Why you should learn piano songs by ear. Imagine this - you're sitting at a piano, effortlessly playing any song that pops into your head, without needing any sheet music. Sound interesting? This is the power of playing by ear. It's more than just a different way to learn piano; it brings a whole host of unique benefits. It can add variety and enjoyment to your practice sessions, while also deepening your overall understanding of music. When you teach yourself to play piano songs by ear, you're doing more than just copying tunes. You're nurturing key musical skills and tapping into your inner ..read more

Here at Piano Picnic, we believe in teaching adults to play the piano freely, without the constraints of traditional sheet music. With our step-by-step curriculum of 2-minute piano lessons, even total beginners can quickly unlock their musical potential and embark on an exciting journey of self-discovery. Join us as we explore the vibrant world of piano and learn to play it like you mean it! Endless Exploration: At Piano Picnic, we embrace the idea that learning piano should be a boundless adventure. Say goodbye to rigid levels and hello to endless learning possibilities. Our curriculum is de ..read more

Do you forget songs you've learned as soon as you stop playing them? Do you find it difficult to recognise motifs when playing by ear? Don't settle for poor memory! As you’ll discover in this article & video, there are ways we can train our memories to hold onto patterns in our short-term memory and recall entire pieces of repertoire in our long-term memory. Memory & Music People have an amazing ability to remember music. Chances are you can recognize your favorite song after hearing just a fragment. These memories are stored in the hippocampus where listening to music produces new neu ..read more

What is ear training? Ear training is a funny thing - most people seem to think it is about training our actual ears to do all the work. Most people are confused by this and therefore think that ear training is a very mysterious thing - how can my ears figure out a song? But it’s not really about the ears at all! Of course your ears are doing the listening - but what’s really happening is our brain is thinking more about what we hear. Your ears don’t all of a sudden hear more than they heard before, or hear sounds with more specificity. So the good news is - your ears will continue doing the ..read more

Perfect pitch is a rare ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone.  It helps them to play fluently by ear almost without trying.  That's not the shocking part. Only 1 in 10,000 people have it!!!! Those are some pretty slim odds!  For those that are lucky enough to have it, it's a big deal.  And for those of us who don't have it, we can forget about playing by ear, right? WRONG! Read on or watch the video [13 minutes] to discover how you can develop something similar to absolute pitch in order to play by ea ..read more

You’re already beautifully equipped to hear all the details you need to hear in order to play by ear, you simply need to know what it is your hearing! Here’s my journey to developing my musical ear and how you can do the same. read on or Watch the video below [7 minutes] It all started with Fur Elise.  The first time I heard that song played by a friend I felt like my heart had been lifted out of my body through the power of music. I was about 7 years old and I had taken lessons for a year or so. My friend was much more advanced than I was, and she played so beautifully and that song was ..read more

If you are interested in playing the piano without reading music your first step is to develop your musical ears. Use these tips to strengthen the connection between your ear and your brain to listen like a musician and train your hearing to work better for you! Your first step to playing piano by ear! - 7 minutes. #1 READY YOUR ENVIRONMENT The first thing you need to think about is readying your environment.  It won’t help you to be bombarded by outside noises and movement so find somewhere quiet and comfortable, but not too comfortable! To complete this exercise you’ll need to be relati ..read more

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT about the Creative Pianist membership - you’re going to want to read this! Since the membership was first launched in July 2020, I’ve added new courses twice a year and a new training every month but aside from new content, it hasn’t changed much and I’ve kept the price of the membership the same this entire time. At the beginning of this year, I realised that the content had grown so much (50+ hours of video content!) that I needed to put the prices up, and along with that decision, I was very excited to use that opportunity to give the membership a makeover. The result is a ..read more

With so many pianists starting their journey in childhood, it can feel like as adult beginners that we’ve missed the boat already. Is learning something new best left to the young? I talk to one of my students, Mike Clarke, a retired engineer in Australia about his experience. In this video I interviewed Mike Clarke (Creative Pianist member) about his journey from guitar to piano; how raising money for charity inspired him to take up keyboard in retirement; and what he did NOT see coming! See below for transcript! R: Thank you so much for being a part of the community, I really enjoy seeing yo ..read more

Finding your voice as a songwriter is a process. It’s not something you can plan or think about or prepare for, you have to get in and do the thing! Clarity comes from engagement - you can’t sit back imagining doing the thing and come up with any answers, you’ve got to start. What drives you to express yourself, what gets you up in the morning, what unique experience or perspective you have, what makes you angry or what you would fight for – these are things you will uncover as you begin to get used to expressing what’s on your mind and how you feel.  You’ll start noticing when you f ..read more