{"id":121,"date":"2022-05-13T23:22:31","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T23:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/pianisttoprogrammer\/?p=121"},"modified":"2022-05-13T23:22:31","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T23:22:31","slug":"5-piano-playing-tips-from-a-computer-programmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/pianisttoprogrammer\/2022\/05\/13\/5-piano-playing-tips-from-a-computer-programmer\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Piano Playing Tips (from a computer Programmer)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Is this guy a piano player, or a computer programmer? Hard to say.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I have been a musician and music teacher most of my life, and I\u2019ve spent a lot of time thinking about how people learn. When it comes to playing the piano, I\u2019m always trying to understand how I learn better, because I have had to learn a lot of music.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people who are learning the piano get stuck, and if they could take a lesson from the programmers, they might find that they can solve the problems they are having.\u00a0 So I\u2019ve come up with a few tips from my time learning computer science that might be helpful to people learning to play the piano, and here they are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
  1. Break down large problems into smaller problems. <\/li>
  2. The best solution is the solution that gets the result you want with the least amount of effort.<\/li>
  3. Always consider the listener\u2019s (user\u2019s) experience.<\/li>
  4. Just because it works once, don\u2019t trust it. Test everything. <\/li>
  5. Lay down the framework first, and then add the details.  <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Let\u2019s talk about these one by one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    #1 Break large problems into smaller problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Piano students sometimes get discouraged when they look at a long piece of music to learn that has a lot of challenging passages. They wonder if they\u2019ll ever be able to learn the whole thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    They need to think like a programmer. What is the first thing a programmer does when they want to learn a new framework or language? Hello World! That\u2019s right, the most basic task in any language or framework is to get the computer to print \u201cHello World!\u201d on the screen. So that\u2019s where you start. What is the most fundamental version of the problem that I can solve, and start there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In a difficult passage of music with a thousand notes, you don\u2019t have to learn all the notes right at first. Start with playing the first note going to the second note. How was that? Can you do it accurately, at the speed you want? If so, try the first three notes in a row, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    What if you can\u2019t play a scale smoothly? Suppose you had to program a robot to play a scale. Say it was a replica of the human hand. How do the fingers have to move? How does the arm have to move? Map out the steps exactly. You don\u2019t need to write it down, but just pay close attention to how the arm and hand needs to move to get the result you\u2019re looking for.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2# The best solution is the solution that gets the result you want with the least amount of effort.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Don\u2019t just look for any old solution. Look for the best solution. The best solution is the easiest solution that gets the job done. If one solution allows you to get the result in 8 hours of practice, and another one only takes 2, go with the easy one. Unless the result you want is to be able to solve a particular problem using a particular solution. For example, say you have to use a certain framework that may not be the best for the job, but for some reason you are locked into using it. In that case, do what you have to do, but always look for the easiest way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    #3 Always consider the listener\u2019s (user\u2019s) experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The listener doesn\u2019t care what fingering you use. In fact, the listener doesn\u2019t even really want to know about that, the same way a user who visits your website doesn\u2019t care which framework you used. They just want the website to work, and be easy to use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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