5-Minute Piano Lessons

The piano world is waking up to CHORDS and their value

Years ago only professional musicians even knew fakebooks (books with just melody lines, lyrics, and chord symbols) existed. The few fakebooks available to such folk were very expensive and highly illegal (as the unknown authors simply ignored copyright and used that new technology of the photocopy machine to produce the things.) The regular pianist or piano student was taught that the supreme virtue was to read every note and every instruction on the piece of printed music. Making it up was, of course, “faking it” and therefore somehow less than capable.

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Predicting the Future is Usually Dicey but I Do See the Trends

I’ve been teaching piano now full-time since October of 1987. I began as most teachers do – traveling to my students’ homes. Later, I found space to teach at a local piano dealership. A few years ago I decided to limit my practice to adult and teen-aged students. This year I’m focusing my attention to the Internet. I give you this history to convince you that I might just be able to see “the handwriting on the wall” regarding piano education. (more…)

The proper priorities regarding chords and fakebooks can save time and improve your playing

Note: This essay is taken from my ebook concerning Advanced Chord and Fakebook Use. I felt it too important to limit it to that source.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of what I consider Advanced chord and fakebook usage, I want to urge you to keep your priorities straight as you study. These priorities are stated in this essay’s title, at least as I’ve found them in 40+ years of successful piano performance. I truly believe it will be very worth your time to consider my reasoning before you embark upon the study of the rest of this ebook. (more…)

Explaining the Symbols for Chords on Lead Sheets and Fake Books

Chord symbols are those letters and numbers and funny characters that appear above the melody line on modern sheet music. Many times they are accompanied by a tiny diagram of the strings of a guitar showing physically how to play the chord. The chord, however, is the same note-wise for the pianist/ keyboardist. (more…)

You Must not Only KNOW Your Chords but also What to DO with Them

Lots of piano teachers, both live and online, explain which notes make up which chords. This is fine and necessary but it’s only the first step -you must also know what to DO with these chords. Additionally, many of these “piano teachers” are basically professional players who shows you ways to use chords that are, frankly, just too hard for the amateur player. The pro makes it look easy, even tell you it is, although it’s not. There’s a need, then, for some basic things most every pianist can do successfully. (more…)

Simple and “Do-able” Guidelines for Arranging in Fakebook Style

Pianists often want guidelines in arranging piano ballads and standard piano music when using “fakebooks” or when playing from standard sheet music in fakebook style. This is a short essay of such guidelines. I produced these for a piano student working on the show tune “If Not for Me.” (more…)

The Basics of Chord Use for the Piano Student

I  thought of calling these essays “EVERYTHING a Pianist Needs to Know About Using Chords.” but changed my mind because that would be a lie. Nobody, even the “greats” of the piano, knows everything about chords. Just when some pianist starts thinking he’s got it ALL down, along comes somebody new with a new idea. (more…)

The Basics of Chord Use for the Piano Student

Once a piano student knows how to form chords using their formulas and can figure out which notes go with which symbols, the next question is how to use those chords at the piano.  You have several choices to make. I wish I could tell you exactly WHAT choices to make, but each piece of piano music demands different skills. I can tell you a few things for sure. (more…)

The Basics of Chord Use for the Piano Student

Wouldn’t it be great if these short essays could teach you to apply everything you needed to know about chords? That isn’t going to happen. The route to understanding and really using the information I’ve presented is working on many, many pieces of music and applying these concepts to get the overall sound you are looking for. It’s the study of a lifetime and no one knows it all. However, if you look on your work with chords as a continuing “voyage of discovery” you will find a great deal of enjoyment in your explorations and experiments. (more…)

The “Modern” Approach to Popular Piano Music is Far From Modern

Chords are nothing new in keyboard playing. CPE Bach’s 1762 book masterpiece Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments thorougly discusses chords and their use. What’s new is our RETURN to an understanding and use of these enormously helpful musical items. More and more piano students, especially those learning piano online, are turning away from “just following the directions” and instead using chords to create their own arrangements of popular piano music. (more…)