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STATUS: INACTIVE // READ-ONLY

Podcast: Self-Defined Human

  • #45 – Piano NERDS, Bach & Wrong Notes (with guest Dr. David Servias)

    #45 – Piano NERDS, Bach & Wrong Notes (with guest Dr. David Servias)

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #45 – Piano NERDS, Bach & Wrong Notes (with guest Dr. David Servias)
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    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

    #44 – How to Learn to Play the Piano

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #44 – How to Learn to Play the Piano
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    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

    #43 – Piano Lessons Are Bad for People with ADHD

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #43 – Piano Lessons Are Bad for People with ADHD
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    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

    #42 – Why I Got Obsessed With Piano Scales

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #42 – Why I Got Obsessed With Piano Scales
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    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

    #41 – Your Ex Was NOT Abusive

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #41 – Your Ex Was NOT Abusive
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    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

    #40 – Karmic Trash Collection

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #40 – Karmic Trash Collection
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    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.

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