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“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” – Thomas Jefferson

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” – Ray Bradbury

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable. When it’s no longer profitable, the illusion will be taken away, and you’ll see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.” – Frank Zappa



What Are We Really Teaching?

When we talk about “education,” we often mean curriculum, standardized tests, and professional training. But how often do we ask:
• What kind of knowledge are we passing on?
• Are we preparing students to think critically, adapt, and thrive in a changing world?
• How are we measuring well-being, mental health, creativity, or civic engagement?

Scoring well on standardized tests does not necessarily mean students are flourishing or prepared for the future.



The Narrow Scope of Higher Education

Take a university engineering student as an example:
• Will they learn about global politics, different cultures, climate change, or ethics?
• Will they explore compassion, empathy, or citizenship?

Most often, no—unless by chance, through an inspiring professor or peer environment. Without exposure to the arts, humanities, politics, and philosophy, can we really expect graduates to make informed democratic decisions or contribute fully to society?



Why Broad Education Matters

A broad-based education—history, arts, religion, philosophy, politics, and culture—is not a luxury. It is a foundation for democracy. Without it:
• Citizens lack the context to question systems of power.
• Elections become about slogans and personalities, not policies.
• Emotional manipulation replaces logic and debate.

This is not hypothetical—we already see it in populist rhetoric and simplistic political campaigns that appeal to fear rather than reason.



The Legacy of Control

Our modern education system was built in the 19th century to produce workers, not leaders. It fills “empty vessels” rather than fostering curiosity. Elite and private schools continue to provide advantages for the few, while the majority are trained to fit into existing systems rather than challenge them.

Historically, education has often reinforced power structures rather than disrupted them. From ancient China to modern democracies, elites have used education to maintain control, not broaden it. Only rarely do we see education used to truly empower citizens.



Canada’s Challenge

In Canada, students learn little about global politics, governance beyond Parliament, or non-European histories and cultures. Yet we live in a global economy. How can students become informed citizens without these perspectives?

Government control over curriculum, standardized testing, and even delivery methods means that pedagogy is shaped by political priorities—not necessarily by educators. Should elected officials without expertise in teaching decide what students learn?



The Consequences of Shallow Learning
• Students graduate without financial literacy, civic knowledge, or even an understanding of their own health.
• Critical thinking is underdeveloped, making people vulnerable to misinformation.
• Opinions often form from single sources or trusted friends, reinforced by a fixed mindset and resistant to evidence.

International tests like PISA try to link test performance to economic growth, but results are inconsistent. Some emerging economies grow rapidly despite low PISA scores, showing that education quality must be assessed in broader ways, including creativity, well-being, and peer learning.



What Needs to Change

If education primarily trains workers, how do we nurture entrepreneurs, innovators, and democratic citizens? By deliberately broadening curriculum and assessment to include:
• Civics and government (beyond one high school credit).
• Financial literacy, taught by trained educators.
• Arts, humanities, and global citizenship as central, not optional.
• Well-being, empathy, and real-life knowledge integrated throughout.

Education should be continuous—not ending at graduation. Lifelong opportunities for formal learning can help sustain democratic societies.



A Warning from the U.S.

The U.S. shows the risks of an unequal, divided education system. Wide gaps in equity and opportunity are undermining democracy. Canada must not follow this path.

⸻

A Vision for Canada

We need a curriculum that is:
• Equal: available to all Canadians, regardless of background.
• Global: teaching world history, politics, and culture alongside Canadian content.
• Holistic: valuing well-being, creativity, and the arts.
• Forward-looking: preparing citizens for entrepreneurship, sustainability, and democratic leadership.

By doing so, we can nurture citizens who are not only workers, but also critical thinkers, innovators, and stewards of democracy.

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Throughout history, opportunities for great education have been limited to the few. Public education was put into place in large part to feed commerce. It has served to prepare workers for the workforce. The workforce was needed to create things for companies owned by the elite, wealthy and powerful people in our societies. Those from wealthy families could afford to send their children to elite schools and have them graduate to positions of power in both industry and politics. Having wealth was often the ticket to both higher education and power. As demonstrated in recent times, students from wealthy families have paid extra money to institutions of higher education in order to guarantee entrance for their children to those institutions. Not only can this wealth guarantee entrance to these institutions, but it can also guarantee the marks needed for graduation.

How are we doing in Canada? Are all schools equal and access equitable? Let’s start with elementary schools and high schools.

There are a growing number of schools that are marginalized by social-economic classes. These are the schools that don’t have parents who can fundraise for school trips or extra school equipment. These are the schools that don’t have enriched arts programs and have few if any afterschool extra-curricular activities. In Ontario, it’s up to the Principal of the school as to whether or not there are arts programs! No equity at all!!

Although the curriculum for all provinces in Canada includes the arts, if there is no arts specialist (such as music specialist) on staff, its up to the individual teacher how they will manage or not manage to teach music. In countries like Finland, Arts education is considered a human right and there are specialists in each school as well as 97 publicly funded music schools for an afterschool education opportunity. Of course there is also music in their public schools….each and every one. Teachers in Finland must have at least a Masters Degree to teach and it is a highly competitive profession where only about 10% of those who apply get the opportunity to teach. Music and Arts specialists exist in every school there.

Scientists at Standford and education specialists around the world have clearly stated that our future will rely on creative entrepreneurs. They will create the new economy and tackle our social and environmental challenges. Daniel Pink in his book “A Whole New Mind” makes creative education his thesis and the basis for his arguments about the type of economy that’s ahead of mankind. Manufacturing jobs will become scarce as automation and AI take over. Entrepreneurs who have been steeped in creative risk-taking and the skills needed will form a new economy based on invention.

Creativity comes in large part from the arts and not as much from STEM education. This is a supporting reason to include the arts as an essential part of our education curriculum and make that education happen! The fundamental reason for the inclusion of the arts in core curriculum is that it is equitable and good for us. It brings joy and fulfillment to our lives. Kids are often motivated to get out of bed and go to school for arts curriculum… more often than STEM curriculum.

Knowing that some families and children have access to an enriched education and other don’t, how do parents feel about this? The working class might not even notice as they are busy trying to hold their lives together. But when they do, I’m sure outrage and action is ahead. The United States is a great example of this. There are huge social-economic divides in the U.S. and there is a rising “us and them” political and cultural civil war happening as a result. Education equity is a huge factor creating this divide. This is not good for society or the economy. Let’s not let Canada slip further away, but act with awareness to ensure that we fight for equitable education for all Canadians! How? Start conversations about it. Talk to your teachers, school boards, family and governments and insist that what we are doing does not align with Canadian values. Protest and vote for the change. Change comes when you drag the politicians into it!

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There are boundless books, videos, courses and more about how to practice music. How can we choose a way that works for us personally? Or is there just one way we should all practice?

The old school teacher would often have one approach that was mandated for the student. Often, no questions asked. In other words, let’s fill the empty vessel! This was passed on through the hundreds of years and thought of as a legacy. “I’m from the Viennese School” of piano playing” or “I have been taught the true bel canto approach to singing”. Better still, “I’m from the Anton Rubinstein lineage of piano playing” or in more recent years, “I’m an Alexander Technique practitioner. Disciples of hundreds, if not thousands of “schools” or “lineages” still abound!

If you’ve had a teacher, you’ve probably been told to practice at home. The really old-school way is basically just that: practice….and a lot! It’s a bit limiting and doesn’t help if you get stuck or aren’t sure how to break down practice projects and goals. It was all about hours spent and not necessarily well spent.

There is a saying: “Practice makes Perfect”. It’s actually quite a lie. Only perfect practice makes perfect. “Practice makes permanent” is closer to the truth. If you practice something the wrong way, it stays stuck in those neural-pathways. One has to work a lot harder to undo those bad connections and re-wire the brain with a good connection.

So now, down to the plan. First off, stay open. Don’t get a fixed mindset about how you go about learning. As lots of questions both to yourself and to your guides. See what works for you. Give things time. Something might not seem reasonable now but with lots of practice might seem great later.

Listen and watch great musicians. Not just the ones playing your chosen instrument. Learn a lot of music. I mean thousands of pieces of music. A musician is one who knows music. An instrument player like a “pianist” or “singer” knows how to play, but doesn’t necessarily know music or have great musicianship skills.

Motivation is not the tool that makes for great practice. Some days we are motivated and others we are not! Habits are the key; things we do daily like brushing our teeth-whether we like to or not! There is a great book I recommend to my students for habit formations: Atomic Habits by James Clear. The saying: “showing up is half the battle” rings true!

Getting organized for your practice with lists of goals and time units is also fundamental. There are many books and apps that can help structure good lists. A few I recommend are: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, Keep it Going by Austin Kleon and The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom (this is really fantastic for much more than organizing priorities for lists!). An online app like Todoist is also extremely practical. A practice journal at your instruments side is also helpful for jotting down accomplishments as well as goal setting for each practice session.

Being well rested, without distractions and excited to learn is critical to foundations for good practice. Excitement and enthusiasm help carve out those neural-pathways, but carefully coached repetition is critical. We can’t always practice with a real coach at our side, so we have to become our own coach using critical thinking. Checklists help with this. Asking questions like:

How was my note accuracy?
How was my rhythmic accuracy?
How was my articulation?
How is my balance?
Am I voicing the right notes?
How’s my pedalling?
How’s the style?
Am I paying attention to rubato and other tempo signs?

The list goes on and on. Each repetition can focus on a different aspect, shifting our perspective and helping us know the notes better in different ways.

Malcolm Gladwell publish a book called “The Tipping Point” that discussed the 10,000 hours needed to mastery of something. Although his observations have had some controversy in recent years (exactly how long it takes), we know that years of practice are key to proficiency at the very least! Being psychologically ready to embrace this kind of longterm discipline is critical to success. In other words, having the patience to wait for an outcome and not just throw up your hands and say “it didn’t work for me” or “I really have no talent for it”.

Anders Ericcson wrote a book called “Peak” which is all about practice. I highly recommend reading and applying the principles in this work. Ericcson dispels the concept of the “prodigy” and instead looks at three things:

The goal
The coach
The practice

These are just a few thoughts about “How to practice”. It’s not a manual or a program, just concepts to put into practice. There’s no “Hack” for the work that needs to happen, nor is there any guarantee that some of the practice won’t be boring or tedious. There will be days when you don’t want to practice. We all feel this way sometimes. Those who succeed are the ones who practice anyway!

Happy Practicing!

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I was speaking with a Finnish colleague recently about the relevance of what we both do for music and music education in the context of the current political and social turmoil. After some reflection, I thought I would write some thoughts on this subject: I’ve spent so much of my life journey as a musician and educator.

For fourteen years, I ran El Sistema Aeolian: a free, intensive afterschool music program I founded in 2011. The program is still running after my retirement and serves a community of youth and their families from diverse backgrounds. The majority of participants are either newcomers to our country or first generation. This group has two prevalent barriers to participation in regular paid programs: economic scarcity and lack of social fluency/social mobility. To be clear: they didn’t have money and they didn’t know many (or and in some cases any) people who could help them gain social wealth. This social wealth is the contacts they have that could help them succeed in the new Canadian Culture.

Recognizing the barriers to participation, I began to construct a social curriculum for this program. This curriculum included leadership, peer mentorship, social/emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-actualization, well-being and much more. I ran a weekly leadership class that included regular visits from politicians, activists, clergy, non-profit leaders, business owners, artists, musicians and others. The goal of the leadership class was to increase the ability of participants to see the world more broadly and help them find their place in it. All this through the inspiration of music.

We took the participants on expeditions to perform in places like the University, Homless Shelters, Police Stations, City Hall and others. Through these experiences, the participants were exposed to people who treated them with appreciation and respect. The participants not only knew where the University was, but they had met people who were kind and respectful towards them. This gave many kids the idea that they might see themselves there someday. In some cases, family histories had no relatives that had ever attended a post-secondary institution. Over the years, I witnessed and assisted many participants into their post-secondary journeys into Universities and Colleges.

This is just one example of how the arts can transform people’s lives. We need to embrace the value of an arts education during these turbulent times as a steadying factor of optimism and self-development. Not only are the arts important, they are crucial to finding ways to help us all thrive in society. Let all artists and art educators remember this! Let the general public be aware and learn to see the arts as vital and life changing.

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We are a long way from having any sort of education equity in our country. I’m optimistic that we can achieve equity once our people understand that it doesn’t exist now and understand the benefits of education equity. Having under educated people creates a society of “us and them”. It leads to social unrest and populism. It is the root of a diseased society.

Leaders would tell you that the inequality has to do with lack of funding, but why are the good educational opportunities most often present for the middle class and up? That is because they have the political power. End of story. They are the doctors, teachers, lawyers, architects, engineers and so many other professional positions in our society. They shape the system. They often believe that if someone is to succeed financially in life, others have to be subservient to them. They believe we should keep the lower classes lower.

We’ll fix that! I’m optimitic. It’s the soft revolution that will make a huge difference for all of us.

But once everyone gets access to the same education content, is the same education content serving us well?
Most education content is designed to exercise short term memory challenges. Learning for the test and quiz is critical for success, but it is short-lived. Hundreds of students have told me that they don’t see the point of this type of schooling. They forget most everything after the test or examination.

With AI finding information for us in seconds, why do we need to retain facts? Or better still, what facts do we need to retain and what skills do we need to develop? This is the question we need to ask. Some are. The problem is our education system is extremely bureaucratic and run by governments who often have no expertise. It responds extremely slowly to change. Change is now happening at lightning speed!

Besides the skills and knowledge we need to attain for success in our society, what experiences, skills and knowledge do we need to flourish as human beings? How do we build ourselves into strong, brave, resilient individuals with the necessary grit to face life’s challenges?

What could we be teaching consistently from the beginning? Not just one elective class in high school, but classes each year that teach:

Money/Finance class: not just one class, but classes each year starting from the beginning!
Earth class: empowerment and understanding to make our earth healthy again
Creativity Class
Teaching, Learning and Mentoring/Apprenticeship class: right from the very beginning, learning how
Critical Thinking class: not as part of something else, but how critical thinking works; every year of education
World Cultures Class: this includes a knowledge of world religions: every year of schooling and not elective
Great thinkers’ class: philosophy as a foundation for how to think and how cultures are formed
Role Models Class: investigating outstanding human beings and how they’ve lived their lives
Student driven subject class: put the learner in the driver’s seat
Values and Ethics class: sorely needed in our world today. We must teach good values, ethics and morals
The no curriculum class: a class where students shape the education they want
The unlearn class; this is where we question what we’ve learned: is it true? Is it valuable? Has it made me a better person?
The social justice class: a cause driven class
Leadership class: how to lead in any role and how to support leadership
How to get things done class: time management, goals, habits
Invention class: creating new things: this is extremely relevant with the problems our society is facing right now
Problem solving class: project based learning. Not just math, but real human challenges facing everyone
The Art of Being Class: what does it mean to be a human being?
How to build “self” class: the people we hang out with, the books we read, the music we play and more
Mortality class:  or perhaps:  Life Span Class: what is death? Yes, let’s talk about that
Beliefs Class: what do you believe? Why is it important?
Food Class: where does food come from, preparing it, sitting and having a meal together
Survival Class: grit and resilience to conquer or walk around life’s problems
The Great Teachers Class: who are the great masters? What wisdom did they leave us?
Performance and conquering fear class
Personal Development Class
Peace Class
Quiet Class (Meditation, Mindfulness etc.)
History: there is a huge focus on national history, but little else. How about that has repeated itself class?
Self-care class: How to look after my body class: understanding physiology
Sexuality class (every year of schooling)
Human behavior class: psychology
The class on what we don’t know.
The class on building a social movement: empowering the people
The class on global policy and politics
The class on diversity, equity and inclusion
The class on reconciliation: what does it mean? How can it be part of every day living?
Outdoor nature class
Personal Finance Class including investing
The doing nothing class:  naps, meditation, wasting time, sleep, unprogrammed time, how to observe and be present: The mandala class: The doodling class
The collaboration class: How to collaborate
The walking class (walks help the brain to think, notice, be creative, practice meditation, help the brain process ideas and much more). This would also include expedition learning outside of the classroom (what do we have to sit at desks to learn?

These are just a few ideas to spur some thought about things other than math scores and literacy. The arts are critical to our development personally and our development as a society. They need to be in every school “deluxe”. That means classes in dance, visual arts, theatre, music, and much more. Every year for every child!

Let’s work together to incubate a new education experience. One that liberates young people to be their best selves and at the same time, benefit society.

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I’m not sure I need to advocate for increased funding to Canada’s Health Care Systems. Most Canadians would agree that the systems are on life support. This is in large part due to the underfunding of these systems and sneaky conservative governments that would like to privatize them. If you make a system look dysfunctional and then offer privatization….well, many uneducated wouldn’t understand what is happening, right?

Yes, there might be some waste in the system and we need to continually work towards efficiency to leverage more money for care, but we are doing a very poor job overall. Shortages of doctors and wait times for procedures and specialist are just a few of the problems. We also don’t cover many procedures and need to have a national dental and drug program for all.

One thing I’d like to point out is that many Canadians don’t understand taxes and healthcare. Many Canadians talk about wanting to pay less taxes and have no clue what that does to healthcare and education. Less funding also guts Canadian Social Programs like Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, Employment Insurance, Canada Child Benefit, Canada Workers Benefit, Social Housing and Rent Assistance, Disability Benefits, Indigenous Support Programs, Student Financial Assistance, Food Assistance and Community Support, Higher Education and more. In progressive countries France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and so many more citizens are happy to pay taxes as they see the social benefits. These countries put roughly 25-30 percent of their GDP into these social safely systems. They get angry when cash is going under the table and people bypass paying taxes on this money. They understand how it is robbing the social safety systems. Canada only put 21 percent of our GDP into our social systems. Imagine how much better they would be every time we up that by one percent! The U.S.A. by contrast only puts 13.8 percent of their GDP into social safety systems. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the results of inequity in that country!

On the education front, we have an extremely inequitable system of education. Its inequity is growing. Why do middle class parents want to send their kids to certain public schools, private schools or even schools, from the Catholic School Board? Because these schools have more. They have enriched programs, school trips, more extracurricular activities, more technology, more arts programs and often better teachers. How did we let this happen? Does our public even realize (especially the working classes), how they are getting screwed? That the future for their children is not the same as the children from middle class families in “richer schools”. It’s shameful.

I believe that a Canadian value is that of interdependence. We look after each other….well, mostly. Or at least we have believed in interdependence, otherwise we wouldn’t have these social programs. The concern today is the influence of those who believe that they would be ok without the social programs and that they can just pay for what they need out of their own pocket with little concern about others. This attitude is often permeating from our southern neighbours. Another interesting attitude is that some Canadians think that they should pay less taxes and still have all of the social safety systems. Where do they think the money comes from to run them?

I hope that the contrast in our media of the U.S.A. versus Canada is enough for most to understand the value of fighting for and improving our social safety infrastructure. Don’t let our governments erode it. Advocate for more spending to make sure they are equitable and serve the needs of our population. Be against the privatization of education and healthcare.

Get angry. Speak out. Use your voting power and learn more about these issues. The future of our children’s world is investments in social systems. A world where we believe in looking after our fellow man. A world where we don’t leave our people on the streets to suffer and die

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It’s so difficult to speak to audiences about the value of music education and music making. In Canadian culture and many others around the world, we start out with the added value of music outside of the value of music itself. We have to justify music making because research shows that it has the following benefits:

Improved physical health including eye-hand/body coordination
Improved emotional health
Improved cognitive health
Improved literacy
Increased social inclusion and cohesion
Calming the mind-body
Improved focus
Improved learning and retention

Of course, clinical trial studies are finding all of this to be true. Governments, educators and citizens will nod at this information, but still not put the resources in place to facilitate good music education. We think we’re making headway by spouting these facts, but they continue to fall on deaf ears. Music education is eroding in our country. It’s not considered by the powers-that-be as valuable as STEM subjects even though scientists are saying it’s at least equally important and some say more important!

We’re in a conundrum. Until everyone has the experience to learn and play music, it will be undervalued. If a child picks up a violin today, they will likely support an orchestra later in life. “I did that” is the most important element for engagement, understanding and equity of the value of a great music education. We can’t afford an “us and them” situation for any aspect of education. Just look south of our border and see what that leads to. We need equity in our education system with a rich, arts infused education including music! Our future depends on the creative entrepreneur who can help solve problems, create beauty and help us all experience the joy of living. The arts give that joy, but they also help us to create things like solutions to homelessness, solutions to our climate and ecological crisis, solutions to help us work together in peace on this planet.

I encourage everyone in our country to protest the inequities in our schools. Inequities that include the lack of strong music and arts education. Some schools have everything (orchestras, choirs, dance, drama, art classes), some schools have little to nothing. This is not the Canadian way.

If we do for one, we should do for all. When we do for all, our entire society will thrive!

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Ranking systems for education are extremely flawed and myopic. For example, the U.S. World and News report ranks Canada in the top five countries for education. But what does this mean? If you ask students about schooling in Canada, most will not be happy with the system. They often talk about short-term memory and forgetting everything after tests. They also are exasperated about the extensive and intensive testing including standardized tests. Most don’t see the point of the curriculum and delivery. Even teachers are fed-up with the system where they often feel they can’t be creative in their teaching. I’ve done hundreds of interviews with teachers and students to determine this conclusion. Perhaps you have your own stories.

A growing gap in enriched education is happening. Many schools don’t have arts or music programs. Some schools have everything. Often this is related to class and wealth gaps. Some school districts have public schools for the arts where a limited amount of students can attend by audition. So many are turned away. A good example of this is Pearson School for the Arts in London Ontario. Why should one school be an arts school and the rest not have that branding. Research is showing that every child will benefit greatly from an arts education and that it is fundamental to having the ability to create anything in life. Neuroscientists as Stanford and many other Universities have research to prove this.

We can’t go on measuring education by test scores. We must measure it by well-being and grit. How engaged are students in learning for the sake of the benefits to their lives? I’m not talking about the corporate job, I’m talking about building who we are as human beings (not human doings) and being able to flourish in our world. We need a moral reconning as a society! What values should we use when measuring education and our lives in general? In places like Finland (the happiest country in the world for the seventh year in a row), they focus on the well-being of the student. They don’t test in the first seven years of education as they trust their teachers to know how the students are doing and what they need to succeed. Education is also free to the PhD!

Education equity is one of the major footprints leading to our social ailments. People are slipping through the cracks and ending up on our streets in large part because of our education inequity. Let’s strive to correct this. At a time when we need to re-brand our country, let’s make education our number one investment!

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I had the great privilege of being invited to California State University at San Marcos to co-present a poster session on a new virtual classroom my friend Jim Wolfston at CollegeNET has created.

I was really hesitant to travel to the U.S.A. with the social unrest, political turmoil and Canada’s backlash against proposed tariffs the U.S. is planning for our country.

I’m glad I went! Social Mobility is the movement to help individuals and families to move up from stressful backgrounds of economic and social poverty to better lives. Its focus is on educational opportunities as a means to gather wealth; particularly University and College education. The gaps between those with wealth and those without are widening. This is not good for societies as it can lead to social unrest or opportunistic social engineering by those who gain power for personal wealth and control. These are the times we are living in!

While the conference was happening, protests could be heard outside of the facility on campus. I was actually escorted into the building with staff and police. The protests were against ICE and the forced removal of the “dreamers” from the U.S. Although many attending the conference would like to make the campuses “Sanctuaries” for the dreamers, the administration and particularly the University President is caught in a bind. If they do this, President Trump will cut their funding and shame them. This could be the end of higher education. He’s already starting to cut funding to higher education. Educated people often can see broadly and speak against things like tyranny. That is the situation as it stands.

I heard presentations from Presidents of Universities across the nation, students and those with lived experiences of coming from various poverties into higher education. The students stories were so compelling. Those stories remind me a lot of the work I have done with families and kids in The Aeolian’s El Sistema program. Newcomer families risk everything to make a better life for themselves, but especially for their children.

The advice given by those attending including Senators and State leaders was to “Stay Focused” on the Mission and Vision of equity, diversity and inclusion. A vision President Trump and his followers are trying to kill. There is so much noise in the world right now that can derail us and wear us down. Stay focused on your vision to make the world a better place and don’t let Trump and his agenda take away your dreams and creative work to make both your own life better and the lives of those around you!

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What should we make of online courses and “hacks” that claim to teach either the best way or cut corners to successful learning?  This is a fascinating area.  There are so many wonderful tools on the web that can help musicians grow.  Youtube videos by great masters, interviews with great artists, pedagogical resources (such as websites with free music scores like http://www.imslp.org), websites, games, virtual lessons, courses, specialized platforms, interest groups and more.  

With learning, one size doesn’t fit all.  We all bring our unique mind, motivation and heart to learning.  Claims from an online resource that there is one way or the best way is both false and naïve.  There are great opportunities for online resources and apps to strengthen and cultivate musicianship.  But there is also no substitute for a real guide; a real person to share the learning experience with!  Find someone with experience, openness and curiosity.  Someone with passion and optimism.  Someone to demonstrate physically and acoustically (with a real piano). Someone who builds a relationship in person with heightened levels of communication and awareness.  Someone to form a relationship with as a trusted guide opening doors of inspiration.  Someone who learns from the learner and is humble enough to understand the partnership between a learner and teacher. If face-to-face is impossible, the next best thing is an online lesson with a real person-not just an app.

Holding the tension between Artificial Intelligence, online resources and virtual formats for games, lessons and more is the solution.  The landscape of pedagogy is changing rapidly.  Don’t hold on to any one truth; be open and curious for ways that can help you, “the individual learner” to grow. Embrace resources as tools, but not as “the way, truth and light”.