I have been playing musical instruments for over 28 years and I have learned alot in the process. I would like to take a little time and share something that I believe is very important to a musicians development. I think we have all experienced being in the practice room and not really knowing what to do in our practice time. You may find yourself just playing with an idea or just trying this or that. This approach to practicing does have it’s place because you can discover new things muscially that you can use in the future. Although this can be fun it’s not good to only practice this way.

It is best to have some sort of structure in your practice time if you truely want to improve. I have found it to be helpful to practice regularly rather than occasionally. You may be thinking well that’s common sense but most people don’t do it. You first have to practice regularly just to maintain your current level. You have to stay in shape to do what you do musically. Practicing is like exercise on your instrument. It helps to keep you in shape. You have muscles that have to be worked in order to stay on top of your game. If you don’t work these muscles regularly you will get rusty.

It helps to know how long you are going to practice and specify ahead of time what you are going to work on. For example if you are a horn player you may decide to practice for a hour and work on long tones for 20 minutes, sight reading 20 minutes, and improvising 20 minutes. You will accomplish more like this than just going in the practice room and playing around.

#1 identify what thing or things you need to improve on (your weakness)
#2 specifiy when and how long you will practice
#3 write out a practice schedule that states how long you will work on each individual thing
#4 follow your schedule
#5 if possible practice the same time everyday
#6 keep a log or journal of your progress
#7 adjust your practice shedule as you see progress
#8 Find a mentor whom you admire (someone who can give you tips or advice on what you do)
#9 Try to play with or hang out with people that are more advanced than you.
#10 Be patient because true growth is a process and not instant.

I have just finished an instructional DVD called Gospel Piano Basics vol. 1. This DVD is for beginner and intermediate pianists. It covers a variety of useful topics like how to take a basic song and make it sound contemporary. I discuss things like how to make your chords sound rich and full, adding notes to your chords, open chord voicings, expressive devices and more. When I was learning to play piano I would have LOVED to have had something like this DVD to learn more about playing piano. It really does cover a lot of practical things that you can use in other songs.

My teaching philosophy is not to just give you the notes to a song but explain why I chose those notes so that you can understand the theoretical concept behind it. I believe that If you really understand what you are doing then you can more effectively apply it to other things. That is my approach in this DVD I do give you notes that I’m playing so that you can easily learn the song but I also try to explain the theory behind what’s going on. The cool thing is, we now have the capability to offer you this DVD as a download that you receive instantly! How cool is that?!

We are now developing a system where people can take actual music lessons over the internet. You will be able to communicate with your instructor and receive all of your materials over email. Stay tuned for Sharp Keys Musical Trainings Institute Online Music Lessons. This DVD however is available now.

You can download the movie and files and start learning the material right away.
This is a great package because you get the movie which is over 30 minutes of instruction, a free midi player to install on your computer, midi files of the songs, and pdf files of the sheet music. If you don’t read music you still can use this DVD because all of the notes are spelled out for you. You can download it for 14.95 $4.95. ENOUGH SAID!

Over the years I have invested literally thousands of dollars on my music education and I am now reaping the benefits of my investment. You have to invest in your self and work hard and you will be rewarded. If you have any questions feel free to register here for FREE and leave a comment or question and I will do my best to answer it. You can check out a brief sample of the DVD on youtube here . You can securely purchase the download through paypal here. Stay tuned and check back often. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Musically Yours,
Kenny Hollins

Hello Sharp Keys students & Music lovers!

We are happy to announce that our asKenny blog is officially open for you to pose all your musical questions and read Kenny’s latest posts!