This one has been a long time coming: let’s learn some ‘70’s songs on the piano! Annie from Team PI21D gave me the day off and made an awesome video showing how you can use just four chords to play six ‘70’s piano songs. She’s a big fan of ‘70s music! And there are some great hits from John Lennon, Abba, Fleetwood Mac and more here. As always, chords are the key to unlock so many awesome tunes. It’s just a matter of knowing how. Where to Start With ‘70’s Songs on the Piano To play songs on the piano, whether they are ‘70s songs or not, you need to know three things: The notes The chord formu ..read more

What if I walked up to you at your piano one day… and told you to play in the key of A, and to make sure you use a VI, V, IV, I progression on the bridge. Would you (a) freak out because you don’t know what I’m talking about, (b) make something up and hope I wouldn’t notice the difference, (c) calmly play along because you’ve already learned this stuff, and you know that what I’m talking about is just basic music theory, piano scales and keys. Or maybe you call the police because there’s a stranger in your house. Fair enough.? The point is, do you know how to handle piano scales and keys in re ..read more

If you’ve gone from the basics of piano notes to piano chords, then it’s time to take that knowledge one step further. Let’s talk about chord progressions! This is the part where I could wedge in a bad pun about progress. But let’s just watch this short and sweet video on chord progressions instead. ? What Are Chord Progressions? This is almost too easy of a question. Chord progressions are just chords played together in a specific order or sequence. That’s all they are. Chords, one after another. (Hopefully chords that sound good together!) Let’s look at an example from John Legend’s song “Al ..read more

Piano chords: what are they, and how on earth are you going to memorize so many of them? You know there are 27 types of chords, right? If that statement made your interest in piano come to a screeching halt, hang in there: you don’t actually need to memorize all the piano chords that exist. You don’t even really need to know all 27 types. So take a deep breath, and let’s dive into the real piano chord basics, the non-negotiables that aren’t going to make you wish you never even tried. What are Piano Chords? In its most basic form, chords are just multiple notes played at the same time. That’s ..read more

Piano notes: they’re probably the first thing you picture when you think about playing, right? But what are they? What’s the difference between piano notes and just any random sound? It’s a little complicated, but fortunately you don’t need to know too much music theory to understand piano notes and how to use them. And that’s what this video is all about:  What Is a Note? If you could see sound, it would look like waves. Those waves are what vibrate your eardrums and tell your brain to interpret them as sounds. Depending on how quickly something is vibrating, the pitch of that sound will ..read more

What is music theory? Do you need to take years of music classes or get a degree to understand what is music theory? Do you have to be a master instrumentalist to apply music theory concepts to your playing? The answers are no, no, and no. Music theory is useful at any stage of learning an instrument like piano, and you do not need a serious music education to start learning the language of music theory. There are simple, practical concepts you can learn now that will help you make sense of piano. What is Music Theory? It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… language? That’s right folks, in essence ..read more

Remember back when the first Frozen movie came out and everyone had its musical numbers stuck in their head? If we’re being honest, some of us are still humming those tunes. My daughters may or may not still be huge Frozen fans. I might fit into that category too. ? It’s inescapable: I had to make a tutorial for how to play “Let it Go” on piano. Let’s go over how to play “Let it Go” on piano the easiest way possible: using my 5-step song-learning process. What You Need to Know To play “Let it Go” on piano with my approach, there are a few prerequisites you need: Internet access to look up cho ..read more

If I told you that only one page of information – or one video – would be the last resource you ever need to learn piano chords for beginners… would you believe me? Let’s put that claim to the test today with my overview of simplified piano chords and a free PDF download that you can use to master the most common chord types. Sound good? Let’s get started. Common Ways to Learn Chords How do people usually learn piano chords for beginners? Well, there are a few common ways: Memorizing notes within a scale Memorizing chord structure Memorizing individual chords Each of these methods have pros ..read more

Song tutorials are a dime a dozen these days, but not every “tutorial” really helps you learn. Maybe that’s why people keep making more and more of them. ? When I teach a song, it’s never just to teach a song: I want my students to learn my 5-step song-learning process. That way they don’t just have one song memorized, they have a system they can apply for the rest of their lives. That’s what I’m teaching in this post and video, using “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars as our example. Why This Song? There’s no one perfect song to practice with, and everyone has different tastes. But as it hap ..read more

What does it take to learn piano? Well, what does it take to learn any new skill? Beyond the obvious practical things like getting the right equipment and finding a teacher or class, understanding how you learn is very important. And no, I’m not talking about your personal learning style, or what lessons are best for your Enneagram type. What are the stages of learning, and what will you experience as you journey through each stage? The Four Stages of Learning The four stages of learning are something I teach right at the beginning of my 21-day piano course. Setting the stage for a successfu ..read more