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Beginner Lessons Notes Summary
Look at piano as something free from all the obligations and stresses in your life, and as
somewhere that you can relax and be completely free to play however you want to.
The piano is a place of freedom and self-expression, not for worrying about what other
people think. It is a place where you can be honest with yourself about how you feel,
and where you can fully express yourself without holding back.
A good rule is that if you ever feel like you have to play piano, don't play. You don't ever
'have to' play piano, and there is no one judging you for not playing.

Chords and Exercises

Full 1 and 2 Chord Voicings
The '1' Chord - Left Hand (LH) - C E G B
The '2' Chord - Left Hand (LH) - D F A C

Right Hand (RH) - E G B D

Right Hand (RH) - F A C E

The C Pentatonic scale - C D E G A

Soloing:
Use wave chords, doublets, the C pentatonic scale (with doublets too), bass notes, and
arpeggios.
Go between these two chords and solo with the right hand notes on each chord
(arpeggios).
Land on the 3rd note (E) often, for both chords.
Advanced - Hold down the right pedal and wave a full chord, play a bass note, and then
play the full chord again for a beautiful, powerful sound.

Practice Exercises
Stick to these practicing exercises for now to get fluent with these chords and scales:
Left Hand (same for all exercises)
Chord 1 4x (LH - C E G B)
Chord 2 4x (LH - D F A C)
(repeat)
Right Hand
Exercise 1 - Fingers on C D E G A, then play --> C D E G A G E D C without having to
move your hand, just moving your fingers. Start with 1 right hand note for every chord
you play in your left hand (where the note and the chord are being played at the same
time), and then 2 notes for every chord when it feels comfortable. Feel free to speed it
up as you go, and check lesson 14 for a demonstration if you are confused on how to
play the exercise exactly.
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Exercise 2 - Random notes in C pentatonic, match 1 right hand note for each chord in
your left hand, and then 2 notes per chord.
Practice in all white keys too, instead of C pentatonic:
Start with 1 chord in your left hand for every 1 note in your right hand, in all white keys,
then go to 2 right hand notes in all white keys per chord.
For all of these exercises, if you get really comfortable, you can play 4 right hand notes
per chord. It is much more difficult to go from 2 to 4 notes per chord, but you will be able
to play really fluently in any scale that you practice with.

Playing Emotions, Self-expression

Look at playing piano as playing emotions, rather than just playing chords.
Certain chords will evoke certain emotions, but what's really important is the amount of
feeling you're putting into and expressing through the piano, not as much the notes and
the chords.
When you're soloing, remember a sad or happy moment (or whatever emotion you are
trying to express), then play it using the piano. The goal here is to feel an emotion and
then be able to express it immediately through the piano.

C Scale
The C scale is the scale of all white keys starting from C. C itself is the note to the
bottom left of the pair of black keys.
If you start from C, going up the piano, the next white key (to the right) is D, E, F, then
G, A, B, C... etc.
The first note is called the '1,' so in this case C is the '1,' D is the '2,' E is the '3,' F is the
'4,' G is the '5,' A is the '6,' and B is the '7' (with 8 being C again, but up higher on the
piano).

1 3 5 7 Chords
Play the 1, the 3, the 5, and the 7 in your left hand.
For the 1 chord, a Left Hand 1 3 5 7 chord is C E G B
1 3 5 7 chords can be formed by learning a new scale (like a 'major' or a 'minor' scale),
and then playing the 1, 3, 5, and 7 as a left hand chord.

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Posture, Piano Basics
Sit on the front half of your seat
Keep your back fairly straight, but also relaxed
Your elbows should generally be in line with the keyboard (not too far below or too high,
because it can cause strain on your wrist)
Be relaxed in whatever you're doing. Tension and strain are no-nos.

C Scale Fingerings
C

thumb-pointer-middle-thumb-pointer-middle-ring finger-pinky
C starts with the thumb, and then the thumb resets at F
Musical notes go from A-G for white keys. Flats and sharps are used on A-G to name
the black keys.

Licks
Licks are groups of notes, repeated over and over and over again in a similar way. They
are a core part of soloing, and you'll often hear licks demonstrated in music when you
hear jazz players repeat the same notes, or a similar rhythm, over and over again.
You can form your own licks by playing groups of notes that sound good, and then
repeating them, changing them a little bit (their rhythm or melody), and playing
variations of the original lick. Keep true to the original lick (don't change it too much to
the point where it's another lick), but also don't be afraid to have fun with the lick and
play it, however you want to.

Improvisation by Feeling (How to Solo)

1. Play one note or more notes.
2. Listen to those notes, and go where those notes want to go (or what you feel should
be played next)
3. Make a Lick with those notes.
4. Have fun with that lick until you're ready to move onto something else
5. Continue on to another lick.
When you play one note, really feel that note. You'll feel like there are certain notes that
you want to go to next after playing that first note. The process of playing a note, and
feeling where it wants to go next, is really improvisation at its core. It is almost all based
on feeling and the licks that you create in the moment. The first note takes you to
another note, and then to another note, and to another note, until you are in the flow
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where you don't even have to try anymore, and it just comes out of you without having
to do anything. That's most incredible part of improvisation, to participate in that kind of
spontaneous creativity.

The 2 Chord (D) - Left Hand (LH) - D F A C

Solo with all the white keys over both chords, the 2 (D F A C) and the 1 chords (C E G
B). Even if you don't feel confident yet, try to play confidently with whatever notes you
come up with. Playing confidently is almost always better than playing too softly, even if
you make mistakes. Getting in a habit of playing softly usually hinders confidence and
self-expression because it's really easy to hide while playing quietly.
While changing chords, land on the '3rd' (E) in your right hand. The 3rd will always
sound good over both chords. We'll get back to the reason why in later lessons, but for
now the 3rd is an important note that helps tell you what kind of chord you're playing.
To play the 2 chord right hand voicing, go to the 4th note of the C scale (F), and play
every other note from that note (F A C E).
Use the right pedal (sustain pedal) to keep your notes held down without you having to
hold your fingers over the keys. Playing a lot of notes with the pedal held down on the
white keys scale can create a beautiful, collage-like effect.
A good way to practice pedaling is to:
1. Press the right pedal down
2. Play a full chord
3. Take away your hands while the sound is still ringing... and then...
4. Let go of the pedal.
This exercise is really helpful for getting control of your sound because you can practice
lengthening the sound out first, and then ending it right at the split second that you want
it to.

Wave Chords
Wave chords are when you play the notes in a chord from the left to the right, holding
down each note as you play them, until all of the notes are held down. It's as if a wave
rolls over your fingers from the left to the right side of the piano and pushes all of your
fingers down in sequence (much like dominos).
Take the 1 chord and play it, starting from the left to the right (LH - C E G B RH - E G
B D), starting with the 1st note C in your left pinky. Keep holding C down, but play E, G,
and then B in your left hand, and then in your right hand, play E, G, B, and then D. With
D in your right hand being the final note, all of your fingers should be playing notes and
holding them down. The key to wave chords is that every note is being played by itself,
not at the same time, and you always go from the left to the right hand side of the piano.
Practice slow at first, then gradually increase the speed until it's a mesh of sound that
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sounds crystal clear and brilliant like a wave of sound.
Another great use for wave chords is moving them higher on the piano as an ending for
solos.

C Pentatonic Scale (C D E G A)
A 5 note scale that is extremely useful for soloing. All C pentatonic notes sound good
on the 1 and 2 chords.

Doublets
2 notes played at the same time with one note skipped in the middle (like C and E
played at the same time, or D and F, a pair of notes one note apart).
Start with a doublet like C E, then move up the keyboard by playing D F next, then E G,
F A, G B, etc. Doublets can be used with all kinds of scales and chords, like pentatonic
scales and arpeggios.
Doublets on the C pentatonic scale (C D E G A) are: C E - D G - E A - G C - A D - C E
Arpeggios with Doublets:
1 chord doublets - E B, G D, B E, D G, E B...
2 chord doublets - F C, A E, C F, E A, F C...

Bass Notes
Notes on the lower third of the piano that can be used to make chords sound full and
powerful. They can be used with any chord by playing the 1st note of the chord lower on
the piano (For the 1 chord, C would be the bass note, and for the 2 chord, D).
Bass notes can be doubled by playing 2 notes (C and C for the 1 chord) in the left
hand's pinky and thumb.

Arpeggios
Arpeggios are when the right hand chord notes are played individually, rather than as a
chord. For the 1 chord, RH - E G B D is played individually as E, G, B, and D, and for
the 2 chord, RH - F A C E is played as F, A, C, and E. Arpeggios are useful for soloing
because all of the arpeggio notes usually sound good to play for the chord you're on.
Arpeggio notes are great landing notes, when going to another chord too, like if you're
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on the 2 chord and going to the 1 chord, then you can plan to land on E, G, B, or D,
right when you play the 1 chord. If you are going to the 2 chord, the arpeggio notes to
land on for that chord would be the RH F, A, C, or E.

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