Overview: Learn to play the piano and become a well-rounded musician through this carefully tailored piano course. The structure of each video mimics that of a private lesson - beginning with warm-ups or theory, moving into new concepts or repertoire, and ending with a challenge to practice. Once the music feels confident, students can show off their skills using the accompaniment videos provided!
Target Audience: The course offers built in versatility to accomodate different ages and levels of musical backround (age 7 - adult). A student who is already proficient at another instrument will be able to move quickly through the videos, with fewer practice days in between. Students who are brand new to music reading will enjoy being able to re-watch portions of the lesson to aid them in their practice time. On average, students should probably spend about a week practicing and reviewing the material covered before moving on to the next video lesson.
Younger students: Parents are encouraged to watch each video lesson with their child to facilitate quality practice throughout the week, reinforce proper technique and posture, and encourage students as they progress! Ocassionally modifications will be offered in the video lesson (for example, parents can make the decision as to whether their child should learn their scales with just hands seperate, or put both hands together. Both are demonstrated in the video lessons). At the beginning of the course, parents can teach their children how to pause the video, work on the skill demonstrated, and continue watching. Eventually, the parents can phase out when they find their child can work successfully on their own!
Older students or those with previous music reading experience: These students will enjoy occasional challenges to pause the video, try something on their own, and continue watching to check their work. In some cases students should watch the song demonstrated before playing, while at other times they may enjoy trying to "sight-read" easier songs along with the video and see how they do. The piano skills checklist attached to Lesson 27 will allow them to track their progress in 5-finger patterns and 1-octave scales, as well as inspire them to continue onward once this course is completed (there are columns for 2-octave scales, arpeggios, etc).
Course Contents:
- 40 Video Lessons covering over 100 songs
- 31 Accompaniment tracks (duet parts)
- 8 Interval Practice Exercises ("Worming Around")
- 27 Two-Handed Rhythm Exercises
- 39 mini-quizzes
- 1 end of course test
- Assorted reference sheets including, but not limited to:
- 5-Finger Patterns Fillable Packet
- 1-Octave Scale Fingering Chart
- Posture Reference Sheet
- Piano Practice Record
- Notes & Rest Chart
A Clear Path Forward: In addition to 22 songs arranged specifically for this course, the video lessons cover all 91 songs in Part 1 of "The Music Tree" piano series (seperate purchase required, $8.99 on Amazon). This was a very deliberate choice, as I firmly believe the sequential nature of an excellent teaching series will allow students to most easily continue onward with a live teacher upon completion of this video course.
This course coincides with "Music Tree Series" as follows:
- Covers all the topics from the "Time to Begin" primer book (purchase NOT required)
- Covers all the topics and songs from Part 1 (purchase required)
- Pre-teaches some topics which they will encounter later in the series (5-Finger patterns and eighth notes are introduced in Part 2A, 1-Octave scales in Part 2B, and Sixteenth Notes and relative keys in Part 3).
Economical: While every student is different, the material covered in this course would take most of my beginning private students a minimum of 40 lessons to complete (depending on the amount they practiced between lessons). In my area, the average rate for a private lesson is $30, so if a student forgets content or comes to a lesson unprepared, they may end up paying for essentially the same lesson several weeks in a row. In this course, students can re-watch a lesson as many times as necessary and work at the pace that is suitable for them. If they work carefully and diligently, they can learn the content with the same excellence for significantly less than they would in private lessons which could easily exceed $1200 or more. Once your child has shown this committment and progress, they will have well earned the right to continue with a private teacher - and I highly recommend doing so!
Course Structure: This course is divided into 12 sections covering the following topics:
Section 1:
- Finding an instrument
- Practicing expectations
- Alignment and posture
- Rhythmic values overview
- Keyboard layout
- Finger numbers
- Pre-reading
- White Keys Names
Section 2:
- Intervals
- Clefs
- Time Signatures
- The Grand Staff
- Landmarks
Section 3:
- Dynamic Markings
- Whole and half steps
- Major 5-Finger Patterns (C and D)
- Songs beginning on landmarks
- Supplementary Piece: Diddle-Diddle Dumpling
Section 4:
- Continuation of Major 5-Finger Patterns (E, F, G)
- The repeat sign
- Songs beginning a 2nd above landmarks
- Supplementary Piece: Are You Sleeping
Section 5:
- Continuation of Major 5-Finger Patterns (A, B)
- Minor 5-Finger Patterns (c)
- Songs beginning a 2nd below landmarks
- Supplementary Piece: Mary Had a Little Lamb
Section 6:
- Minor 5-finger Patterns (d, e, f)
- Songs using the 5th
- Supplementary Piece: Peas Porrage Hot
Section 7:
- 2-Handed Rhythm Exercises
- Minor 5-finger Patterns (g, a, b)
- Songs using the 3rd
- Supplementary Piece: A Tisket, A Tasket
Section 8:
- 2-Handed Rhythm Exercises
- 1-Octave Scales (C Major, a minor, G Major, e minor)
- Relative Minor Keys
- Sharps and Flats
- Short-cut to naming notes of the Grand Staff
- Using Letters to Mark Form
- Supplementary Piece: Twinkle, Twinkle
Section 9:
- 2-Handed Rhythm Exercises
- 1-Octave Scales (D Major, b minor, A Major)
- Ties and Upbeats
- Songs using 4ths
- Supplementary Piece: Jack Be Nimble
Section 10:
- 2-Handed Rhythm Exercises
- 1-Octave Scales (E Major, B Major)
- Songs using rests
- Supplementary Piece: Oh My Darling
Section 11:
- 2-Handed Rhythm Exercises
- 1-Octave Scales (F Major, d minor)
- Songs with sharps and flats
- Supplementary Piece: Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Section 12:
- 2-Handed Rhythm Exercises
- 1-Octave Scales (g minor, c minor)
- Rules for sharps, flats, and naturals
- Supplementary Piece: Pop Goes the Weasel