Piano Harmonisation (Harmonization)

By special request, I am offering a new 8-week piano course in Zoom to take beginners to the next level of playing. Read from lead sheets and play songs you’d like to play. It’s open to all levels though not complete beginners. [What you’re learning when you’re taking a piano class.]

FALL 2023 starts 10/24/2023 at 5 PM EDT and runs for 8 Tuesdays (except 10/31).

Complete beginners learn how to read notes (notation) and play with correct fingers (fingering) in my 8-week intro class. By the second session in Zoom, they are able to identify every key on the piano by its correct name and vice versa (from notes to keys). Furthermore, they can play every single key with correct fingering with both hands on the piano.

Thereafter, it’s a matter of regular practice, patience, and persistence to improve the mapping of notes to piano keys with correct fingering. Coordinating the eye movements with hand and finger movements take time to reach fluidity.

Is there a short cut to learning the piano? To play the songs you already know but make it sound good? I think there is. Certainly, it’s not how I was taught in individual (private) lessons. I learned what I know now from accompanying choirs and singers.

One student requested that she wanted “to learn chords with transition to others chords and a way I could read faster, modulate and learn the patterns. My goal is learn at least the most common used of them and apply to easy songs.” She is referring to lead sheets.

A lead sheet refers to sheet music that contains the melody, chords, and lyrics (if any). In the above example, a ukulele player would finger the chords with the left hand and strum or fingerpick the accompaniment with the right hand and sing the song.

An untrained pianist would play the chords in “root position”, jumping all over the piano keyboard to play the chords. This is tiring, for you have to look at your hands to find the keys.

Learning Outcomes

In “Piano Harmonization” class, I will show the following ways to play the above passage on the piano.

1. Left hand (LH) plays the bass line using only the root of each chord. The root is the name of the chord. LH also sets the rhythm and keeps time.
2. Right hand (RH) plays the melody.
3. At the next level, LH plays the root position for each chord (jumping all over the keyboard).
4. LH to play inversions of the given chords such that it no longer needs to jump all over the keyboard.
5. Cadences
6. Common chord progressions
7. LH accompaniment patterns:
   1. Block chords
   2. Broken chords
   3. Arpeggiation between LH and RH
   4. Fillers (which notes to use to fill in)
   5. Chord melody arrangement
   6. Styles: ballad, church hymn, disco, pop, reggae, rock, ….

Class Information

This new group piano class is open to anyone who is NOT a complete beginner. Individual attention is given so you can progress at your own pace (either in breakout room or in front of others). Breakout rooms to practice with one another. Requests welcome. Special topic: how to play from lead sheets, left hand chord inversions, accompaniment patterns. 

Pre-requisite: intro or beginner course or equivalent (basic note reading, fingering indication, right and left hand movement, C major scale, chromatic scale, cross-hand exercises)

The class will start as soon as the minimum enrolment is met (5).

Testimonials

This class overcame my fear of playing piano after not playing for almost 50 years. Anne is very affirming in her approach.
– Susan (MA)

This second course in piano improve my confidence in reading music and playing the piano with two hands. The material presented and teacher explanation allowed these improvement. Anne make learning a lot of fun, at the same time you could measure your progress.
– Amanda (MA)

If you would like to get a flavour of what learning to play the piano requires I recommend you take Anne’s piano class. It has already helped me acquire the rudimentary skills required to play: I know where the fingers go, the correct position for them and the correct posture at the piano; how to read the notes on the staves and relate them to the correct keys on the piano, how to practice correctly and how to make chords. In this way I have already been able to sing and play ‘Perfect’ by Ed Sheeran to my satisfaction as well as a few simple classical pieces. This after only 8 weeks. Great!
– Tony (UK)

This piano course is a good way to continue your piano journey. Anne will give you excellent input about your playing and you will also be able to interact with others about the lessons.
– Barbara (MA)

I enjoy the Thursday Noon Piano class because the music pieces Anne selects help me to identify skills in need of improvement. She provides personalized constructive feedback and helps all of the students work on their respective issues in a supportive manner. I have definitely noticed improvement in my piano skills since taking her classes and look forward to continuing with her classes. 
– Retired nurse (MA)