It's time to continue our journey along the 8 Steps to Improving Your Musicianship with number 7:
You will improve with repeated practise.
One of the most common responses I'm given when I ask my students each week how their practise has been is, "I don't feel like I've made any improvement." A little further in to the lesson when I ask the same student to play the piece or section they've been working on, I can see a stark difference in progression from the week before. So how come there's such a discrepancy in what the student notices and what I notice?

The last couple of weeks of day-to-day life has seen a lot of adjustment required from everybody, so I'm incredibly thankful to each of you who has been able to continue your lessons with me online. I'm feeling more and more 'at home' with the change in lesson format and I hope you are as well. If you have any feedback at all about the online lessons - positives, negatives, suggestions - please let me know, my goal is to make these lessons at least as valuable as face-to-face in the studio.
I have two big challenges as a teacher that I'd love your help with.

Now, time for number 6 on the list of 8 Ways to Improve Your Musicianship:

Your whole body is free to move and co-ordinate when you’re balanced.
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For some of you, this is a topic that we've looked at in-depth, for some of you it's something that we're yet to visit, but this point is a crucial one when it comes to playing the piano. Most of the time when we sit, we're looking to relax. We sit back, we put our weight on our bottom, and the mere thought of reaching for the remote is groan-inducing. This is where playing the piano is different.

With the COVID-19 advice changing at a rapid rate, the expectation is that a decision will be made in the near future by the State or Federal Government  that enforces a restriction on non-essential businesses and travel. At the moment, the advice is to reconsider your need to travel outside your home, with the emphasis on using your "common sense". 

With this in mind, I am recommending that all lessons be moved to online lessons from now until further notice so that we can all play our part in trying to flatten the curve of the rate of infection. While the studio will remain open to in-person lessons until required to close, this is a great opportunity for us all to be proactive about the situation. 

You can find details on how to prepare for your online lessons here.

​There will continue to be a 20% discount across online lessons this week to allow us some time in each lesson to make sure that everything is working.

To join your online lesson, follow the link in your Lesson Reminder. I'll also be adding the link to the Evernote folders for those who are already using that platform for lesson notes.

I welcome your feedback at any time and am happy to discuss any of the above or to help you set yourself up. It's certainly a strange time for everyone, and I hope that your lessons can continue to be a welcome contribution to your quality of life over this period.

Dion

It's time to continue our journey down the 8 Steps to Improving your Musicianship with step 5:
You can’t change something that has already happened. Don’t let it stop you.
This step is all about how we react to the much feared, and ever present... MISTAKES! I spend a lot of time with all of you talking about your mistakes, and for good reason - we all make them! I've mentioned to many of my students that I've never played a song perfectly, and the looks that I get usually suggest that you don't believe me. However, it is very true.

Continuing the theme of the past couple of weeks, it's time to look at the third item on the 8 Steps to Improving Your Musicianship:

3. Start with a positive intention. Play how you want the music to sound.
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Straight off the bat, I've done enough research and had enough experience to know that the power of positive thinking is not a magic cure-all, and I'm not about to tell you that you'll magically become a better player if you just believe in yourself. So if that's not the case, then what's the point of starting with a positive intention?

After spending some time last week elaborating on the virtues of making mistakes (and how they keep me happy), it's time for to investigate the second item on the 8 Steps to Improving Your Musicianship:

What feels strange or different might also feel easier. Focus on the easy.
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This is something that I hold near and dear to my heart as a former student who has now become a teacher. I'll be the first to admit - I can be really, really stubborn sometimes! Often I feel like I have a solid reason that makes sense in my own brain, but the more I investigate why I do something in a certain way, the more I start to admit that there's more than one way of doing something. So how does this play in to your developing musicianship?

Around a year ago I created a resource called "8 Steps to Improving Your Musicianship" and I think it's worth investigating the steps in some finer detail. Some of you may have already seen this document before, but if you haven't, it's worth printing out and putting at the front of your folder or sticking it on your wall as a handy reminder of some of the things that you might do more often if given the reminder. So, to begin, let's look at Step 1: 
Every mistake you make is an offering, a chance for your teacher to help you.