The Piano Express

Connecting to The Piano Express App

https://youtu.be/56qel7WfysM

Connecting to The Piano Express App

Happy Friday everyone! Here's our 5th practice tip for everyone :)

“Break it Up” 2 short and focused bursts of practicing can be more productive than 1 longer session. Try breaking up practice times and achieve smaller goals more consistently.
Just remember, we are what we practice! Have fun, be patient, and strive for consistency! We hope these tips can help make practice less of a chore, and more towards all the rewarding feelings that come through music making.

Here's today's practice tip. Stay tuned for our final tip on Friday, and then for featured videos!

"Piano-Free Practice" Practice doesn’t have to be just at the piano. Even accomplished concert pianists practice on tabletops when in a pinch. The advantage here for younger students is the potential to practice good hand shape and touch without having to think of notes. Good technique can be practiced on the kitchen counter! 😉

Practice tip for your Wednesday!

"100% Notes" Don’t worry about rhythm and speed. Concentrate on accurately striking each note slowly to feel how the piece works in the hands. Once tricky areas become easier, slowly reintroduce rhythm and speed.

More tomorrow!

Today's practice tip:

2.) “Jump around” All too often, students start practicing just at the beginning of the piece. Makes for a strong intro, but what about the rest of the song! Being able to start and play anywhere in the song deepens understanding of the content. Try to start anywhere besides the beginning!

More tips to come :)

Today's practice tip:

“Say-n-Play” Saying the letters out loud while playing the notes is a very helpful way to practice for students in all levels. This practice technique aids with note recognition, developing tonal memory and betters concentration. Tip #2 tomorrow!

Lastly, our winners for each level. These students will have performances featured here in the coming weeks.

Yellow: Hannah O'Brien
Purple: Hailey Adams
Red: Niranjan Rajasekaran
Blue: Smeera Gandi
Silver: Ava Goncharov
Gold: Helen Zhao

Congratulations to our winners, and thank you again for participating in our event!
Lastly, this week we will post a practice tip each day to help guide home practice. Stay tuned!

Our top 3 students all came in with over 1000 minutes of practice. (over 16 hours in March!)

Helen Zhao, 1674 minutes
Ashwin Senthil Kumar, 1546 minutes
Sreshta Chanda, 1171 minutes.

We would also like to acknowledge 3 students who passed the most songs in March:

Thomas Gray, 88 songs
Leana Paradkar, 67 songs
Niranjan Rajasekaran, 53 songs

Thank you Piano Express families for participating in the March Madness practice event! Winners will be sharing their videos in the coming weeks, and for today we just wanted to give some shout outs to some awesome students!

So excited to announce that this book Timeless Music of India finally has its own website! Check it out, and while you're there, go ahead and order a copy! Profits from book sales are going toward nonprofits in India. It's a great book and a great cause.

www.timelessmusicofindia.com

Photos from Timeless Music of India's post

SMALL OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE FOR ONE-YEAR LEASE.

Because of our commitment to social distancing during the pandemic, we are not using our small classrooms in our studios. The class rooms are 12 x 12 (144 sq feet). We were recently granted permission by our landlords to sub-lease the spaces to anyone interested. This would be ideal for anyone who needs a room to work from out-of-the-house. Rent is $500/month - and we will provide internet, heat, AC, and utilities at no extra cost. Private Message us if you are interested!

The Piano Express

The Piano Express

Hey, that guy on the bottom left... I know him!

Meet our 2020 Teachers of Distinction: https://bit.ly/3imKDOr

This distinguished award has been given to 16 teachers from across North America who are:
✔️ Leaders in the field of music education
✔️ Influential in creating a brighter future for music education
✔️ Instilling a lifelong love of music in their students
✔️ Mentoring other teachers and inspiring others

On the other side of this pandemic, our studio is going to have fresh paint!!!

Since the shelter in place, our online tools have been a LIFE SAVER. Shout out to our developer Andrew Jackson and our video production manager Ben Toalson for their collaboration! 🙏🏻

The new sign’s first night.

Coming soon to Sterling VA!! Open house every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in March.

So excited to release this book!! Authentic cultural music from India for piano students. Early beginner through intermediate level. $15/copy. Our studio will be donating all profits from book sales to non-profits working in India.