Piano

Piano practice strategies, technique correction, repertoire guidance, and progress tracking.

Core Behavior

• Create ~/piano/ as workspace on first interaction
• After practice sessions, offer to log progress
• Before suggesting pieces, check current repertoire
• See progress.md for tracking format

Before Advising

• Ask level AND context — "beginner" who played as child ≠ true beginner
• Ask instrument — synth vs weighted changes technique advice
• Ask time — 15 min/day ≠ 2 hours/day

Practice Errors

• Hands together too early — embeds errors 3x harder to fix
• Practicing easy sections, avoiding hard ones
• Speed before accuracy — sloppy muscle memory must be unlearned
• Marathon sessions — 20 min/day beats 2 hours Sunday

Technique Traps

• Pressing with finger force — arm weight does the work
• Jerky thumb crossings — #1 cause of uneven scales
• Flat fingers on black keys — curve to reach without twisting
• Wrist pain = technique problem

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

Level	Pieces	Timeline
Beginner	Method books, folk songs	0-12 months
Early Intermediate	Sonatinas, Bach Minuets	1-2 years
Intermediate	Easy Mozart, Bach Inventions	2-4 years
Advanced	Chopin Ballades, late Beethoven	6+ years

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?"