The Progress Check: Focused Feedback on Your Piano Playing
You have been learning through an app, online tutorials, books, occasional lessons or your own determined experiments at the keyboard.
You are making progress, but something is not quite working. You can’t put your finger on it!
Perhaps your hands feel awkward, your rhythm slips whenever a passage gets difficult, or the app keeps congratulating you while you remain unconvinced.
You may also be an existing player who wants an experienced outside view before deciding what to work on or whether to recommit to lessons.
The Progress Check gives you 30 minutes of individual feedback from Zuzana Lenartova at Piano Promise.
I listen, identify what is holding you back and give you a clear plan. It’s often a relief just to have someone listen properly.
The Progress Check at a Glance
One 30-minute individual session: $80
Available at my Bondi Junction studio and online across Australia.
Designed for adults seeking focused professional feedback without committing to ongoing lessons.
When an Outside Perspective Helps
Apps, books and online tutorials can be useful. They provide flexible access to music and allow you to repeat an explanation as often as you need.
What they cannot always do is observe what and especially how you are playing.
An app may recognise whether you played a note. It may not notice that your hand is tense, the fingering is causing the next problem, or the right articulation disappears at exactly the same bar each time.
Even students with previous lessons can find it difficult to identify the cause of a problem from inside their own playing.
That is where a teacher’s attention can help.
What Happens During the Session?
I will ask what you have been learning and what feels uncertain.
You will play the relevant piece, passage, exercise or technique that feels uncertain. I will observe and listen, and then help you identify the most useful area to address.
Depending on your question, we may look at:
- technique, fingering or movement;
- rhythm and pulse;
- reading or patterns in the score;
- a difficult passage;
- scales, chords or a theory concept;
- your practice method;
- whether the music suits your present level.
You will leave with targeted feedback and a clearer idea of what to do next.
Make the Half Hour Useful
Thirty minutes is enough for focused feedback. It is not enough to examine every part of your piano playing.
Choose the main question or difficulty you would like to address.
Bring the score, book or learning material you are using and be ready to play the relevant section, even if it is not polished.
If you have several questions, we can decide which one is most likely to unlock progress elsewhere.
What the Progress Check Can and Cannot Do
A Progress Check can help you understand a specific obstacle, correct an inefficient approach and make better decisions about your next stage of learning.
It can also show that your progress is better than you thought.
It is not a comprehensive assessment of every aspect of your musicianship. It cannot rebuild a substantial technical foundation in one session or guarantee that a difficult piece will immediately become manageable.
If the issue needs more sustained work, I will tell you.
You can then decide whether to continue independently, consider another lesson option or begin regular lessons.
If you are returning after a substantial break and want a broader assessment, The Refresher may be more useful.
Questions About the Progress Check
Do I need to prepare something?
Do I need to prepare something?
Choose the piece, passage, exercise or question you most want help with.
You do not need to perfect it before the session. The purpose is to let me see and hear what is happening.
Is the session only for self-taught beginners?
Is the session only for self-taught beginners?
No.
It can also suit returning or experienced players who want focused feedback on a specific question or an informed view of their current playing.
Can you tell me what level I am?
Can you tell me what level I am?
I can give you my constructive view of the playing I hear during the session.
The Progress Check is not a comprehensive grading examination, so any discussion of level will be based on the material and skills we have time to assess.
Will I be expected to book regular lessons afterwards?
Will I be expected to book regular lessons afterwards?
No.
The Progress Check is a standalone session. If I believe further instruction would help, I can explain why and suggest an option, but the decision remains yours.
Find Out What Is Holding You Back
Sometimes the problem is smaller than it feels.
One fingering, rhythm, or misunderstood movement can affect everything that follows. A focused outside perspective can help you stop guessing and return to useful practice.
The Progress Check is available in Bondi Junction and online across Australia.