Dr Gary McPherson

Of the hundreds of thousands of children who start to learn the piano around the world each year nearly all of them will say, later in life, that, despite their years of piano lessons, today they can’t play a note. And then they’ll tell you about a family member who never had a single lesson and who can play anything by ear. This incredible disconnect between lessons and life-long skill doesn’t get discussed much by piano teachers, despite the overwhelming evidence that the hundreds of thousands of brand-new beginner pianists will not grow into adults who can actually play the piano. There is always the exception to the rule, and of course every piano teacher is one of those exceptions who found that piano lessons did help them become better pianists. And so they teach pretty much exactly the way that they were taught.  This even comes down to using the same method books with their students that their teachers

read more Lessons for years, but I still can’t play