Kirsten Rielly - West Harbour Piano Studio

Wise words from the wonderful Joanna at Joanna García - Piano School ❤️🙏🎹

I saw a FB post today where someone was asking how he could speed up the process of learning the piano.

Good luck with that, sunshine.

It’s like these “get fluent in a language in three months” ruses. Insanity.

The complexity of learning a skill like playing the piano is off the scale. Aside from the physicality of actually playing, the complexity of the coordination and cognitive changes that must occur is utter madness. It takes years. It’s absolutely marvellous.

Same with learning languages. Aside from rattling around with French for the last three years, I’ve recently come back to Spanish, which really I’ve not worked for over sixteen years.

Sometimes it’s overwhelming to think how much work I need to put in to develop properly. Hours every week of listening, speaking, watching stuff and reading, bits of grammar (because I’m self taught, and have many grammar gaps), vocabulary revision. No amount of piddling around on Duolingo is going to turn me into a more confident and fluent speaker.

Point is:

You have to be attached to the process, and not the outcome. I’m still learning how to play the piano. I’ll never stop. Good job I love it. I’ll never say I’ve got there.

When you’re attached to the outcome, you will live in a constant state of not being enough.

When you can sit, however, and unpick little bits of music, and revel in the sound and the gradual development; when you can love the music and see it as a long term relationship with a piece rather than a quick fling, a consumption of the music before moving on to something else to feed your hungry, gobbling gremlin that is your need for accomplishment personified….

…well, only then will you be a pianist, my
son.

Dodgy Kipling reference, but you know where I’m coming from.

Here's a bit about me 🎹💐🎹

My name is Kirsten Rielly. I am the owner of West Harbour Piano Studio. I am a multi-passionate person who loves literature, music, art, family, history, food, coffee, antiques, and nature (not necessarily in that order!).

​​I studied classical piano and took music as an academic subject throughout my school years. I am immensely grateful for the learning and skills I developed during these years. As can happen with many students though, my playing fell by the wayside in adult life for various reasons. I went on to study English Literature and Librarianship at university, and now hold a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts (Hons), and a Master of Library and Information Studies.

Several years ago, I was able to get back to playing the piano and refresh and update my knowledge and skills. I left my corporate career and immersed myself in the world of piano education and I couldn't be happier! I am a lifelong learner so I do have my own teacher for advanced students and I invest a lot in my own professional and personal development. Currently, I am undertaking my fourth university degree, a Bachelor of Music.

The modern learning environment is so rich and diverse now with so many opportunities for creativity and fun at the piano. There is so much great music to learn and enjoy that I believe in working with my students to help them play the music they love whenever it is appropriate.​

My teaching style is student-led while also offering guidance and direction. I believe that my biggest role as a teacher is to instil self-belief in my students and a passion for music that will last them a lifetime, providing solace, joy, an outlet for self-expression and many other wonderful things!

[Full disclosure: this photo is a 'few' years old now 😜]

It's never too late to create something beautiful or follow a dream 🎹❤️

Diana had played the piano since she was four but had never thought she could write music and had generally never felt she was good enough. After her husband of 63 years passed away, she sought comfort at the piano and found herself improvising. Her improvisations turned into this beautiful composition called 'Dreams'.

87-Year-Old Diana Performs Moving Original Composition 'Dreams' | The Piano Series 3 87-year-old Diana moved the mentors and Newcastle station audience with her performance of 'Dreams,' an original composition.The Piano has a fresh new face! ...

Learning and playing a musical instrument creates "a symphony of neural activity" in the brain. How cool is that. 🎹🎼🎶 Music has been around as long we have. It's a part of us, we need it and it is scientifically proven that music helps our brains function better. If you are learning an instrument, keep going! If you have always wanted to, it's never too late to reap the benefits 💕🎼🎹🎸🥁🪈🎻🎺🎹

Unlock your brain's potential! 🎶 Studies show music training boosts memory & neural connections! 🧠 Start practicing today! 🌟 #MusicMatters #BrainHealth #LearnInstruments #CognitiveBoost #Neuroscience #DrLewisClarke #MusicalTraining

Here's some fantastic observations and some myth-busting from one of my beautiful mentors, Joanna Garcia.

The joy of music is always there for me but that doesn't mean it is always easy. I don't think I would want it to be either because some of the joy comes from the learning and the continual self-improvement and self-enrichment I get from pursuing this art of playing the piano and teaching others to play the piano. However, this is very much my perspective as an adult who has learned to love the process!

I also love the fact that, when we learn a musical instrument, we are actually learning so many other skills and lessons that impact us in all areas of our lives 🎹🎶🎼💕

There’s this *gorgeous* little misconception that abounds which is to do with learning a musical instrument.

It’s to do with music being an enjoyable thing to do, as if every aspect of it is some form of entertainment.

We take it as read that the ability to play music to a good level is highly enjoyable. And playing in ensemble with other musicians is just a beautiful thing to do! But let’s just put a couple of things straight.

🎹 It’s so much fun to play the piano all the time.

Actually, efficient piano practice is the utter opposite of just playing music through. It’s a highly disciplined, very intellectual activity that focusses on improvement and unpicking problems, strategically getting them better over time. It involves repetition and evaluative skills.

It’s taken me very many years to enjoy the mindfulness of dedicated practice; the practice that ultimately allows you the freedom to let music speak.

Now I can’t get enough, but have such limited time!

🎹 You’re so talented!

Thank you! That’s really kind of you!

But here’s an analogy: when you say to a singer, “you’ve got such a lovely voice”, essentially you’re commenting on their anatomy. The dedication that it takes to develop and hone that voice is to be applauded. After all, you can own a Stradivarius violin, but have no idea how to play it!

So talent is fabulous, and this is undoubtedly a compliment, but I’ve known several talented individuals who are most definitely seriously held back because of their unwillingness to commit to the art.

🎹 I’m sure it’ll be fine if she just has piano lessons and doesn’t do much in between.

Of course - but the progress will be so slow that it will become off-putting. Piano practice is to do with building neural pathways so that fluency is created. This requires “little and often” practice, with a focus on the latter. Similarly, piano practice is about developing the musculature so that the physical body can gain control and facility. This comes from regular practice: at least five times per week.

In the last lesson of the year, I always tell students that the holidays are the time to play for fun and enjoy all the music they have learned over the year. It's a really important distinction between practising and playing and we do need to do both to keep the joy of music alive and well. So, here are some tips for keeping the playing alive over the Christmas break without mentioning the word practice!

1. Ask your pianist to put on a fun concert for the family with their favourite pieces.

2. Say that you love hearing them play " # # #" and could they play it for you so you can enjoy the music while you relax.

3. Make some recordings to send to family members.

4. Send your teacher some recordings over the holidays as teachers always love to hear from students especially when they are playing and enjoying their instrument.

5. Ask your student to teach you something on the piano over the holidays.

If you have any other ideas, feel free to drop them in the comments below!

Abby's Halloween composition centres around a scary snowman called Spooky Flake. Abby also wrote lyrics and drew pictures to go with her song. Here are her lyrics:

Spooky fake, spooky flake
Where are you haunting the halls?
Snowman bite!
Snowflake right!
Scratching the walls and roaming the halls
It's a scary Christmas!

Frost spider behind me
Will you bite? Will it be cold?
Let's get it RIGHT!

Spooky, scary, can you hear me???
Scratching the wall and roaming the halls
Spooky, scary! Santa CLAWS is hereeee!

Run away .....

☃️⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄

I love doing these creative projects because the imagination and creativity of my students just wows me every time. It adds so much richness and fun to life!

Spooky Flake by Abby - Halloween composition 2024 Over Halloween, many of my students created their own Halloween songs. Abby wrote a very catchy song called Spooky Flake. Here are her lyrics:Spooky fake, sp...

Over Halloween, many of my students created their own Halloween songs. Here is Jessica playing her composition for which she also wrote lyrics and drew a picture to go with it. Here are the lyrics Jessica wrote for her song:

Creeping down the hallway
watching scary ghosts.
Slithering here and there
Cobwebs hanging low
Following the footprints
Leading somewhere new
Where no one knows

Such a catchy tune, Jessica, that has a beginning, a middle and an end so that you are telling a story with your song. Well done! I love your creativity!

Jessica’s Halloween 2024 composition Here the lyrics Jessica wrote for her song:Creeping down the hallwaywatching scary ghosts.Slithering here and thereCobwebs hanging lowFollowing the footprint...

Congratulations to magical student, Eva, who recently sat her first performance exam with ABRSM and passed Initial Grade with a strong merit. This is an excellent result and we are excited for future exams! We had a lot of fun preparing for this one and Eva’s selections were enjoyable to teach and to play. Eva even said afterwards “when can we do the next one?”

One of my goals is to make sitting exams a good experience that helps progress learning and provides valuable feedback along the piano learning journey and yet are not the main focus of that journey. Musicianship and creativity are the goal along with protecting the musical well-being of a student (i.e. maintaining their love of making music and their self-belief and confidence as musicians!) So, it was very good to hear Eva enjoyed the process and is excited to do it again 😊🎹❤️

Well done, Eva! You should be very proud of your first results and all that you can do on the piano already. You are magic!

Lessons with these two wonderful WHPS students are so much fun. It has been such a delight to see them progress to being able to play duets together. Sharing music together adds a whole new level of joy - not to mention it is great for developing rhythm, fluency, and the ear! Well done, girls.

Honey Dew duet played by Sara and Adita