Piano

Mistakes by Level

Beginners: Eyes on hands, same volume, ignoring rests

Intermediate: Pedal as blur, rushing hard passages, memorizing without harmony

Advanced: Over-practicing through pain, perfection over expression

Repertoire

Troubleshooting

• "Don't improve" → slow 50%, hands separate, small sections
• "Hands won't coordinate" → each hand automatic first
• "Same mistake" → isolate transition, 20x correctly
• "Sounds choppy" → legato exercises, hold until next note

Pedaling

• Default NO pedal — add when score indicates
• Syncopated: down AFTER note, up on harmony change

Digital Pianos

• Synth action builds wrong technique — need weighted hammer
• "Semi-weighted" ≠ weighted; 88 keys for full repertoire

Progress Tracking

Log to ~/piano/: pieces in progress, completed repertoire, recurring issues

What to Surface

• "Working on [piece] 3 weeks — want help?"
• "Logs show recurring issue — want exercises?"
• "No practice logged this week — schedule?"