Want to get those alphabet stickers off your piano keys? Here is your ticket to freedom - a quick, easy way to internalize those key names. 

Many adult beginners fear that they won't be smart enough, learn quickly enough or that they just aren't musical enough to play the piano.

So not true!

With the right approach, you can begin making music immediately.

Check out this improvisation exercise that I use for brand new beginners, often at their very first lesson.

The first video is a tutorial that walks you through the process.

The second video is a backing track for you to play along with as many times as you wish.

Technique is all about how we use our bodies at the piano.

For beginners, the most important concept is that we do not play piano with our fingers.

What?

Of course we have to use our fingers, but the primary motion should be coming from our arms, with the use of arm weight.

This can feel strange to new players, especially those of us who've spent hours typing on a computer keyboard. In fact, computer typing technique uses the exact opposite approach to piano technique.

When we type at the computer, our hands hover over the keys and our fingers flick and dart to press individual letters. If we rest our finger on a the F key we end up with a string of FFFFFFFF! But this is closer to the motion that we want as pianists.

The tutorial video explains one approach to achieving this technique. You won't achieve it in one lesson, or a week or even a month. That's okay. Start now with this one lesson.

Playalong video included for your practice.

Home Base Positions (sometimes called 5-finger positions) are they key to getting comfortable at the piano keyboard.

The general principle - 5 fingers per 5 white keys. Exactly 5 for 5. No stretching farther than 5 keys or squishing together for less than 5.

Get comfortable playing in Home Base position and you'll lay the foundation for being able to play sheet music without looking down at your hands.

But before we look at notes on the staff, we're going to use Home Base positions to move across the piano.

Check out how in the next video.

Strategies for your first week of playing the piano.

Not everyone comes to note reading easily. If you're one of those students who finds note reading intimidating, take heart! There are ways to approach reading that can simplify the experience.

Fluent sight reading takes time to develop, just like any other skill. My best advice - give yourself lots of grace and time to absorb each concept and to develop fluency. And keep playing music!

I've had students ask if they should feel guilty if they're not reading notes for a particular song. 

Of course not! 

The decision to focus on note reading doesn't mean we have to give up playing by ear, by rote or by chords. In fact, each type of learning can reinforce the other.

And by the way, who said we must learn to read notes at all? That is a personal decision, up to each student. I strive to support my students whichever route they choose.

The important thing is to keep making music.

See our first off-staff pieces again, this time written on the staff.