One thing I love about doing my livestream shows is that I always get surprised at least once at every performance.  Someone will always request something I wasn't expecting, which will inevitably lead to a fun and interesting experience...sometimes it leads to a bit of a trainwreck where I try something I don't know at all well enough to really play, but even when that happens, it at least leads to a collective laugh.  But other times it leads to something that works better than expected....like a children's song designed for total beginners learning an instrument.

I was surprised when I was asked if I could do a rendition of "Hot Crossed Buns" at one of my streams, but a couple of seconds after I played through it in a simple and straightforward way, I realized that maybe I could do something a little more fun with it.  So, I put a walking bass line under it and did my best to give it a boogie-woogie flare.  

This is hardly the kind of thing I generally make video content with, and it's a super short clip...but I decided to release it because it demonstrates a couple of important points that I try to impart to my piano students literally every day. 

First, ALL music is related...you simply have to find the connective tissue.  But literally every style, genre, and era share many overlapping attributes, which means that if you focus on one niche, you are still learning much that will help you play inside a different niche.

Second, making music becomes more fun the more tools you develop.  The purpose of the Piano Man Approach isn't to show you exactly how to play any particular song.....rather it is to equip you with techniques and patterns that you can use to play all different kinds of songs.  We focus a lot on approximating the sound and feel of a particular recording or arrangement that you like, but these tools also equip you to do something totally different with a song, like I did with this silly children's tune.

I guess what's most on my mind today is to encourage you to always remember why you wanted to learn to play piano (or any instrument) in the first place....and I hope that it's because the idea of making music just feels good.  And when you gain enough facility to actually start making some music, that feels even better.  It's supposed to be fun....and satisfying....and life giving....and emotionally moving (everything from laughter to tears).  I certainly didn't learn everything I've learned over 35 years with an eye on performing "Hot Crossed Buns".....but it sure was fun to do when the request came up.  I want that for you too, at whatever level you can reach with the time and resources you have, and I want you to enjoy yourself on the way there.  The journey never really ends, so don't forget why you're doing it.  Check out my silliness in the video clip below, and resolve to have some fun playing piano today for yourself!  

If you'd like to explore my piano method more deeply, my best students use my video courses and join me for conversation and twice monthly Q&A Livestreams in my private community...you can find it all HERE. Thanks.

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