Download the Sheet Music:

http://www.learnpianoonline.com/downloadsheetmusic/auldlangsyne.pdf

Now is also a great time to get into some better routines with your piano playing. Here are 5 easy
ways to expand your musical life in the coming year.

1. Practice for at least 10 minutes, at least 3 times a week. Yes, daily practice is ideal – but when
you’re aiming for 3 times a week you’re more likely to hit the mark, and anything you do more is a
bonus.

2. Play your favorite song, at least 3 times a week. Sometimes we forget that piano playing is
supposed to be fun. We may hold off on what we love to play or what comes easier, because we’re so
focused on what we still want to improve. Don’t forget to give yourself the gift of playing what YOU
love.

3. Perform a song for a friend or loved one, at least once a month. If distance or busy schedules are
an issue, just call the person on the phone and invite them to listen through the receiver while you
play the music across the miles!

4. Record yourself playing and listen back, at least once a month. Evaluate objectively and make a
note of things you would like to improve.

5. Sing along with your playing, at least once a week. If you’re shy about singing, wait until no one is
home. Singing along increases your awareness of how well you are playing the rhythm!

So while you’re resolving to improve your personal and work life this January, don’t forget about your
musical life!

Selecting these three winners has certainly been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in the last 12 years of being online with LearnPianoOnline.

Hundreds of you poured your heart and soul into your responses on the blog (and in email) and really took time to answer my four questions. Thank you for honest and heartfelt answers.

So without further delay, here are the three Holiday Contest Winners:

     First Place goes to:  Steve Andrews  

       (Comment #47 on “Two More Prizes Added” Blog Post)

     Second Place goes to: Tracy Nishibun 

       (Comment #51 on “Two More Prizes Added” Blog Post)

     Third Place goes to: Brittiny Burt 

       (Comment #103 on “My Happy Holiday Surprise” Blog Post)

Your comments have inspired me and I sincerely want YOU to learn and feel the true joy of playing the piano. Nothing can spread joy and love like the happiness of playing beautiful music. …and I know that every single one of you have the ability to play the piano and share your gift with the world.

It makes me sad that I can’t help all of you learn to play….so I’ve decided that in the spirit of the holidays I am going to offer you a special chance that I’ve only done once before in the last 12 years.

I am going to offer those of you who participated in the Holiday contest-as my way of saying “Thank You”- a rare chance to get almost 2 years worth of piano lessons and UNLIMITED piano teacher assistance via email for an entire year. It’s not free- but considering the value you’ll get from it you’ll be shocked at the small price for unlimited help from a real piano teacher.  ~smile~

I wish I could give everyone free lessons but sadly I can’t. So this is my very best way I can try to help as many of you as possible. Go check it out here.

Happy Holidays!

Lisa  ~smile~

With that said, I will do my very best to get the winners announced either very late tonight, or early tomorrow morning. I apologize for this delay, and at the same time appreciate you all for participating whole-heartedly in this Holiday Contest.

Talk to you soon!

I have been so amazed at all of the incredible posts and stories I’ve read over the last several days. Thank you so much for all your wonderful responses to my Happy Holiday Contest- I have loved hearing from all of you! ~smile~

Because of the incredible number of responses, I wanted to show my appreciation to all of you and give out two more “piano playing surprises.” This means that I’ll be giving out a total of three prizes to three lucky aspiring pianists.

All you have to do is answer the following four questions and submit your comments to this post (or the previous My Happy Holiday Surprise post). The four questions are:
1) What is the main challenge holding you back from playing the piano?
2) What are the other obstacles keeping you from playing the piano like you’ve always dreamed?
3) What song or type of music have you always wanted to play?
4) What are the three greatest benefits you’ll enjoy from playing the piano?
Remember, the three people who answer the questions the best (judged by me) will win. The winners will be someone who answer the four questions completely and understands most -the joy piano playing can bring to your life. And don’t worry you can still win even if you’ve never played ~smile~
So what are the TWO NEW prizes?

The TWO ADDITIONAL prize winners will BOTH receive:

• One entire year of access tomy acclaimed World’s Favorite Online Piano Lessons, called PremiumPiano, with simple to follow instructions and amazing piano teacher support…AND
• A complimentary spot on my new 4 week teleseminar designed to kick-start your piano playing and get you playing your favorite songs in record time.

And don’t forget that the first place prize winner will receive:
• A full ride 1 year scholarship to my new online piano academy program, PianoPlus with the SuperSupportSystem. This revolutionary training and support system is designed to give you all the support you need to accomplish your piano playing dreams.
• One entire year’s worth of lessons using my acclaimed World’s Favorite Online Piano Lessons with simple to follow instructions and amazing piano teacher support.
• A complimentary spot on my new 4 week teleseminar designed to kick-start your piano playing and get you playing your favorite songs in record time.

So if you haven’t already submitted your response, act quickly because the contest ends on Tuesday, December 23 at midnight.

And I’ll be announcing the winner on Wednesday, December 24 as soon as I finish reading every last entry submitted.

Thank you and if you haven’t submitted your entry please do because I would love to hear from you!

Happy Playing,

Lisa

I get a lot of emails from students who would like to share their thoughts with others, so I thought I would make a new category here on my blog to let my students post to each other! ~smile~

Some of you don’t know how to use a blog and so here is how. Go to the top of this article, and you will see a little link called comments… go there and post a comment. Yep! It’s that easy.

It will be fun to see what students have to say to each other!

Talk to you soon!

Lisa

That’s exactly what happened to me last night…and I’m sure my insomnia didn’t help either ~smile~

You see, I just couldn’t wait to write in my blog and tell you all about my holiday contest.

It all started a few weeks ago when Jay (my husband) asked me “Do you think people realize how easy and rewarding it is to play the piano?”

Quite honestly, I was a little surprised because it seemed like such a silly question…. ‘Of course they do.’ But after more thought…I realized that maybe he had a good point.

Of course I think it’s easy because I’ve taught thousands of students and get hundreds of emails every month from students thanking me for creating such simple lessons.

But, what about people who have never tried playing and think it’s too hard…or tried learning once, got frustrated and gave up? Or, people who think they must have a teacher instructing them every week and can’t afford it? What about them?

It’s these aspiring pianists I worry about because they’re missing out on one of life’s greatest joys- playing music. So, what better time to share the joy of piano than the holidays?

Playing the piano is meant to be shared and enjoyed with others.

So, in the spirit of the holiday I would love to hear from you and why piano is important to you and what might be holding you back from playing.

And to help encourage you to think about the positive impact piano playing can have on your life, the winner’s going to get:

-One entire year’s worth of lessons using my acclaimed World’s Favorite Online Piano Lessons with simple to follow instructions and amazing piano teacher support.
-A complimentary spot on my new 4 week teleseminar designed to kick-start your piano playing and get you playing your favorite songs in record time.
-A full ride 1 year scholarship to my new online piano academy program, PianoPlus with the SuperSupportSystem. This revolutionary training and support system is designed to give you all the support you need to accomplish your piano playing dreams.
So to have your chance at winning this nice holiday “piano playing surprise” you have to answer four questions and reply to this post here on my blog.

Ready for the four questions?

1) What is the main challenge holding you back from playing the piano?

2) What are the other obstacles keeping you from playing the piano like you’ve always dreamed?

3) What song or type of music have you always wanted to play?

4) What are the three greatest benefits you’ll enjoy from playing the piano?

I’ll give you some clues to what the winning post will contain. The winning entry will show- as specifically as possible- What is holding you back from playing the piano right now…what it would be like to play your favorite songs and the benefits you will enjoy from playing the piano.

The person who understands most -the joy piano playing can bring to your life- will be the winner. And don’t worry you can still win even if you’ve never played ~smile~

Then we will turn that piano playing dream into reality.

Beginning this Wednesday, December 24 at 10:00 AM - I’ll announce the winner right here on my blog. Make sure you use your right email address so we can get in touch with you. ~smile~

1. Name at least 1 song you would love to learn how to play on the piano.

2. On a scale from 1-5, where is your desire to play the piano?

3. Do you need motivation to help you achieve your goals?

4. Do you have a 10 minute activity that you can replace with a
more productive 10 minute activity?

5. What is your expectation of learning how to play piano

Before we talk about your responses to these assessment questions, let’s
determine your teachability score and then use your 5 responses to bring
your score higher.

What is a Teachability Index?

Everyone has a teachability index.
A teachability index measures how easily you will learn a new skill.
There is are two key factors that determine how high your
teachability index is.

Answer these two questions:

On a scale from 1-10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest,
where is your willingness to learn?

On a scale from 1-10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest,
where is your willingness to accept change?

Multiply each answer to get your Teachability Index score.

If you answered 10 on both, (10X10) and your index is 100! You
are a very teachable person and will be successful with the piano.

If your willingness to learn is 10 and your willingness to accept
change is 0, then 10X0=0. That would mean your teachability index
is non-existent and so I need to help you bring your score up a
bit. Keep reading…

How to Raise your Teachability Score for Piano Lessons

I asked you to respond to 5 very important learning factors
specific to piano. They were very simple questions, but each has a
powerful message behind it.

1. Name at least one song you would love to be able to play on the
piano.

It is not enough to just want to be willing to learn how to play
the piano. In your mind, you should be able to imagine yourself
playing your favorite song and even more powerful is that you can
see who you are performing for. You could be playing for
yourself, or it could be for your family, friends, or a group of
people.
Having a specific visual is important to achieving a goal. Adding
color,
a familiar place, sounds and even what it smells like can create a
powerful visual for you to use as a tool…. keep reading to find
out how visualization can be a powerful learning tool.

2. What is your level of desire?

Everyone knows that you have to want to learn to be able to learn,
but more than that, you need to have a high level of desire for the
best possible success rate. This desire is triggered by your
response to #1. Your desire will deepen when you can imagine
yourself playing a favorite song for a person or audience of your
choice.

3. Do you need motivation to help you achieve your goals?

Motivation is huge! If you don’t have it, you don’t have
assessment #1 or #2.
Do you see where we are going with this? Each assessment builds
upon another. If you need motivation, then you need to
re-evaluate #1 and #2.
For example, let’s say you started piano lessons and your
motivation is high, but after awhile, you lost interest. How do
you trigger the motivation? Go back to #1 and #2.

4. Do you have a 10 minute activity that you can replace with a
more productive 10 minute activity?

Now that you have the above 3 assessments, finding 10 minutes a day
is the next hurdle to cross. Everyone is busy…. even those with
dreams, desire and motivation still have to find time. Make a list
of things you do during the day when you are at home. Evaluate
your list and cross off the things that are non-productive, taking
too long to accomplish or wasting your time. After doing that, I
bet you can find at least 10 minutes to practice piano! ~smile~

5. Last but not least, is the most important question of all:
What is your expectation of learning how to play piano?

Your expectation will determine your experience and outcome.

Repeat this out loud:
“I already know how to play the piano, I know this because I can
easily see myself playing my favorite songs. However, I want to
and am willing to continue to learn how to play the piano and I am
willing to make some changes so I can find 10 minutes to practice
every day to become more and more accomplished at what I already
know how to do.”

Now, ask yourself the first two questions again and see if your
teachability index has improved!

Hope this helps you not only with piano, but with anything you do
and learn in your life.

For more information about learning how to play the piano with a
teacher who has the tender loving care to bring out the best in
you, please visit:

Piano Lessons with Lisa

When playing the piano, every new song is literally a new goal. When we can see (or hear) the end result it’s easy to be clear about what you want to accomplish. Every time you complete a song, whether it be a beginner’s song, intermediate or advanced, the goal reaching process is being internalized. Your brain does not know how small or big the goal was, it just knows that the goal was r reached, therefore, the habit of setting and reaching goals becomes a natural part of who you become in all other areas of your life.

As you are learning piano, make sure you are completing each song that you start to ensure that you are not only learning piano, but learning to reach your goals, and to finish something that you started.

Enjoy your lessons!

Lisa

http://www.LearnPianoOnline.com