The first time I cooked this steak, I ruined it. 💥 I picked a pan size that was too small for searing so I left it in there. A bit longer. A bit longer. 🕰️ I really wanted to get that golden-brown crust. When I cut into it, the middle was the same grey brown as the edges. No juice. 🥤 I watched someone eat it. They said it was nice. It was not nice. I do not cook to eat. I cook to say something. A ruined steak is not really about the steak. Afterwards I had a very reasonable thought.. Steak is just not my thing. That sounds like humility. It is actually fear wearing a nicer outfit. 👗 I know that thought. I have heard it in here too, in different words. I am not a piano person. My hands are too small. I started too late. I tried once and it was bad. Same sentence. Different kitchen. A couple of weeks later I bought another one. Same cut. Same shop. Same nervous walk home. Three small changes this time. Out of the fridge much earlier to rest it. Bigger pan, much shorter time. I rested the steak and cleaned up the kitchen while counting down my ten minutes. Ten minutes is a long time when you want to know if you got it right. 😅 Then I cut it. Pink all the way through. 🥳 I did not become a good cook that night. I just found out which part I had been getting wrong, by doing the whole thing again and paying attention to a different bit. The first steak was not wasted. The first steak was the information. Same with this community. 🏡 I do not get it right the first time either. I have written lessons that ran too long. Explained things that made perfect sense in my head and none at all on your screen. 😂 Built tools that some of you loved and some of you opened once and never touched again. I only ever found that out because people tried them. That is the part I keep thinking about. Every time one of you sits down and actually plays the thing I built, you are handing me the pink or the grey. You are showing me which part to change next. So try it. Not to prove anything to me. Try it because your hands on it are the only way either of us finds out what works for you.

"When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2 is live on the channel now. (Yes, the one that made everyone cry.) But here's why I really picked it for you. Most beginner songs punish you for not keeping perfect time. This one doesn't. It's a ballad with room to breathe — the rhythm is flexible, forgiving. If you slow down at a phrase you love, that's not a mistake. That's expression. It's one of the rare songs where playing it "wrong" often sounds more beautiful. For adult learners, that changes everything. No metronome anxiety. No racing to keep up. Just you and a melody that tells an entire story in two and a half minutes. And here's what's coming next: Over the coming weeks, I'll be teaching this song properly, right here — a full series, step by step, phrase by phrase. Not just which keys to press, but how to make it sound like it feels. How to let a note linger. How to breathe with the music. Completely free, for everyone in this community. Once the series wraps, this deeper teaching will find its permanent home inside The Studio ($3/month — about the cost of a single sheet music download). But I wanted you to experience it first, together, at no cost. You're here early — and early should mean something. So — who's in? Drop a 🎹 below if you're learning this one with me. And tell me... have you ever cried at a Pixar movie? (I did..) (Be honest. This is a safe space. 😄) Watch the tutorial here:

hello. im excited

𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀. From today, new members pay $7/month to join Musicate Academy. You don't. Not now, not later. You were here when this room was nearly empty before there were workshops or chord kits or play-along maps, and you joined because you wanted to play piano and were willing to believe me before I had much to show you. Now we have 240 of you. 🎉 And if you've just arrived — welcome. This is open to you too. ❤️ Why the change: a small price at the door means the people who walk in actually sit down at the piano. And it lets me keep building things like the Stand By Me workshop instead of chasing a number. If you haven't opened Stand By Me yet — this weekend's a good weekend. 🗓 Four parts, one hand, and you'll be playing something you recognise inside twenty minutes. 🎹 Thank you for being here early. 🙏🏻 MS P.S. — I've started a Wins category. If you play something this weekend, however small, post it there

Lovely members, I've made a Wins category, and I want to be clear about what belongs in it, because I think most of you will undersell yourselves. A win is not a performance. It's not a finished piece. It's not you being good. A win is: ✅ You sat down when you didn't feel like it ✅ You got through the verse without stopping ✅ Your left hand did the thing it wouldn't do last week ✅ Someone in your house recognised what you were playing ✅ You made it to day three of a practice streak ✅ You played the wrong chord and kept going instead of starting over That last one is a real win. Most people restart. Learning not to is a skill. Post them here. A sentence is enough. ❤️