
44 episodes

Self-Defined Human Michael Korman
-
- Music
-
-
4.8 • 4 Ratings
-
I'm Michael Korman, and I teach meditation and piano. But, not the way you're used to. That's because I'm an INTP and I don't care about your rules. I only care about the truth.
-
#45 – Piano NERDS, Bach & Wrong Notes (with guest Dr. David Servias)
I invited Dr. David Servias to have a conversation with me about the Bach Toccata & Fugue fiasco. We discuss the history of the piece, why the NERDS can't process one out-of-place note, and how I'm dealing with hate on my YouTube channel.
For the backstory, watch the original video (and read the comments 🤦♂️)
Thanks for listening.
If you have not taken my course Learn Piano in 5 Days yet, that would be a good starting place for you. You can access it for $5.00 here: https://michaelkorman.com/learn-piano-in-5-days/
Or, if you'd like to work with me 1-1 (online), you can sign up for the Intensive Song Study: https://michaelkorman.com/intensive-song-study/
Both of these are for beginners. No experience needed. Just willingness to try new things.
Timeline:
00:00:00 - I posted a cute little piano tutorial and the music theory NERDS freaked out.
00:02:39 - Bringing Dr. Servias on to help settle the debate.
00:04:22 - The list of accusations against me. Responding "appropriately." Two kinds of nerds.
00:05:57 - David explains the controversy. What's the Toccata and Fugue? What did I play? What were they expecting me to play?
00:11:32 - Does any of this matter? What would Bach have said? Would you have to follow his orders?
00:13:56 - The history of the Toccata & Fugue in D minor. Why's this such a big deal? There's no manuscript. Disney's Fantasia.
00:26:09 - My pinned comment. Are they lying? Evolution vs. creation.
00:36:21 - How do I respond to all this? Your mom jokes. Credibility.
00:39:17 - The time a hater quoted MY OWN TEACHER to prove me wrong. Urtext editions. Was Glenn Gould a troll?
00:49:17 - Why I used "your mom" jokes to reply to comments. Are mom jokes insults? Using offense as a weapon.
00:53:24 - Doubling down. Agreeing with the haters. Making fun of yourself first. Taking the wind out of their sails. Trying all the different approaches.
00:55:43 - My videos are for adults, not kids. But I'm not making this an 18+ channel to protect the kids. Sorry.
00:56:26 - Is it wrong to delete comments? It rubs them the wrong way. Free speech. But you're all guests at my party. Why I hate inclusivity. Facebook groups that have rules about respecting everyone's opinions are a mess.
01:01:01 - They can make their own videos and talk about anything they want. Even trash-talking me.
01:08:23 - Why I'm not going to prove I have a master's degree. Negotiating with terrorists. I'm not good at piano but I'm better than all of you.
01:09:50 - They don't like my personality. How I don't conform. They're envious. They want respect and view it as a scarce resource.These people hate children. Generational trauma.
01:13:20 - "Bro pinned his own comment!", "Bro wrote a WHOLE ESSAY!". Artists vs. graffiti vandals. "You're just doing it for views!"
01:15:47 - Am I a "troll"? There are two kinds of trolls. The word is ambiguous. I'm a "classical troll." Trolls vs. haters. "Piece" vs. "song". HTML the "programming language". I'm going to keep trying to rock the boat. Paris Hilton. Howard Stern. Amy's Baking Company. -
#44 – How to Learn to Play the Piano
Let's talk about how to learn to play the piano. It's a big subject, but we've gotta start somewhere.
Timeline:
0:00 - Should I change the name of the podcast?
0:47 - Pandemic regrets. Being taunted by the piano in your living room.
2:31 - Why I get irritated when people want to learn piano. My experiences with language learning and classical guitar.
4:40 - What makes Michael Korman good at piano?
5:48 - Piano's an old instrument.
6:35 - What the pedals are all about.
8:03 - Do you have to take lessons?
9:24 - Can you learn from YouTube?
10:16 - Why adults can't learn piano.
12:08 - Why kids have no problem learning piano.
14:41 - About my 5-day course.
14:59 - Why it shouldn't take years to be able to play "River Flows in You."
16:27 - Why you're addicted to being "impressive".
17:41 - A quick reminder that this isn't philosophical nonsense.
19:08 - Why I can't relate to beginner pianists.
20:42 - About my tutorials where I write numbers on the keys.
22:04 - Octaves, notes, names of notes, visual orientation/memory.
23:55 - How to learn to read music.
24:36 - I don't care about helping you learn to read music.
25:28 - Why I'm good at reading and you're not.
26:55 - I should really stop being so judgmental. -
#43 – Piano Lessons Are Bad for People with ADHD
People with ADHD have to do these things differently:
Finding out if a teacher is qualified
Learning a new song
Buying a piano or keyboard
Writing music…getting ideas out of your head
Dealing with criticism
Getting excited and then losing interest
Following advice
Practicing regularly
The standard advice just ain't gonna work. -
#42 – Why I Got Obsessed With Piano Scales
How I got obsessed with piano scales. Why audiences liked to watch Pavarotti struggle. Pianists are clueless about body intelligence. Why you learned in school to hyper-fixate on outcomes and suck at physical education.
0:00 Why I've been reluctant to go into anything technical on this podcast.
3:00 How I got started with scales and why I hated them at first.
7:30 Why piano should be easy and singing should be hard (just ask Pavarotti).
9:30 Why I avoided scales and felt ashamed.
12:20 The first book that changed the way I practice the piano (Fundamentals of Piano Practice by C. C. Chang).
18:40 I used to think scales were stupid (this was a rationalization of my avoidance tactics).
23:36 "Michael, why don't you learn some Chopin Etudes?" 😳
27:45 Pianists are obsessed with the goddamn thumb issue.
30:00 My brush with debilitating injury. Trying to find answers in books (good luck, Michael).
33:00 The second book that changed the way I practice the piano (20 Lessons in Keyboard Choreography by Seymour Bernstein).
38:10 Piano is athletic (back off, haters and basketball players).
42:15 Getting enmeshed in the Taubman Cult. Bigger movements and shapes.
45:00 Chopin taught the B major scale first (wtf!?). That's because it's easier the C major scale.
48:00 Why scales are a problem. It's because of what we learned in school. Fixation on symbols.
52:40 Piano is about timing, and your gym class taught you to mess this up. -
#41 – Your Ex Was NOT Abusive
My post read:
"Your ex wasn't abusive. You made a decision to get into that relationship and you made a decision to get out. Take some responsibility for your decisions."
Some people got triggered. -
#40 – Karmic Trash Collection
A conversation with Fabienne Egger (@this_is_fabienne on Instagram) about yoga, the metaverse, speaking on camera, the Drama Triangle, and the true purpose of meditation and yoga.
If you teach yoga or meditation, or are a serious practitioner of either, you should be aware of your responsibilities.
For the first half hour, we catch up on some personal stuff. The real content starts after that point.
0:00 - Warming up with some finger yoga while we wait for Fabi.
3:42 - Addressing some points from the tribute live Michael and David (@stuff.david.does) did for Fabi recently.
5:57 - Are Swiss people funny? Is there even standup comedy in Switzerland?
7:01 - Is Fabi an extreme sports chick? She doesn't see herself that way.
16:48 - Fabi got triggered by stuff Michael said about yoga teachers. What's going on there?
23:58 - Awkward silences. The pressure of needing to talk. Michael is simply a mirror. What pisses Michael off the most about Fabi.
31:08 - Fabi talks about hurting her neck doing headstands. Michael has a problem with teachers saying "be careful!"
50:31 - Michael gets impatient and wants the conversation to be addictive.
52:43 - Maybe it will be more fun in the metaverse. Michael talks about his computer science knowledge and why he's not thrilled about coming changes.
1:12:13 - Fabi remembers why she first got interested in Michael (it was because of his journey learning to use his eyes and voice on camera).
1:34:05 - But, Fabi doesn't think Michael's jokes are funny.
1:38:07 - What's "karmic trash collection"? How we can break chains of causality and generational trauma.
Customer Reviews
Before you react...
Listen. Michael is a human deeply interested you listening to yourself. He will get your goat then capture your heart.