Many pianists don’t even take a moment to think about this and it worries me because without steering the ship someone will steer it for you.
Youtube algorithms will feed you the piano tutorials it thinks you want to see – suggesting more and more disjointed & random piano content that doesn’t take you on a path toward your goal.
Piano-tutorial apps will target you from your demographics and you could end up spending money on something because of clever marketing whether or not it takes you toward your goal.
The danger of not having a goal for where you want to be as a pianist means that you could spend a lot of time, money & energy learning things that keep you moving… but in circles around the same spot.
In practical terms, it’s like learning a lot of piano songs, but not learning what makes that song sound so good, or how to add your own spin to it, or how to write your own song just like it! You’re learning more repertoire, sure, but are you developing your musicality? Nope.
Watch the below video to get an overview of WHY it’s important to choose the type of pianist you want to be, and what it takes to be the type of pianist who plays freely & creatively!
What type of pianist do I want to be?
If you want to be the type of pianist that can play lots of songs exactly as the tutorial or sheet music says to play them, great - stick with the YouTube tutorials!
But if you want to be the type of pianist that can sit at the piano and play your heart’s song, put your own creative spin on the songs you love and play naturally and beautifully just from a couple chord symbols? That requires musical knowledge and developing your confidence in FREE playing!
The name I give that type of pianist - is the Creative Pianist.
What does it take to become a Creative Pianist?
There are two fundamental qualities that I believe it requires to become a Creative Pianist: curiosity & rebellion.
Curiosity - what would it sound like if I changed this about this song, what would happen if I took this in a different direction? I wonder how that works? Why does this sound so good/bad to me?
Rebellion - taking that curiosity, and daring to rebel against the status quo. Having the gumption to turn that melody upside down, to go ‘off page’ from the sheet music, having the gall to make mistakes, to sound bad or play a wrong note, or many wrong notes in pursuit of knowledge! It means saying “I suspect that this won’t sound good straight away, but I’m willing to go there anyway in pursuit of something that does sound good.”
How will the membership help me?
All of Piano Picnic’s courses are geared towards developing creative, self-sufficient & free pianists with musicality to BURN!
We don’t deal in grades or levels, we deal in creative SKILLS! So each course will help you develop a specific skill: from improvising, to lead sheet reading, riffing to playing by ear. You can get the basics of piano playing anywhere on the internet, but Piano Picnic is where you come to develop your bad-ass creative pianist rebel skills.
Our membership was launched in June 2020 as a way to provide an affordable and ongoing program for pianists wanting to unlock their creative potential. It allows instant access to ALL of our courses, as well as THE VAULT of every workshop & coaching ever done. This includes basic to intermediate instruction in piano technique; chords, chord progressions & comping; playing while singing; arranging for solo piano; 12-bar blues and more!
However, the membership isn’t all about courses & workshops – some of the best value is gained from your access to priority support with me personally, and access to our community of warm & passionate creative pianists who you can share your progress & insights with.
Piano may be a solo instrument, but when you learn creative piano with Piano Picnic you’re never alone.
Perhaps my favourite asset to the membership, is the Creative Pianist Cookbook - this is your personal workbook for planning your goals and charting a path through our resources to achieve them. Everything from practice, to goal-setting & your personalised plan are covered.
