actually possible. Tere is a path that will take you to this level, and the steps onare inTe en Minute Piano Virtuoso.

Tese steps are not obvious, and theyre clearly different than the usual picture pianists have o p which looks something like this:

You lock yoursel in a roomalone or a couple hours a day. While youre in this room, you teverything youre doing wrong and wonder out loud why it all seems so difficult. Ten, you suddento a realization: You have to repeat this every day or the next ten years.

Tis is the way most piano players learn their instruments. Un ortunately, its the way I learned to plaIt wasnt until I was an established pro essionalper orming, doing session work, giving private teaching in a universitythat I realized that almost no one knew the best way to learn a musical ins

eachers, students, amateurs, and pro essionals were all just doing what everyone else was doing was success ul or not.

I decided to do something about this. I started reading everything I could get my hands on re practicing, learning, and per orming music. I went through books, journal articles, and websites. lectures, presentations, and master classes. I even studied areas outside o music like businessathletic conditioning, and the psychology o success.

wo results came rom all this research. First, I created the Musicians Practice Planner , a specializnotebook that helps musicians organize their practicing into manageable parts and clearly dene thTe Musicians Practice Planner has gone on to sell tens o thousands o copies worldwide.

Te other result was that I accumulated a huge body o in ormation on what works and what doesnto master a musical instrument. Over time Ive turned this raw in ormation into specic strategies piano players hundreds o hours and trans orm their playing.

Tese strategies make up the 101 secrets inTe en Minute Piano Virtuoso. And, they must be secrets. Istrategies were well known, every piano player would already be using them! But, thats just noMusicians constantly tell me they have no idea what to do to get better.

So, here is the in ormation in an accessible, easy-to-read ormat. Te secrets inTe en Minute PianoVirtuoso will help you make real improvements in your piano skills, and youll soon be playing never thought youd be able to play.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso | ix


How to Use This Book

M P V is designed to help you improve your piano playing imIt isnt intended to be read rom cover to cover. Open it up wherever youd like, and yo

something use ul. Youll benet most and make the best use o your valuable time by reading justsecrets and applying them today.

Te main idea behind this book is simple, and its highlighted in S 1: Youll progress mosby playing the piano a small amount every day. Tis is a better plan than trying to catch up by prac whole bunch one day a week. Start with the rst secret and then explore the rest o the book.

Tough the book is not sequential, it is organized.Te en Minute Piano Virtuoso is broken into our paeach dealing with an important topic to help you become a better pianist:

P I: Secrets to Achieving Your GoalsIn a Fraction of the imeP II: Secrets to Mastering Any SongNo Matter How DifficultP III: Secrets to Inspire and Motivate YouEvery ime You Play P IV: Secrets to Getting Ready for the StageAnd Feeling Comfortable Tere

You can use this structure to get exactly the guidance you need right away. P I will help youhow quickly and efficiently you learn. P II gives you the nitty-gritty details o exactly what t practice room. P III is loaded with strategies to help you get in your ten minutes o piano tiP IV will show you how to be prepared or any per ormance.

Each part o Te en Minute Piano Virtuoso contains many great pieces o advice, and it can be challto know exactly what you should read. So, here are several ast track reading sequences to help yo

Are you brand new to playing the piano?Read and apply these secrets, in this exact order: 6, 1, 16, 26, 2, 31, 48, 55, 63, 22, 25.

Been playing for a while and feel youre not improving?ry this sequence o secrets: 3, 7, 21, 1, 55, 12, 17, 36, 34, 32, 37, 82, 25.

Cant seem to get motivated to play piano every day?Use these secrets immediately: 63, 57, 71, 67, 68, 56, 62, 54, 64, 3.

I you dont see your specic situation listed here, many more ast track reading sequences are www.moltomusic.com/ten-minute-virtuoso/ ast-track-piano.

You have a lot o options or getting the most out o this book. Te main thing is to get started nsooner you start reading, the sooner youll benet.

No matter how you useTe en Minute Piano Virtuoso, its my sincere wish that this book will improve piano playing and let you enjoy making music.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso | 1


Part I

Sec rets to Achieving Your Musical GoalsIn a Fraction of the Time

You dont have time to waste when youre playing music. Te tricks and tips in Pgive you the secrets of accelerated learning and efficient use of your time. strategies make the entire process of learning piano easier and faster than ever be


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Part I: Secrets to Achieving Your Musical GoalsIn a Fraction of the Time | 4


Secret 3

Have Specific Goals Know what you are trying to do before you do it

D yoursel starting a practice session eeling unclear on what exactly youaccomplish? You know you need to make your song sound better, and youre sure theres a exercise to help you master it. But, you dont know where to start.

Te trick is to have extremely ocused, specic goals every time you sit down at the piano. Decide

o the song should be your ocus, and know what youre trying to accomplish.Create these specic goals each day be ore you start practicing. Youll get much more done when specic result youre shooting or, and creating your plan will save you enormous amounts o time

Here are three ways to make your goals more specic:

Choose a Specic empo: I the per ormance tempo is 120, your goal or today may be 60.1.

Focus on a Specic Section: Instead o learning an entire song, just learn one section o2.Make sure that your goal is to play the section accurately without stopping or re-starting.

Fix a Specic Problem: ackle the exact notes that are difficult or you. Every musical prob3.technical solution that you can gure out.

Creating specic goals will completely change your ocus in the practice room. Instead o havinotion that your playing needs to be better, youll have specic targets to hit quickly today.

Imagine what youll accomplish with this goal: Ill play the last two measures o the A section anB section at hal -speed, with accurate rhythms and dynamics. Tats so much better than saying, Tneeds some work.

I you want real results ast, dont be vague. Ambiguous goals lead to ambiguous results.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Part I: Secrets to Achieving Your Musical GoalsIn a Fraction of the Time | 18


Secret 17

Dont Let Yourself Learn MistakesStop confusing your muscles

Many pianists teach themselves mistakes at every practice session. Teyre usually not even awthese errors are happening. Tis habit o learning mistakes is so commonplace because o the wkeyboardists practice their music. A typical, unsuccess ul attempt at learning a song looks slike this:

Start playing at the top.1.Stop when a mistake is made.2.

Correct the mistake.3.

Move on and keep up this process until the end o the piece is reached.4.

Lets look at these steps rom your muscles point o view. Tey learn that stopping in the middle ois normal and acceptable. Tey also believe that incorrect notes are a regular part o what they play. Finally, they accept that a wrong note ollowed by a corrected note is a per ectly reasonabo activities.

You must replace this style o practicing immediately. Stopping and starting just con uses your mu you will never master your music i your muscles are con used. Instead, heres another way tlearning new music:

Practice slowly enough that you accurately play every note and rhythm.1.

each your ngers and muscles to play correctly without stopping.2.

Slowly work the music up to per ormance tempo with your muscle memory intact.3.

Tis approach lets you learn correctly the very rst time you go through new music. It undoes the da process o teaching your muscles mistakes. I your muscles learn mistakes, you ace a very

time-consuming process o re-learning your music so you can play accurately. You dont have time First, you would have to unlearn the mistake. Ten, a new, correct sequence must be learned by the

While this corrected sequence is being learned, there will be a struggle as the earlier mistake trieinto the music. Re-learning your music disrupts progress and is very rustrating.

Instead, dont learn mistakes in the rst place. You will learn aster, eel more condent, and enjthe piano more.


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Part II

Sec rets to Mastering Any SongNo Matter How Difficult

In P II youll get the practicing secrets of the worlds most successful musTese secrets reveal exactly what to do to be as effective as possible while y playing piano. Use these strategies during your practice sessions to mastertechniques and quickly learn songs.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Part II: Secrets to Mastering Any SongNo Matter How Difficult | 36


Secret 34

Repeat Your Initial SuccessUsing repetitions to strengthen your playing

A a specic technique or a section o a song, youll taste surst time. Youll suddenly be able to play everything correctly! Tis is denitely cause or ceand one o the most rewarding experiences o playing music.

At that point, you need to make sure the difficult bit is permanently under your control. Can you

again success ully? Dont stop working afer getting something right only once. Youre not yet readon.

Instead, its time to repeat the music in question over and over. Te minimum number o repetitions three. Te rst time you played it success ully might have been a uke. Getting it right twice showsrst time was real. Playing correctly a third time proves you know it.

Success ul musicians employ two repetition strategies:

Play a specic number o repetitions. Youll play the music ve or ten times in a row. Te 1.goal is to get them all right. But, shoot or our out o ve (or nine out o ten) being correcunsuccess ul playing these repetitions, slow down and keep practicing.

Play repetitions or a certain amount o time. Put on your timer or three or our minutes a2.many repetitions as you can in that amount o time.

I you move on to other material the rst time you play something correctly, youll have to ctomorrow and learn it all over again. Repetitions cement the music into your muscle memory and slot o practice time.

Remember this anonymous quote: Amateurs practice until they get it right. Pro essionals practthey cant get it wrong. Even i youre not a pro essional piano player, youll benet rom practice secrets.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Part II: Secrets to Mastering Any SongNo Matter How Difficult | 39


Secret 37

Increase Your Tempo GraduallyStaying in control gives you the best results

M - strategies in this book ocus on learning notes accurately andOnce you know all the notes, though, youve got to learn to play them at the per ormance speTe secret to building your tempo is to always play at a speed where you have complete control o eYou start slowly, and build your tempos by the smallest o margins. Its simply a waste o time

increase your tempo to a speed where you have no hope o playing everything correctly.Tis oolproo process or increasing tempos works every time:

Master the music at a slow tempo. Tis means you can consistently play all pitches, rhythms, d1.and phrasingin both handsand produce a tone youre happy with.

Play a minimum o three repetitions with a metronome at your current mastery speed.2.

Bump up the metronome one or two beats per minute. You shouldnt even eel the change in tem3.

Play at least three repetitions at the new tempo. Continue only i you have complete control o t4.at this new speed.

Continue5. S 3 and 4 until you get to the point where you cant go any aster without losinAt that point, stop playing.

By increasing your tempo gradually, you make steady progress. With each increase youre omuscles into thinking theyre not going any aster even though they are. Your muscle memory in bostays intact. Tats essential to your success. You may hit some plateaus where you cant actually go thats to be expected. Just stop there or the day. Youll pick it up again when you practice piano tom

Slow and steady really does win the race. Youll be amazed at how easily you can increase your tapproach saves time, builds your condence, and helps you master your music. Its one o the mos practicing secrets.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Part III: Secrets to Inspire and Motivate YouEvery Time You Play | 58


Secret 55

Understand the Learning Curve Its normal not to see constant improvement

Y difficult to believe that youve orgotten how to play something that was playable just a couple days ago. Not seeing day-to-day progress can be rustrating.Tis rustration comes rom misunderstanding the learning curve. Pianists expect the learning curvelike this: Once a section o music is learned, it will only get better, easier, and aster. Every day

improvement on the day be ore, and progress will always move in a positive direction.Un ortunately, this is how the learning curve actually works: You learn some music. But, when youthe piano another day, you might have to gure it all out again. You dont make any progress speed

or days on end. Ten, one day you have a breakthrough, and you can play it twice as ast. Te day your tempo drops a bit.

Tis constant rise and all in your progress is completely normal. Even i youre seeing no changabilities or many days in a row, you are getting better. Stay with the program because youwill have anothebreakthrough. Ten what will happen? You will slip back rom that plateau and your learning mayagain. Tis will continue over and over, day by day, year afer year.

Human beings do not make constant progress. Te capricious nature o the learning curve is one primary reasons you need to practice piano every day. Youll never see the next breakthrough in yoi youre only practicing once a week.

Te learning curve is a lot like a roller coaster. Its a crazy ride with many ups and downs. As long as and expect this, you can stay calm during the times you dont eel youre getting any better. Te impris coming! Just keep working.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Part III: Secrets to Inspire and Motivate YouEvery Time You Play | 79


Secret 76

Get Rid of Practice Barriers Eliminating roadblocks in your life

S barriers between themselves and playing their instruments that thearound to practicing. Others only squeeze in one practice session every week or two. Imagine hmore un you would have i you played piano regularly. Youd improve aster and never eel not playing.

Make it easy to start practicing. Dont let physical or mental barriers get in your way. Tese are tcommon roadblocks musicians create:

Not having piano practicing on your calendar. Put music on your calendar like any other imactivity.

Keeping your piano closed up and covered with so much stuff that you cant get to it com ortab your instrument accessible at all times.

Tinking its okay to skip today and telling yoursel youll get to it tomorrow. No you wont. Plor 10 minutes right now!

Not having a plan. Start by choosing one song you want to learn.Having a goal that is impossible to reach so youre always rustrated. You need a short-term goacan achieve this week. Little goals eventually build into your big goal.

Not being able to make noise in your house or apartment. Do whatever it takes so you can Play a keyboard while wearing headphones or soundproo a room or your acoustic piano.

Tinking that all conditions must be per ectthe house to yoursel , an afernoon totally reeexcited to playbe ore you can start. Just start. Li e is never per ect.

How many o these barriers do you have in your li e? Its time to make some changes so you cancom ortably play piano every day.


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Part IV

Sec rets to Getting Ready for the Stage And Feeling Comfortable There

At a certain point in your practicing, you need to switch gears to prepare f performance. Included in P IV are the insider secrets that move you from practice room to the stage. By following these strategies, you will know youreto play in front of an audience.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Part IV: Secrets to Getting Ready for the StageAnd Feeling Comfortable There | 83


Secret 79

Push Beyond Your Target Tempo Making performing easier than practicing

E per ormance tempoa target you want to hit. Afer days or weeks you will nally reach it. At that point, youll need a new goal: the ability to control the musitarget tempo consistently under any circumstances.

Its one thing to work up to this tempo in your practice room. But, its quite another to have th

needed to play at this speed during a per ormance.I youve been diligently practicing and have just barely gotten your music up to speed, you are noto per orm. You never want your per ormance to be at the very peak o your abilities, a level o pthat you only sometimes achieve. You need to be in your com ort zone onstage, ully in contrmusic and ready to give your all.

o have that control, and to guarantee that you can success ully play at your target tempo onstasure you can play all o your music 10% to 20% aster than your per ormance tempo. For insta per ormance speed is 120 beats per minute, work your way up to 132 or 144 beats per minutethis extra speed is a great use o your practice time, and this method works best when tackled a every day.

Tis technique is called over-practicing, and it yields amazing results. By over-practicing, youllcondence to succeed on stage. Youll be able to handle the slightly aster concert tempos that of when the adrenaline is owing.

Knowing that your practice room training was more rigorous than the per ormance itsel , you canthe stage eeling inspired and ready to play. Te stage environment might even seem downright comImagine how great that will eel.


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The Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso Part IV: Secrets to Getting Ready for the StageAnd Feeling Comfortable There | 97


Secret 93

Transition from Practicing to PerformingGetting ready for the stage

O all the notes or an upcoming concert, the practice room needs to b per ormance preparation room. During this phase, you go rom learning to mastery. Masteautomatically playing your music rom start to nish.

Tese are specic practice room techniques that will make you a per ormance master:

Visualization #1: Hear the music in your head and eel yoursel playing it. Any difficult1. your visualization will likely be real issues on stage. Make sure you eel com ortable this visualization.

Visualization #2: Picture yoursel playing piano on stage in ront o your audience. Feel calm2.collected. Know that you are in control!

No Stopping: Play through each section one at a time without any pauses whatsoever. Tis ma3.initially playing more slowly than you want. Tats okay. Youre working on mastery, not winning

Control Each Section: Be able to play each section o your musicin any order. I your 4.

ve sections, try playing each section in random order or backwards order.ighten the ransitions: When each section is playable, make sure you can easily transitio5.

one section to the next. Play the last ew measures o one section into the rst ew measunext section.

Put It All ogether: Play the sections in order. You dont have to start by playing the who6.I your music has ve sections, you can play sections 3, 4, and 5, or sections 2, 3, and 4. rcombinations. Eventually, youll easily be able to play the entire piece o music awlessly!

Tese techniques will give you condence and prepare you or per ormance success. ry the last otechniques on separate days. Each builds into the next one. In about a week, youll be able to pla

your whole song.


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Conclusion

Getting the Most from Tis Book

N your game ace on, you can stay calm during any practicing, reh per ormance situation. Te secrets inTe en Minute Piano Virtuoso have given you motivational toefficiency ideas, practice room strategies, and per ormance tricks that allow you to learn any so your instrument, and be the pianist you want to be.

o get the most out o this book and to give yoursel the greatest advantage when practicing, usethe strategies simultaneously. Imagine how effective youll be when you combine the secrets.

For instance, playing a loop (S 43) very slowly (S 26) with a metronome (S you record yoursel (S 82) is an extraordinary use o your time. I , be ore you do those sdo a quick warm-up (S 27) in the same key (Secret 33) and then pause or 30 seconds to yoursel playing the loop per ectly (S 78), youve just improved your efficiency and mhuge actor!

Next Steps

Make sure you keep acquiring musical knowledge. First, keep this book as a handy re erence ando the best ways to master the piano. Return to the motivational secrets in P III anytime you neinspiration, and keep trying out all the strategies.

Second, take advantage o the amazing wealth o books, articles, websites, and blogs written oTeres a list o recommended reading or you on the Molto Music website at: www.moltomuten-minute-virtuoso/recommended-reading.

Finally, to thank you or readingTe en Minute Piano Virtuoso and or making it all the way to conclusion, I want to give you a gifactually, several gifs. Tese gifs are ree guidebooks thatmany questions musicians commonly ace. You can download these guidebooks at www.moltom

ten-minute-virtuoso/guides.Te in ormation in Te en Minute Piano Virtuoso and on the Molto Music website will help you l your instrument efficiently and help you have as much un as possible playing music. Tats an effcombination, and I wish you all the best with playing the piano.

o Your Musical Success!


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Acknowledgements

M P V would not exist without the help, support, and inspmany talented and creative people. Tank you to:

Andy Ostwald or his time and consulting work to make sure this book covers the most importaor piano players. I wouldnt have been able to complete this book without his work as an expert a

learning the piano.

All o my private students and my students at San Francisco State University or helping me rcrucial need or the best in ormation on how to master not only the piano, but all musical insBob Kliger or the discussions about how to make practicing help musicians. Chris Saunders, JimAndy Ostwald (again), and Ric Zappa or the weekend jam sessions and discussions about mmusicians in Storkzilla or proving that the secrets in this book really work.

Rajesh Setty or seeing a grand vision or this book. Liz Alexander or her brilliant book title cor the help in creating a clear message. Alan Ovson or ocusing me on always thinking rst ab

needs. Michael Papanek or emphasizing that books are only worthwhile i they offer at least benets. John-Carlos Perea or saying that my teaching put him on a path to winning a Grammy.

Jane Sheppard or her creative and insight ul design work. Jill Cooper or her layout work and ey John Eggen and Mark Levine or their expertise on ebooks and publishing. Victor Siu or readin

rom the perspective o a pianist and piano teacher and offering his eedback. Nick Petrulakis o

early version o this book and giving me his insights on writing, publishing, ebooks, and bookstorEveryone at the Cerebrate Con erence or their unique take on li e, success, and achievement. store owners and publishers who make up RPMDA (the Retail Print Music Dealers Association) commitment to giving musicians expert advice and local access to sheet music, music books, and leleadership o the many state and national music teacher associations or having me speak at their cto share my in ormation.

And, to the late Richard Carlson, Ph.D. Tough I never met him, his terric book Dont Sweat the SmStuff served as the inspiration or organizing the contents oTe en Minute Piano Virtuoso.


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About the Author

D M musician, writer, and expert on the best way to learninstruments. He is in demand throughout the United States as a speakerteacher. David is the coauthor o the best-selling book, Musicians Practice Plannand the author o three instructional books or the bass guitar. He is also the oMolto Music Publishing Company and a member o the Recording Academygives him the privilege o voting or the Grammy Awards. He lives with hithe San Francisco Bay Area.

For more in ormation or to contact David Motto, please visit www.moltomus

and www.davidmotto.com.

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Ten Minute Piano Virtuoso

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