Piano Disposal: How to Get Rid of a Piano You Don't Want Anymore

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What do pianos and anvils have in common? They're the 2 things that fall on people's heads in the cartoons. Did you ever think about why that is? It's because pianos are SO HEAVY. Yes, pianos are not fun to get rid of. That doesn't mean it's impossible, you just might have to get creative. Here are some tried and true piano disposal tricks.

If the piano is still in relatively good condition, you might be able to get some cash for it. I myself once bought a piano on Craigslist for $250 and moved it with a friend and a Uhaul trailer (which I admit was probably a bad idea). Craigslist isn't the only place to sell - you might also try "Facebook Marketplace," or another online platform for buying and trading. You can also reach out to your community because you never know who is looking for a piano.

If you haven't discovered the "free" section on Craigslist, you're in for a treat. Depending on where you live, you might be facing some competition, but it's worth checking out. If you have a piano that isn't in great condition, you probably won't be able to get money for it, but putting it in the free section on Craigslist will at least help you get rid of it. If you're really lucky, you might even find a taker who is willing to haul it out and transport it themselves. 

There are many places where you can donate a piano. Most of these organizations will require that the piano is in good condition, but it's worth calling and finding out. 

You can donate your piano to foundations such [Pianos for Education](https://pianosforeducation.org/) or [The Beethoven Foundation.](https://www.beethovenfoundation.com/) These types of organizations usually provide free piano pickup as well as a receipt for tax deduction. 

You can also make a few phone calls to find out if any thrift stores near you will accept pianos. Many of them do, although they also will likely require a piano in good condition. Some thrift stores even offer a pickup service and will bring a truck to your house to come and get the piano.

There are also websites out there that are looking to rescue pianos, or find a more eco-friendly way to dispose of them. You can "put your piano up for adoption" [here](https://pianoadoption.com/free-pianos/add-listing)

**Churches, theaters, and schools** are often in need of pianos, and this is a great way to give back to the community. Don't be afraid to call or email, you'll usually get a quick response, and if they aren't interested, they might have some ideas for you. 

Have you ever seen one of those painted pianos on the street and wondered where it came from? This is one of the weirder and cooler fads out there, and you can be a part of it! If you pull it off, you might even get some street cred in your community. With this tactic, you will need to transport the piano yourself, but the fun thing is that you could also paint it yourself! You will have to check with the town first and probably the stores around the spot that you want to plant your art to make sure that everyone's on board with your art installation.

https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1505248207594-9f9912dda70a?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MXwxNzY0MzN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxwaWFubyUyMHN0cmVldCUyMGFydHxlbnwwfHx8&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=80&w=1080

If you're up for a project, you can always consider restoring your piano. For this, you obviously need to get a consultation from an expert to assess if it's worth the time and money. But if you're really lucky, you might be able to restore your piano for a reasonable price and sell it for more than you would have made if you sold it as-is. And who knows, if you restore and refurbish your piano, you might end up wanting to keep it - and that's not a bad thing.

Impress your dinner guests with your over-the-top creativity with ideas like this... 

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/18/ff/f8/18fff878caaf14c189cf2c00689c560c.jpg

There are endless ways to turn a piano into art, so why not get creative and turn it into something cool. 

If you know that your piano is going to end up in a landfill no matter what, and you don't want to pay for its removal, I would highly recommend disassembling it before you attempt to haul it off. Check out [this article](https://www.wikihow.com/Dismantle-a-Piano) on how to disassemble your piano.

If none of these options work for you, you might have to resort to paying for one of those junk removal services, which is not a great option. These junk removal services are pretty expensive as it is, but pianos are so difficult to move that you might be looking at upward of $300. 

***Here are some national (USA) piano removal services...***

170 locations across 49 states. This company tries to sell or donate all "junk" first to keep as much unwanted junk out of landfills as possible. [Visit site](https://goloadup.com/what-we-take/bulk-item-removal/piano-removal/)

This is probably the most well-known junk removal service, and yes they do piano removal! [Visit site](https://www.1800gotjunk.com/us_en/what-we-take/piano_removal)

Operating in 44 states, this company does junk removal as well as piano moving, so you've got options. 

*To support some smaller local piano removal companies, here is a list of some local piano removal businesses by state (plus some in Canada). If you don't see your state below, you might have to resort to one of the bigger national companies.*


- [AAA Piano](https://www.aaapiano.com/piano-removal) 

- [Piano Cycle](http://pianocycle.com/piano-inventory.php)

- [Junk Munk](https://www.arwoodjunk.com/junk-we-take/household/furniture/pianos/)

- [Mountain Piano](http://www.mountainpiano.com/piano-removal/)


**Delaware:**
- [Delaware Junk Removal](https://www.delawarejunkremoval.com/wilmington-delaware-piano-removal/)

- [Simply Junk Removal](http://simplyjunkremoval.com/services/piano-removal/)

- [Full House Junk Removal](https://fullhousejunkremoval.com/junk-removal-in-nampa-idaho/)

- [Junk Relief](https://junkrelief.com/piano-removal/)

- [Fire Dawgs Junk Removal](https://firedawgsjunkremoval.com/piano-removal-services-in-indianapolis/)

- [Dump Guy](https://thedumpguy.com/Piano%20Removal)

- [Fast Junk & Trash Removal](https://www.fastjunkandtrashremoval.com/piano-removal)

- [Grunts Move Junk](https://www.gruntsmovejunk.com/household-items/piano-removal/)


- [Herrema & Sons](https://herremapiano.com/we-buy/free-piano-removal/)

- [Ton's Hauling](http://www.omahamovinghelp.com/piano-removal.html) 


**New Hampshire:**
- [Trash Can Willie's](https://www.trashcanwillys.com/junk-removal-services/piano-removal-disposal/)

- [Grunts Move Junk](https://www.gruntsmovejunk.com/household-items/piano-removal/)

- [Junk Rescue](https://junk-rescue.com/piano-removal/)

- [Junk Doctors](https://www.junkdoctorsnj.com/piano-removal)

- [Junk Removal Albuquerque](http://junkremovalalbuquerque.org/piano-removal/)

- [Junk My Trash](https://www.athruzpiano.com/piano-services/piano-removal-and-disposal/)

- [Power Cleanouts](https://powercleanouts.com/piano-removal/)

- [Craig's Keyboards](https://www.craigskeyboards.com/piano-disposal/)

- [At Your Disposal Hauling](https://www.atyourdisposalhauling.com/piano-removal-disposal/At ) 

- [A thru Z Complete Piano Services](https://www.athruzpiano.com/piano-services/piano-removal-and-disposal/)

- [Bruce Piano](https://brucepiano.com/our-services/green-piano-removal/)

- [Snowman Foundation](https://pifmusic.org/donate-2/) - For donating a piano

- [Dirty Dog Hauling](https://www.dirtydoghauling.com/junk-removal/piano-removal)

- [Green Guys Junk Removal](https://greenguysjunkremovalnashvilletn.com/piano-removal-nashville-tn/)

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Music theory can be a very daunting subject because it covers such a large span. I always say that music theory is the "math" of music. Like math, music theory covers the simplest concepts to very advanced ones that most people will never learn. In math, I could teach you what 2+2 is, or go into advanced calculus. Music theory starts with concepts so simple that you might not know you know them. For instance, can you identify if a note is low or high? That's "ear training" and essentially "music theory." 

I am going to break music theory down into smaller subjects and try to touch on the easiest concepts as well as a few slightly more advanced components within each subject. Keep in mind, all of these subjects overlap quite a bit.

If you crack open a music theory workbook, chances are it will start with material that revolves around reading music. It might start with identifying a treble clef, or learning that a music staff has 5 lines and 4 spaces. It might go into the names of the notes on the staff. Within this category, there's an overlap with rhythm - particularly being able to *read* rhythms. Beginning students might learn that a quarter note has 1 beat, a half note has 2 beats, and a whole note has 4 beats. That's enough to keep a new music student busy for a while. When combined with note names, that's pretty much all you need to play a song. But a good music teacher will make sure that their students are practicing their "note-naming" and maybe clapping some rhythms in addition to learning songs so that their reading skills stay sharp.

Some might argue that ear training is a subject in itself, but I believe that it has enough overlap with classic music theory that it might as well be invited to the party. Ear training is exactly what it sounds like - training your ears to be able to identify sound qualities - whether that's the type of chord you're hearing (major or minor), or what notes you're hearing. 

**Melodic Ear Training** is training your ear to be able to identify the notes in melodies. This means one note at a time. **Solfege** is a great tool for melodic ear training. This is the "Do Re Mi" that everyone has heard at some point in their life (if nothing else, from *The Sound of Music*).  When I was in middle school and high school, I didn't understand why anyone would use solfege. It seemed like one of those things teachers do with students to make things fun, and really just made me feel like a baby. But then in college, I finally understood the purpose. Solfege is a great way to connect your voice with the functions of different notes on the scale. It's an amazing tool to use as a vocalist to experience music the way an instrumentalist does. When you sing 3 notes on "ooh," you might not have a clue what you're actually singing. If you challenge yourself to "solfege" the notes, you might sing "Do Mi Sol" and then realize that you're singing the 1, 3, and 5 of a scale, or arpeggiating a major chord. Solfege starts easy and can get really wild once you incorporate chromatic solfege. The easiest way to explain chromatic solfege is that you're adding the black notes on the piano. Normal solfege is based on a major scale - 'Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do" is the same as "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1." But if you want to sing every note on the piano including the black notes, you would sing "Do Di Re Ri Me Mi Fa Sol Si La Li Ti Do" ... there's **a lot** more to this, but you can imagine that once I learned this, solfege no longer made me feel like a baby.

**Harmonic Ear Training** is training your ear to be able to identify harmonies or chords. This is 2 or more notes at the same time. For instance, if someone plays a chord on the piano, a music student should be able to identify if it's major, minor, diminished, or augmented. When students get more advanced, they will be able to identify even more complicated things like different types of 7th chords (4-note chords that include the 7th degree in some form) and tensions (add-ons to chords to make them even cooler-sounding). This skill is very important for musicians to have, especially if they're playing with other musicians. Jazz musicians play music based on chords and need to be able to identify where in the music they are by using their ears. A good jazz musician should never get lost in a song. If they zone out for a second and forget what they're doing (it happens to the best of us), they should be able to use their ears to identify what chord the rest of the band is playing, and therefore where they are in the song. 

**Rhythmic Ear Training** - Rhythm isn't just for reading, it's also something that you should be able to transcribe as a musician. This means to identify (and write down) the rhythms that you're hearing. This starts early for music students. Most elementary music classes have rhythm sticks or some sort of percussive instrument for playing "follow the leader." They most likely aren't writing those rhythms down, but they are parroting them back to the teacher. That's rhythmic ear training! When that student gets older, they might find themselves dealing with polyrhythms (don't ask!)

Some things are just so mathematical in music theory that they can only be categorized as... theory. 

**The circle of 5ths** is one of the most important concepts to understand in music. Once you understand the Circle of 5ths, everything else makes sense. This is a concept that takes a while to put together, but for those of you that actually want to know, I will try to explain it as simply as I can. 

https://www.treesidemusicacademy.com/music-lessons-ann-arbor.jpg

The circle of 5ths is essentially a map of all the keys. At the top of the circle, you will see the key of C. The reason it's at the top is that it's the major key with no sharps or flats. If you're at a piano, play C, and then every white note until you reach the next C. You just played a C major scale. The next key to the right on the circle of 5ths is a G. The G is 5 notes higher than C or "Up a 5th" from C. This is why it's called the circle of 5ths. Why is G important? Because the key of G has 1 sharp. If you play a G on the piano, and then every white note until you reach G, it might sound a little off. But if you play an F# instead of an F, it will sound just like the major scale you're used to hearing. The next key is D because it has 2 sharps, then A because it has 3, and so on. If you start at the top of the circle again and go to the left, it's the same pattern, but going down a 5th and adding another flat each time. 

This is a super cool trick for all you music students out there: Did you notice that each time you add a sharp, the previous sharp is still part of the key? For instance, the key of G has an F#, then D has F# and C#, then A has F#, C#, and G#? Well, I've got a trick for you:

*"Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle"*

*"Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father"*

*Did you notice that those sentences are the reverse of each other!? Amazing! If that makes no sense to you, don't worry! The circle of 5ths can be a really scary and confusing concept at first, but most of my students eventually have an "aha" moment after hearing me talk about it for the 100th time.  

The circle of 5ths, aside from being a really cool concept and a pretty-looking diagram, is the ultimate explanation of what keys are, what each key consists of, and how each key is related to each other. The more a student learns about music, the more they come to rely on the circle of 5ths.

An interval is the distance between 2 notes. The confusing thing about intervals is that when you're counting up the scale, you count the note you're *on* first. In the wild, that's not how intervals work. For instance, if you have a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old, they are 2 years apart. In music, if you play the 1st degree of a scale and the 3rd, you count the first note you're playing, then continue counting up. So if you're playing C and E, you would sound C D E, and the interval you're playing is a "3rd." Notes next door to each other are a "2nd." Intervals are important to understand for music reading purposes as well as ear-training. Identifying intervals is a very important part of **melodic ear training** because you use intervals to navigate around a melody - from the note you're on to where you're going. If you're not already confused by intervals, I'll leave you with this... there can also be major and minor intervals! It has to do with the number of half steps. For example, C to C# is a minor 2nd whereas C to D is a major 2nd.

**Inversions** are the specific order that you're playing notes. They can refer to intervals or to full chords. Inversions of a triad (or 3 note chord) are as follows:

- Root position (ex: C major root position is 1-3-5 or C-E-G)

- 1st Inversion (ex: C major 1st inversion is 3-5-1 or E-G-C)

- 2nd Inversion (ex: C major 2nd inversion is 5-1-3 or G-C-E)

Inversions of an interval are the same concept, but instead of 3 options, there are only 2...

**Advanced Concept:** If you know your intervals, and you understand the concept of inverting an interval, check this out...

As you might know (or be able to figure out), a 2nd inverted becomes a 7th. For instance, the distance between a C and a D is a 2nd, then if you transfer the C up an octave, the distance between that D and the new C is a 7th. But what you may not have noticed is that each interval and what it inverts to ads to 9. 2+7=9, 3+6=9, etc. But wait, it get's crazier...

- Tritone<----->Tritone (the devil's interval, outlawed in churches during the Renaissance)

So the concept is the same but add in that minors become majors and vice versa. Aside from this being mathematically awesome, these groups also have a very similar vibe. 2nds and 7ths are dissonant and clashy, 3rds and 6ths are very pretty, and 4ths and 5ths both have kind of a regal sound.

Even though this isn't technically music theory, someone who's curious about music theory might also wonder what "technique" is referring to. Technique is referring to the practice of a musician improving their technical facilities. This could mean a violinist practicing their bow-hold, or a pianist practicing finger exercises to improve their dexterity. For pianists, there are 3 very common exercises that incorporate technique as well as theory. These can be played by other instruments as well, but might have to be adjusted for non-harmonic instruments (instruments that can't play more than 1 note at a time):

**Arpeggios** are playing a chord one note at a time, ascending and descending a certain number of octaves (depending on how advanced the student is). For instance, a 2 octave C major arpeggio would be C E G C E G C (all ascending), and then back down again. 

**Cadences** are a series of chords that would commonly resolve a phrase or a song. There are many different candences, but a common one to practice is (we write them in roman numerals): "I  IV  I  V  I." That's 1-4-1-5-1 or in the key of C: "C-F-C-G-C." This helps students understand the function of different chords in different keys *and* is a great exercise for their dexterity and finger strength. 

*Inversions* can be practiced "broken," "blocked," or both. I have my students practice both on the tonic (1) chord of whatever key we're playing that week. For instance, if they're playing a C major scale and C major arpeggios and C Major cadences, they will be playing a C major inversion, which is taking a C major chord and playing it in every configuration (or inversion) of the chord. 

As you can see, music theory is very similar to math but is essential to understanding music as a whole. The good news is that everyone's invited to the music theory club, whether you're able to clap back a rhythm or you're doing a chord analysis on a modal jazz tune. 

What is Music Theory? | The long and short of it, and where to start

What is Music Theory?

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It’s a word that can summon a variety of emotions, everything from joy to downright fear. But in my experience, I’ve found that perhaps the most common response is confusion. Not confusion about what to practice – whether it’s written in a notebook or engrained in the mind, we usually remember what the assignment was – but instead confusion about how to practice.

Lots of people assume that practicing is something we just do and that by spending time practicing we automatically get better. They believe that if somebody is struggling to play a piece of music well, the answer is that they simply aren’t putting enough time into it. In the music lesson, the teacher might also take the same route, fearing that their student isn’t practicing enough.

Sure, there’s a certain amount of truth to this approach. After all, if someone never touches their instrument then they’re not likely to improve. However, nearly all music students have at some point practiced (and sometimes quite a lot) only to end up feeling like they aren’t really getting anywhere with it. What if the student I described above had in fact spent a long time practicing, but during the lesson was still told he or she just needed to practice more? That scenario is actually very common, and it can be extremely frustrating – so frustrating that it could cause people to quit.

Thankfully, the story doesn’t have to end this way. If you feel like that frustrated student,  we can rewrite it. If your practicing seems like a road to nowhere, that does not mean you aren’t working hard enough, or aren’t talented enough, or any of the other things we fear may be wrong with ourselves. All it means is that you haven’t been taught how to practice.  


*Here are the 4 big picture concepts that you should keep in mind to ensure highly effective practice...*

1. It’s best when it’s FUN, and fun thrives off purpose 


We generally don’t like doing things that have no purpose. And why should we? They’re  pointless! Yet it’s surprisingly easy for music to feel “pointless” to students. They have their  lessons, they do their practicing… and then what? Why did they do it? Why should they continue  doing it next week, or next month, or next year? These can be very real and concerning questions  for students.  


This is a sign that the student has no clear purpose for their studies. Luckily, purpose comes  in many different shapes and sizes. “Purpose” as a music student doesn’t have to mean that your  goal is to become a professional musician playing concerts for large audiences. Music can be a  casual pastime, a career path, or anything in between. But music can have purpose no matter where  you fall on that spectrum, and finding that purpose is the key to loving it and staying motivated  (this is true for many things, not just music!). 


So what is this purpose, and how do we find it? For music, it’s actually rather simple: we  find outlets for our playing. An outlet is any situation in which our music-making has significance.  This could be playing for friends or family members, teaching what you’ve learned to somebody  else, or any other activity that brings meaning to you. And if you don’t need your music-making  to bring external value to other people, then that is just fine too! Many people are perfectly content  playing only for themselves, learning simply for personal enjoyment. I only mention these outlets  as examples of solutions if personal enjoyment isn’t enough, since that’s one of the most common  reasons why people lose interest in their studies. If that’s the case for you, then find someone to  listen to you play! Try sharing your music with others, whether or not you think you’re “ready,”  because studying music without ever sharing it can easily feel like a pointless exercise. Plus, you  might be surprised to see just how much enjoyment your music could give others.  


https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1552422530-9b41dc72286b?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MXwxNzY0MzN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHxwaWFub3xlbnwwfHx8&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=80&w=1080

2. Set goals, but don't take them TOO seriously 

Having goals is important. Without them, our work is aimless – we have no idea what  we’re doing or what we’re hoping to get out of it. This is fairly common knowledge, which is why  many people agree that successful practicing requires goals. However, goals are only useful as  long as they’re motivation, not punishment. Too often, people speak of needing to “hold yourself  accountable” to your goals. Yes, you want to achieve your goals, but the way to do that is by  setting interesting and exciting goals, not by being afraid of failing to reach them!  


We occasionally set goals that we don’t reach. This is perfectly normal, and it can actually  be a good thing, because it helps us learn about ourselves. But if we take our failure to reach goals  too personally, we develop a relationship of fear with them. Rather than being excited about  pursuing the things we’re interested in, we start living in fear of not doing them! That’s clearly  backwards, so instead, let’s create a positive relationship with our goals. To do this, we need to  set realistic goals, and reward ourselves if we meet them but not feel bad if we don’t.  


The most realistic goals are the ones we can meet very quickly, sometimes as quickly as in  just a few minutes. This is a somewhat new definition of “realistic.” After all, there are plenty of  things we’re fully capable of achieving if we’re given a long enough time to do so. But using that  broader definition allows other things to creep in, things that we aren’t actually likely to get done.  For instance, I could’ve “realistically” become a professional tennis player instead of a pianist. I  was always in good physical health and took enough tennis lessons that I probably could’ve  pursued it seriously. But is the goal of becoming a pro tennis player something I would’ve likely  achieved? Definitely not! I knew that I wasn’t focused enough on tennis to play at that level, so  I didn’t set that goal. In that sense, becoming a pro tennis player would’ve been realistic, but not  really realistic for me.  

That’s a fairly large-scale example, but the same concept holds true on a smaller scale as  well. If I sit down at the piano with a brand new piece of music and say “I’m going to learn this  piece,” that’s probably not realistic. Sure, I might have all the skills needed to eventually play the  piece once I’ve learned it thoroughly. But in that first practice session, at that specific moment, it  is not realistic for me to focus on a goal that could potentially take a long time to meet. Instead, I 
want to think about something that I can expect to achieve right then and there. Perhaps it could  be “I’m going to get comfortable playing the first line of music slowly.” Unless it’s an  extraordinarily challenging piece of music, that’s probably a goal I could easily meet fairly  quickly. And if I don’t meet the goal, that’s perfectly ok! I just resolve to come back to it next  time, and that’s that.  


When asked why they practice, countless students reply “because my teacher/parent told  me to.” The practicing these students do is exactly what you’d expect: a mindless passing of time  in order to get the validation of telling someone else (or themselves) that they’ve done their  practicing. I’ll confess that I myself am sometimes guilty of that too! If I’m having difficulty with  a piece, I might spend more time practicing it simply to take comfort in telling myself “I’ve  practiced it a lot.”  


While it sounds completely obvious, many people overlook the reality of it: the purpose of  practicing is to improve, not to just spend time practicing! If you’re playing through a piece of  music but you’re making lots of mistakes, that can hardly count as practicing since you’re in fact  teaching yourself the wrong way to play it. Yes, we all make mistakes, but the point of practicing  is to practice the piece correctly! Now that I’ve offered some background on the subject, I can  talk about the specifics of practicing, what we should do instead of just playing through the piece  regardless of how accurate it is.  


The basic idea is just that. When we practice, our first priority is playing the piece well.  Practicing a piece means training our hands and our mind to perform specific motions – if we train  them incorrectly, they’ll repeat them incorrectly. As a former teacher of mine always said,  “garbage in, garbage out.”  


Playing well requires being comfortable with the piece, so when we are learning a new  piece of music our job is to make it comfortable. If we just sit down and try to play an unfamiliar  piece, we will almost certainly be uncomfortable, and thus we will play poorly. How do we take  something unfamiliar and make it comfortable? We have two powerful tools with which we can  address this: playing slowly, and playing small sections. The example I gave earlier of a realistic  practice goal used both of those techniques.  


 It isn’t hard to grasp the principle of these two tricks. A small chunk of a piece is easier to  understand than the entire piece all at once is. Likewise, playing something slowly gives us more  time to figure out what’s next than playing at full tempo does. What can be tougher is figuring out  how and when to use those techniques. What section of the piece should I take? How slow is  slow enough? How do I know when I can speed it back up? The answer is always determined by  our golden rule: playing well. If I’m making mistakes, or the posture of my hands isn’t good, that  means I’m playing faster than I’m ready to. If I’m struggling to find the next notes, I’m looking  at too large of a section. 
 Make no mistake (pun intended!), I’m not suggesting that making mistakes when we play  is “bad.” Like I said before, everybody makes mistakes. In fact, making mistakes can sometimes  be useful, because it shows us what areas of a piece we’re the least familiar with. What I’m saying  is that our hands execute the motions that we teach them, so if we’re sloppy when we teach them  then they’ll be sloppy when it’s time to perform! No mystery there.  


I mentioned that making mistakes can show us what things we’re the least familiar with.  That’s correct, but we don’t have to wait for mistakes to happen in order to know what sections of  a piece we need to focus on. Truth is, when we’re learning a piece of music, we know deep down  what passages need the most work. They’re the spots that make us contort our faces into strained  expressions, that cause our shoulders to tense up, that make our hands fumble with uncertainty.  We might get uncomfortable just thinking about those places in our music! As you read that  description, there might have been a specific passage in one of your own pieces that entered your  imagination – and that’s the passage you need to focus on. There’s the proof for it: we already  know what we need to work on, if we’re honest with ourselves.  


 I saved the principle of personal honesty for the end because in a certain sense it’s the  driving force behind everything I’ve talked about here. Finding your purpose as a musician  requires honesty. It requires you to be able to say “I’m not satisfied doing things this way,” because  you can’t figure out what will bring you meaning until you admit that you haven’t found it (again,  true in many areas of life besides music). Setting realistic goals requires honesty because we need  to acknowledge our limitations in order to be realistic. While it’s realistic for me to say “I’m going  to get comfortable playing the first line of music slowly,” I certainly wish I could instead say “I’m  going to learn the whole piece today!” That’s tempting, but personal honesty is what keeps me  focused on things I can actually achieve. Finally, honesty helps me make sure that I’m practicing  for the right reasons, and that the work I’m doing counts as “real” practice. It helps me avoid  pounding away mindlessly at a piece just so I can say “I’ve practiced.”  

 If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s that feeling unmotivated,  untalented, lazy, or any of the other things we may say about ourselves does not mean there’s a  problem. All it means is that somewhere along the line, perhaps at one of the points I’ve discussed here, you’ve accidentally taken a route that makes it harder on yourself. Hopefully, this has given you some ideas about how to find a better route. 


Practice Techniques for Any Instrument | How to practice effectively

The Lesson’s Over... Now What?

Can You Pluck a Violin? | 20 Music Questions You're Too Embarrassed to Ask 

I have been a piano teacher for over 15 years. I've taught music students old and young, experienced and brand new. I've been asked every question in the book, some of which the student was a little embarrassed to ask. I've tried to compile as many of the questions as I could remember. Some of them won't make sense to you if you're a musician, but you have to remember what it feels like to know nothing about music. Following is a list of fun facts about music, weird questions, and every little musical tidbit I could think of... 

There are 88 keys on a full-size piano. That's 52 white keys and 36 black keys. If you're shopping for an electric keyboard, you might notice that they come in different size options. Some keyboards have the full 88 keys, some have 61 keys, some 54, and even some in 44 keys. If you're serious about learning to play piano, make sure you're investing in a keyboard that has 88 keys (and even more importantly - weighted keys!)

https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1560768999-47f6f915b139?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MXwxNzY0MzN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWFubyUyMGtleXN8ZW58MHx8fA&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=80&w=1080

Piano keys used to be made with ivory, which is made from the tusks of elephants. In 1989, there was a world-wide ban on ivory, so it is no longer legal to create or sell pianos (or anything for that matter) that includes the use of ivory. In the United States, it was outlawed even earlier, so ivory stopped being used in the U.S. in the 1970s. Now piano keys are made of wood covered in veneer, so if you have a piano made after the 1960s, there's almost no chance that you're actually "tickling the ivories." 

Bows for string instruments (violins, violas, cellos, and basses) are traditionally made out of horsehair. Nowadays, some bows are made from synthetic material, but most are still made from the hair of a horse. Synthetic bows do not sound nearly as good as horsehair bows. The hair is taken from the tail of the horse and is typically from a horse that lives in a colder climate, which ensures that it has thicker and stronger hair. Only white horsehair is used because bleaching damages the hair. 

4. What's the difference between flat and minor?

This question wouldn't make sense to someone who has been studying music for a while, but it's a question that I hear from beginners quite a bit. Students typically learn about the concept of "major" and "minor" pretty early on. It's a fun concept to learn in elementary school music class because it engages students in listening to the "feeling" of a sound. Major chords have a "happy" feeling, whereas minor chords have a more "sad" feeling. When music students learn about "sharps" and "flats" for the first time, they often confuse that with major and minor. In short, the difference is that minor is referring to a scale or chord that is made up of several notes that sound "sad" together. "Flat" is a symbol placed next to a note to make it a half-step lower. You can read more about this on #13. 

5. Why are there black keys on the piano?

This is always a fun question to answer. If a piano was laid out differently, with all the same notes, but all white keys in a row, it would technically still work, and you could still make the same music... But imagine trying to find your place on the piano without any black keys to let you know where you are! It would be like being lost in a desert. That's what's so great about the piano. It's the perfect diagram of music. The sharp and flat notes are on the black keys, and the natural notes are on the white keys. String and horn players don't get that luxury - this is one of the reasons that I recommend kids learn piano before they try other instruments. Piano is the best way for students to really get a grasp on how music works, and to really "see" what's going on.

Yes, you can pluck any string instrument. This is called "pizzicato." Musicians in orchestra often switch between *"pizz"* and *"arco"* in their music, which means to use the bow again.

https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518079937624-0a45d8e7be5c?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MXwxNzY0MzN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxwaXp6aWNhdG98ZW58MHx8fA&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=80&w=1080

7. What's the difference between 'wind' instruments and 'woodwind' instruments?

They're the same thing! "Wind" is just a cool nickname for "woodwind."

8. What's the difference between brass instruments and woodwind instruments? 

This is one of the most confusing things, especially if you haven't played or seen these instruments. From a distance, most of these should be called brass because they're shiny and metallic, right? Well actually, woodwinds get their name from the wooden reed that's inside the mouthpiece of their instrument, giving the instrument a "woody" tone. 

https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1484508005949-1293190f1c8b?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MXwxNzY0MzN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxicmFzc3xlbnwwfHx8&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=80&w=1080

* Note: Some of these instruments actually do not have a wooden reed, such as flute and piccolo, but are still considered woodwinds because of the way the sound is produced, pushing air across open holes versus forcing air with lip vibrations through a mouthpiece. 

https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1569791832138-fbdd9a500384?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MXwxNzY0MzN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxzYXglMjBmbHV0ZSUyMGNsYXJpbmV0fGVufDB8fHw&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=80&w=1080

9. What instrument family is the piano in?

This is your classic tomato situation... is it a vegetable or a fruit? Some people argue that the piano is a string instrument because the mechanism on the inside of the piano is composed of a series of strings, but technically the piano is in the percussion family because the way the sound is produced is actually the hammers *hitting* the strings. 

10. Is there a difference between a classical guitar and an acoustic guitar?

Classical guitars and acoustic guitars look very similar, but they are actually different in a few key ways. Classical guitars have smaller bodies and wider fingerboards than acoustic guitars. They also use nylon strings instead of steel strings. You *can* put nylon strings on a standard acoustic guitar (this is a great idea for beginning guitar players to make it less painful on the fingers), but you cannot put steel strings on an acoustic guitar. Classical guitarists also hold their instrument differently than other guitarists, with the neck pointed at a higher angle. 

11. What does "pitchy" or "out of tune" mean?

You've heard critics claiming that a singer or instrumentalist is "pitchy" or "out of tune." You may have even heard people claim that someone is "sharp" or "flat." What this means is that the note or notes being produced are somewhere between the note that is intended and its next-door neighbor. For instance, if a singer should be singing a C, and instead is half way between C and C#, that singer is "sharp," "pitchy," or "out-of-tune." Of course, it gets worse. Sometimes a singer or instrumentalist can be even further from the intended note. You don't necessarily have to have trained ears to detect this. Most people can hear these situations, and even if they don't know what's technically going on, they know it's "bad." 

Essentially, "harmony" refers to when 2 or more notes are happening at the same time that sound good together. These notes should be part of the same chord, or be passing tones that are part of the same scale. A good experiment if you have a friend and a piano... Sing a "3rd" away from each other, meaning that you're 2 notes away. For instance, if one of you sings C and the other sings E, it will be pretty! That's harmony! If you both sing the same note, that's called "unison."

The easiest way to explain flat and sharp is by looking at a piano. If you are playing a white note, you are playing a "natural" note. To go one half step "sharp" would mean to play the closest black note to your right. To play one half step "flat" would be to play the closest black note to your left. For instance, "G" or "G Natural" is between Gb (left) and G# (right). 

Now here's where it gets really crazy. Gb is the same note as F#. G# is the same as Ab. Every black note has 2 names. Notes that have the same sound and 2 different names, like G# and Ab, are called *enharmonic* notes.

Major and minor are 2 different types of scales or chords. Major sounds happy, and minor sounds sad. 

15. What's the difference between a major chord and a major scale?

This is a question that comes up a lot when I'm teaching because sometimes when I ask a student for "major," they don't know whether I'm talking about the scale or the chord. To put it very simply, a scale is a series of notes played in a row, and a chord is 3 or more notes played together that make a specific sound. The chord actually comes from the scale. For instance, if you take a C major scale, the notes are C D E F G A B C. If you want to play a C major chord, you would take the 1st, 3rd, and 5th degrees of that scale, or C E and G. 

If we wanted to do the same example but with minor, a C minor scale is: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C. And here is a C minor chord: C Eb and G (the 1st, 3rd, and 5th degrees of *that* scale).

There are more scales than you could possibly dream of! The typical scales that a music student learns are:

- Natural Minor Scale (derived from the same notes)

- Harmonic Minor Scale (Natural Minor with an adjusted 7th degree)

- Melodic Minor Scale (Natural Minor with adjusted 6th and 7th degrees)

Then if a student gets into more advanced studies, they might come across the following:

"Modes" are typically learned by jazz students, and can be explained in a relatively simple way... but it's not so simple. Here are the first 3 to give you an idea...

- **Ionian** is the easiest mode to understand, because it is the same as a major scale. The easiest way to play an Ionian is to play from C to C on the piano, all white notes. That's a C Ionian Scale, or a C Major Scale. 

- **Dorian** is a nice and minor sounding mode. The easiest way to play a dorian mode is to play a D Dorian Scale, which means to play from D to D on the piano. That's D Dorian! But I don't let my students get away from stopping there. What if you need to play a C Dorian? The best way to understand a Dorian mode is that it's like a natural minor scale with a raised 6th degree. If you know your minor scales, that will help you play Dorian easily in any key

- **Phrygian** is a pretty funky sounding mode. Play E to E on the piano - that's E Phrygian. A better way to think about it is that it's like a natural minor with a lowered 2nd degree. 

- **Lydian** - F to F on the piano. A better way to think about it is like a major scale with a raised 4th degree.

- **Mixolydian** - G to G on the piano. This is like a major scale with a lowered 7th degree.

- **Aeolian** - A to A on the piano. This is the same as a natural minor scale.

- **Locrian** - B to B on the piano. This one is the weirdest sounding of all. Instead of comparing this to a major or minor scale (which would involve too many adjustments), I like to think about this as a scale starting on "ti" or the 7th degree of the scale. If you're going to skip learning any of the modes, this would be the one. 

When I was in middle school, I said something about music theory and my friend (who was not a musician) said "I don't have a theory," which made me laugh. She was offended, but I honestly thought she was being hilarious. That was the first of many moments in my life when I realized that not everyone knows the same things about music as I do. It's really easy to forget that and then end up in a situation where people have no idea what you're talking about. 

Despite what my friend assumed at the time, **Music Theory** isn't just your theory about music. Music theory is the *math* of music. It can span from the simplest concepts like identifying the treble clef to super-advanced concepts that you'd probably only come across if you were a student at a music college. One example of music theory that most people experience is the theory associated with rhythm - quarter notes, half notes, etc. (do you remember "ta-ta-titi-ta" from elementary school music class?) Music theory can seem boring, but once you make the connection, you'll realize how important it is (and it can actually be quite exciting to learn). If you want to learn a little more, check out my article: [What is Music Theory?](https://www.treesidemusicacademy.com/what-is-music-theory-the-long-and-short-of-it-and-where-to-start)

19. What does it mean when a song is "in a key?"

If you read #15, you understand what a scale is, and how a chord could go along with that scale. If you have a song in a specific key, that song is based on notes in that scale, and chords that are built from notes in that scale. If you are playing a song in the key of C for instance, the keyboardist will be playing only white notes (yes, C major is the major key that is all white notes, that's why you hear about that key more than any other). The chords being played will likely be C major, F major, and G major (if it's a rock song). If someone wants to change the song to the key of F#, the keyboardist will find themselves playing almost all black notes, and the chords will now be F# major, B major, and C# major. 

20. What does it mean when an instrument is "in a key?"

This is the most confusing concept of all, and still puzzles many musicians (unless of course they play a wind or brass instrument). Most instruments are in the "key of C" which, for the sake of this explanation, means they're "normal" instruments. But because of the nature of some brass and woodwind instruments, many of these instruments are in different "keys." For instance, an alto saxophone is in the key of Eb (E flat). What this means is that when they play a C on their instrument, it's actually what everyone else would hear as an Eb. This means that the alto saxophone is a "transposed" instrument. The tenor sax is in the key of Bb, so when a tenor saxophone plays a C, it's what everyone else hears as Bb. If a band director tells an entire band to play C, you would hear a cacophony of different notes. Now if a band director tells everyone to play "concert C" then everyone would be playing true C. Instrumentalists who play transposed instruments know how to play "concert notes" as well, meaning playing them the way they really sound. 

Why are instruments transposed? It seems a little unnecessarily complicated, doesn't it? Well, it is actually more complicated for the conductor or the composer, because they have to be able to decode many different keys at the same time. For the instrumentalists, the transposed instruments can be a little confusing, especially if the instrumentalist is coming from playing another instrument. There are a few explanations for this crazy system. The first involves the nature of the instrument. Horns are essentially tubes, and therefore have a specific note that they produce before being manipulated. When these instruments were first developed, they only played the harmonic series on that note, and therefore weren't able to play in every key, so several versions of each instrument were made in different keys. As time went on, favorites were chosen and valves were developed, creating new solutions to those problems. Another thing to think about is that depending on the range of an instrument, keeping it in the "concert" key would make the music almost impossible to read because it would be off of the staff. This also makes it easier for instrumentalists who double on other instruments - for instance, many alto saxophone players also play the clarinet. As inconvenient as it may seem, having these instruments in different keys actually solves more problems than it causes. 

Explaining music to non-musicians or brand new music students can be disorienting for people who have known it for so long. It's hard to remember what pieces of information are common knowledge, and which ones are only known by music nerds like us. I realize that some of these explanations probably just raise more questions, but I hope that I was able to at least shed some light on some of those weird music-related questions that you wish you knew how to ask. 

Can You Pluck a Violin? | 20 Music Questions You're Too Embarrassed to Ask

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Harry Styles has had an incredible career over the past decade. Test your Styles knowledge by taking our quiz. Good luck!

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Can you identify these bands by only their photo? Take our quiz to find out :)

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Kendrick Lamar has had an incredible career over the past decade. Test your knowledge of Kendrick Lamar!

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Quiz: Can you guess when these Michael Jackson songs were released?

Everyone knows that Michael Jackson is one of the greatest pop stars of all time. Can you answer these questions? Test your knowledge now!

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Michael Jackson Trivia Quiz

I've been playing the piano for a long time, and I have written many songs. I love music and am passionate about it, but that hasn't stopped me from being accused of being a narcissist from time to time.

https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1604971666408-9dcd56ece0bf?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwxNzY0MzN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxtaXJyb3J8ZW58MHx8fHwxNjczMzUxNzAx&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080

It's important to remember that not all musicians are narcissists. In fact, most musicians probably aren't. If you're entering the world of music as a performer, you have to be dedicated and willing to spend hours practicing your instrument or singing voice. You'll also need to be able to perform at night or on weekends for long periods of time—all things that could take their toll on the health of any person's self-esteem.

However, there are some pretty specific traits that make up this particular type of narcissism: grandiosity; a heightened sense of self-importance; preoccupation with fantasies about success and power; exhibitionism; envy of others; lack of empathy; exploitative behavior towards others and feeling entitled to special treatment by virtue of being more talented than others (McConaghy & Toseland, 2011).

## Being a Professional Musician Takes Dedication ##

If you think becoming a professional musician is easy, think again. There's so much more to it than just being able to play your instrument. It takes dedication, hard work and sacrifice to be successful in this field.

https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1579864795584-092b04e14e67?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwxNzY0MzN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxkZWRpY2F0aW9ufGVufDB8fHx8MTY3MzM1MTc5NQ&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080

You need to be willing to practice every day for hours on end if you want to get better at playing your instrument or singing while playing an instrument (which is harder than it sounds). There will be days when you feel like throwing in the towel, but if you can keep pushing yourself forward through those times then success will follow closely behind.

In addition to practicing all day long, musicians also have to make sacrifices in their personal lives because they spend so much time practicing that they don't always have time for themselves or family members who might want their attention as well as other things like hobbies or sports teams they might otherwise participate in if they weren't pursuing music professionally.

## Musicians Have to Spend Time Practicing ##

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