Oclef Blog

May 08, 2025

How to Understand and Speak Music Theory Language - Teaching Chords

Ever feel like music theory is a confusing puzzle that never quite fits the song you're learning? What if the key to mastering your next piece isn't just more practice—but actually understanding the chords behind the notes? In this post, I’ll show you how starting with one simple theory concept—primary chords in a key (I-IV-V7)—can completely transform the way piano students learn and play music. Before diving into any new piece, I always make it a point to start with music theory. Why? Be...

April 29, 2025

The Missing Link in Piano Teaching — Fixed.

Oclef Notation isn't just a better way to mark music. It's a visual system that turns confusing movements into clear, teachable steps. Most beginners don’t naturally connect sheet music to what their hands need to do — and that disconnect slows everything down. In this quick video, we’ll show you how to bridge that gap by marking crossovers, pivots, and shifts on the score itself. It’s like giving your students a GPS for their fingers. Whether you're inside a Kaizen session or leading your ow...

April 29, 2025

Teach What Most Teachers Miss

This next-level Oclef Notation tutorial dives into three essential moves every beginner needs—but few are ever taught well: stretches beyond the basic five-finger frame, folds that reshape the hand mid-phrase, and jumps that navigate the keyboard with control and confidence. These aren’t just technical fixes—they’re foundational patterns. And once you learn how to notate them, your students will stop guessing and start feeling the right motion. Whether you're in Kaizen or running your own stu...

April 27, 2025

Introducing piano-finger.8va.co

We are happy to announce the release of piano-finger.8va.co. Piano-Finger generates optimal fingering for any piece of piano music. It is free for everyone. Link to the source code is on the website.

opensheetmusicdisplay open source github

April 21, 2025

Oclef - Open Source

Oclef's Commitment to Community: Open Sourcing for a Better Future Innovation is the key to growth and transformation. At Oclef, we want to harness this power for our own growth, but also want to elevate the entire piano education community. Our belief in innovation has been the driving force behind the recent decision to open source our code on GitHub. By making our technology accessible to all, we hope to foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and shared success. Why Open Source? Op...

open source

February 10, 2025

Thinking to Learn — Learning to Think

As a musician, teaching in a field that glorifies prodigies, I have come to dislike the word talent, which implies some are born with innate ability while others are not. I much prefer ‘aptitude,’ which indicates a musical disposition without dismissing unconventional learning paths. By highlighting talent, we de-emphasize the importance of effort, implying results are not within a student’s control (a harmful notion for students regardless of ability level). And of course, over-valuing talen...

January 17, 2025

The Conservatory and the Private School: Observations from Working in Two School Models

If you are a conservatory trained musician like me, then your coursework, lessons, and curriculum were designed to prepare you for an academic job. Of course, a musician’s life is rarely a straight line from graduation to tenure-track employment. In fact, a variety of factors have made securing a full-time academic position today more difficult than ever:

November 25, 2024

Oclef Contemporary Music Fesitval

Have you ever imagined trying something completely outside your normal routine? Something that pushes you out of your comfort zone—only to discover you can do it without falling flat on your face? Chances are, many of you have in one form or another! On Sunday, November 17th, I finally had the chance to see if a project we had been working on for months would come together. Sixteen pianists (age 10-17) from Oclef and Bay Area, joined by members of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, shared the ...

October 09, 2024

An Innovation To The Piano Recital

What is World Music? The question seems simple enough on its surface, however once you begin answering you may find it difficult to convey what it really means. That is because we think of World Music as a genre, one that you could go to a record store and find as a section between Banda and Spoken Word. Despite its name, World Music as a genre encompasses little of the world’s total music. Indeed, if it really was a catalog of “all the world’s music”, the term would be useless.

July 10, 2024

Unlocking Potential: How Oclef's Stage 4 Students Are Redefining Education Through Passion and Purpose

🎧 Listen to this Blog In the 21st century, education is undergoing a metamorphosis. No longer is it sufficient to follow a linear path of study, graduate, and enter a predetermined career. Today's world demands creativity, adaptability, and a fusion of diverse skills. At Oclef, we're witnessing this transformation firsthand through our Stage 4 students—young visionaries who are leveraging their years of piano education to craft platforms that not only enrich their lives but also create value...

July 07, 2024

How to Help Your Child Love Piano: A Parent’s Guide Beyond Practice

As a long-time piano teacher at Oclef, I've seen the full range of emotions that kids bring to their piano lessons or to any learning, for that matter. Some walk in excited, fingers itching to play, while others sit reluctantly on the bench, waiting for the timer to go off. The question I often get from parents is, "How do I get my child to love piano, not just do it because I ask them to?" It's a tough one, and if you're a parent who's invested time, energy, and resources into your child's ...

July 04, 2024

The Digital Native's Dilemma: Balancing Screen Time with Real-World Skills

In 2010, Nicholas Carr's The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains sparked a debate that still rages today: how are digital technologies shaping our minds and lives? For today's children, the "digital natives," technology isn't just a tool—it's the water they swim in. At Oclef, we're navigating these waters daily, balancing the power of tech with the irreplaceable value of real-world skills. The average child now spends over seven hours a day in front of screens. It's a statisti...

July 01, 2024

Rethinking Screen Time: The Hidden Power of Active Digital Learning

In the world of parenting, few topics ignite more debate than screen time. It's the boogeyman of the digital age, blamed for everything from shortened attention spans to the decline of face-to-face social skills. But what if I told you that not all screen time is created equal? That, in fact, some forms of screen time could be the key to unlocking your child's potential? At Oclef, we've observed a fascinating phenomenon: the power of active digital learning, particularly in the realm of onli...

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June 28, 2024

The Piano Player's Secret: Turning Mistakes into Music

Imagine your child sitting at the piano, fingers poised over the keys. They start to play, and suddenly - oops! A wrong note. What happens next could make all the difference in their musical journey.

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June 25, 2024

“Dare to How”: Embracing Discomfort is the Key to Growth and Innovation

At Oclef, we believe that the path to excellence is paved with challenges. Our faculty members don't just teach music; they embody a philosophy of continuous growth and innovation that sets the tone for our entire organization. This approach isn't about being comfortable – it's about thriving in discomfort and using it as a catalyst for extraordinary achievement.

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June 22, 2024

How Oclef's Piano Lessons use Community to Strengthen Family Bonds

As I sit at my desk, reviewing our upcoming events calendar, I'm struck by the vibrant tapestry of experiences we've woven for our Oclef families. From the summer BBQ Blues & Bash to the whimsical Valentine's Masquerade, each event is more than just a date on a calendar—it's an opportunity for families to come together, share in the joy of music, and create lasting memories. At Oclef, we've always believed that music education is about more than just teaching notes and rhythms. It's about fo...

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June 19, 2024

The Digital-Physical Harmony: Revolutionizing Piano Education for the Modern Student

Take Netflix, for instance. The streaming giant that once disrupted the traditional movie rental business is now venturing into the physical realm with its ambitious "Netflix House" project. These massive entertainment complexes, set to open in 2025, will allow fans to step into the worlds of their favorite shows, from waltzing in a "Bridgerton" ballroom to tackling the glass bridge challenge from "Squid Game."

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June 16, 2024

Teaching Children to "Love the Journey" through Piano

This aligns with the work of James Clear, author of the bestselling book "Atomic Habits." Clear argues that the key to developing lasting habits is to focus on the process, not the outcome. By falling in love with the journey of daily practice and incremental improvement, we set ourselves up for long-term success and fulfillment.

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June 13, 2024

The real gift of learning piano

At Oclef, we believe that learning piano is about more than just mastering notes and rhythms. It's about unlocking the full potential of each child, nurturing skills and qualities that will serve them not just at the keyboard, but in every aspect of their lives. Central to this philosophy is our commitment to regular performance opportunities.

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June 10, 2024

The Unseen Symphony: Unveiling the Hidden Dimensions of Piano Learning

In the realm of piano education, there's a silent revolution taking place. It's a revolution not marked by grand gestures or sweeping reforms, but by a quiet, persistent quest to understand the intricate workings of the learning mind. At the heart of this revolution is a concept that we at Oclef have come to call "unseen learning."

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June 07, 2024

"10 Seconds of Nothing": A simple, yet powerful way to be better

In the whirlwind of learning and perfecting a new skill, it's easy to get caught up in the constant push for progress. We often equate unrelenting effort with faster improvement, believing that the more we practice, the better we'll become. But what if I told you that one of the most powerful tools in your learning arsenal is, paradoxically, doing nothing at all?

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June 04, 2024

The Paradox of Failure: Why Our Worst Moments Define Our Best

Consider the story of Beethoven, one of the greatest composers in history. Many people don't know that as a young man, Beethoven was a mediocre violinist. He was often overshadowed by other musicians, and his early compositions were met with criticism and rejection.

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June 01, 2024

Navigating the Musical Cosmos: Lessons from the Frontiers of Science

As I sit at my piano, my fingers dancing across the keys, I find myself lost in thought. The music of the cosmos swirls around me, from the ethereal melodies of Debussy's "Clair de Lune" to the thunderous chords of Holst's "The Planets." And as I play, my mind wanders to the frontiers of science, to the breakthroughs and discoveries that are pushing the boundaries of what we thought was possible. One story in particular has captured my imagination: the recent research into warp drive technol...

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May 29, 2024

The Power of Struggle: Embracing the Growth Zone in Piano Lessons

In the 1970s, psychologist Noel Burch introduced the "Four Stages of Learning" model. The first stage, "Unconscious Incompetence," is where we all begin. We don't know what we don't know. But as we start to learn, we move into the second stage, "Conscious Incompetence" - we become acutely aware of how much we have to learn. This is where the real growth happens, but it's also where almost everyone gives up. They hit a wall, get frustrated, and decide it's too hard. But here's the thing: that...

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May 26, 2024

Why Piano Lessons are great for children and their developing mind

““Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better” - Samuel Beckett from Worstward Ho (1983)”

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May 23, 2024

Why Multiple Teachers Works Best: The Power of Diverse Perspectives in Piano Education

The study produced an interesting statistic that has caught the attention of both researchers and practitioners: the mortality rate of patients rises significantly when they are seen by fewer healthcare providers. This finding was reported by EClinicalMedicine in 2021 and it shows the importance of having multiple perspectives on a patient's health when they are in the care of healthcare professionals. This multi-perspective approach helps to make sure that no aspect of a patient's condition ...

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May 06, 2020

A piano school where kids actually practice daily and find purpose in music

This all started back in 2014 when I was finishing a 6 month long touring season as a concert pianist. My Aussie tour manager, Tim, had just left to return back to London and this time I decided I wasn’t going back. I decided I was done with touring for multiple reasons, but mainly because I didn’t see myself expanding to a 9 month schedule after 5 seasons of intense preparation and constant travel.

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October 01, 2019

Piano Education at 7AM

Walking into our school to setup our Kaizen Piano Class at 7AM yesterday and seeing 7 kids already practicing on their sight-reading books made me think about how far we’ve come as a piano education company. I quit my career as a concert pianist after my last tour in 2014 and had this crazy idea that piano education could be “fixed”. Traveling from city to city I’d meet people and when they chat with me on planes, hotels or random interactions, it would always be the same story. “Wow so you’r...

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November 20, 2018

A Tree grown from Dreams

And knowing as many parents and kids as I do, I talk with them. I listen to them. I ask them.

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November 15, 2018

Harley-Davidson figured out a secret.

But if you look deeper into what they do, it’s so much more. I admire their company so much. It’s unbelievable what they’ve created.

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