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As a pianist, one of the best methods you can use to master your instrument is to listen to other piano players live! If you’re taking piano lessons in Saint Paul and the Minneapolis area consider yourself lucky! You live in a city with a thriving live music scene, great music festivals and plenty of music and record stores. In other words, there are many opportunities for you to enhance your study by attending live performances throughout the city as you continue taking piano lessons in Saint Paul! Live Music Venues Saint Paul and the Minneapolis area both offer lovers of any musical genre plenty of opportunities to catch a live performance of their favorite music. Whether your love is for jazz, rock, blues, or classical - there’s a venue for you in the city. Here are a few to check out!

• Dakota Jazz Club - Located downtown at 1010 Nicollet Mall, the Dakota brings the best world-renowned jazz artists to the heart of downtown 7 nights a week. Past pianists who have performed include Joey Calderazzo, Danilo Perez and Ran Blake. A great place to hear live piano music. http://www.dakotacooks.com/

• Aster Café – Located at 125 Mainstreet Southeast, the Aster is another wonderful place to hear live music. The lineup is eclectic and features everything from solo piano players, Americana, New Orleans traditional jazz, and Bluegrass music. http://www.astercafe.com/

• Famous Dave’s BBQ and Blues – Located at 3001 Hennepin Ave. If you love rock and blues piano, Famous Dave’s is a great place to check it out! Live bands perform every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night with occasional weekly performances by local jazz groups. http://www.famousdaves.com/Calhoun

• Fine Line Music Café – Located in the heart of the Warehouse District at 318 First Avenue North, Fine Line is a showcase for top local, regional and national acts. Thousands of artists have graced its stage in the past 25 years. This is a great venue for checking out piano players from all genres. http://finelinemusic.com/

Festivals Saint Paul and Minneapolis plays host to numerous art and music festivals year round that feature live piano performance. Highlights include:

• Stone Arch Bridge Festival – Hosts three stages with dozens of local bands and pianists, keyboardists and organists, along with evening concerts on Water Power Park. http://www.stonearchbridgefestival.com/

• Twin Cities Jazz Festival – One of the largest jazz festivals in the Upper Midwest, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival features non-stop jazz by some of the best piano players and jazz musicians in the world. All weekend, neighborhood bars and restaurants also feature non-stop jazz music. http://www.hotsummerjazz.com/

Piano Joints A number of piano bars have opened in Minneapolis in recent years. Shout House Dueling Pianos, Nye’s Polonaise Room, Deuces Wild Dueling Pianos and Murray's are all great piano bars worth a visit!

Piano Resources Are you looking for a new piano, piano music, or repair? Schmitt Music has been a staple in the Minneapolis area for all things piano since 1896. If you’re looking for a new instrument or hard to find piano sheet music this is the place. http://www.schmittmusic.com/

Record Stores Saint Louis and Minneapolis are home to a number of independent record stores where you can find everything from rare classical piano recordings to the latest jazz, rock, pop, gospel and funk records. Check out Know Name Records (http://www.knowname.com/), Extreme Noise Records (http://www.extremenoise.com/), and Road Runner Records (http://www.landspeedrecords.com/) where you can find all musical genres!

If you’re currently taking piano lessons in Saint Paul or Minneapolis, you have dozens of opportunities to hear and learn from the best piano players in the world - 7 nights a week! Listening is an important part of learning to play piano. Head out to the bars, restaurants, concert halls, and festivals in Saint Paul and Minneapolis and get to work!