About Hayden (That’s me!)
Photographs by Ian Hayne
I’ve been playing piano since my mid-teenage years. It was always an outlet for me, emotionally, physically and existentially. There’s rarely a day where I don’t play something on the piano.
I never had a real piano in my home, it was always digital pianos for me. I’d sneak out to the living room at night - which was thankfully on the opposite end of the house from the bedrooms - plug my headphones into the piano, and just play whatever came out. I’d never learn pieces by reading - Instead, I’d try to learn them by ear, or watch YouTube videos and do a lot of pausing and unpausing. In my beginnings, I would unknowingly simplify a lot of the pieces I was trying to learn, but I think this helped me work from the ground up. But playing other peoples music was never the thing that did it for me…
I’ve always liked improvising more than anything. Making my own music, using my ear and whatever patterns I could spot on the keys. I never had a good memory, so I’d often forget exactly what I played - and still do, to be honest - but that’s all a part of the beauty of it. Everything is made in the moment, and is pure to me. To this day, improvising is by far my dominant strength in music, as I’ve now been doing it for over 10 years and I’m not sick of it yet!
Through my long-time connection with the piano and desire to continue studying at the Canberra Institute of Technology due to its friendly environment and teachers, I chose in 2017 to study music, where through to the end of 2018, I’d attain my Diploma of Music Industry (Performance). Until this point, I was completely self-taught on piano - but this is where I played with other musicians for the first time in my life, learned to read and write music, and discovered my deep love for funk, blues and jazz! These days, I’m an absolute music theory nerd, and have a tendency to go a little too deep down the many rabbit holes it presents.
Throughout and after studying music at CIT, I’ve been performing around Canberra in multiple bands - Some that have come and gone, and some that are still going.
These days, I can be found playing keys for The Dalmatians, Kim Yang, Fred Smith, Dana Hassall and other spontaneous projects that I’m asked to step in on.
I’ve been teaching piano at the Bec Taylor School of Music since the middle of 2021, and it’s been an eye-opening and extremely fulfilling experience. To be able to share my knowledge, passion and excitement for piano with all students, younger or older, has been a turning point in my life and piano playing. It’s kept me sharp, and made me better at piano than I ever was before. I’ve always had dreams of being an educator of some sort, and piano teaching has fit that dream perfectly.
Many thanks to all of my supportive friends, family and students.
Gear I use:
Yamaha YC61 Stage Piano (My main gigging piano)
M-Audio SP-2 Sustain Pedal
Kurzweil PC4 Stage Piano (Occasionally)
Yamaha CK61 Stage Piano (Occasionally)
Various foam-padded piano stools, all under $100. I think piano stools over $100 are a rip-off unless you have plenty of spare money to spend.
Yamaha PSR-SX900 Arranger Keyboard (Occasionally)
Hohner Fire Melodica
If you’re interested in the teaching resources I create, visit my shop on Etsy!