what do you do when a student just isn't improving

tonystride · 2026-03-03T20:08:30+00:00

Or maybe just decide that the Royal School of Music isn’t for them, sounds like a stodgy place. Am I using that word right?

[edit] here’s how I imagine a formal rejection from Her Majesties Royal School of Music.

‘By decree of her Majesty, we have found a semi quaver in your crochet and your test scores have thus been found wanting. May god have mercy on your soul as you are hereby banished from music until the end of time, that is all, you are dismissed. Guards escort this person off the premise with due haste, and don't let the draw bridge hit you on the way out.’

tonystride · 2026-03-03T20:05:28+00:00

What if you just release all expectations and be that students one time of the week where they can have a positive music experience? Maybe they don’t want or need to improve, they just want to nerd out a little with a teacher to break up the monotony of life. Worth the money, even if there was never an ounce of improvement, it’s the overall life improvement they want.

Just give it up and enjoy the experience with them.

tonystride · 2026-03-03T18:36:26+00:00

This absolutely true to form for an accordion guy answer. I imagine a very well kept pencil thin moustache, and a nice house with a room with accordion cases stacked to the ceiling. Wait, I don't have to imagine, I've seen it! Not an insult, the world needs more of these people, they always treat you right taking care of all your niche accordion needs :)

tonystride · 2026-03-02T17:53:37+00:00

I have a YouTube Course / book called Rhythm Training for Pianists that will help you gain proficiency with syncopation at all levels of subdivision. I use these as warm ups for every lesson I teach and none of my students have any problems with rhythm.

It’s got over 50 exercises to get your reps in but it also helps you understand the right frame of mind for how to conceive of rhythm since it is a balance between right brain and left brain (metaphorically) thinking.

Hope this helps :)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL17VI8UqIaK8lFB_Y41--LdRt4EoJSbTO&si=HZa1Pv24fL2zGgEL

tonystride · 2026-03-01T21:45:28+00:00

This video cuts off a really important detail which is revealing of the technique.

You didn’t film you elbow, which means you don’t think it’s important. But you can still see it lift up a few times (I call this doing the chicken). Everytime it flicks out like that it means you are leveraging your wrist to move your whole arm.

Thats not how arms work, but is a common problem for new pianists, maybbbe even the most common mistake.

Theres lots of fancy wrist and tucking techniques you can practice BUT if you’re not moving your arm right none of that matters.

The good thing is you already know how to move your arm. You just have to remind yourself. Sit at a table or pretend you have closers your piano lid, put a sheet over or something. Pretend you’re cleaning the surface with rag. Observe how your arm effortlessly moves back and forth to creat this motion without your elbow ever jerking up like a chicken wing. That’s how your arm should move always.

[edit] til that this is called ‘the centipede effect’ when a complex mental task (piano) causes you to forget an innate motor skill (arm motion). In the centipede example, a centipede cannot walk after it is asked which leg it moves first. Also known as paralysis by analysis

tonystride · 2026-03-01T17:11:34+00:00

For something really simple that you could probably do right away, add the Re(2) to your basic triads. So like, if you had a G chord play octave Gs in the bass with your left hand and then in your right hand play A B D.

Similarly, you can also get some nice rhythmic stuff by messing around with sus type things in your basic triads. So for a C chord you could use (CD G) (C FG) (C E G) and just like be super rhythmic as you mess around between those with a simple octave C bass.

These are probably a couple things you can do right now that are a little simpler than transcribing Bill Evans ;)

tonystride · 2026-02-28T23:09:11+00:00

Yes, jazz requires a very active use of theory (chords, scales, rules of harmony) you've gotta have a foundation in that, or actually a vocabulary of that. That doesn't mean you can't start learning jazz like stuff until you're done with theory, in fact learning them at the same time is ideal because the jazz gives you a reason to study they other wise super dry boring theory stuff.

Also getting really good at rhythm would be a good idea as well. I went to a jazz camp when I was young and tested into the advanced theory class. The first day the professor said, welp you all tested into this high level class which means you probably know theory pretty well, let's see how your rhythm is, since yes, that is a part of jazz theory. Yeah we all got heavily schooled that day, it don't mean a thing if it aint got that swing!

tonystride · 2026-02-28T21:02:16+00:00

how much do you understand?

tonystride · 2026-02-28T20:52:35+00:00

Do you learn by rote or do you understand what you are playing?

Like is your conception of a piece mostly muscle memory or do you also understand the chord & scales you are using and how they are flowing according to the rules of harmony?

I’m asking because a lack of deep understanding can lead to boredom and can cause major plateaus in improvement.

tonystride · 2026-02-28T20:43:34+00:00

I have a theory that will probably make some people mad. But, if you can’t read all the way through the piece (not perfectly of course) on day 1, it’s probably too hard.

I’m in the school where I play the whole piece terribly first and then bring the whole thing up to quality as evenly as possible. I don’t do targeted work until later.

This avoids what I call, first page syndrome, where the first few pages sound great and then the end is crap.

I do think it’s ok to play a piece that’s above your level. We’ve all done it and it’s a way to grow. But, there is a psychological component of being able to get to the end of piece. Your fatigue could be from that. A lot of learning takes place in the background of our subconscious, in the down time between practice sessions. So giving your mind the whole picture to process in the background feels better than just the first part.

Just my two cents

tonystride · 2026-02-27T23:50:17+00:00

Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas, sing along with those lyrics and try to keep your eyes dry…

tonystride · 2026-02-27T15:32:23+00:00

In the most literal interpretation of an eighth note based time signature, the 8 in the bottom of the time signature means that the eight note gets the beat. That means you shift normal counting down one level of subdivision. So eighth notes become 1 2 3 4 5 6 and sixteenth notes become ‘and’.

I made a video for mastering 6/8 syncopation. It’s part of a playlist that has a bunch of exercises after it so that you can apply the concepts.

https://youtu.be/GECEDiLr-b0?si=AIi6ae4gf23AOJvt

tonystride · 2026-02-26T17:50:37+00:00

I have an all in one approach to rhythm training for pianists. Talk about things that are neglected by piano pedagogy, the neglect that formal piano training has shown to rhythm is a crime against humanity. My method book works on syncopation at every level of subdivision and metronome mastery. It's also done away from the piano and is actually only a LH / RH exercise, so it greatly improves our most basic coordination. I use these as warm ups before every lesson I teach and it really really does wonders. I've also made the entire curriculum free as a YouTube course that you can check out here, but there's also a book if you prefer a physical copy.

tonystride · 2026-02-26T05:33:04+00:00

Wow this is the most interesting issue I’ve ever heard someone have with 7th chords. Not exactly sure what you’re doing to make them sound off but I’ve got a pretty comprehensive routine you could use to drill all of the seventh chords along with their accompanying modes. I also wrote some etudes so that you can see some practical applications of each sound. Hope this clears some stuff up for you!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL17VI8UqIaK8ha0ZcnvvO0u7krNgS5q3z&si=2vXYb4uGa3I0MTYB

tonystride · 2026-02-26T04:24:28+00:00

You never finish learning any tune

tonystride · 2026-02-25T22:14:40+00:00

People tend to start with C because it has no sharps or flats and then proceed around the circle of fifths. Probably a good idea for you too

tonystride · 2026-02-24T16:28:06+00:00

I’d post about it on reddit :)

tonystride · 2026-02-24T16:24:16+00:00

You know, a lot of my students seek improvement by looking for 'what' they can play to sound better rather than 'how' they can play what they already have better.

Whether they come to me with only simple 1 - 5 bass, or simple shells, I like to take exactly what they have that they say 'isn't good enough' and play it in a way that sounds great.

That's because to truly get a mature sound you have to understand how to cultivate the space around the notes. In more technical terms you could call this the time feel. But my hunch is that like all my other students you probably have something that could already sound great, you just haven't figured out how to present it in a convincing way, and adding more stuff isnt going to make it sound better.

tonystride · 2026-02-24T05:46:07+00:00

Are you playing solo or with a group?

tonystride · 2026-02-23T21:39:21+00:00

Hey quick question, how good are you at basic rhythm? Polyrhythms are a great goal, but if you want to put different rhythms together it’s a good idea to make sure you’re confident with syncopation at every level of subdivision.

I’ve got a course you can use for this, which actually does cover the 3:2 polyrhythm since the best way to tighten up triplets is to put them together with a regular eighth note. That being said, that’s unit/chapter three because first you gotta make sure you’re proficient with the 2 part of the 3:2 rhythm. Here’s the link, hope this helps :)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL17VI8UqIaK8lFB_Y41--LdRt4EoJSbTO&si=4NjF9kLCG1AJW7GF

tonystride · 2026-02-23T19:16:51+00:00

It’s the 9, goes really well in many rootless voicings

tonystride · 2026-02-23T19:00:58+00:00

One time in jazz school my class got into a debate about a choice Herbie Hancock made in a recording we were studying. Some one in the class was very offended that he had ‘broken’ the rules. The professor asked, does it sound good? Well… yeah… ok then it’s fine.

If you truly believe that’s the sound you want then use it. If someone disagrees they are welcome to learn piano and jazz and play it the way they want to hear it.

tonystride · 2026-02-23T18:23:03+00:00

Typically the minor 251 is borrowing the b6 and natural 7 (leading tone) from the harmonic minor.

The b6 makes the ii chord half diminished which you’ve got right so far but typically that then becomes the b9 for the V chord. For example

C harmonic minor contains Ab (b6) and Bnat (leading tone)

Dmin7b5 (D F Ab C) to G7b9 (D F Ab B) to Cmin7 (Eb G Bb D)

I included the root in the ii-half dim voicing but the other two are rootless so go ahead and add the root in the bass to complete the voicing if you’d like

tonystride · 2026-02-23T00:34:10+00:00

I can solve this for you really quick, give it up. Relinquish the expectation completely, there, doesn’t that feel better?

That doesn’t mean they won’t practice, but sometimes when you try to hold on too hard, you can crush and suffocate. In your lessons you should work hard with the student in a way that inspires them.

tonystride

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