Week 1 Piano Progress

My first update on a 12‑week journey to learn Still D.R.E.. on piano

Below: a short video of where I’m at after Week 1, and some thoughts about using AI as a practice coach.

Without further ado.. week 1

Some high and low lights I noticed:

I felt like I made progress!
Understanding some scales
Understand some notes
Brain to finger pathways need development, particularly on left hand
No rhythm, not surprising.. I never have had it

Week 1 Strategy: Artificial Intelligence, Real Wrong Notes

Enter the Robots…

source: giphy.com

I asked several AI tools for a 12‑week practice plan. What I found was interesting, and a little frustrating:

Different AIs, different strategies. Not surprising , there are multiple valid learning paths and I see this as having different teachers.

Some notes and chords were incorrect. A few suggestions were flat‑out wrong. They simply were not the correct notes

ChatGPT	ClaudeAI

source: giphy.com

The song key varied between answers. My plan was to improvise on some scales then lead into the riff, but I could not get a clear answer on what key the song is in

ChatGPT	ClaudeAI

So where exactly is AI getting its data, and how do we know what’s reliable?

Sometimes I could persuade the AI to change its answer, but only after I’d gone out and found the right information myself. That was a big red flag: the tool sounded confident, but it hadn’t actually checked against a single authoritative source.

Teaching AI now?

What I had built: a tiny, local chatbot

During a past project I wanted to see if could create a chatbot for my students. It was surprisingly simple with some python coding and helped my understand just what AI is doing on a smaller scale.

I made a script that fed a single PDF into a chatbot powered by ChatGPT’s LLM (Large Language Model). The script chunked the PDF into small sections so the model could search them and answer questions based only on that file. This is basically what larger AIs do, just with vastly more reference data. That explains both their power and their occasional errors.

Simple metaphor: AI is like a gigantic library where the books have been shredded into tiny pieces. It learned patterns from those pieces and now predicts the next most likely words, it doesn’t “look up” facts the way a person would.

Quick takeaways

AI = fast guidance
Not a definitive source
Double‑check with ears & other sources
For now, AI is my guide

Leading into Week 2

Next week: my next step was YouTube, which I use a lot in my day to day life. Turns out the platform brings its own set of surprises, and intentional design choices that don’t always help focused learning. Stay tuned to see what I mean.

For my major digital project, I have chosen Option B: the learning project. Over the next twelve-ish weeks, I will be focusing on learning to play the piano. While my end goal is to be able to perform a recognizable piece of music, the true purpose of this project is to explore how online platforms, communities, and professional development networks can support the process of learning a new skill.

Why Piano?

Although I am starting as a beginner, I do have some past musical experiences that shape how I approach this project. I played the trumpet in my Grade 6 band, took a few guitar lessons about twenty years ago, and more recently I’ve observed my son’s piano lessons. Watching him learn has inspired me to try piano myself, and it also gives me a useful comparison point between formal, in-person lessons and informal, self-directed online learning.

Learning Goals

This project has both personal and professional learning goals:

Personal skills: develop piano basics such as scales, chords, rhythm, and finger placement.
Learning strategies: document how online resources (tutorials, apps, AI, and open educational resources) support skill development.
Educational lens: reflect on what this experience reveals about teaching, learning, and motivation in digital spaces.
Professional development: begin building an interactive support network, a professional learning community where I can share my progress, learn from others, and contribute resources. This will not only support my piano journey but also model how professional development networks can enhance teaching and learning.

If anyone has an app recommendation please tell me in the comments

Process & Documentation

The focus of this project will be the learning process rather than the final product. Each week, I will document my experiences through blog posts that combine reflections, videos, images, and links to the resources I’ve explored. These posts will serve two purposes:

Personal reflection : tracking my progress, challenges, and successes.
Community contribution : sharing resources, insights, and questions with my peers so that we can learn from each other and begin building a professional development network together.

Final Outcome

By the end of twelve weeks, my aim is to perform a short but recognizable piece on the piano, one that I hope readers will recognize when I play it. More importantly, I want to demonstrate how online learning can be supported through diverse resources and communities, and how building a professional development network can extend beyond this project into my future teaching practice.

What’s Coming Next

In the weeks ahead, I’ll be exploring a wide range of online learning supports, from YouTube tutorials and open educational resources, to AI tutors, learning apps, and community forums. Each week I’ll reflect on both my musical progress and on what these tools reveal about online learning, motivation, and teaching.

To make this process more interactive, I’ll also be experimenting with ways to involve others. For example:

Polls and surveys to gather feedback (e.g., which online learning tools do you use in your own practice?).
Shared resources (posting links or guides that I find helpful).
Questions for discussion (inviting peers to reflect on their own experiences with self-directed learning and professional development networks).

Let’s Start With a Poll

Since this course is about online learning and professional development, I’d like to begin by asking:

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Category: ECI831Project

Week 1: Learning Piano in the Age of AI