Mizue's Blog
BE a Marathon Piano Learner, NOT a Sprint Piano Learner
Mizue Murakami
This blog title may not sound very appealing to the majority of piano learners, especially for young adults. But I need to be honest about this. You need to take small steps one by one, set your expectations low (sounds terrible but real), be patient with your slow progress, be like a marathon runner instead of a sprint runner, and enjoy the process of learning rather than always focusing on the result (your fantasy).
I teach piano and music in the Seattle metropolitan area in the USA. There are a...
How to Play 4-Octave Arpeggios Effectively on the Piano
Mizue Murakami
I'm writing how to play 4-octave arpeggios effectively and smoothly on the piano as the title says. But I'm just using "4-octave arpeggios" as an excellent example to explain how to cross over or under your fingers and move around the wide range on the keyboard up and down.
So, let's start with an example of playing 2 octaves of C major tonic arpeggio with your right hand going up. After you use your finger 1, 2, and 3 to play the middle C, E, and G, you need...
Reading fingering numbers is not cheating for reading piano notes
Mizue Murakami
A lot of adult piano students and parents of schooling students ask me if fingering is cheating for reading notes. Of course, if you are trying to read the fingering number as notes, that is cheating. You need to look at the notes also. However, using proper fingering is extremely important. If you use the proper fingering, you’ll be able to play music efficiently, effectively, and smoothly. Your hand positions are going to be in the proper place also. When you use the proper fingerings, you also...
The 5-Finger Scales: One of the Most Important Piano Basics
Mizue Murakami
Knowing the 5-Finger scales on the piano (also known as “Penta-scales,” or hand-position scales, for example, “C Position Scale”) thoroughly is extremely important. This piano basic is like knowing 1 + 1 = 2 in mathematics. If you don’t know 1 + 1 = 2, you can’t start learning algebra or calculus. Some enthusiastic piano students say, “I should be learning all the 1-octave scales, right?” Yes, it’s essential to learn all 1-octave scales and multiple-octave scales in all 12 major keys, 12 harmonic minor keys, and 12 melodic minor keys. BUT WAIT!. Can you...
Music pieces are all songs even without words
Mizue Murakami
I call all piano solo music pieces at Galaxy Music Notes, "songs." Oftentimes, people say that these are not "songs" because they are instrumental and that there are no lyrics or singing in them. Well, I disagree. Every musical piece comes from (or I should say "should suppose to come from") your heart, soul, body, and your precious breath. It should be your musical voice even if there are no words. The music itself without words expresses so much, tells stories, and triggers all kinds of emotions by singing through the musical...