If only every teacher/instructor could make learning this easy for their students.
– Nana Okyere
I now have 6 courses available, ranging from complete beginner to advanced. All of them embody the principles I wrote about in my article on how to be a better music teacher, like teaching things in a memorable way, in the context of real pieces of music. I never intended them to be a beginning-to-end piano method, and they’re not (yet), but there is a logical order in which to do them.
- Start with Beginner Piano. You can do this course even if you’ve never touched a piano before, as it doesn’t require you to read music. You don’t even need to know the note names or which way is “up” – the course teaches you all of that. If you need to buy a keyboard then read my guide.
- Next do Read Music Fast!, which teaches you the fastest way to read individual notes in a score, and was described by one reviewer as “the best course not only in Udemy, also on the internet”. It’s important that you don’t start with this course because you should learn to play before you learn how to read.
- Then work through most of Read Music Fast! Part 2, which teaches you how to read notes in context, and deciphers the mystery of key signatures (lots of sharps or flats at the start of a score). Skip the more advanced lectures (nos. 38-40, and 45-48).
- Then the 12 articles of my free Read Music Fast! Part 3 course, which uses pieces from my Intermediate Classical course to teach you how to read rhythm.
- After that you can start working your way through my Intermediate Classical course. At this stage it would be worth getting a one-on-one teacher, if you can afford one. Here’s my guide on how to find a good one. Also read my article on practice time versus playing time. (At some point I’ll make a thorough guide on how to practise.) It could legitimately take you a couple of years to complete my Intermediate Classical course – the last piece is pretty hard. You could also learn some of my popular arrangements, which are listed in order of difficulty.
- My Piano Chords course shows you multiple ways of interpreting basic chord symbols like triads and 7th chords, and assumes that you’ve been playing the piano for a couple of years and can read music pretty easily. In other words, there’s a huge leap in difficulty between Read Music Fast! Part 2 and Piano Chords, which my Intermediate Classical course and popular arrangements aim to fill.
- Finally, there’s Advanced Piano Chords 1, which ventures into jazz by teaching you how to alternate 3rds and 7ths around a harmonic circle of 5ths, what that means, and why it’s important, as well as covering 6ths, 9ths, and augmented and diminished triads. (Advanced Piano Chords 2 is currently in draft form – I’ve written the scores but haven’t recorded the videos.)
At some point I’d like to record a course called How Music Works: an introduction to playing by ear, composing, and improvising, which would start at a beginner level and end up very advanced. I’d also like to make mini-tutorial videos for my Intermediate Classical course and record demos of my popular arrangements. Sign up for updates if you’d like to know when they come out!
In the meantime, scroll down for more detailed descriptions of my existing courses and for the first video of each. musophone readers get 25% off!
Beginner Piano
A course for complete beginners – no prior experience required. You don’t even need to know the note names!
Ok – so who would like to start playing the piano without the hours of frustration learning music theory? I’m one. That’s exactly what Benedict does in this course. … I’m amazed at what I’ve been able to learn and play.
– Greg R
This course walks you through playing simple songs, but they actually sound like the real thing which gave me a sense of accomplishment and encouraged me to keep playing. I highly recommend this course!
– Helenmary Cody
Read Music FAST!
Learn to see a note on a piano score and play it on the keyboard straight away. My best-selling course.
WOW! The instructor’s method and exercises meant I was nailing five octaves of note reading in just a day! … Excellent production quality, excellent graphics, clear explanation. … I’d give it ten stars if I could.
– Mark S A Smith
After the course, I can assure you that you will not be seeing a music sheet the same way again.
– Kathleen Rosario
Read Music FAST! Part 2
Learn how to read notes in context and decipher key signatures.
His unique method of understanding scales is, by itself, worth the price of the course. Check it out. Definitely one of the best online classes I’ve taken.
– Lynn Kear
If only every teacher/instructor could make learning this easy for their students.
– Nana Okyere
Read Music FAST! Part 3
A series of 12 articles (including 2 hours of video) on reading rhythm.
Intermediate Classical
A series of graded arrangements of popular classics with video demos, available to download for free here on musophone.
Piano Chords
Learn to read chord symbols in a visual and intuitive way using real music.
After buying loads of books on piano chords nothing has come close to this excellent course … it has to be the best on Udemy
– Michael Fallon
Even if you already know your scales and chords, this course brings you through the variations so that you can do more than just play a triad each and every time.
– Richard
Advanced Piano Chords 1
Learn how to interpret 6th, 9th, and 13th chords, as well as augmented and diminished triads, on the circle of 5ths.
He’s just a great teacher! Meticulous, professional, knowledgeable, thorough, and enjoyable; plus loads of content. Much more than your money’s worth!
– Altamese Akiva
The instructor teaches a lot of advanced chords in such a way that then
– Bruno Sadesticks
in your mind.
Note: this is a private course, so you’ll need to enter the password Tigris
(the name of my cat) to get access.
