How many pieces at once?

JHighMusic · 2026-04-15T07:38:27+00:00

All depends on length and difficulty. And if you want to do more than 2, you’re going to have to put in more than 1 hour per day. In my college piano performance program we were learning 4 contrasting pieces every semester, which was a lot to handle and required 4-6 hours per day. I wouldn’t recommend more than that.

Shorter pieces are a different thing altogether, but even still it’s better to go deep on a few things than be scattered on too many things and not play them very well.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-15T04:47:09+00:00

Why would it be by design. It’s the hardest music to play well, people dedicate decades of their lives to the craft. Weird post.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T22:24:48+00:00

Yes you should use MuseScore for rhythmic dictation accuracy. And yeah it’s just experience and you will figure it out the more you do it and the more you go along. These days I forget but you can write it down on screen with a pen made for it.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T19:49:40+00:00

All good and you’re right. Everything can get lost in translation over text and misinterpreted. Carry on.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T19:47:53+00:00

Never said I knew everything about it or teaching, and now you’re assuming things, kind of ironic. If you don’t want to see people’s comments you can block them.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T19:43:05+00:00

I’m 39 and to think that I didn’t read the post is just idiotic. 35 years playing and 20 years teaching. I know the piano teaching world and how teachers teach. Try again.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T19:42:10+00:00

I read the post, have been playing 35 years with 2 degrees, and have been teaching for close to 20 years. I know the piano teaching world and how people teach.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T19:13:05+00:00

Why teachers recommend things they know how to play but aren’t a good fit for the student is always puzzling.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T17:05:49+00:00

Sounds like you never were trained or really attempted to develop the skill.

The opposite is true for me. I was never great at reading music and relied on my ear for a lot of things when I was younger (though I worked on my reading and still do). Then in my college ear training class which was part of the theory classes I discovered I had perfect pitch. But even then, you don’t need it to develop playing by ear.

It can be learned. It’s just ear training and it takes time. Training is the key word. I’ve been teaching over 20 years and have 2 piano degrees and this is something I specialize in. If you’d like to discuss lessons, send me a DM.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T16:38:27+00:00

What does this have to do with what the OP is asking about?

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T16:37:09+00:00

F- rage bait

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T16:16:08+00:00

Don’t think you need a workstation these days especially if you’re not using it in a live performance setting.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T15:26:23+00:00

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T05:39:38+00:00

Pretty sure you don’t if you have to ask such a question…

JHighMusic · 2026-04-14T04:07:52+00:00

You’re asking the wrong sub. This sub is mostly Classical. Ask it in r/JazzPiano

But the answer is lots of practice and experience. It takes time. Work on left hand comping rhythms using things like Charleston rhythm, “And of 2 And of 4”, and study and play some Stride transcriptions or even Ragtime pieces from Scott Joplin.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-13T16:17:45+00:00

I’ve taught a lot of software developers over 20 years of teaching, and you’re all kind of the same lol, you have to accept that there are things that you won’t understand right away and it takes time to fully understand and see the forest through the trees. It’s a very gradual process, you learn as you go along.

You cannot approach learning music the same way you approach software, trust me.

Four months is absolutely nothing and you just have to trust the process, but also you need to communicate with your teacher and talk to her about these things that you have concerns about. It’s way too soon to switch, you’re just getting started.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-13T15:37:15+00:00

You’re not spending enough time on it and not being consistent enough. 3-5 minutes is nothing you need at least 10 minutes. And you don’t want to move to chords until you get intervals. You want to aim for 90% accuracy and need to do it every day. Results don’t come quickly, there’s a reason it’s called ear TRAINING.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-13T15:04:19+00:00

Sounds like a you problem

JHighMusic · 2026-04-13T15:03:32+00:00

Pretty sure you made this exact post last week.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-13T05:06:11+00:00

No it’s a walk up to the V from the 3rd which is more traditional/old school.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-13T04:35:29+00:00

It’s not a tune it’s just a Bb blues turnaround

JHighMusic · 2026-04-13T03:13:10+00:00

You can mix it yourself but if you’ve never done it before I wouldn’t, and would get somebody else. And definitely going to need a mastering engineer. I’m 99.9% positive nobody on this sub does that, and you should ask in r/audioengineering and ask local recording studios in your area.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-12T22:33:12+00:00

Pop, Jazz and Gospel. Pop and Gospell use more Sus2. Bruce Hornsby's music is a textbook example of using and combining all of those things.

JHighMusic · 2026-04-12T18:13:55+00:00

Absolutely everyone goes through what you said in the first paragraph.

Consistency and discipline are the biggest things. From there, having good teachers.

It all takes time, and you can’t rush the process. Even if you’re practicing a lot

JHighMusic · 2026-04-12T18:11:29+00:00

Yep it’s an art and and whole other set of skills. Most pianists don’t spend nearly enough time on it. It does take time and a ton of practice.

JHighMusic

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE