In high school, a pianist acquaintance said to me:

“Lisa, you’re naturally talented technically. But my natural talent is musical.”

Ouch, that stung. 🐝

But not because I believed it.

It stung because it reduced me to technique, as if all I cared about was speed and accuracy.
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As if the hours I spent trying to shape a phrase or color a line meant nothing.
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As if musicality was something I didn’t already value, deeply.

What I didn’t realize at the time?
I had accidentally started practicing as if they were right. 🤦‍♀️

Technique over here.
Music over there.
Separate worlds.

If technique and expression feel like separate jobs in your Chopin, that split is already getting in your way.

✅ Yes, you need fluency.
✅ You need reliability.
✅ You need your hands to cooperate.
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But if you're chasing clean octaves and speed for their own sake, you're already off course.
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Technique only matters if it lets you disappear into the music.

That’s what the Piano Ninja Tricks are really for:
❌ Not to turn you into a machine.
✅ To let your technique live in the background, and allow your musicality to take the spotlight. 🔦

🎥 If you've been separating your technique practice from your music-making, you need to watch this. 👇
​👉 Why Separating Technique From Music Destroys Your Chopin​

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🎼 A tiny practice experiment for you:​
Take a single phrase from Chopin and play it like technique doesn’t matter. Not sloppy, just with full focus on the musical line and expression.
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Now notice what doesn’t cooperate. That’s what technique is really for, to vanish behind the music.

Let it change how you practice this week.

Play On,
Lisa Spector 🎹 🥷

ps If you’re within driving distance of Monterey, CA, I’m performing music for one and two hands on Sunday, February 8. All details here.​

pps These weekly newsletters are now public here. Thanks for sharing with other pianists who will benefit.