Juilliard graduate helping dedicated adult pianists who love challenging repertoire practice less while learning more.
πΉ π€¦ββοΈ I almost missed it
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I'm wearing a back brace while a compression fracture heals, with strict orders not to lift more than 5 pounds. And I was about to fly from California to Toronto. βοΈ Carry-on only was a stretch. Carry-on I wasn't allowed to lift? π€¦ββοΈ The trip was for Stu McLaren's 10-year celebration of The Membership Experience. Stu is my membership mentor and I've been meeting with him and his fabulous team for 5 years on Zoom! Before I knew Stu, my first attempt at a membership was a pandemic-era flop. I taught masterclasses on Zoom and assumed that was enough. I closed it two months later. Then I took Stu's course, and I learned quickly what I'd gotten wrong. More content isn't better. A clear path is. So I built the Keys to Success. πΉ Stu and his team have been in my corner the whole way. Toronto was my chance to finally meet them in person. Back brace or not, I wasn't missing it. But the real gremlins weren't about my back. I'd be in a room full of membership owners with hundreds to thousands of members. Some with tens of thousands. π³ Relatively speaking, the Piano Ninja Tricksters Club is small. I felt intimidated. So I reminded myself. The Piano Ninja Tricksters Club is small, but it's loyal. By the time I left Toronto, I realized I'd just lived through what my members feel at their first retreat. Before they arrive, there's trepidation. Playing for other pianists. Wondering if they're good enough to be there. By the time they leave, after hours of geeking out about piano, they know. They're in a room they belong in. Someone else might play better. Doesn't matter. These are their people. They're seen, heard, hugged and understood. This time, I got to feel it from the other side. π€·ββοΈ |
Lisa Spector, Piano Ninja
Juilliard graduate helping dedicated adult pianists who love challenging repertoire practice less while learning more.
We just wrapped up our annual Beyond the Keys piano retreat and I sent every pianist home with six new cards to put on their piano rack. One idea on each. Play On! πΉStart Where It Breaks βοΈπ₯Back Up Just Enough π Name It When You Play It πRecord Today, Listen Tomorrow π₯Take a Break π§βοΈ Four days of workshops, performances and conversation. And this is what I wanted them to leave with. Not a notebook full of ideas theyβd never reread. Six decisions small enough to fit on a piano rack. None of...
Members of the Piano Ninja Tricksters Club are flying in from across the country for our annual Beyond The Keys piano retreat here in Monterey, California. A group of adult pianists, a lot of piano talk, and some unusual experiments. Let's just say this is not your typical adult piano camp. There's even a piano movie night. πΏ (If we get to it. For the last two years, we've talked right through it. π€·βοΈ) But the moment I keep thinking about is Friday night. That's when they'll walk into a room...
During my podcast interview with Rachel Ehring, host of The Topmusic Piano Podcast, she asked me about a sentence every teacher hears over and over... "I played it better at home." Sound familiar? π€¦βοΈ Here's my answer. It's not your playing. It's your audience. All week, you play for nobody. Then you sit down for one person, and that's the first time you've practiced being listened to. Nerves are a skill. You have to practice them too. So I ask my students to climb The Audience Ladder. πͺ 1οΈβ£...