Stats for nerds
4recommend
5mentions
4people
2010–2023years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
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- Two books I'll throw in here: Foundations of Diatonic Theory [0] which gives the simplest, modern, math-based explanations of how notes and chords relate. It's a college workbook that you write-in for the exercises. Really terrific.
Also, not a theory book but the most important music learning book I've read: The Perfect Wrong Note [1]. Reading this permanently changed the way I approach learning the piano (or synth. in my case) and I my playing has vastly improved over the last couple of years because of it.
[0] https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810862333/Foundations-of-Diatoni...
[1] https://www.halleonard.com/product/331733/the-perfect-wrong-...
- I think there tends to be some confusion in this aspect of piano study. Of course people are going to make mistakes when learning. The trick is to note them, fix them, and then practice the correct version. Don't spend any time practising errors. At least that's how I think of it. A great book on the subject is "The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self" by William Westney. He believes worrying too much about being flawless on the initial playing causes anxiety in students. Being ok with errors helps people relax and makes them less likely to give up.
- This reminds me of the book "The Perfect Wrong Note". The book is focused on learning to play music but the principles it teaches apply to learning just about anything. The core message to not be afraid of mistakes during practice. Little kids fall over when they learn to walk, you'll have moments of confusion learning new things. There's a time to get things done well, like playing at a recital or releasing production code. There also needs to be time to practice and part of practicing is the expectation that there will be mistakes.
- For me the most important part deliberate practice losing all embarrassment about making mistakes. Practice should give a chance stumble at the edge of your ability and take chances you wouldn't in a live performance.
For more detail I highly recommend "The Perfect Wrong Note" by William Westney.
- There's a great, short book on how to practice while making "good" mistakes. It's called "The Perfect Wrong Note." I've been found it helpful while teaching myself to pick the banjo.
