152: Making Music Learning a Picnic, with Ruth Power (Piano Picnic)

<p class="p1">We are super excited to be joined on the show today by Ruth Power, the creator of Piano Picnic - a method for learning to play piano by ear that remarkably manages to teach it in lessons so short and simple they almost guarantee a student will succeed.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">We admire and agree with Ruth's perspective and approach to teaching play-by-ear skills so much that when time came to look for a new Resident Pro for piano at Musical U, Ruth was the first person who sprang to mind. We talk a bit towards the end of the conversation about her work here and how she's helping our members apply their core training directly on keyboard in fun and creative ways.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">This conversation was great fun and there are lots of good piano-specific nuggets in here for anyone who's a pianist or wants to become one - but as always, most of the discussion is equally relevant and interesting whatever instrument you play.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">We talk about:</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">• Ruth’s own journey of learning to play by ear and the distinct phases she went through to develop a fully-fledged ability on keyboard</p> <p class="p1">• The particular challenges of playing by ear on piano compared with other instruments</p> <p class="p1">• The terrible piece of advice she was given early on about how to learn to play by ear - and her top tip for actually succeeding with it.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">That’s just the start - we also talk about humming, about basslines, about why and how modern instrument learning can look different to the traditional methods, active listening, and a lot more. You’re going to get a ton out of this one!</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1"><strong>Subscribe For Future Episodes!</strong></p> <p class="p1"><a href= "http://musicalitypodcast.com/subscribe-itunes">Apple Podcasts</a> | <a href= "http://musicalitypodcast.com/subscribe-android">Android</a> | <a href= "http://musicalitypodcast.com/subscri