How I learned the Rite of Spring (for Solo Piano) After Only 7 Years of Music Lessons
Aaron Petit Piano Tutorials
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BIOGRAPHY / CREDENTIALS:
Aaron Petit is a conservatory-trained pianist, teacher, and graduate of the University of Miami Frost School of Music. He has studied with 8 leading pedagogues and concert pianists, including Mark Salman, Mark Westcott, Dr. Josh Wright, Daniel Pollack, Santiago Rodriguez, Dr. Naoko Takao, and Peter Brownlee.
As a performer, Aaron has earned 11 competition prizes, including three prizes at the 2019 Gershwin International Music Competition in New York City, and has memorized more than 15 hours of solo classical repertoire.
As a teacher, Aaron has coached more than 170 pianists one-on-one over the last 17 years and now educates pianists around the world through his online Key Learners Piano Club and written guides and piano books.
His students have ranged from beginners building their first memorized repertoire to advanced pianists pursuing professional-level study—including a student accepted into legendary pianist Garrick Ohlsson's private studio at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Aaron's mission extends beyond simply helping people play the piano better. He believes the world needs more people making music, not merely consuming it. Through teaching and performing, he seeks to make musical ability more accessible and to help people unlock the music already inside them—so they can create and share more beauty, expression, imagination, connection, purpose, and spiritual life through music.
Ultimately, Aaron believes that his love of music is a gift from God—one he is called to share with others. His goal is not simply to create more technically capable pianists, but to help create more alive human beings through music.
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Reading your backstory on your website brought back memories from MY own life, because I remember the early days of my serious piano study (starting at age 10, although I began my first private lessons at age 6) when I longed to play cleanly and with technical polish and refinement. I would say that for me, it was a gradual developmental process; it was about ages 16-17 or so when I was able to finally play cleanly on a reliable basis.
Still, God has been good, and you are a miracle! You are nothing short of a genius, Brother! Learning and arranging Rite of Spring in 7 years of piano studies is AMAZING and only God could allow such a thing! But you are tremendously gifted and I have read your piano study guide; it is phenomenally written and when reading through it, I felt as though I had opened up a book written by the masters from a century ago.
All in all, Brother, amazing work! And God bless!
With major works they always have some crazy exotic difficulty but I think the 90% idea is the best tool. It also underscores the importance of constantly learning of the repertoire, familiarizing yourself with the scores at least passingly. Knowing x, y, z pieces share a similar texture or figuration so you can use them as fresh material to help hone the last 10%. You could rely on the teacher's knowledge but nowadays all the score videos are on youtube.
Did you ever get to use Rite of Spring for competitions? It being your own transcription, I'd go nuts if the rules didn't allow playing it.
Nice shoutout to Jayson Gillham, he should've made the finals that year, even as stacked as it was.
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⏱ Timestamps for this video:
1:29 Bird’s Eye View (No. 1)
4:18 Make a plan (No. 2)
6:01 Skill Separation (No. 3)
7:34 the 90/10 rule (No. 4)
11:08 Pace your learning (No. 5)
9:42 Bite size chunks (No. 6)
12:51 X’s and Ties (No. 7)
18:50 THE RITE OF SPRING BREAKDOWN
19:16 Complexity is simplicity (No. 8)
36:47 Simply Have FUN (No. 9)
43:08 The next step...
How I learned the Rite of Spring (for Solo Piano) After Only 7 Years of Music Lessons
Aaron Petit Piano Tutorials
4,453 views
Join My Free Piano Community + Get My Free 60-Page Piano Playing Guide & Courses
https://www.skool.com/keylearners/about
Apply to Study with me 1 on 1 for elite mentorship, accountability, growth, and motivation. https://petitpianomastery.com/lessons
BIOGRAPHY / CREDENTIALS:
Aaron Petit is a conservatory-trained pianist, teacher, and graduate of the University of Miami Frost School of Music. He has studied with 8 leading pedagogues and concert pianists, including Mark Salman, Mark Westcott, Dr. Josh Wright, Daniel Pollack, Santiago Rodriguez, Dr. Naoko Takao, and Peter Brownlee.
As a performer, Aaron has earned 11 competition prizes, including three prizes at the 2019 Gershwin International Music Competition in New York City, and has memorized more than 15 hours of solo classical repertoire.
As a teacher, Aaron has coached more than 170 pianists one-on-one over the last 17 years and now educates pianists around the world through his online Key Learners Piano Club and written guides and piano books.
His students have ranged from beginners building their first memorized repertoire to advanced pianists pursuing professional-level study—including a student accepted into legendary pianist Garrick Ohlsson's private studio at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Aaron's mission extends beyond simply helping people play the piano better. He believes the world needs more people making music, not merely consuming it. Through teaching and performing, he seeks to make musical ability more accessible and to help people unlock the music already inside them—so they can create and share more beauty, expression, imagination, connection, purpose, and spiritual life through music.
Ultimately, Aaron believes that his love of music is a gift from God—one he is called to share with others. His goal is not simply to create more technically capable pianists, but to help create more alive human beings through music.