Teaching Smarter with Fundamentals of Piano Practice

A Teacher-Facing Reinterpretation of Chuan C. Chang’s Most Important Ideas

For many piano teachers, the greatest frustration is not a lack of effort from students, but a lack of transfer. Students practice diligently, attend lessons regularly, and yet progress stalls. Pieces fall apart under pressure. Technique improves slowly. Memory slips at the worst moments.

Fundamentals of Piano Practice by Chuan C. Chang confronts this issue directly. It is not a repertoire book, a method series, or a stylistic guide. Instead, it addresses the hidden curriculum of piano teaching: how students actually learn.

This article reframes Chang’s key ideas specifically for piano teachers—those responsible not just for playing well themselves, but for guiding others through the learning process efficiently, safely, and confidently.

1. Practice Is a Skill That Must Be Taught

One of Chang’s most teacher-relevant assertions is that practice itself is a skill. Students are often expected to know how to practice instinctively, yet this skill is rarely taught explicitly.

From a teaching perspective, this reframes a common situation: - When a student does not improve, it is not necessarily due to laziness or lack of talent. - More often, the student is repeating inefficient or counterproductive behaviours.

Effective teachers therefore teach: - How to identify specific problems - How to isolate them - How to design short, targeted solutions - How to stop before fatigue or error accumulation

Lessons become less about “covering material” and more about training independent problem-solvers.

2. Rethinking Slow Practice in the Studio

Slow practice has long been a cornerstone of piano pedagogy, but Chang urges teachers to be precise about its purpose.

Slow practice is effective for: - Learning notes - Establishing basic coordination - Listening for balance and tone

However, many teachers observe that students who practice only slowly: - Panic when tempo increases - Develop unevenness at speed - Plateau despite accuracy at slow tempos

Chang’s contribution is not to reject slow practice, but to contextualise it. He emphasises that speed is a distinct skill, governed by coordination rather than strength.

For teachers, this means: - Introducing controlled fast bursts early - Teaching students to alternate slow and fast work - Explaining that fast practice should be brief, precise, and relaxed

Speed should not be postponed indefinitely; it should be trained intelligently.

3. Parallel Sets: A Diagnostic and Teaching Tool

Parallel Sets (PS) are one of Chang’s most distinctive ideas and are particularly valuable for teachers diagnosing technical issues.

Rather than practicing passages as long chains of individual notes, parallel sets group notes into small, coordinated units. This allows teachers to observe: - Whether a student understands the movement - Where tension is introduced - Which fingers or transitions cause instability

From a pedagogical standpoint, parallel sets: - Reveal inefficient finger isolation - Reduce cognitive overload - Allow fast passages to be learned earlier and more safely

They are especially effective when teaching: - Scales and arpeggios - Broken chords - Repeated notes - Fast passagework in Classical and Romantic repertoire

Parallel sets are not a replacement for musical phrasing, but a technical microscope—a way to zoom in on problems that traditional repetition obscures.

4. Relaxation as an Outcome, Not an Instruction

“Relax” is one of the most commonly used words in piano lessons—and one of the least actionable.

Chang reframes relaxation as a result of correct movement rather than a conscious command. From a teaching perspective, this is liberating.

Instead of telling students to relax, teachers can address: - Excessive finger lifting - Misaligned wrists or elbows - Unnecessary arm tension - Over-pressing into the keys

When movement becomes efficient, relaxation follows automatically.

This approach aligns with modern injury-prevention pedagogy and is particularly important for: - Adult learners - Students preparing large workloads - Advanced students increasing technical demands

5. Teaching Memory as a Core Curriculum

Memory failure is one of the most common sources of student anxiety, yet memorisation is often left to chance.

Chang identifies four distinct memory systems: 1. Muscle memory 2. Visual memory 3. Auditory memory 4. Analytical memory

Teachers can use this framework to design more resilient learners. For example: - Asking students to explain harmonic progressions - Starting from random points in lessons - Playing hands separately from memory - Encouraging mental rehearsal away from the piano

This transforms memorisation from a talent-based mystery into a trainable skill.

6. Mental Practice: Teaching Beyond the Keyboard

Mental practice is one of the most underutilised teaching tools in piano education.

Chang emphasises that students who truly know a piece can: - Hear it internally - Visualise fingerings - Reconstruct structure without sound

For teachers, this opens new possibilities: - Assigning mental practice as homework - Using lesson time for testing understanding rather than repetition - Helping busy students practice more efficiently

Mental practice also deepens musical understanding and dramatically improves memory security.

7. Accuracy Before Expression: A Pedagogical Reframe

Chang’s insistence on accuracy before expression can feel counterintuitive, especially to musically sensitive teachers.

However, his argument is pedagogically sound: expression requires control. Without rhythmic stability, evenness, and reliability, expressive intentions cannot be realised consistently.

Teachers can interpret this not as suppressing musicality, but as: - Building technical trust - Reducing student anxiety - Allowing expression to emerge naturally

Expression taught too early often becomes exaggerated compensation for insecurity.

8. Repetition: Quality Over Quantity

Chang draws a sharp distinction between productive and destructive repetition.

For teachers, this reinforces several best practices: - Stop students immediately when errors occur - Avoid “playing through” mistakes - Design repetitions with a specific goal - Encourage short, focused practice segments

This reduces frustration and prevents students from encoding errors into muscle memory.

9. A Constructive Challenge to Traditional Pedagogy

Chang’s critiques of traditional teaching are not attacks, but invitations.

He challenges teachers to: - Question inherited methods - Observe results honestly - Separate tradition from effectiveness

This does not mean abandoning musical lineage or stylistic wisdom. It means aligning musical goals with modern understanding of learning and motor skills.

10. Performance Confidence as a Teachable Outcome

Chang reframes performance anxiety as a preparation issue rather than a personality flaw.

Teachers can build confidence by: - Teaching multiple starting points - Simulating performance conditions - Encouraging frequent low-stakes performances - Strengthening memory systems

Confidence becomes predictable rather than elusive.

11. How I Apply These Ideas in My Lessons

Over time, Fundamentals of Piano Practice has significantly shaped how I structure lessons, diagnose problems, and communicate with students. I do not treat Chang’s book as a rigid method, but as a framework for thinking clearly about cause and effect in piano learning.

Teaching Practice How to Practice

In my studio, I no longer assume students know how to practice. I teach it explicitly.

Instead of saying: - “Go practice this more,”

I guide students to: - Identify one concrete problem - Name it clearly (unevenness, tension, memory gap, coordination) - Choose a specific strategy to solve it

We often write practice instructions together during the lesson. This trains students to become independent thinkers rather than passive followers of instructions.

Using Parallel Sets as a Teaching Tool

I use parallel sets primarily as a diagnostic lens, not something students must consciously think about all the time.

When a fast passage breaks down, I: - Reduce it to very small note groups - Observe alignment, balance, and coordination - Help the student feel what efficient movement actually is

Once the movement is understood, we reintegrate it into musical context. Students often realise that speed is not something they “add later” — it emerges naturally when coordination is correct.

Addressing Tension Without Saying “Relax”

Rather than telling students to relax, I focus on what is creating the tension: - Excessive finger lifting - Overuse of finger strength instead of arm support - Poor bench height or distance

By correcting the underlying movement, tension resolves on its own. This approach has been especially helpful for adult students who often carry physical habits from daily life into their playing.

Teaching Memory Intentionally

Memory work is built into my lessons from the beginning, not added as an afterthought.

I regularly ask students to: - Start from random places - Play hands separately from memory - Explain chord progressions or formal structure - Mentally play short sections away from the piano

This aligns with Chang’s emphasis on multiple memory systems and greatly reduces performance anxiety over time.

Encouraging Mental Practice Between Lessons

For students with limited practice time, mental practice is a game-changer.

I encourage them to: - Hear the piece internally - Visualise fingerings - Think through structure before sleep or during quiet moments

This reframes practice as something that extends beyond the instrument and helps students feel less guilty when physical practice time is limited.

Accuracy First, Expression That Lasts

In my teaching, I prioritise rhythmic stability, evenness, and reliability before pushing expressive detail.

Once students trust their technique and memory, expression becomes more natural and less forced. Musical ideas land more consistently, especially in performance situations.

Repetition With Purpose

I actively stop students when repetition becomes mindless. We clarify why something is being repeated and what improvement we are listening for.

Short, focused repetitions have replaced long, unfocused run-throughs — and progress is noticeably faster.

12. Common Student Problems & How I Address Them

Over the years, I have found that many students struggle with the same underlying issues, even when the repertoire changes. Chang’s ideas provide a clear framework for addressing these problems systematically rather than emotionally.

1. “I practise a lot but I’m not getting faster”

This is one of the most common frustrations, especially among intermediate students.

What’s usually happening: - The student is practising only slowly - Movements that work at slow tempos fail at speed - Coordination, not effort, is the real issue

How I address it: - I introduce short, controlled fast bursts - I reduce passages into very small groups (often using parallel-set thinking) - I help the student feel the difference between force and coordination

Students are often surprised to discover that speed feels lighter, not harder.

2. “It sounds fine at home, but I fall apart in lessons or exams”

This issue is frequently mislabelled as nerves.

What’s usually happening: - Memory relies too heavily on muscle memory - Starting points are limited - The piece has not been tested under pressure

How I address it: - We practise starting from multiple places - I ask students to explain structure or harmony - We simulate performance conditions in lessons

Confidence improves when preparation becomes robust rather than hopeful.

3. Persistent tension or fatigue

Tension often appears gradually and is normalised by students until it becomes limiting.

What’s usually happening: - Excessive finger isolation - Over-pressing into the keys - Inefficient bench height or distance

How I address it: - I adjust physical setup first - I simplify movements and reduce unnecessary effort - I avoid telling students to “relax” and instead fix the cause

Relief usually comes quickly once movement becomes efficient.

4. “I keep making the same mistakes”

Repeated errors are rarely a concentration problem.

What’s usually happening: - The student is repeating mistakes unconsciously - Practice lacks a clear goal

How I address it: - I stop repetition immediately when errors appear - We isolate the smallest possible unit - We define exactly what improvement we are listening for

This retrains students to practise actively rather than automatically.

5. Memory slips late in the learning process

These are particularly discouraging for diligent students.

What’s usually happening: - Memorisation was accidental, not systematic - Analytical and auditory memory are underdeveloped

How I address it: - I rebuild memory hands separately - We label sections, patterns, and harmonies - I introduce mental play away from the piano

Memory becomes more stable and less anxiety-driven.

6. Over-practising and burnout

Highly motivated students are especially vulnerable to this.

What’s usually happening: - Long practice sessions with diminishing returns - Fatigue masking learning

How I address it: - I encourage shorter, focused sessions - We stop as soon as quality drops - Mental practice replaces some physical repetition

Progress accelerates when recovery is respected.

Final Thoughts for Teachers

Fundamentals of Piano Practice has influenced my teaching not by giving me more exercises, but by sharpening my understanding of learning itself.

It reminds us that: - Struggle is often a sign of inefficient strategy, not lack of talent - Clear thinking leads to faster, safer progress - Teaching students how to practice is one of the most valuable skills we can offer

Used thoughtfully, Chang’s ideas help transform piano lessons into a space where students feel capable, curious, and empowered — and where progress becomes predictable rather than mysterious.