Music Articles

Here's some music articles you might find interesting:

http://www.piano-playing-by-ear.com/articles/musicarticlesbyduane.htm

This has nothing to do with piano playing, but...

This has nothing to do with piano playing, but...

Here are a few interesting sites I found recently in case you are interested in:

Fishing & camping & boats: http://www.camping-fishing-gear.com/

Educational toys & games: http://www.educational-toys-games-gifts.com

Golf: http://www.sports-games-health.com

Wedding & wedding favors: http://www.wedding-cakes-portal.com

Emergency medical: http://www.emt-police-fireman-supplies.com

Table tennis & ping pong: http://www.table-tennis-ping-pong-tables.com

After all, piano players have a life outside of the keyboard!

Why Piano Students Knew More About The Differences Between The Sexes Than The Other KIds In My Home Town...

Why Piano Students Knew More About The Differences Between The Sexes Than The Other Kids In Auburn

The center for sex education in Auburn in the mid-to-late 40’s was not the home, the church, the school, or the health clinic. Not that these did not contribute to our growing body of knowledge – they certainly did – but the center for the dissemination of actual facts was Luzetta Sweat’s piano studio on Mason Way, right up the side street from Junker & Shull, the Ford agency where my Dad always brought his cars. Luzetta certainly didn’t plan it that way, and I doubt if she ever knew about it. But her piano students, of which I was fortunate to be a member throughout most of my elementary school days, led the way in describing to the rest of the Auburn kids the wonders of human anatomy around the world. Not very advanced information, granted, but the kind of information kids around 8 or 9 years old are occasionally curious about when they are not doing anything more interesting. Such things as the fact that in Borneo women not only don’t wear blouses, they don’t even wear underwear! Exciting things like that.
And how did we know?
Because in the waiting room of Luzetta’s piano studio were the well-worn copies of at least 10 years of National Geographic, and it was easy to locate the revealing sections in these magazines, as these were the very well-worn issues, often with page corners conveniently folded back for easy re-location before next week’s piano lesson.
Luzetta would often say to her waiting students such things as “Myrna! You’re here so early! Well, make yourself at home. There are magazines here for you to read while you’re waiting.” And Myrna did, and Myrna was the one to turn to when one was in need of some information on bizarre sexual customs around the world, whether women in the Congo wore bras or not, and other such vital statistics.
It took me about two years of piano lessons to figure out why the kids that arrived early for their lessons knew so much about dress (or lack of it) and customs in foreign lands. When I finally caught on, the dog-eared issue I turned to had a section missing – about 5 or 6 pages had been torn out, and on the remaining page of the missing article was a photo of an African lady who apparently was completely naked before someone had used a red crayon to provide her with a lovely American-style dress covering her nakedness, complete with matching handbag. I always wondered if it was Myrna, who was two years older, protecting young eyes from such worldly wisdom, and/or saving all the good stuff for the girls, or both. But it didn’t seem quite like her. One of these days, when I work up the courage, I’m going to ask her. I’d better hurry. Myrna is 63 now.
Our freshman year at Placer High School we had to take a class called “Freshman Problems”, which was of course a euphemism for sex education. It was taught dutifully by an old maid named Hazel Germantine, and of course the joke that continually made the rounds of freshmen was “How would she know?” which, in retrospect, I think, was a fair question. But we didn’t mean it as a fair question, but as a joke. She was 53 at the time, but to 14 year olds she might as well have been 153, and the class was approximately that exciting. It was all theory, all hypothetical, all basically boring, except for the times when it got so embarrassing we just had to laugh out loud.
But fortunately for us, although certainly not for her, Donna Jo Bofillati got pregnant about mid-way through our freshman year, and had to drop out of school. That drove us back to our texts to see how it all worked. It was no longer theory, but Donna Jo and Herbie Unser, and that took on a fleshly meaning, and we learned like we had never learn before. It wasn’t so great for them, however, and the forced marriage didn’t last past the first year, but for us it was exciting – a chance to bring our school work to life, to resurrect it from dry pages and lectures to a real life, flesh and blood situation acted out by two of our classmates.

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music courses for adults including "How To Make Cool Sounds On Nay Keyboard Without Knowng a Thing About Music!"
http://www.pianoforbeginners.com/CoolSoundsLetter.htm
He is also the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled “Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions” at www.playpiano.com with over 84,400 current subscribers
Back to Piano Lessons at PlayPiano.com

Hymn Stories Galore

Hymn Stories Galore

Just click on any link below to be taken to the hymn story

A Safe Stronghold Is Our God
Hear & Answer Prayer
Harken to the Solemn Voice
Hear & Live
Hear Lord The Voice of My Complaint
Hymn Stories - Abide With Me
Almost Persuaded
Hymn Stories - All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name
Hymn Stories - Almost Persuaded
America The Beautiful song story
Am I a Soldier of the Cross? -- hymn story
At Calvary -- hymn story
Hymn Stories - Behold The Savior Of Mankind
Hymn Stories - Be Still, My Soul
Hymn Stories - Be Thou My Vision
Hymn Stories - Blessed Assurance
Hymn Stories "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
Hymn Stories on “Child Of The King”
Hymn Stories - “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed.”
“All The Way My Savior Leads Me” hymn story
Hymn Stories of Amazing Grace
Hymn Stories - Battle Hymn of the Republic
Behold the Savior of Mankind
Hymn Stories - “Christ Arose!”
Hymn Stories -- All Creatures Of Our God And King
I Am Coming To The Cross
I Am His & He Is Mine
I Am Jesus Little Lamb
I Am Not Skilled To Understand
I Am Not Worthy, Holy Lord
I Am Praying For You
I Am Resolved
I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve
I Am Thine O Lord
I Am Trusting Thee Lord Jesus
I Asked The Lord That I Might Grow
I Belong To The King
I Bless The Christ of God
I Bow My Forehead To The Dust
I Call The World's Redeemer Mine
I Have Found a Friend in Jesus
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Jesus, Lord of Life & Glory
Jesu, Name Above All Names
Jesus Our Hope
Jesu, Our Lenten Fast of Thee
Jesus, Balm of Healing
Jesus, High & Glorious
Jesus Is Coming
Jesus Is Passing This Way
Jesus I Will Trust Thee
Jesus Loves Me
Jesus Loves The Little Children
Jesus Makes My Heart Sing
Jesus My Sure Defense
Jesus Our Blessed Savior
Jesus Paid It All
Keep on Watching
King of Glory
Kum Bah Ya
Safely Home
Safe In The Arms Of Jesus
Safely Through Another Week
Sailing Into Port
Sail On
Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us
Savior More Than Life To Me
Take My Life & Let It Be
Take The Name Of Jesus With You
Take Time To Be Holy
Tell It Out
Tell It Out With Gladness
Tell It to Jesus
Tell Me The Old, Old Story
Tell Me The Story of Jesus
Tell Mother I'll Be There
There Is Healing At The Fountain
There Shall Be Showers Of Blessings
Back to Praise & Gospel

How Summer Camp & Prayer Turned Me Into a Halfway Decent Piano Player

How Summer Camp & Prayer Turned Me Into a Halfway Decent

Piano Player

- Or -

“Scout Shinn, Where Are Your Pants?”

When I was 8 years old, I was one of the worst piano students known to mortal piano teachers. I stared out the window, dreamed about baseball, and drove poor Mrs. Graham, my 70-year-old piano teacher with whom I had a lesson every Saturday morning, to distraction. I even wore my fielder’s glove to a lesson one day.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like music – I did – but all those old guys like Bach and Brahms and Beethoven just didn’t match up with stars such as Joltin’ Joe, Scooter Rizzuto, Stan the Man, Ted Williams, and guys like that. I lived and breathed baseball, and my daily piano practice was a rude interruption into the world of home runs, stolen bases, and off-the-wall leaping catches.
My folks were patient with me – more patient by far than I deserved – and yet they insisted that I put in my required half-hour per day of piano practice. My older brother, Garland, even typed up an “I promise to practice” document and made me sign it. (It resides to this day on the wall of my music studio.) My seat put in its required half-hour on the piano stool, but my mind spent more like five minutes on scales, chords, and thrilling pieces such as “Left Thumb, Right Thumb”, “Swans On The Lake”, and the ever popular “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum”. The musical situation, in short, looked bleak, and at 8 years of age I seemed destined to spend my life in the pursuit of baseball dreams.
But life is stranger than fiction, or so I once heard some wise-looking adults observe, and the summer between my 4th and 5th grade years brought a turn of events which was to change the direction of my life.
My best friend, Willie McTavish, who had come to our school during our 4th grade year directly from Scotland, decided to join the Boy Scouts, and I thought that sounded like a great idea too. We heard that after the meetings were over, baseball games were held with all Scouts participating. I asked my folks if I could join – well, actually, I begged my folks – and they said I could join as long as I kept up my homework and my piano practice.
I promised that I would.
I basically lied.
And so Willie & I joined Boy Scouts the summer of 1946. Our den mother, Mrs. Goldsberry, had a wonderfully big basement we met in after school once a week on Thursdays, with all kinds of nooks & surprising crannies to explore and hide in. Willie discovered a short, narrow door behind the furnace, which led from the basement to the alley behind the Goldsberry’s house. In those days some people used sawdust as fuel for their furnaces, and the door was where the sawdust would accumulate when the sawdust truck dumped a load into the slide bin right off the alley that ran behind their home on College Way. Willie thought it would be fun to try to climb up the shoot, since it was summer and no prospect of a sawdust delivery was in sight. He talked me into joining him in the climb, which proved to be a poor decision.
We negotiated the turns in the shoot, and happily didn’t encounter any sawdust. What we did encounter, however, were wasps, or yellow jackets, which were spending a blissful summer vacationing in the sawdust shoot until two Boy Scouts rudely interrupted them. Willie had generously allowed me to go first up the shoot, ostensibly so he could ride shotgun for the den mother and other threats to our little adventure. In the darkness of the shoot I could not see the wasps, but I heard them as once or more passed my face, and I yelled “Willie – watch out! There’s something in here!” The warning came too late. Willie felt the message in his left hip before he heard mine. As he screamed, he also let go of the sides of the shoot, and slipped in full-voiced terror back down the shoot, rolling into and through the little door behind the furnace, landing in a heap at the feet of Den Mother Goldsberry.
Meanwhile, I had motivation of my own, and I scampered up the rest of the shoot to the opening in the alley faster than a speeding bullet, setting a new record for short climbing, then sprinted around the corner, arms flailing, through the yard, and back around to the font door of the basement with a wasp’s patrol in hot pursuit. Once through the door and in the safety of the entryway, I stopped to regain both my breath and my composure before re-mingling with the rest of the Cub Scouts, most of whom were busily engaged in various craft projects, from Moccasin making to clay forming to knot tying. There was a commotion, however, in the corner of the basement, close to the furnace. Seems as though Mrs. Goldsberry had caught a Cub Scout trying to escape through the fuel shoot, and was instructing him earnestly in the morality of the Boy Scout code.
Being a Boy Scout myself, I could not tell a lie.
So I didn’t. I didn’t say anything at all. Cub Scout McTavish tried to tell Den Mother Goldsberry that he had an accomplice, but she was much too busy scolding him, so he finally resigned trying and just gave me a sideways glance, and not a kind one at that.
By August, however, Willie and I had made up, and plans were being made for the great scouting event of the year – Camp Ugwam. Both of us were as excited as 9 year old boys could be about the prospect of going away to camp for a solid week, something neither one of us had ever had ever done.
Camp Ugwam was the official Boy Scout camp of the region, high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at nearly 6000 feet elevation, complete with its own mountain lake, appropriately named Lake Ugwam. True to the Boy Scout code, we did our best to be prepared, and packed all our essentials in our suitcases at least two weeks in advance – flashlight, collapsible drinking cup, rope for typing knots, Scout Manual, 3 or 4 dozen Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny comic books, fielders glove, decoder ring (for sending secret messages – we each got one by writing in to Captain Midnight and enclosing a cereal box top), the Official Major League Baseball Guide, 1947 edition (so we could memorize batting averages and ERA’s while we were away from the radio), and since Willie had a larger suitcase than I, he even took his bat.
As prepared as we were, when the day arrived at last for us to pile into the Scoutmaster’s mini-bus for the trip, (which was a pre-World War II school bus that had been used during the war to transport troops in and out of Camp Flint in Auburn where several hundred soldiers were stationed), our Mothers pointed out to us that we might need a change of clothes. Luckily, they had each packed another suitcase for us with all the stuff Mothers pack – pants, shirts, sox, umpteen pairs of underwear, extra sweaters – that sort of thing. It was reassuring to have along, but since I already had my Scout uniform on, I don’t believe I opened that particular suitcase until the last day of camp, when I suddenly remembered what Mom had said about changing clothes daily. I think Willie opened his earlier, since his Mom had mentioned something about putting in some extra spending money if he needed it, and I believe he did need it the evening of the first day.
The bus was packed, and us younger Scouts who had boarded the bus first soon relinquished our choice seats at the back of the bus to the older Scouts, presumably out of respect for rank, but actually out of fear of being beat up. So Willie and I and a couple of other Cub Scouts spent the trip sitting in the isle on the floor of the bus, so the only scenery we saw as we traveled beautiful Highway 80 up toward Donner Summit was the lower limbs of older Scouts.
I guess the curves in the winding forest road were too much for me, because I threw up somewhere between Red Dog and You Bet (now abandoned ghost towns left over from the gold rush of 1849), much to the disgust of the older Scouts.
“Geez, Shinn, thanks a lot! We get to smell puke from here to camp!”
“Oh yuk, Shinn barfed. Stop the bus!”
“Good grief, Shinn, we’re not even to camp yet, and you throw up like a baby!”
After the bus was more or less cleaned up and I felt somewhat better, we re-loaded for the final leg of the journey to Camp Ugwam. At that altitude even in August, the air was a little cool, so our Scoutmaster-driver had everyone shut the windows and he turned on the heat. I think I would have been OK if it wasn’t for that heat. It did something to the remaining scent of throw-up that was downright sickening, and as hard as I tried to hold it back, I threw up again.
There were groans around the bus when they heard me heave, but the reaction was much quieter than the first time, since the warm odor of left-over puke had gotten to most everyone else, too, and as I brought my head up off the floor I caught a quick glimpse of one of the older Scouts trying to roll his window down in time, but he didn’t make it. Scouts were slouched all over the van, pea-green faces, eyes closed, some making faces, some holding heir noses, some joining me on the floor.
We drug ourselves out of the bus again at Soda Springs, and lay on the ground under some big pines while the Scoutmaster hosed out the van at a Flying A service station across the road. He was in a fairly poor mood when he returned, and warned us not to get back in the van until we felt perfect. We were already an hour or so behind schedule, and one Scout said he had heard that if you were late on your first day, you had to wash dishes all week while the other Scouts were playing.
I wanted to go home.
But within the hour we were on our way again, this time with all the windows down, sitting on wet seats in a freshly hosed-out bus. Shivering almost felt good, now that the warm smell was gone, and we knew we had only a few minutes until we arrived at Camp Ugwam.
It was an exciting moment as we pulled into the legendary camp. There was a large sign welcoming us to “Mysterious Camp Ugwam.” I wondered about the “mysterious” part, and worried a little. As the bus snaked its way through a complex of teepees and rustic buildings and evergreens we saw another sign over the entrance to a rustic building which read “Ugwam Lodge”, and another that pointed toward “Ugwam Memorial Field” and still another with an arrow on it pointing to “Lake Ugwam.” Still another sign read “Ugwam Trail” and another read “Ugwam Midnight Survival Test”, which scared the merit badges out of me.
The bus came to a stop in front of the Ugwam Registration Teepee, so we all piled out and signed in, check our spending money with the pleasant-faced fat lady in charge of the canteen.
There were at least a hundred tents scattered through the pines within a radius of a quarter mile from Ugwam Lodge, and each tent held four campers. Willie and I were assigned to Teepee 34 along with two other Scouts from a different town, so as we moved in and got settled, we began to get acquainted. We learned that one of the boys was 12 years old and fresh out of reform school – he was sent there for beating up other Boy Scouts, he said – and the other boy was a chubby little 9-year old (Willie and I were both 9 too) who had a bed-wetting problem, and was as scared of his “friend” as we were, so it didn’t take long to determine who the boss of the teepee would be.
It wasn’t me, it wasn’t Willie, & it certainly wasn’t the bed wetter. I knew I was in for a long week.
Rock – the teepee boss from reform school – announced that he would rather sleep on the bed assigned to me, since it was nearest to the door of the tent and he would be getting in later than the rest of us. That certainly sounded reasonable to me, and since Rock had already moved his stuff onto my bed, I readily agreed. Rock seemed to be pleasant enough as long as things went his way, so we all dedicated ourselves to making sure things went his way. It wasn’t as though we were exactly afraid of him, but he was older, at least a head taller, and his upper arms reminded me of Tarzan. But I was sure he was a nice guy at heart, and if it took a king-clave arrangement to make the friendship work, so be it. Camp doesn’t last forever.
Or so I thought.
As it turned out, the rumor about washing dishes all week as punishment for being late was not true, and soon we found ourselves in Ugwam Mess Hall, which was certainly an appropriate name. The camaraderie of a dining room full of enthusiastic Scouts, the coziness of the Lodge with it’s huge rock fireplace crackling cheerily, and the comfort that came from eating our first (and best) meal of the week quickly erased our memories of the bus trip and our apprehension about the rest of the week.
Boy, were we ever wrong.
The insistent bleating of a bugle burst rudely into our little 4-Scout tent at 6:30 sharp, abruptly ending our first cozy night’s slumber. Little did we know that this was to be the only uneventful night of the week. Rock, our ex-con tent leader, snorted and mumbled that he was going to sleep in. We let him be and headed for breakfast. We knew, from stern announcements the evening before, that during breakfast each tent would be checked for neatness, cleanliness, and of course, beds made up in the prescribed Scout manner. We giggled about how Rock was about to get it.
We underestimated Rock.
After breakfast we all lined up for personal inspection of our uniforms, hair, teeth, and other Scout parts. Much to our surprise, Rock was there, looking spiffy in his brand-new Scout outfit. The Scoutmaster team in charge of inspecting tents announced that all tents were approved, except Teepee #34, and would Scout Shinn please come forward.
“Scout Shinn, why wasn’t your bed made?” the stern-looking Scoutmaster inquired.
“It was – hones it was! I made it before breakfast – honest!” I pleaded in wide-eyed innocence.
“Then why does it look like you just got out of it? No effort at all was made to straighten it out.”
“But I did! Maybe it was……….” I suddenly remembered Rock sleeping in, and started to explain. But Rock was in the line of Scouts right behind me, and then too, I remembered him switching beds with me the night before. My stomach sank.
“Scout Shinn, are you a Boy Scout?” questioned the gruff Scoutmaster. Sounded like a stupid question to be asking a Scout, but I thought I had better answer it.
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, Scout Shinn, have you ever heard that Scouts are neat, orderly, and follow directions?”
“Yes sir, sir!”
“And did you follow our directions to make up your bed and keep your tent orderly?”
“Well, I………..”
“One demerit. Report to Scoutmaster Seaverson in the kitchen immediately. And see that it doesn’t happen again. Who else is in Teepee #34?”
Rock raised his hand righteously.
“Scout Riggotoni, would you be responsible for Test #34, and make sure that Scout Shinn does his duty?”
“Yes sir!” beamed Rock.
My stomach dropped a notch further. Now he was not only the ad hoc boss, he was the authorized boss.
The thing I remember most about washing dishes that first morning was the hot water. It was HOT, and I was miserable. I was missing the first morning of activities, and I knew that tomorrow morning I would be a day behind everyone else.
At lunchtime Scout Riggotoni put his arm around me and said “It’s OK, Shinn. It’s your first year at camp. We all have to learn.” That was sweet of him, I thought, and the head Scoutmaster apparently thought so too, as later I saw him pat Rock on the back in an apparent gesture of praise for helping a young, wayward Scout such as I.
The bathroom at Camp Ugwam – at least the only one we were allowed to use – was a long outhouse with perhaps 20 holes in a long bench, with no dividers between each “station”. I took one long stare in the doorway, saw some older boys gathered in a group at the other end looking at something and laughing loudly, and I decided I could wait until I got home.
It was a long week.
After lunch we had marching drills, and we marched left and we marched right and we marched through the trees and most everywhere. This was probably the easiest part of camp for me, since I had joined the school’s beginner band the year before as a trombone player, and already knew my left foot from my right, and what “about face” meant. Some of the other Scouts apparently didn’t however, as there were several head-on collisions before the drill was over.
After drill we were excused for the afternoon to pursue whatever recreation we desired. I desired to go home, and wondered how far it was over the hill and back down to Soda Springs. I figured I could use the phone there, and had visions of my Dad & Mom and big brother picking me up and calling me “Duane” instead of Scout Shinn. But the first evening’s warnings about the bears in the mountains outside the camp sufficiently dissuaded me from my vision.
Willie wanted to go swimming, and I thought that sounded good too. We pulled on our trunks, headed for the lake that was situated directly behind the lodge, and took a headlong leap of faith into the chilling waters of Lake Ugwam. As I hit the water I recalled that I sometimes got leg cramps at night in bed, and sure enough, in the rarified atmosphere of 6000 feet and the ice water of Lake Ugwam, my hamstrings in both legs cramped up like the Scout-approved knot I always wished I could tie. If you’ve ever had the glorious experience of having both hamstrings cramp at once, you will appreciate the fact that I was very fortunate indeed to make it to shore at all, even thought it was just a few feet away. That ended my swimming for the week, and the next five afternoons were spent trying to get some sleep, since the cramps, having been started by the 33 degree water, persisted each night thereafter, probably because of the elevation working on the freshly cramped muscles.
In any case, I knew I was not cut out to be a Scout, and daydreamed a great deal about low-elevation baseball fields, beds with firm mattresses, and bathrooms with doors on them. Willie, meanwhile, kept busy exchanging baseball data with every fan he could unearth, which included the head cook, a widow whose husband had once played 3rd base for the Portland Beavers of the old Pacific Coast League. That got Willie not only some fascinating baseball stores of the old days, but also a tasty preview of the desserts being prepared for the evening meals, since the widow lady was thrilled that someone was interested enough to listen to her baseball stories about her husband’s career. Willie’s curiosity was only exceeded by his energy level, and many a night when I was painfully trying to get my legs straightened out, I would hear this “whack – crack – swoosh – whack” sound outside Teepee #34. It was a moonlighted week on nights, and Willie got in some extra batting practice by throwing rocks up and hitting them with his bat. Why some Scoutmaster didn’t put an end to it, I’ll never understand, but no one ever said anything about it. Maybe the other campers and counselors thought it was a bear breaking tree limbs, or the ghost of some Indian warrior haunting the battleground where he had died a hundred years ago. Perhaps it added to the mystery of camp. As my cramps gradually subsided, I fell asleep wondering.
The last night of camp was the climax of our Scout training, when all of us were required to go on the mysterious “Midnight Manhood March” through the forest. Just the sound of it gave me the shivers, and from the talk around camp, most everyone except the very oldest Scouts felt the same. The Scout leaders had done their very best all week to build up this event in our minds, and to make it as scary sounding as possible. I’m sure their motives were excellent, but in the minds of imaginative 9 year olds the images of dark trails at midnight and departed spirits of Indian warriors and bears and mountain lions and getting lost forever in the high Sierras was enough to make us yearn for the security of home and civilization. But that dreaded night was fast approaching, and the only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that if I survived the night, the dawn would bring the bus and the return trip to the comfort and warmth and familiarity of home, with all it represented – like Mom’s cooking, the absence of Scout Riggotoni, and a bathroom with a door.
After dinner Friday evening we were instructed to retire to our tents, lie motionless on our beds, and prepare mentally & spiritually for the great test of endurance and bravery and resourcefulness that lay immediately ahead. None of us had the slightest idea that that meant – to prepare mentally & spiritually – so we lay on our beds and scared ourselves silly with thoughts of the worst that might shortly come to pass. I remember praying “Dear God, I know I haven’t been too good in the past, but if you will get me through this night, I promise to practice my piano lesson 30 minutes every day. Please, God?”
The dreaded event started with a campfire at 10PM. It began innocently enough, with singing and skits and a marshmallow roast. Then came story time, when each Scoutmaster outdid the other at relating stories of Indian lore, Scouts lost forever in the woods, and ghosts of Indian warriors who even at this very moment stalk the hills above Camp Ugwam, searching for a Scout who doesn’t follow orders and wanders off the appointed trail. Eyeballs grew noticeably larger, and the circle of Scouts moved imperceptibly closer in toward the campfire, and away from the darkness behind.
The last Scoutmaster was the best storyteller of all (they had apparently saved the best for the last), and he told an absolutely terrifying tale of the Indian warrior ghost who had ALREADY possessed the body of one of us Scouts around the fire. Without moving our heads in the slightest, we eyed each other suspiciously for any tell-tail sign that the fearsome Indian warrior might inhabit the body of the Scout next to us. As the story went on with tales of raids and scalping, I thought of my Dad, who was stone bald, and wondered briefly if what I had always been told was true – that he had a high fever as a teenager and lost his hair then – or whether possibly he had attended a Scout camp when he was nine in Missouri, and the 200 year old warrior Spirit had found him wandering slightly from the trail, and separated him from his hair.
I slowly raised my left hand to feel if my hair was still intact, and was please to find that it was still there – standing on end in stark terror.
As the storyteller was working the story to a climax in a barely-audible whisper, and every Scout eye and every Scout ear was glued on him in terrified attention, the shrill voice of the head Scoutmaster broke into the silence with “Quick, Scouts! Follow me! The final test of your courage has begun. We must begin our Midnight Survival Test and move along the Ugwam Trail quickly, as we have just received word that the dreaded Warrior Spirit is on the war path, and is close behind us!”
Approximately 76 million Scout goose bumps instantly formed a tight line behind the Scoutmaster, with the end of the line battling for a spot further up in the line. The survival of the fittest was no doubt at work, and the smallest nine year olds soon found themselves at the end of the line, with the smallest of the small at the very end.
Me.
I repeated my prayer rapidly, desperately, this time raising the ante. “Make that an hour, Lord. I really will practice my piano lesson a solid hour every day if you just get me through this.” The darkness behind me was absolutely terrifying, and once I had gotten up the courage to look back, and saw the blackness behind that held every fear I had ever known, I vowed to never look back again, and kept my vow. I even raised my practice-time prayer-promise bargaining chip to an hour and a half, and threw in the offer to stop picking my nose as a sweetener.
The trail wound through the pines and firs, around huge boulders, under fallen logs, past the lake which we could barely make out in the light of the quarter-moon, and who knows where. The only lights were our little beams of Scout-issue flashlights each Scout carried. The outlines of the trees and branches and boulders and crags in the darkness conjured up images of all the stories we had just heard, and dug up a few more out of the recesses of our memories. My imagination added to the terror, as I visualized the movie I had seen the week before – Frankenstein Meets Dracula. No headless horseman could have added to my fear. It was already total.
From out of the darkness behind me came a silent hand which wrapped itself around my mouth, keeping my screams of terror private, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground with my mouth covered and three dark figures holding me down. Surprisingly, my fear subsided a bit, as I suppose it does when one moves from danger on to death. I supposed the figures huddled over me to be the Spirits of Indian Warriors about to take my scalp, but instead they took my pants. The largest of the three threatened me not to tell the Scoutmaster, or I was a dead Scout. Since I thought I was a dead Scout anyway, that really was a welcome announcement of a second chance at life. Perhaps I would survive after all. Perhaps my prayers ad been heard. Practicing the piano sounded utterly fantastic by contrast to my present state.
The three nightriders disappeared back into the darkness from whence they had come, and I sprinted back to the end of the line, which fortunately I could still see in the distance because of the flashlights each Scoot carried. I was so glad to be back that even though I was still at the end of the line and pantless, I actually kind of enjoyed the rest of the trek – like a person back from the dead might enjoy seeing the top half of the cemetery – which was relatively eventless compared to my recent descent into Hell and back.
As we marched back into camp, we lined up in front of the lodge for inspection under the glow of the outdoor lamps, which stood on either side of the lodge door. We stood at attention – 299 Scouts in full dress, and one standing in his underwear.
“Scout Shinn, step forward.”
“Yes sir.”
“Scout Shinn, where in the world are your pants?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“You don’t know where your pants are?”
“No sir.”
Snickers roll through the line of Scouts at attention.
“Why don’t you know where your pants are?”
“Well, sir, I had them on when I started the Midnight Manhood March.”
“More giggles from behind me.”
“You had them on when you started the Midnight Manhood March, but you don’t have them on now. Did you donate them to a cold bear, perhaps?”
Gales of laughter from behind me.
“No sir.”
“Then perhaps they were taken by the Spirit of the dead Indian warrior?”
“Yes sir, I suppose so.”
Scouts now on the ground, holding their sides. Full grown Scoutmasters doubled over in hysterics.
Apparently the Head Scoutmaster thought that might be a good place to leave the issue, perhaps to instill fear into next years’ campers by a rumor that the Spirit of the dead Indian warrior not only scalps selected Scouts, but now also is into de-panting Scouts who wander from the trail. In any case, when he had regained his own composure and the volume of laughter had died down a bit, he dismissed the group, instructing them to go straight to their Teepees. I was extremely grateful for that, and I was the very first to go.
I was frozen by then, of course, having been without pants for the past half-hour or so, so when I got into our tent I immediately opened the suitcase Mom had so thoughtfully packed for me, put on two pair of pants, three shirts, a sweater, and a coat. Over what was left of my Scout uniform.
I crept into bed that way, and fell asleep praying “Lord, if you will somehow get me on the bus tomorrow morning without anyone seeing me, I promise to practice an hour and forty-five minutes a day. I really mean it, God, and if you could somehow make me invisible on the bus so the kids won’t laugh at me, I will practice two hours a day, and even on weekends. And if………………………………………”



Update: You will be relieved to know that Scout Shinn indeed did survive, and lived to keep his promise, more or less. He now teaches piano at www.PlayPiano.com

in Medford, Oregon. Willie McTavish works for the San Francisco Giants in the PR department. Scout Riggotoni is a respected trustee and block leader at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California.

22-Year Old Teachs Worship Music By Ear

22-yr Old Reverend Teaches Millions to Play Worship Music by Ear in Minutes!

http://www.playpiano.com/22yr-old-reverend-teaches-milli.htm

I'm so excited to be writing you about a new resource that will help you learn classic worship music by ear.
As you'll soon see below, this is perfect for someone who wants to play for their church worship service, choir, music group, or simply in the comfort of their own home.
My good friend Jermaine Griggs over at HearandPlay.com just contacted me about his new *REVISED* worship course, GospelKeys 202 Special Edition - "Mastering Worship Chords," that tens of thousands have already
reserved!
Not only is it almost five hours, but it is packed with tons of worship chords, progressions, songs (like "Anointing," "As the Deer," "Thank You Lord," and more), and tons of concepts like "coupling," his "3-4" principle on how to predict what chords come next in worship songs, and special sections dedicated to ear-training and chord recognition. That's actually only the beginning of it.
He covers a systematic way to play worship songs. In other words, he takes you through a song learning process that will enable you not only to learn the songs he shows you step by step, but to master literally tons of worship songs (because most worship songs follow the same basic patterns as you'll see)!
So if you're a church musician and want to play classic worship music --- or, if you're an accomplished musician and just want to learn more chords and concepts, I highly recommend that you check out his course.
The course has just recently been released, so if you like what you've seen so far (and what you read below), I encourage you to take action right away and reap the benefits of their bonus offerings.
Take a look at http://www.playpiano.com/22yr-old-reverend-teaches-milli.htm

Is it possible to create cool "new age" sounds on the piano without knowing a thing about music?

Is it possible to create cool "new age" sounds on the piano
without knowing a thing about music?

I'll admit that for many years as a piano teacher I didn't think so.

But in the last couple years I made a discovery about creating pleasant sounds on the piano that I never would have believed during my earlier piano teaching career.

I recall a physician friend asking me if I had any kind of course he could take that didn't involve learning to read music or music theory or any of the traditional materials.
He had purchased a beautiful Yamaha grand for his daughter to take lessons on when she was growing up, but now she was married and moved away, so he had this grand piano in his living room with no one to play it. He was much too busy in his career to take traditional piano lessons – he just wanted to "doodle" after work in the evening and relax after a stress-filled day at the hospital.

Unfortunately, I told him "no – I don't have anything like that available – sorry!" and that was the end of that story.

But a few months later another student had heard a "new age" pianist somewhere, and loved the sounds he produced so much that they wanted to do the same, and asked me how in the world he got those sounds. They weren't really songs – more like the sounds of nature and running water and nature in bloom.

I have taught piano for 30 years and I'm a firm believer in learning to read music, understand music, and really master the keyboard. I'm no fan of mindless "shortcuts" because I know in the long run they just don't work – you've got to have understanding.

But I also know now that there are many people like my doctor friend – people that would love to be able to make their own "pleasant sounds" on the piano just for their own satisfaction, relaxation, and amusement. They know full well that they will never be full-blown piano players, but still, they would like to sit down now and then and just make some sounds on the keyboard that sound good, feel good, and give satisfaction to them and/or their family.

I should have understood that earlier, because as I think back to my own youth, I recall my Dad sitting down at our old upright piano for a half-hour on a Saturday night and playing some kind of chording pattern that absolutely delighted my Mom and my big brother and I. I guess you know that if I could call him back from Heaven and have him play that again for me, I wouldn't trade the entire London Symphony for that half-hour.

There is a style of music which is quite popular these days known as "new age" music. It tries to capture the sounds of nature – water flowing, birds, wind – that kind of thing. It is very descriptive music, and very relaxing. It's fun to play, too, because there are really no "wrong answers" – anything that sounds nice and pleasant is "right".

After trying for several months to create some of these sounds on the piano, I was delighted to discover that there are some very simple finger patterns that can create some wonderful impressionistic sounds – patterns that can be repeated in various places on the keyboard and in various ways.

And so for those people who just want to make some nice sounds on the piano (or keyboard or synthesizer – it doesn't matter what kind of keyboard) I have created a new DVD video showing 15 different sound patterns such as:

Cascading waterfalls
Wind in the forest
Rainbow after storm
Oriental gardens
Stroll in a meadow
Peaceful morning
Playful kittens
Gentle waves
…and 7 others.

And then after you learn each sound pattern, I'll show you how to link those sound patterns together in various ways so you can create your own song, your own creative symphony that expresses the feelings you want to express.

We use no printed music, of course. All a person needs to do is sit at their piano and watch my hands on the piano, and do what I do. Of course I will be talking and explaining what I am doing, but even if you had the sound turned off you could still follow and duplicate what my hands are doing.

Even if you have played the piano for years, you might just learn something new about patterns & linking – I got some new ideas for myself just by shooting this DVD video! Check it out at http://www.pianoforbeginners.com/CoolSoundsLetter.htm

About Music & Life

Articles by Duane About Music & Life


The Many Incredible Benefits Of Learning Chording Techniques On The Piano - Part OneMany piano players seem to spend their entire lives "chained to the written music." They can sight-read sheet music, but when it comes to knowing what to play when the music blows off the stand and onto the floor, they are entirely lost. [July 28, 2006 03:47:56 pm]
The Many Incredible Benefits Of Learning Chording Techniques On The Piano - Part TwoMany piano players seem to spend their entire lives "chained to the written music". They can sight-read sheet music, but when it comes to knowing what to play when the music blows off the stand and onto the floor, they are entirely lost. [July 28, 2006 03:52:24 pm]
How To Match The Melody Notes Of Any Song To A Chord In Your Left Hand!Is it really possible to know which chords go with which notes in a song without having to depend on the written sheet music? Can you pick out a song by ear and then harmonize that tune with chords that match it? [April 17, 2006 05:51:39 am]
How To Predict Which Chord Comes Next In A SongIt is quite possible to predict which chords will occur in a given song once you know the key of that song and understand the "guts" of music and how chord progressions work. [April 10, 2006 06:52:04 am]
How To Play More Notes On The Piano Without Reading More NotesMost people learn to play the piano by playing just the written music. Playing by written music is exactly what the phrase says it is -- playing the exact notation on a piece of sheet music. But playing by chord symbol is very different. Instead of following the harmony note by note, you follow the chord symbols (i.e. C7 or F) written above the harmonies, filling in the gaps with...well, whatever you want as long as it sticks to those chords. [March 13, 2006 10:36:31 am]
33 Tips For Becoming a Great Piano Player!"There are at least 33 elements that contribute to becoming a good pianist," says Duane Shinn, pianist and owner of Keyboard Workshop in Medford, Oregon. "There are probably more, but without these 33 principles a pianist cannot hope to rise to the level of his ability." [March 08, 2006 02:23:54 pm]
I Know a Man Who Can Take You To NarniaI know a man who can take you to Narnia. Well, not really Narnia, but to the very spot in England where Narnia was born in the mind of C.S. Lewis, author of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, recently featured in the Disney hit movie. [February 04, 2006 06:10:23 pm]
I Like It, But Is It Music?Are you frustrated when you try to explain your taste in music? Fortunately, one of the benefits of learning a musical instrument is a better understanding of your own musical taste. Learn to play an instrument, and soon you will be able to discuss what works or doesn't work for you, in music. [January 14, 2006 08:00:59 pm]
To Make Your Kids More Successful, Teach Them Music!Besides being a sure way to become the life of the party, learning to play an instrument can make your children smarter, better adjusted, and better equipped to adopt a position of leadership in a diverse world. [January 14, 2006 08:12:57 pm]
Learn a Musical Instrument, Prepare for a CareerFrom education to video games, there are careers available for those who happen to have a background in music which the rest of us never see. Each of these fields requires time and study for proficiency, but they represent a career path that is nonexistent for non-musicians. [January 14, 2006 08:15:26 pm]
"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" - Einstein Would Have Loved It!Einstein would have loved the movie "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" because it is filled with not only imagination, but also time dilation and wormholes that tunnel into distant regions of space and time and black holes and string theory and spacetime curvature... all implicated in his General Theory of Relativity. [December 05, 2005 06:34:21 am]
10 Top Reasons You Should Learn to Play 'Chord' PianoThere are roughly umpteen zillion reasons why you should learn enough chords to be able to "chord a song" at the piano. By "chord a song", I mean the ability to play 3 or 4 chords on the piano in some sort of rhythm while you or someone else sings the tune. To do this, you don't need to be a Van Cliburn; all you need to do is learn a few basic chords and be able to more back and forth between them in some organized rhythmic pattern. [October 13, 2005 01:23:35 pm]
Families That Hit Pine Cones Together Stay TogetherIt is said that families that pray together stay together. I think it's almost equally true that families that play together stay together. If play time is the glue of family life, our family is a sticky crew! [October 13, 2005 01:26:25 pm]
How To Dress Up "Naked Music" On The PianoWhat in the world is "naked music?" You know it when you hear it, but the words that describe it sound strange, don't they? We've all heard of popular music and rock music and gospel music and jazz music, but naked music? [October 13, 2005 01:26:44 pm]
Piano Playing For Adults: More Fun Than Sex And Not Nearly As Dangerous!The benefits of adults learning to play the piano are many and varied, but most of all, it's just plain fun. [September 28, 2005 07:19:44 am]
What In The World Would We Do Without Music?What in the world would you and I do if there was no such thing as music? Can you imagine a world without music? No songs, no tunes, no rock, no roll, no jazz, no hymns, no boogie-woogie, no country-western, no symphonies. No singing in the shower. No whistling Dixie? [September 19, 2005 07:21:44 am]
Does Music Impact Epilepsy - For Bad Or For Good?Even though music is not yet used as a formal treatment for epilepsy, the sheer fact that music has shown a potential ability to be a treatment for epilepsy as well as its ability to induce epileptic seizures would seem to indicate that music just might play a more significant role in the human experience than we ever imagined. [August 19, 2005 02:31:10 pm]
How To Play Piano Using Chord SymbolsChord symbols, for modern music with lots of changes, are much easier to read. They function as a sort of shorthand for change-heavy music and are written with four chord parts in mind: the root, the quality, the extension, and the alterations. [August 18, 2005 07:49:36 pm]
Music Therapy: Can Music Really Soothe The Savage Beast?It has long been suggested that "music soothes the savage beast." But is this true? And if it is, does this have any implication where humans are concerned? [August 17, 2005 02:55:43 pm]
3 Quick & Easy Steps To Playing Music by EarPlaying by ear is a valuable technique for many musicians; learning songs based solely on hearing them is a great way to understand song and chord structure. In fact, a great number of rock and pop musicians learned to play their instruments this way. Instead of picking up a book or taking lessons, they concentrated on figuring out the notes and rhythms to a song until it was mastered. [August 16, 2005 07:32:38 pm]
Do you really need college to learn to play music?In the last few years a new dimension to learning music has appeared in the form of the internet - the world wide web. Now instead of being limited to classroom courses, students are free to create their own schedules and learn at their own pace. [August 15, 2005 08:38:53 pm]
How Many Chords Are There, Anyway?Since chords (the main component of harmony) are one of the three most vital elements of music - the others being melody and rhythm - it would be useful to know how many chords there are. And it doesn't matter whether you play piano or guitar or some other instrument - chords are chords. [August 13, 2005 06:16:38 pm]
3 Secrets To Understanding What Makes Music TickIt's no secret that virtually everyone loves music in some form or other. The country-western fan may not like jazz, but he or she sure loves the sound of pickin' & grinnin'. And that's as it should be. If we all liked the same kind of music, there just wouldn't be the variety that is available to us now. We can choose from musical styles ranging from heavy classical and opera to rock to children's songs to Broadway musicals to gospel music to the blues. [August 10, 2005 08:52:22 pm]
Is Your Child Capable of Composing Music? Maybe the Next Mozart?History reports that Mozart was writing minuets by the time he was five years old. Amazing. At five years of age, I'm not sure that I knew the difference between my finger and my thumb and I certainly wasn't composing music. [August 03, 2005 05:25:54 pm]
Can You Really Learn To Play a Musical Instrument From an Online Course?Out of the 250 million people in the United States, about 25 million of them play an instrument of some kind, or at least used to when they were in school and would like to pick up where they left off. Another 30 million or so sing in a church choir, a barbershop quartet, or at the very least, in the shower. [July 30, 2005 05:15:35 pm]
Five Great Practice Ideas I Learned From My Piano Students!Sometimes the teacher learns more from the student than the student does from the teacher. Hopefully, not too often, but today I would like to share with you some great practicing ideas that have come from my piano students over the years. [July 28, 2005 05:48:54 am]
If Seals Can Sing, Why Can't You?Hearing that seals sing really shouldn't surprise any of us. Music is a central element of life. Walk through the forest at night in the eastern part of the United States and you can't help but be moved by the symphony of sound that is created when each woodland creature sings its part. [July 27, 2005 02:24:40 pm]
How To Make a Fortune Teaching Piano (or Guitar, or Drums, or Singing, or...) To BeginnersOpportunities for teaching music are huge. Every year millions more kids get to the age where their parents start thinking about getting music lessons for them, so your prospect list is constantly getting bigger every day. There are plenty of beginners to go around, so competition is really not an issue at all for a person who loves both people and music. [July 26, 2005 10:51:56 pm]
How Many Guitar Chords Do I Need To Know?Most simple songs contain just 3 chords - called "primary chords". So even a stark beginner can learn 3 simple chords well enough to strum along and accompany himself as he sings. But after that, the sky is the limit - there are thousands of possible chords, so it is up to the individual guitarist as to how many he or she wants to master. [July 09, 2005 04:28:01 pm]
Mp3's - The Future of Music?Mp3 music is audio that has been digitally encoded and compressed to make the amount of data smaller without compromising the overall sound quality. Because of it's portability, it promises to be the future of music. [July 09, 2005 10:30:31 am]
How to Become a World Class Expert in Just 20 Minutes a DayIs it really possible to become an expert in some field in 20 minutes a day? It's not only possible, but it's probable if you pick a small area of knowledge that you are excited about. [July 08, 2005 06:06:31 pm]
Improvising On The Piano: Jazz Musicians Do It -- Why Not Other Styles?Jazz pianists improvise all the time. So why not classical pianists, gospel pianists, and piano players of many other styles? [July 07, 2005 09:53:55 am]
Jazz: What In The Heck Is It?All of us know what jazz is when we hear it, but trying to define it is a different matter. With so many variant styles, coming up with an accurate definition of jazz is difficult if not impossible. [July 07, 2005 02:24:11 pm]
What All Do I Have to Know to be a Really Good Piano Player?Many students ask me a question that goes something like this: "What all do I have to know to be a really good piano player?" The answer is multi-facited and depends largely on the motivation and talent of the individual. [July 07, 2005 09:31:16 pm]
Learn To Play The Piano Better By Learning To Arrange Chords & Chord ProgressionsPiano arranging is the process by which you take a written piece of music and rework it with chords, adding new bass accompaniment, fills, or even slightly altering the song's structure. And while it's a process that takes years to truly master, anyone with a basic education in piano and a working knowledge of a few key techniques can create an inventive, satisfying arrangement. It all boils down to one thing: chord recognition. [July 02, 2005 07:25:30 pm]
Oh My Aching Head! Can Music Really Make You Feel Better?We all know, if only instinctively, that music has a profound effect on us. If we didn't believe that music affects us then singing lullabies to calm children and help them sleep wouldn't be universal. In reality melody, harmony, and rhythm probably impacts the human brain in ways that are far more profound than we realize. [July 02, 2005 07:21:23 pm]
Is Your Child Struggling in School? Get Him (Or Her) Music LessonsPlaying music has been discovered to have a direct and almost immediate effect on the brain of the student. Music lessons have been shown in a German study to have a significant impact on the way the brain functions after as little as five weeks. [July 02, 2005 07:24:24 pm]
Playing The Piano Using Chord Symbols Instead of Being Tied To The Written Sheet MusicPiano improvising and arranging is an art but definitely not a science. It is all based on chords and chord progressions. There aren't any steadfast rules for creating an arrangement, nothing to dictate the limitless potential of your imagination. Musicians learn to arrange by simply arranging - and improvise by improvising -- over and over again. It's a big game of trial and error. But it's also a scientific method: you keep the experiments that work, and abandon those that don't work. [July 02, 2005 07:25:53 pm]
Piano Playing Your Way: How To Have More Fun Playing The Piano Than You Ever Have BeforePiano playing doesn't have to be boring. There's no law that says you have to play a song the same way everyone else plays it. By learning some basic music theory and chord formations, you can have the time of your life playing music like you've always wanted to. [July 02, 2005 07:26:20 pm]
So You Want to be President? Learn to Play a Musical Instrument!From Bill Clinton and his sax to Richard Nixon and his piano, many Presidents and leaders have played a musical instrument. Does Condi Rice have an edge in future presidential elections because she is also a concert pianist? [June 30, 2005 12:44:09 pm]
Church Service Family Style: How a 3 Year Old Preacher & a Beagle Made Our Sunday UnforgettableFamily life can be full of both funny and profound moments, sometimes at the same time. Teaching opportunities come to parents at the most unexpected moments, and wise is the Mom or Dad who can use those moments to build meaningful memories into the lives of their kids. [June 29, 2005 12:27:20 pm]
Music Downloads: Free & Low Cost Ways For Musicians To Get Their Music Known All Over The WorldFor the musician, music downloads are an absolute breakthrough technology, allowing, for the first time in history, for a musician to develop a following without ever leaving his or her house! Marketing possibilities are unlimited for the musicians who avail themselves of this wonderful new technology. [June 23, 2005 03:47:08 pm]
Piano Playing is Easier than You Think When You Understand Musical FormUnderstanding musical form in music is one of the proven shortcuts to better piano playing (or better guitar playing, or any instrument). Form is like the blueprint to a house -- it holds the key that unlocks the musical map of a song or a musical compostition. [June 22, 2005 11:18:29 am]
How To Get An Avalanche Of Free Publicity For Your Home Business!There are many ways you can get tons of free publicity in the form of write-ups in magazines, newspapers, and even radio and TV. And sometimes you can turn family events into human-interest stories that editors like and will publish in their magazine and newspapers... [June 21, 2005 12:00:09 am]
Killer Piano Playing Secrets of a Chord Addict!When a lightbulb comes on in the mind of an individual who is seeking knowledge in some area, it's amazing how much progress can be made in a short time. For piano players and other musicians, that moment of insight that changes lives often has to do with understanding chords and how they progress to create music. [June 13, 2005 09:20:32 pm]
They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano... but When I Started to Play...Is there a "backdoor to piano playing?" Chords are a way in to the world of piano playing without having to go through the front door: years and years of scales, drills, rote practicing, etc. Chords are really a shortcut to understanding and playing music without all the formal training. [June 11, 2005 10:10:03 am]
Musicians: What Chords Do You Absolutely, Positively Have To Know?There are thousands and thousands of different chords in music - everything from basic major chords to minor 7ths to 13ths to suspensions to poly-chords. Someday, you might want to learn all those chords if you don't already know them. But meanwhile, there are 3 chords -- just 3 -- that you absolutely, positively have to know. If you don't know these three, there's hardly a song in the whole world that you could play. But by knowing just 3 chords, you can play hundreds, if not thousands of songs! [June 09, 2005 09:18:51 am]
Music & Citizenship: Can Playing a Musical Instrument Help Your Child Become a Better Citizen?Disregard the popular image of rappers with their ghetto blasters, terrorizing neighborhoods with eardrum-splitting cacophony. Consider instead our delightful school bands and orchestras... and ponder on whether those students might be becoming our best future citizens. Unlikely as it may seem, recent scientific research suggests this hypothesis might actually be true. It appears studying music can, in fact, impact the development of the human personality, especially in the area of socialization. [June 04, 2005 08:28:51 am]
Music & Emotions: Can Music Really Make You a Happier Person?How many times have you turned to music to uplift you even further in happy times, or sought the comfort of music when melancholy strikes? We all know it works -- we just don't know why. Now science is beginning to unravel some of the mystery behind the relationship of music and our moods. [June 02, 2005 05:27:30 pm]
Win Friends & Influence People Through Music -- Is It Possible?Can learning to play a musical instrument really help you "win friends & influence people?" It almost seems like a stretch, but scientific research seems to support the idea. Rock stars aren't the only ones to be popular; there is a direct correlation between music study and the ability to relate will with others. [June 01, 2005 11:06:53 am]
Music & Intelligence: Will Listening to Music Make You Smarter?Will listening to music make you smarter? Will learning to play a musical instrument make your brain grow larger than normal? Questions like these ones have been popping up all over the place in the past few years, and not just in scientific journals either. In recent times the media has been fascinated by the research surrounding brain development and music, eagerly reporting on the latest studies to the delight of the music-loving parents of young children. [May 30, 2005 09:33:37 am]
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The many incredible benefits that come from learning chording techniques on the piano!

The many incredible benefits that come from

learning chording techniques on the piano!

Do you know the incredible benefits that come to you by learning chording techniques on the piano?
There are many -- way more than just 10. But due to space limitations, I'll just list 10 out of hundreds:
1. By learning chording techniques, you are at least quadrupling your chances of creating exciting new sounds on the piano -- sounds that most other piano players have no idea how to create. That's because arranging using chord techniques is open-ended -- there's no end to the styles and applications you can eventually learn and apply.
2. Learning chording techniques in NO WAY interferes with your ability to sight-read music. Some ill-informed people think it does, but not so! Ask any great jazz musician from Dave Brubeck to Andre Previn to Oscar Peterson to Chuck Corea to.... They ALL read music prolifically, yet choose to apply chording techniques to song after song, creating many of the great classic tunes we all know, like "Take Five", etc, etc.
Knowing chords and being able to apply techniques to those chords actually HELPS YOU TO SIGHT-READ FASTER, because instead of just seeing groups of random notes on the sheet music, you can see chord patterns forming and dissolving into yet another chord, another chord progression!
3. Knowing chords and applying chording techniques allows you to become a first-rate accompanist for singers and other musicians, should you want to do that. You will be able to "wrap the chords" around the singer to support them, rather than be in competition by playing the melody from the sheet music. You'll be able to create fills and counter-melodies and a host of other devices that can make you the most desired accompanist in your area.
4. By knowing chords and chording patterns you will automatically open the door to opportunities to play at places you never could if you only "play music as written". When people hear you play, they will immediately sense that "this person knows what they are doing", which can very well bring invitations to play in fraternal clubs, churches, community centers, and even weddings and funerals. I have had students of retirement age who have fulfilled their lifelong dream to play in public, even if in a small venue. I recall a CPA in Washington State who took lessons from me by cassette for a couple years and got good enough to play at a local restaurant-pub on weekends. He didn't need the money, but just LOVED the opportunity to play for folks and have them sing along.
5. Being able to apply chords to song after song means you NEVER HAVE TO PLAY A SONG THE SAME WAY TWICE! When people see me play, they often ask me to play the song again -- but are often surprised when I play it again, since I create new chord progressions and fills and improvisations each time -- so it never sounds the same.
There's a classic story about Erroll Garner, the great pianist and composer of the classic song "Misty". A lady came up to him after a concert and raved about how he played "Misty", and asked him to play it again the same way. His reply was "I can't remember how I played it last time -- but I'll play it again anyway", which greatly surprised the lady.
6. Knowing chords and chord progressions will give you a confidence you've never known before. It's exhilarating to know that you're no longer "tied to the written music", but are free to soar through the musicphere unhindered by traditional limitations! If you've never known such a feeling you are in for the musical treat of your life.
7. Knowing chords and chording techniques is "self-feeding". That is, the more you apply the techniques you know, the more new techniques will gradually become apparent. For example, once you master left-hand chords in a "hand-over arpeggio" form, if will some day occur to you that you can do the same in the right-hand. That will not just double your potential in that area, but multiply it exponentially, because you will come to see opportunity after opportunity to apply those arpeggios in many different ways -- from "music box" sounds to "waterfalls" to "flowing river of sounds" techniques and so on.
8. As you become more and more proficient with chord applications, you may discover that other musicians want to play along with you. Many a combo, band, worship team, etc. has been formed simply because one musician heard another playing, and liked what they heard. That not only leads to friendship and opportunities to play in some public forum, but also is a wonderful way to learn even more new techniques from the other members of the group!
9. Music theory, which once looked like a giant puzzle to you, now gradually becomes self-evident as you understand more and more about music and how it all works. I recall taking a music theory course in college after playing in a small group for a few years, and it was so easy I challenged the course after a couple weeks, and easily passed it. Years later many of my young private students (I used to operate a teaching school for years names "Piano University") challenged the course too, as they started their college work.
And the more you master chords and their implications, the easier music theory will become for you as well.
10. You'll just plain-old have FUN once you get the hang of it. Many of my students have no intention of ever playing in public, but want to play for their own relaxation after work, or just for fun with the family.

That's great and as it should be. Each of us has different needs and different goals, so what we do with our piano playing is entirely up to us.
Piano playing is one of the most satisfying hobbies you could possibly have, and the more you "do your own thing" on the piano in the way of arranging songs using chording techniques, the more fun it becomes!
So what are you waiting for? Jump in and enjoy it!
http://www.chord-piano-music-lessons.com/

Crash Course in Exciting Piano Syllabus

Crash Course Syllabus

http://www.pianolessonsbyvideo.com/syllabus.htm

(Except words can't really describe everything that's happening on the screen as Duane explains and demonstrates each technique...but this will give you a rough idea of the exciting stuff that lies ahead)

Week One – You’re On Your Way To Playing Piano Like You’ve Always Dreamed!
Week one's journey into the world of piano starts at the very beginning: the piano keyboard. After a brief review of the texts and their methods, you'll be introduced to the keys themselves, learning quickly to find middle C and to identify a number of notes in the C major scale. Duane explains right-hand fingering techniques, register and basic musical notation before walking you step by step through the melodies of your first two songs. But melodies are only half the battle; the lesson then moves on to the chords and left-hand accompaniment that a full, complete sound requires. Using the pointer system -- a method by which chords and their fingerings are learned -- Duane shows you several in a set of C major scale family chords, giving you the ability to play well-known songs like "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Lightly Row" with both hands.
After being taught the fingerings and structure of your newly learned chords, you'll move on to the fundamentals of music theory and reading. New terms such as staff, clef, measure and bar line are explained fully, as are their sister concepts rhythm, melody, harmony, time signature and note value. Duane shows you the essentials of music reading and guides you through several songs geared toward exercising your knowledge, stopping along the way to explain any new concept or idea. It's a slow, careful method of learning the basics, one punctuated by a short quiz to test what you've learned thus far.
The last several minutes of this first lesson move in for a close-up, giving you a bird's eye view of Duane's hands as he again demonstrates the chords, fingerings and exercises included in this lesson. It's a chance to see, in detail, what your hands really should be doing and a valuable tool for understanding and reviewing the techniques introduced in your first week.
Week Two Of The Exciting ‘Crash Course’ in Piano Playing for Adults
Week two starts with a basic review of the techniques learned in week one; you'll briefly cover the chords, fingerings and exercises practiced during the first week to ensure your ability to easily move forward to week two's new concepts. After warming up and solidifying your week one lesson, you'll be introduced to three new notes, widening your note knowledge to an entire eight-note octave. Duane demonstrates the new fingerings needed to accommodate this extended range and shows you the technique used to play an entire C scale with only one hand. He'll then slowly guide you through a new song that covers every note you've learned in the C scale and exercises your ability to play them with the proper fingerings; the song also allows you the opportunity to practice your left-hand chord accompaniment.
The lesson then moves on to two new chords that supplement the three introduced last week. Again using the pointer system, you'll learn the proper fingerings for each chord and the importance of these chords to the C major scale; Duane also adds a new octave to your range and explains the value of pick-up notes. You'll begin work on two more songs in the main text (including the ever popular "Oh, Susanna") to exercise your fingering technique and chord recognition, learning to practice the left and right hand parts individually before putting the two together. Duane then takes you to the supplementary book to try your hands at "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "On Top of Old Smoky," two pieces that fully test your ability to apply the concepts taught so far.
Week Three
After a quick review of week two's lesson, Duane begins week three by further explaining the key of C and several of its concepts: family chords, principle chords and a bit of scale structure. And while some of these concepts are simply sneak peeks at what's to come in your year-long piano training, the knowledge is valuable to a greater understanding of the songs you've played and will be playing. You'll begin hands-on practice with a new piece exercising your note-reading ability and chord recognition, one that even serves to solidify your knowledge of the C scale's inner-workings.
Practice will then continue with a discussion of the treble and bass clef -- specifically the bass, which is a brand new concept. In addition to reviewing left-hand fingerings, you'll learn to locate and read notes in both clefs using a series of tried and true anagrams. You'll then practice one song two ways: first by reading music and pointer chords only in the treble clef, then by taking those previously learned pointer chords to the bass clef staff (which is different than the treble clef staff as far as note reading is concerned). Duane slowly walks you through both versions of this song, pointing out the important similarities and divulging common tips for successfully understanding and playing in both clefs. You'll also learn the difference between reading music as it's written and in lead-sheet format, the way in which you've been playing accompaniment so far. Instead of relying on chord symbols to guide your accompaniment, you'll begin to read specific notation and understand the benefits of both techniques.
For further technique exercise, you'll be assigned a few practice songs from the supplementary book. These songs function as an essential review; while the main text's songs often focus mostly on the technique most recently learned, the supplementary songs include everything covered so far, allowing you to constantly practice and apply each week's concepts.
Week Three – Focus: Scales & Family Chords
After a quick review of week two's lesson, Duane begins week three by further explaining the key of C and several of its concepts: family chords, principle chords and a bit of scale structure. And while some of these concepts are simply sneak peeks at what's to come in your year-long piano training, the knowledge is valuable to a greater understanding of the songs you've played and will be playing. You'll begin hands-on practice with a new piece exercising your note-reading ability and chord recognition, one that even serves to solidify your knowledge of the C scale's inner-workings.
Practice will then continue with a discussion of the treble and bass clef -- specifically the bass, which is a brand new concept. In addition to reviewing left-hand fingerings, you'll learn to locate and read notes in both clefs using a series of tried and true anagrams. You'll then practice one song two ways: first by reading music and pointer chords only in the treble clef, then by taking those previously learned pointer chords to the bass clef staff (which is different than the treble clef staff as far as note reading is concerned). Duane slowly walks you through both versions of this song, pointing out the important similarities and divulging common tips for successfully understanding and playing in both clefs. You'll also learn the difference between reading music as it's written and in lead-sheet format, the way in which you've been playing accompaniment so far. Instead of relying on chord symbols to guide your accompaniment, you'll begin to read specific notation and understand the benefits of both techniques.
For further technique exercise, you'll be assigned a few practice songs from the supplementary book. These songs function as an essential review; while the main text's songs often focus mostly on the technique most recently learned, the supplementary songs include everything covered so far, allowing you to constantly practice and apply each week's concepts.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week Four – Focus on Inversions & New Rhythms
Week four's lesson dives immediately into chord inversion, a technique used by every pianist to shorten the distance between two similar chords. Duane explains the principles of chord inversion and common tones by examining pointer chords and showing how they can be rearranged to accommodate a more fluid playing style, quickly putting the technique into practice with a series of new songs. He then shows you several ways to add variety to an otherwise simple bass line. Using the pointer system and chord inversions as a guide, he explains various types of bass accompaniments (including the popular swing bass) and how they can be applied to create a more dynamic sound.
This week's lesson also boasts a brief introduction to new rhythms and note types -- eighth notes and dotted quarter notes -- and you'll learn the value and notation of these rhythms by way of a popular German folk song. Additionally, week four's lesson contains new versions of songs you've already played. "Oh, Susanna," for instance, is reworked to include a more complicated pointer bass; it is also markedly longer than the version found in week two. This is the first week that you'll truly begin to see the song levels advance; both the main text and supplementary book now begin to contain more demanding and technique-heavy pieces.
Week Five
Focus: Bass Clef D7 and Broken Chords
Week five takes you back a few lessons to the D7 chord; this time, however, it's in the bass clef. After acquainting yourself with the chord's fingering and placement on the staff, you'll apply the technique to "Faith of Our Fathers," a hymn that focuses on D7, G7, C and F. Duane guides you slowly through the new song, ensuring your ability to play both parts before even attempting to combine them, and counts out each measure to keep your rhythm exact. In addition to helping you master the D7 chord, "Faith of Our Fathers" provides essential practice for inversions, sight reading and chord recognition.
Your sense of chord recognition is exercised even further in the next section with a quiz to test your note and chord reading ability: you'll be given a song containing no chord names and asked to fill in the blanks. After helping you to successfully identify the chords, Duane takes you through the song piece by piece and points out certain clues to help you recognize any chord you come across. You'll then play through the piece and even learn a bit about the practice of resolving chords.
The lesson then moves forward to a brand new concept: broken chords, or arpeggios, in 3/4 time. Duane defines and demonstrates broken chords, teaching you their fingering and how to recognize them in a piece of music. He also explains a bit about the damper pedal and its uses and shows you how the technique can add a flair to broken chords. You'll then move into the supplementary book to apply your newfound knowledge to songs like "Home on the Range" and "This Old Man."
As usual, the lesson comes to a close with a detailed close-up of this week's focus, including the D7 chord, broken chord and pedaling techniques.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week Six
Focus: Rhythm, New Chord Positions and Legato Pedaling
Week six delves straight into rhythm, taking you further into a series of concepts only touched on in previous lessons. You'll be introduced to eighth notes -- what they look like, their note value, how they're played -- and shown how they work within a piece of music. Duane explains upbeat and downbeat before going on to discuss quarter notes and how to count measures while you're playing. You'll also be introduced to dotted notes, such as dotted quarters and dotted eighths, and taught how to count them in a similar manner to that of eighth notes. The following songs and exercises, including "Auld Lang Syne" and last week's "Home on the Range," provide you with solid counting and rhythm practice.
The next section focuses on new chord positions for the bass clef. Duane again explains the principles of inversions and shows you the first inversion of the C chord, as well as alternate positions for G7, F and D7. You'll learn the benefits of inversions to complicated, multi-chord songs, and given a series of supplementary pieces to acclimate your hands to the new (and, in some cases, easier) fingerings.
Duane then picks up last week's discussion of pedaling, providing a crash course in all the pedals and how they can be used to achieve a variety of effects before moving on to the legato pedaling technique. After a brief refresher in the damper pedal's workings, you'll learn the finer points of this technique and put the skill to practice in an exercise designed to get you accustomed to legato pedaling and its written notation.
The lesson ends with a close-up showing in detail the new rhythms, chord positions and pedaling techniques.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week Seven
Focus: Keyboard Pointers
Week seven begins with an advanced classical piece, the likes of which you haven't seen thus far into the lessons. Duane takes you through both the left and right hand parts measure by measure and shows you how to check your fingering, seating and hand position before beginning your weekly practices. After successfully getting through the entire song, you'll move on to the first in a continual series of keyboard drills, called keyboard pointers, used to exercise your technique while warming up and training your fingers. The three exercises contained in this first series of keyboard pointers focus on monophony and polyphony, the act of including either one (monophony) or more than one (polyphony) melody in a piece of music. This exercise is designed to teach your hands to work independently of each other, much like the old game of patting your head and rubbing your stomach.
The lesson then moves on to further practice with chords and a new inversion of the D7 chord with a new song designed to renew and work out previously learned techniques. Duane also introduces you to swing bass, a style of bass accompaniment often used when arranging a pre-written song before taking you through another series of keyboard pointers, this time focusing on fingering, rhythm and note reading. The pointers continue your practice with polyphony while introducing eighth notes into the mix as a way to heighten your finger dexterity.
After working with swing bass, broken chords and the process of introducing new rhythms into the bass accompaniment in the supplementary, you'll end the lesson with a longer close-up that runs through all the songs and exercises, including the new, non-written bass rhythms.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week Eight
Focus: Broken Chords in 4/4 Time
After a quick refresher in 3/4 broken chords, you'll start week eight by applying the technique to a new time signature in a popular classical piece. It's a song that covers several skills practiced so far; in addition to honing 4/4 arpeggios, you'll brush up on the traditional block chord, inversion fingerings and even a bit of sight reading. Duane also introduces you to the 2/1 break-up and Alberti bass, two arrangement possibilities; these techniques will be put to practice in the same song used to introduce the 4/4 broken chords.
Encompassing the next section is a new series of keyboard pointers containing more advanced eighth note patterns with varying intervals; the drills maintain your right and left hand independence while preparing your fingers for the advanced techniques yet to come. Also included in this section is a discussion centering on the fine art of mistakes; Duane explains how to correct them, when they shouldn't be troubling and the massive difference between human error and conceptual error.
Week eight comes to a close in the supplementary book, where you'll practice techniques new and old with the ever-popular "Yankee Doodle." Duane takes you through the song as written, making sure you're able to play both the melody and chords before moving forward, and then demonstrates a few arrangement possibilities; the techniques are used to change the bass accompaniment's chording and you'll be asked to become acquainted with the new arrangement before returning for next week's lesson.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week Nine
Focus: Review and Completion of Book One
Week nine's review starts with a song to practice the various bass clef accompaniments shown to you last week. This is where the keyboard pointers really come in handy; you'll move through a variety of broken chord rhythms and attempt a bass clef more advanced than you've previously seen. As usual, Duane walks you through both the right and left hand separately before combining the two, ensuring that you truly get a feel for the piece.
A quiz to test your chord and note recognition ability is next on this week's list; you'll identify chords and fill them in on the staff, locate notes in the bass clef and identify chords in the broken pattern. As this quiz marks the end of Book One, Duane takes you straight to the supplementary book, where you'll learn several new songs to brush up on all the techniques learned so far. A review of damper pedal techniques is then followed by a discussion of arrangement's finer points. Duane dives further into the 2/1 break-up, swing bass and melody octaves before showing you a few fills to add some flavor to any piece you play. You'll practice these techniques in songs such as "Where, O, Where Has My Little Dog Gone" and "I Wish I Was Single Again."
Duane ends week nine with a brief discussion of the benefits of both adhering to the written score and adding the learned arrangement techniques. He also applies these principles to a new topic, intervals and their relation to inversions, finishing up the lesson with a quick introduction to the ways in which understanding intervals can advance your playing and reading ability.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 10
Focus: Completion of Supplementary Book One
This week's lesson is shorter than most, focused solely on getting through the first supplementary book and practicing all the skills learned in the first nine weeks. Each song reviews chords, fingering, right/left hand independence and various sorts of accompaniment to ensure that you've mastered the skills enough to move on to the course's next level.
Duane starts with a few songs to brush up on your previous skills before moving into some arrangement techniques. He explains how to alternate notes, or color tones, when varying the bass accompaniment and the mathematical properties of keys that make them all similar. You'll first go through songs such as "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain," "Polly Wolly Doodle" and "When the Saints Go Marchin' In" as written, gaining comfort with both the right and left hand and understanding the chords and rhythms associated with each song. You'll then begin to arrange each song, adding new bass accompaniments and the few fills learned in previous lessons to add your own sense of creativity, your own mark to the pieces. Duane will show you accompaniments appropriate for the context of each song and even introduce a new technique or two, including the melody fill technique of octave echoing.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 11
Focus: Sharps, Flats, Naturals and Minor Chords
Week 11 is kicked off in a similar manner to week one: with the piano keyboard. This time, however, you'll be learning about the black keys, or half-steps, that represent a scale's sharps and flats. Duane explains sharps, flats and naturals, detailing their purpose, how to identify them and their notation on a piece of music. He also explains how a major scale is formed and how to recognize and name a scale based on just a few characteristics. You'll then be given an exercise to practice the sharps, flats and naturals just learned.
The lesson then introduces three new pointer chords: D, A and F, all chords that place your thumb on a black key. You'll be shown the fingering and note placement of these chords before trying your hand at a song that includes seven individual chords; this piece is designed to provide practice of the old chords while transitioning to the new chords in a careful, fluid motion.
Next comes an introduction to minor chords by way of another set of pointers: Dm and Am. After learning their fingering and note placement, you'll be introduced to the rules of minor pointer chords and taught a template for their construction. Duane also explains the art of playing a piece with expression; he introduces the several notation terms that denote the intended dynamic and demonstrates how to achieve the sounds indicated by each notation.
After learning the bass clef and inverted versions of Am, Dm and E, the lesson ends with a close-up focusing on the hand positions of the new pointer chords and major chord construction.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 12
Focus: Arrangement and Seventh Pointer Chords
Week 12 represents a first for this course; the entire lesson is taught in close-up, enabling you to see the absolute detail in every song. You'll start practice with a song to review the minor pointer chords learned last week then move into an explanation of crescendo and decrescendo. It's here that Duane begins his discussion of arrangement techniques; he starts off with Alberti bass and swing bass, two techniques already taught, then moves into open voice arpeggio, a new way to break up chords. He demonstrates how to voice the chords using this technique and the proper fingerings needed to accomplish it.
The lesson continues with the start of the second supplementary book. You'll practice minor chords and open voice arpeggio with "We Three Kings" before moving on to a sneak peek of other techniques used to add spice and variety to a song. Duane takes you through these techniques, including swing bass and open voice arpeggio, in "Come Ye Thankful People, Come," a song designed also to exercise minor chords, sharps and flats.
An introduction to three seventh pointer chords -- C7, E7 and A7 -- brings week twelve to a close. As always, you'll learn their rules and the methods for identifying and playing them before moving into a few exercises to practice their fingering.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 13
Focus: Tempo Markings and More Arrangement
Your study of arrangement continues in week 13, beginning with a warm-up to practice minor chords and their formation. Before starting a formal arrangement lesson, Duane explains the benefits and importance of counting out loud or tapping your foot while playing; it's an essential rhythmic device used by nearly every musician. He then details and demonstrates upward inverted chording, a new arrangement technique used to add variety to the bass accompaniment. He also steps backward a bit to give a proper introduction to arrangement fillers, demonstrating (but not necessarily teaching, not yet) a few possibilities for adding that sort of non-notated flair to the melody.
After practicing a bit of arrangement, you'll take last week's 7th chords into the bass clef, learning their fingering, inversions and placement on the staff. Duane then introduces you to tempo markings. He tells you what each tempo denotes (as well as the meaning behind all those Italian phrases) and shows you how to achieve a variety of different tempos. You'll put the tempo markings into practice with a new song exercise that includes the 7th bass inversions you just learned. Duane ends the lesson by helping you to arrange this song a bit; you'll play with octaves and various other fillers, in addition to learning walk-ups and walk-downs.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 14
Focus: New Arrangement Techniques and Intervals
"Volga Boatman" kicks off week 14 in a famously dark way; this song is quite possibly the most advanced one attempted so far and requires a great deal of detailed practice. Duane takes you through the piece step by and step, pointing out its intricacies -- including its introduction of the C7 chord -- and guiding you the middle section's key change. He then explains relative minor scales (a concept at work in this song), and shows you how to find and recognize them.
After successfully playing the song as written, Duane takes you through the process of arranging the piece, explaining along the way the benefits of knowing how to both read music and play by ear. He runs through several off-the-cuff arrangements of the piece, stopping between each to explain what he did and the techniques he used. In the process, of course, you'll learn a variety of new arrangement techniques, including both new methods of bass chording and melody fillers.
The lesson then moves to a discussion of intervals and note reading. These topics have been covered before, but this time you'll dig into a deeper understanding of how intervals work and how they can help you read music and even become a better piano player. Duane also explains intervals in terms of arrangement; he shows you how intervals can aid in the improvisation of harmonies.
You'll end this week with a with an introduction to the waltz rhythm pattern and a supplementary book song to practice all of the techniques learned this lesson.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 15
Focus: Chord Recognition
Your week 15 lesson begins with a simple song intended to aid you in the practice of 7th minor chords, tempo reading and note recognition. As always, Duane takes you through the song note for note -- both hands alone and hands together -- before moving on to the variety of ways in which the song could be arranged. You'll apply a multitude of techniques to this song, including the recently learned open voice arpeggio and other types of bass accompaniment chording.
The lesson then moves on to a chord recognition quiz. You'll be asked to fill in the chord names on a song with no markings, testing your ability to identify chords based on their note placement. It's a type of test that frequently pops up and one worth spending some time with; the ability to recognize chords without reading the chord names drastically improves your ability to sight read and opens up a multitude of doors in your playing ability. As a supplement to this quiz, Duane will teach you to predict the chords most likely to appear in a given song, a skill also used to improve your reading ability.
This discussion of family chords guides the lesson through a further explanation of arranging, specifically how understanding intervals and their functions can make the act of arranging all the more easy. Duane takes you through some material in the supplementary book, focusing on both reading and arranging, before ending the lesson with another chord recognition quiz.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 16
Focus: C Major Scale and Keyboard Pointers
This week's lesson begins by looking back to the chord recognition quiz taken as last week's closing activity; Duane goes over each answer in detail, pausing to clear up any hazy concepts and further explain some chord recognition shortcuts. After comfortably understanding the quiz answers, you'll start working on the C major scale, the scale in which you've been playing all along but never completely learned about. You'll learn about the construction of major scales, including a look at the tetrachords that they consist of, and be shown how to play a C major scale with both hands. Duane then assigns a new set of keyboard pointers to practice the C major scale and its fingering.
You'll then move on to week 16's first song, which introduces a melody into the left hand. Duane takes you through both the right and left hand melodies slowly and shows you how to read and play a melody where the bass accompaniment would normally be played, stopping several times to explain the techniques required to execute this properly. Further practice with this concept and others is found in a few supplementary songs, including a different version of the previously played "Down in the Valley" that features a new waltz pattern. As you work through these songs, Duane discusses the benefits of practicing with the hands alone technique and even begins a short introduction to minor scales and their construction.
The lesson continues through another set of keyboard pointers -- this time exercising legato and staccato playing -- before ending with a close-up that focuses on the C major scale and a review of all the songs and pointers covered in this lesson.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 17
Focus: Arranging
Week 17 is a lesson unlike any other (at least previously); instead of going through several songs and concepts, Duane focuses this lesson on one song to show you the multitudes of ways in which one piece can be arranged. After getting comfortable with the song as written, you'll begin work on the left hand accompaniment, trying several styles to see which fits best; first, a review of the swing bass, then some upward inversions. Duane also demonstrates some non-chording possibilities for the accompaniment, including walk-ups and walk-downs.
The arrangement possibilities then shift to the right hand, where you'll try a number of different melody fills. You'll start with a 2-1 walk-down before moving on to two new concepts: lightning runs and breaking up a melody chord into triplets. While exploring the possibilities found in octave fillers and parallelisms, Duane shows you how the pentatonic scale can be used to create a perfect-sounding fill almost every type; he also demonstrates walking the song down to a different key, grace notes and syncopated chording.
And where else would the lesson end but with a discussion of arrangement endings? Duane ends the lesson by quite literally ending the song; he demonstrates a variety of different arrangement endings, explaining the appropriateness and technique behind each option.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 18
Focus: New Arrangement Techniques
Week 18 continues last week's arrangement studies with a detailed look at several new techniques. You'll begin by trying your hand a new song; as always, Duane takes you through the piece step by step, paying special attention to any tricky areas or unfamiliar concepts. It's only after getting comfortable with the song as written that you'll start toying with some already learned arrangement techniques, such as swing or Alberti bass. Duane then explains the principles behind melody fills and introduces two new ones: triplets and turns. He also teaches you about offset chords and color tones -- non-chord tones used to add an interesting element to a tried-and-true chord -- and the contemporary sound that can be achieved with stacks of fourths.
Duane continues to introduce new techniques as you move slowly through the song's arrangement process, focusing strongly on the playful, whimsical nature of the piece. He discusses walk-ups as interesting transitions, grace notes and parallel octaves before moving into a crash course in the various triplet fills available to an arranger, including tripletizing the octave, triplet break-ups and triplet walk-ups.
The lesson comes to a close by moving to the supplementary book for quick work on a new song. You'll review all the techniques learned thus far in the course, focusing again on the whimsical style used in the last song, and even learn a bit about dip-downs and other more advanced arrangement techniques. Duane ends this week with some key advice on using creativity in your own arrangement endeavors.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 19
Focus: Arranging in Different Styles
Week 19 begins with the popular "Good Night Ladies" to review playing dotted quarter and eighth notes in the right hand while the left hand remains steady. It's the actual song version of the polyphonic keyboard pointers exercised several lessons ago; you'll focus heavily on working both hands independent of each other and learn a bit about how varied rhythms piece together to create a coherent whole. You'll practice the song as written, then with Alberti bass, then with several techniques covered last lesson. Duane explains how certain techniques lend themselves to very specific styles and how to evaluate a song's context before deciding which style to apply. After showing you tremelo chords and alternate bass, he puts the style discussion into practice by playing the song in both a western and ragtime styles, explaining along the way the fills used to achieve both sounds.
The lesson then moves on to a popular wedding song that exercises your hand independence as well as introduces two new chords: Fmin and Emaj. This song, too, is used as an example of style discretion; Duane explains how certain arrangement styles wouldn't work with this piece and proceeds to a series of romantic, flowing techniques that complement it as written. You'll begin work on one more song in this lesson before being introduced to augmented chords, a new sort of notation and the technique of splitting chords for an alternative sound.
This week ends with a new series of keyboard pointers designed to practice your hand independence by playing staccato notes in the right hand and legato in the left. You'll also learn about accent signs and how to interpret them in a notated piece of music.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 20
Focus: Completing Main Book Two
Week 20 starts with a song featuring a melody in the left hand and chords in the right; you'll quickly become acquainted with treble clef chording, its fingering and notation. The song also introduces a new notation sign, 8va, used to indicate that a note should be played an octave higher or lower than shown. After playing this song as written, Duane takes you through a brief arrangement focusing on triplets and staccato notes. You'll then move on to "My Bonnie," which introduces a new 3/4 rhythm pattern and double notes in the melody. Again, you'll work on a bit of arranging here, such as placing the melody an octave lower than written and a including a few turns, but the main focus of the arrangement is really to show the number of styles in which this one piece can be played.
You'll then be introduced to a different form of the broken A7 chord by way of another new song, one that includes key practice with octaves and their notation. Arrangement again becomes a focal point here as you learn to play parts of the bass accompaniment in octaves and brush up on the chording patterns and fill techniques learned in the previous arrangement lessons.
The lessons ends with the completion of book two and a new set of keyboard pointers. These exercises include patterns used to work out both the left and right hand, focusing on a the different fingers in different octaves. It's a fairly simple exercise, far less complex than some previously seen, but requires a great deal of dexterity to run smoothly up and down the notated scales.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 21
Focus: The Process of Arrangement
Last week's completion of main book two leaves you with a number of songs to cover in the supplementary book, and what better way to do that than with a more detailed look at the decision-making steps employed while arranging? You'll take each song piece by piece, carefully going through the construction of an original arrangement. Duane guides you through the song as written before reviewing bass broken chord construction and some key points about voice. He then begins a semi-tutorial into the steps of arranging, starting with the right hand. He breaks the melody first into octaves (sometimes adding a harmony note under the octave note), then constructs harmonies for the melody arrangement by working with both new intervals and the written chords. You'll get a solid review of the techniques you've learned so far as well as crucial insights into the newer ones; tremelos, for example, are given some special attention.
Duane then moves into the left hand possibilities, detailing the myriad of ways in which a bass can be altered to create interesting effects. You'll learn about the difference between open and closed voicing, plus receive a brief review of the purpose and technique behind inversions. Duane guides you through the bass arrangement with broken chords and upward inversions, stopping to give some advice about how to achieve full-sounding chording.
The lesson ends with a brief review of the virtual to-do list created this week, as well as a few side-note tips to consider when beginning an arrangement.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 22
Focus: More Arrangement Possibilities
The supplementary book remains the focal point as you move into week 22, another week filled with arrangement practice and techniques. You'll begin with a popular classical piece to warm up your fingers and explore style variety. Duane explains in greater detail the decision-making process required to put a piece in context and choose an appropriate arrangement style; for this piece, he selects a romantic, ballad-like sound and takes you through the techniques used to achieve it. You'll cover arpeggios and appropriate intervals and learn how to create a right hand melody out of both octaves and chords. Duane also explains the series of trials and errors inherent in arranging and how to avoid becoming frustrated by such a process.
After demonstrating a variety of different arrangement possibilities for the song (ensuring that you hear the difference even a note can make), Duane introduces the technique of eighth note repetitive chording and explains how it can be used to make a melody truly stand out. You'll work a bit with dynamics and tempo before moving on to a Scottish folk song notable for its sheer number of notes; you'll, of course, go through this song as written before even considering the arrangement. Duane uses this stylized piece to demonstrate the ways in which a style indication, such as country of origin, can be used to create a familiar sound for the piece. In this piece, for instance, he uses fifth intervals to emulate a bagpipe-like sound reminiscent of the song's homeland. The lesson ends with a review of some techniques learned last week and the quick addition of grace notes and syncopation to the piece you're currently working with.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 23
Focus: Arrangement Review
Still focusing on the supplementary book, your week 23 lesson begins with the American folk song "Blue Tail Fly." You'll play it as written, of course, before going through several arrangement techniques learned in the last several lessons. And not only are you practicing arrangement techniques, you're also covering finger dexterity; working with this song helps you to grow more and more comfortable with the piano keyboard, preparing you for the more advanced techniques yet to come in the course. You'll learn how arranging songs by way of part (i.e., verse and chorus) can allow you to create interesting changes and finish your arrangement of this song by trying out a few chord substitutions.
The lesson's next section focuses on a Welsh folk song with a written parallelism and a focus on dotted eighth notes. Duane talks at a bit more length about phrasing and form, teaching you how to identify parts and use them to your advantage when arranging. You'll review a few melody fill techniques in this song's arrangement and learn how to play up stand-out items like the parallelism.
This week ends with one last song to practice all of your arrangement techniques; it also exercises your finger dexterity and reading ability. Duane again shows you how to maximize arrangement possibilities by focusing on form and spends some time explaining color tones and how substituting minor chords for major ones (and vice versa) can add a uniqueness to your arrangements.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 24
Focus: More Arrangement Review
Week 24 marks another lesson in arrangement, helping you to hone a few essential arrangement skills while dramatically improving your reading and playing abilities. You'll begin in the supplementary book with a new form, the polka, that focuses heavily on staccato notes in the melody and legato in the bass; this polka represents another crucial lesson in left and right hand independence. After playing the song as written, both hands alone and hands together, Duane discusses a few arrangement possibilities but also explains why arranging certain songs, such as this one, can be difficult. Still, he covers the few possibilities available and allows you to brush up on a few techniques not used for a few lessons.
The lesson then moves on to a classical piece that houses lots of notes and lots of techniques; it's definitely a more advanced piece than you've worked with and will inevitably seem a bit scary at first. Because of that factor, Duane slowly guides you through the song as written, showing you how to break a complicated piece into parts to make its reading and playing easier to digest. After gaining some comfort with the written piece, you'll look at the possible arrangements, again focusing on why such a technique-heavy, stylized piece is often difficult to arrange.
The last song in this lesson, "My Darling Clementine," isn't nearly as difficult to arrange as the previous two, and after working with it as written, you'll explore the myriad of available arrangement opportunities. As Duane explains, the songs is a playful one and therefore very conducive to arrangement, especially in a few specific styles. You'll end this week's lesson by adding upward inversion, grace notes and syncopation to the well-known piece.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 25
Focus: New Arrangement Techniques
Chipping away at the second supplementary book, week 25's lesson is another in the art of arrangement. You'll begin with a brief introduction to the jazz waltz by way of "Man on the Flying Trapeze," focusing on all the arrangement techniques learned so far and even learning a few new ones. Duane introduces the syncopated bass and demonstrates how to play it and what to do with the right hand to complement this sort of accompaniment. Additionally, he shows you the six-note slide-down, a fill technique also called an interval slide that adds a jazzy flair to your arsenal of arrangement possibilities.
The next song in this week's lesson is a classic winter song often among the first to be learned by those new to the piano. That sort of simplicity works well for your purposes, however; the song provides an essential review in note-reading and chording patterns as well as giving you ample room to play with your arrangement. Duane gives you a refresher course in breaking a song down by form and shows you how to turn this simple piece into something seemingly more complicated by using the fills you've just learned. He'll also focus on the styles appropriate for this song and take you through a few arrangement possibilities, allowing you to hear the piece in and out of its context. This week ends with another quick glance at chord substitutions and color tones in addition to syncopated melodies and walk-downs.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 26
Focus: Another Arrangement Review
Week 26 kicks off with song encompassing several techniques, both written and arranged, you've covered so far. It also marks the beginning of songs that are generally longer than most you've played before; this allows you to not only step up your reading ability but also gives you ample room to practice you arrangement techniques. You'll play the song as written, both hands alone and hands together, before diving into the well of arrangement possibilities. Duane explains the benefits of reading arrangements for discovering ideas and techniques to add to your playing before demonstrating a number of chording patterns possible for the piece at hand. You'll also review the crosshand chording technique and learn to play glissando fills.
The next song in this week's arrangement review is a well-known waltz used to practice several techniques learned this far. After playing through the song as written, you'll add upward inversions and octaves to the piece and experiment with a few different chording styles. Additionally, Duane introduces you to parallel sixths and shows you the methods used for adding this technique to certain arrangements.
This week ends with another well-known waltz, this time used to practice creating a bigger sound in your arrangements. Duane shows you the techniques especially deft in adding fullness to a song and reviews inversions, alternate notes and other fills.
Week 27
Focus: Finishing Supplementary Book Two
This week's lesson begins with the last song of week 26: a well-known waltz used to practice several arrangement techniques; you'll again play it as written and then begin focusing on a host of new chording and fill techniques. Duane starts the technique lesson by teaching you echo fillers and cascades, pausing to explain the methods behind runs and passing tones. He then moves into a more detailed discussion of open voicing and upward inversions and demonstrates the straddle-down as an interesting melody fill.
The lesson then moves into a discussion of tension and contrast. Duane explains the principles and importance of building conceptual dynamics within an arrangement and demonstrates the theory by showing techniques that can help with this concept. He also explains how to create a counter melody and runs through a number of different waltz arrangements to show the possibilities inherent in the piece.
The second and last song contained in this lesson (and the supplementary book) is the Italian folk song "Santa Lucia." You'll play the piece both hands alone and hands together, practicing broken chords, dotted eighth notes and several techniques covered in book two. Duane then moves on to create a very simple arrangement for the piece, focusing on chords in the melody and a variety of arpeggios.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 28
Focus: Key Signature and the G Major Scale
Week 28 dives into book three with an introduction to the G major scale and its family chords. After a brief review of major scale construction and tetrachords, plus a glance at the building of G major, you'll learn the fingering and note placement for this scale. The introduction to the G major scale also provides an introduction to key signature as a whole; this far, you've been playing in C, which contains no sharps or flats. After an exercise to practice playing the scale in both the bass and treble clefs, Duane explains the concept of family chords and scale degrees and shows you how understanding these things can help you with your note-reading ability.
The lesson then moves on to teach you three new G major scale pointer chords and some inversions. After introducing a new song to exercise your ability to recognize and play these chords, the lesson goes in for the close-up to show you the new chords and scale in detail, including their fingering and inversion; additionally, Duane demonstrates a few arrangement techniques for the first G major scale song. You'll begin work on a second song while still in close-up view, focusing heavily on left-hand staccato beats and syncopation at the song's parallel parts.
Review by Mollie Wells


Week 29
Focus: Arrangement Techniques and Keyboard Pointers
Week 29 begins with last week's last song. Since you've already played through it as written, you'll now focus on a particular arrangement technique for the piece: walk-downs and walk-ups in the left hand. Duane explains the effect of the technique, when it can be used and how to execute it before demonstrating it within the context of the song. You'll also learn a turnaround walk-up and a particular ending that works well in Gmaj and adds variety and color to the end of a song.
You'll then move on to the first set of keyboard pointers in book 3. These short pieces focus on playing the G major scale with one hand, exercising your finger dexterity, technique and note-reading abilities. You'll also practice family chords in the G major scale and become acquainted with the chords in both the bass and treble clef.
The last section of week 29's lesson introduces "Marine Hymn," your first march of the course. You'll practice reading broken chords in Gmaj and playing the scale in both hands, learning to recognize the family chords found in the G major scale. After playing it as written, Duane walks you through the form of the song and demonstrates some arrangement possibilities for the piece, again focusing on walk-ups and walk-downs. You'll end this week by practicing octaves and harmonies in the treble clef as well as learning to add descending octaves to your arrangements.
Review by Mollie Wells

Week 30
Focus: Octaves and Arrangement Review
This week's lesson, shown entirely in close-up, begins with last week's "Marine Hymn," focusing on the arrangement techniques covered previously -- but this time up close and in detail. You'll again practice playing broken chords and recognizing notes in Gmaj, paying careful attention to the fingerings and inversions learned in the last few lessons. You'll also re-examine the song's form and continue to practice walk-ups and walk-downs in addition to descending octaves and harmony octaves. Duane also shows you how to add a little something to your octave technique by playing chord notes of varying rhythm on the melody's off-beats.
You'll then move into book three's formal introduction to octaves, including an explanation of the concept and how to read them on a piece of music. You'll learn the fingering and specific techniques required to execute the octaves perfectly before beginning a song that contains octaves in the written form. Duane walks you through the piece, diving even further into the practice of playing octave melodies. This week's lesson draws to a close with the well-known "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," a piece again focusing on octaves in the melody and allows you to experiment with Duane's earlier demonstration of chord note additions on the melody's off-beats.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 31
Focus: Practice in G Major
Week 31's lesson, shorter and again shown entirely in close-up, focuses on your playing and reading ability in the key of G major. You'll begin your practice with "Chipanecas," paying careful attention to the chord construction and octave melodies; the song works with broken chords in 2/4 time, a new position of the Amin chord and the introduction of the C augmented chord, or Caug. Additionally, you'll practice reading and playing counter melody and contrary motion. Duane guides you through the piece both hands alone and hands together before showing you some arrangement possibilities, including echoing rhythm, and encouraging you to take the reigns and try some of your own ideas.
The lesson then moves on to "Home on the Range," which includes a written swing bass, a new A7 chord position and, of course, more crucial practice in the key of G major. As always, you'll work through the song as written, ironing out any difficulties with the bass accompaniment or new chord position, before trying your hand at a little bit of arrangement. Duane shows you how upward inversions, walk-ups and walk-downs can complement this song, as well as demonstrating the effect achieved by playing the melody an octave higher than written.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 32
Focus: Keyboard Pointers and Review Quiz
This week's lesson, another shorter one intended for reviewing and solidifying your playing techniques, begins with a new keyboard pointer. It's a bit different than the keyboard pointers you've practiced before; this time, the exercise is an actual song used to practice a variety of techniques. You'll work with third intervals, legato playing and note reading while concentrating on the song's broken chord accompaniment and melody harmonies. Duane guides you through this exercise slowly, ensuring that you absorb every important point and then moves into a tiny bit of arranging, showing you how to offset notes within a melody.
The second part of this lesson is encompassed by a quiz to test your knowledge of chord recognition and form. Like the above keyboard pointer, this quiz is a full (and somewhat complicated) song containing several techniques. You'll first be asked to identify the chords within the song, challenging your sense of chord recognition. Then, you'll be asked to analyze the key and form in which the song is written. After help you to successfully fulfill the quiz requirements, Duane takes you slowly through the song as written, focusing on the melody/bass contrast and parallelisms that dominate much of the piece. He'll then demonstrate a few arrangement possibilities, including twangs and grace notes.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 33
Focus: The B7 Chord and F Major Scale
Week 33's lesson starts with a practice song that introduces a few new concepts. First, you'll learn the B7 chord and its fingering and inversions, quickly moving on to study a new inversion of E7. You'll also be introduced to some new notation that indicates dynamic and tempo changes within the piece. Duane helps you slowly work through the song as written, paying close attention to the new inversions and chords, before starting on the arrangement. You'll cover the hand-over arpeggio and block-chord style in addition to learning a bit about chord substitutions.
You'll then be introduced to a new key and scale: F major. After a review of how major scales and tetrachords work, Duane teaches you the fingering, note placement and key signature of this scale. You'll also look at the F major family chords: Fmaj, B-flat-maj, and C7, learning their pointer positions and inversions. Duane shows you how to play the F major scale in both the treble and bass clef before moving on to a well-known classical song to practice these techniques. You'll go through the piece hands alone and together, focusing on the pointer positions and inversions of the above-mentioned chords and learning to recognize the chord structure with the F major scale.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 34
Focus: Practice and Keyboard Pointers in the F Major Scale
Week 34's first exercise is a popular folk song intended to practice your ability to play the F major scale and its accompanying family chords. You'll approach this piece in a slightly different manner, however; instead of jumping right into a hands alone or hands together run through, Duane shows you how to analyze the song's form before even attempting to play it. He'll explain how identifying parts and chords prior to playing a song is beneficial to your reading abilities, pointing out all the subtleties within the piece's form. After a solid analysis of the form, you'll play the piece as written and then attempt an arrangement. Duane provides you with a review of several arrangement techniques and also teaches you the turnaround walk-up and some chord substitutions.
You'll then begin work on a new set of keyboard pointers in the F major scale. These pointers concentrate on the scale in both the treble and bass clefs, focusing on a new fingering and some new treble clef chord positions. After studying and practicing the pointers, you'll move on to a new song -- a famous lullaby -- practicing 3/4 broken chord patterns within the F major scale. You'll also concentrate on some arrangement techniques to play up the sweet, flowing sound of the piece, such as taking it up an octave, adding Alberti bass and a bit of syncopation.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 35
Focus: Arrangement and Form Analysis
Week 35's lesson begins with another F major song, this time including broken chords in a 4/4 rhythmic pattern. After going through the song as written, you'll begin an analysis of the song's form to determine the most appropriate and interesting arrangement. Duane introduces and explains descending bass (and why it works best in a 4/4 time within a piece that includes a lot of sameness) and how to switch time signatures in an arrangement. He also demonstrates the broken octave technique, occasionally adding some syncopation to play up melodic elements, and works through a number of different arrangements to show you the nearly endless possibilities.
The lesson then moves into the third supplementary book, starting with a gospel hymn in the key of G major. As usual, you'll practice the song as written before moving on to several possible arrangement techniques, including adding intervals and octaves below the melody. You'll continue your practice with a classical song, also in G, that focuses on a staccato melody and broken chord pattern. Duane ends the lesson by reviewing several notation and arrangement techniques with a waltz in the key of G major.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 36
Focus: Arrangement Techniques and the B Diminished Chord
This week's lesson begins with an explanation of the alternating bass, a technique used to employ different chord tones when playing the swing bass. After teaching you how to properly execute the technique, Duane guides you through a piece intended to practice this style of bass accompaniment. This song also introduces a new chord, the B diminished chord (or Bdim), and shows you how to use it within the song's context. In the process of helping you master this song, Duane explains chromatic passages and how they can be identified within a written piece or used as an effective arrangement technique. You'll get a chance to exercise this new skill within an arrangement after learning to play the above song both hands alone and hands together.
Week 36's lesson continues with a song in the third supplementary book, the classic favorite "On Top of Old Smoky." It's a somewhat simple song and therefore conducive to a productive review; you'll exercise your abilities with a multitude of third intervals in the melody and a steady swing bass accompaniment. Once you get comfortable with the song as written, you'll start work on an arrangement, focusing on the various styles in which this song could be rearranged and brushing up melody octaves and full chording in the bass.
Review of Mollie Wells
Week 37
Focus: Playing and Arranging Practice
Week 37 starts in the third supplementary book with a G major scale song that includes a 3/4 broken chord pattern. You'll work through the song as written, gaining practice with the G major family chords, then begin a sort of arrangement review. Duane takes you through the process of adding a third interval to the melody, playing the accompaniment in Alberti bass and explains a bit about parallel sixths and their effect on an arrangement. He also discusses endings in more detail, showing you how to break up a chord and play it in two octaves to finish off a song.
You'll then begin working on a waltz in G major, going through the piece both hands alone and hands together. This song features a written alternate bass, which Duane demonstrates before moving into a discussion on comfortably glancing at your hands without losing your place in a piece of music. He also talks about finding the perfect alternate notes and begins arranging the waltz in a variety of styles. You'll practice breaking up chords in three octaves, a fast run up the keys. You'll also review the 2-1 break-up and straddles before switching the melody to the left hand. Duane ends this arrangement review by teaching you the techniques needed to execute four-note runs, 3-1 break-ups and new sorts of syncopation.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 38
Focus: Arrangement Techniques and Practice
Week 38 continues in this course's tradition of solid arrangement practice with a G major hymn in the third supplementary book. Duane helps you to analyze the chords and inversions used in this song before going through it hands alone, focusing on each part and its fingering. He then slowly plays it hands together and begins an arrangement. You'll start by adding notes under the melody (as dictated by the chords found in the bass accompaniment) and including octaves in the bass. You'll also be introduced to paths, forms of the walk-up that skip a few notes instead of running exactly up the scale, and shown various ways to use them in a bass accompaniment. In the process of working with these arrangement techniques, Duane demonstrates a few chord substitutions that house color and passing tones. He also introduces and explains suspended chords.
The next song in this lesson is quite possibly the most difficult piece encountered so far. It contains a complicated rhythm pattern filled with eighth notes in both clefs and serves as not only on exercise in note reading an chord recognition but also in finger dexterity and hand independence. After carefully working through this piece as written, paying close attention to the complex rhythms, Duane guides you into some more arrangement, reviewing several techniques covered both in this lesson and previous ones. He closes this week with a discussion of register changing and a demonstration of the call-and-response effect that can be achieved by carefully switching octaves at pre-determined parts.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 39
Focus: Creating Medleys
Week 39's lesson, entirely in the third supplementary book, focuses on three similar songs and how they can be turned into a one-arrangement medley. Before even beginning work on these songs, Duane explains the principles of a medley and where you can use them to the best effect; for instance, this medley, which includes the song "Prayer of Thanksgiving," could easily be used as a church arrangement.
You'll start with the first song by carefully identifying the primary chords and passing tones. While helping you do this, Duane explains the importance of analyzing these elements, especially when it comes to creating a medley. You'll then work through the song as written, hands alone and hands together, and begin creating a variety of possible arrangements including techniques like Alberti bass, melody octaves, arpeggios and upward inversions.
Your work with the second song will be extremely similar to the first. Like before, you'll identify and analyze the song's form and chord structure and play the piece hands alone and hands together before beginning an arrangement. This arrangement, however, will include full chording and a variety of octave techniques.
After performing the same analysis and practice tactics with the third song (and, of course, arranging it), Duane demonstrates one possible way to combine these songs into a medley. He then begins an explanation of medley-making principles, such as creating an introduction, including dynamic and tempo variety and using chord substitutions and inversions to easily flow in and out of songs. He also introduces the concept of theme and explains how it works as an underlying principle in all medley creations.
The lesson ends with one more, non-medley song, this time practicing the key of F major and the swing bass.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 40
Focus: More Practice with Arrangement
Week 40 again takes you to the third supplementary book, where you'll be working with a number of arrangement principles and techniques. The lesson's first piece, "There's a Tavern in This Town," begins with an analysis of chord structure and form, making sure that you truly understand the piece before even attempting to play it. After successfully identifying the chords and naming each part, you'll play the song both hands alone and hands together; as always, Duane guides you through this song step by step. You'll then begin arranging the piece by taking a close look at its context to determine the appropriate style, ragtime in this case. Duane demonstrates a ragtime arrangement and reviews the techniques, like swing bass, tremelos and echoing melodies, that are often associated with the form. He also introduces the two-step, a new syncopated fill for use in your right hand melodies, and the act of walking up half steps instead of whole ones.
The next song in this lesson is a slower, more romantic piece that includes an Alberti bass accompaniment and a new sort of accent mark; Duane explains this new concept in detail before beginning work on the song. After practicing the written material, you'll analyze the chord structure and form to create a new arrangement based on part changes, one that includes chord notes in the right hand, arpeggios in the left hand and a number of different color tones.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 41
Focus: Keyboard Pointers and Review
Week 41 immediately dives into a new sort of keyboard pointer; this time, you'll be working with a short piece to practice your staccato and legato phrasing. You'll practice both hands alone and hands together, analyzing the form and acquainting yourself with the broken chord accompaniment. Duane guides you through the exercise carefully, playing the piece slowly at first, then gradually increasing the speed. You'll then move on to another exercise that contains a melody in the left hand and a new position of the F chord; additionally, you'll be introduced to a new dynamic marking, the tenuto marking.
The first official song of the lesson (one of the most advanced songs in the course) includes an element not yet seen in this course's pieces: an introduction. You'll work through the introduction separately, hands alone and hands together, before beginning to analyze the remainder of the piece, which contains C7 arpeggios and four-part chords. It's a song to work through slowly; it includes a lot of jumping around and may take some time to truly master.
The next song is a classical opera piece that features a new position of the broken C chord and treble and bass tones combined to create a full chord. As usual, you'll work through this song slowly, taking each part separately before combining them. You won't, however, attempt any arrangement of this piece; the piece itself is practice enough.
This week's lesson comes to an ends with a keyboard quiz to test how quickly you can read and play a song. Duane reviews the process of analyzing a song to get a grasp of the piece before even placing your fingers on the keyboard. You'll be asked to identify the chord structure and to find the form and theme, all of which can be done before playing the song. The lesson then provides a brief, formal introduction to the western bass and shows you how the accompaniment technique looks on the musical staff.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 42
Focus: Boogie Bass and Finishing Book Three
Week 42 kicks off with a new bass pattern, the boogie bass, which is almost exactly like the western bass. Duane teaches you the notation and techniques used to execute this style and also discusses the ways in which boogie and western bass are differently, namely in style's treatment. You'll work with a brief exercise to get acquainted with the boogie bass and also to practice your staccato phrasing before moving on to "Bustin' Boogie," your first boogie bass song. You'll, of course, work through the song as written, but since it's written in a very steady, tight style, Duane teaches you a number of ways to loosen it up and make it immediately distinctive from the western bass.
As the boogie bass study represents the final lesson of book three, you'll then move on to the task of working through the third supplementary book, starting with "O, Canada." It's a somewhat simple song, one used to review many techniques covered so far. You'll then move on to the Italian folk song "Maddalena," practicing the swing bass and damper pedal techniques hands alone, before beginning work on another piece that introduces Fine and D.C. Al Fine, two new musical notations; Duane fully explains and demonstrates the concept behind these. The lesson ends with one more song in the supplementary book, another simple review that you'll play hands alone before combining the bass accompaniment with the melody.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 43
Focus: Finishing Supplementary Book Three
This week's work in the third supplementary book begins with a famous waltz that includes a somewhat varied chording pattern in the left hand and octaves in the right. Duane takes you through the song as written before beginning an arrangement; you'll work with upward inversions, offset octave chords and a number of different runs.
The next song in the supplementary book includes a right hand melody very much unlike anything you've done before; it encompasses a number of different octaves with written-in echoes. Before beginning work on this song, Duane explains the idea behind echoes and the way to execute them to achieve the most interesting results. You'll play the song slowly once then gradually increase the tempo, focusing on the chromatic passages written into the piece. Though it doesn't necessarily require an arrangement (and you won't be assigned one), Duane demonstrates a possible arrangement style for a song such as this.
Your next song, "O, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie," includes a steady western bass and accompanying melodic style. After practicing the written song, Duane shows you how to loosen up the steady western sound into a playful arrangement using syncopation, octaves and twangs.
The lesson (and the supplementary book) ends with "Hot Time Boogie," a piece that focuses on boogie bass and staccato phrasing. Like the last piece, you'll run through it as written and then begin to loosen up the steadily written bass accompaniment with a number of arrangement techniques, such as two-steps and grace notes.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 44
Focus: 2/4 Time and Sixteenth Notes
The first lesson in book four marks the beginning of week 44, where you'll be introduced to the 2/4 time signature by way of "Tinker Polka." Duane explains how the time signature works, where the stresses are and how to count it before taking you through the piece hands alone, focusing on the staccato and legato phrasing. You'll then be introduced to sixteenth notes, the shortest note value you've worked with this far. You'll learn what they are, how to count them and how to find them in a piece of music, putting your new knowledge to the test in an exercise designed to practice your sixteenth note skills. After showing you a few arrangement techniques that work especially well with sixteenth notes, Duane guides you through "Arkansas Traveler," a song that includes not only sixteenth notes, but also 2/4 time. While arranging, Duane will also show you how to execute chromatic runs.
The lesson then moves into the fourth supplementary book and a song to practice 2/4 time with eight notes. Duane reviews how to use form to analyze and understand a song before taking you through the piece and its arrangement, which includes syncopation, twangs, half-step slides and a descending bass.
After playing as written the last song, "Billy Boy," (which again features 2/4 time), Duane shows you how to transpose, or change the key, of a song. Using scale degrees and intervals, he walks you through the process of a transposition, then experiments with some arrangement possibilities for the transposed material.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 45
Focus: Diminished Chords and Minor Keys
Week 45 begins with a song to show a new, but common, rhythm pattern in 2/4 time: a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note. You'll learn how to count and play this pattern and practice it with a piece including a number of counter melodies. While walking you through the song as written, Duane explains the importance of moving tangentially through the chords to create a flowing, connected sound within every piece that you play. He then begins an arrangement that not only helps you review octaves and Alberti bass, but also teaches you to create your own counter melodies within a piece of music.
The lesson then moves on to a discussion of diminished chords; you'll learn what they are, how to play them and the pointer chord rule for creating them. You'll then begin work on an exercise practicing what you've just learned, one that also introduces the F-sharp diminished chord. Duane guides you through this piece step by step, pointing our the augmented and broken chords, before moving on to a quiz that tests your knowledge of notes and their values. You'll be asked to identify a number of notes, then to add notes that will complete a specific measure; it's essential practice in both note recognition and time signature.
Next you'll learn about minor keys and scales. Duane explains how to construct a harmonic minor scale and how to find the relative minors of any major before demonstrating the fingering used for the A minor scale. You'll then move on to a set of keyboard pointers intended to help you harmonize the A minor scale, play it with one hand and get acquainted with its family chords.
The lesson ends with two pieces, including the Russian folk song "Minka," to further exercise your understanding of A minor. As always, you'll play these songs both hands alone and hands together and also be introduced to the double sharp, a new musical notation device.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 52
Focus: Final Review
Week 52, the last in your year-long jaunt through the art of piano playing, begins with a classical piece in a minor key. It's a complicated piece, one that provides an essential review of several things learned thus far. After demonstrating the song hands together as written, Duane pulls in for a close-up to show you the piece hands alone in greater detail.
The remainder of the songs in the fourth supplementary book are written in figured bass, a chord notation method which Duane defines thoroughly, explaining both the benefits and drawbacks of such a method. He then guides you through the ten songs remaining in the book -- including "How D'Ye Do," "Cowboy Jack," "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" -- and reviews nearly every arrangement technique covered in the course, including octaves, western bass, Alberti bass, tremelos, contrary motion, twangs, grace notes and walk-ups and walk-downs.
The lesson then pulls back out of the close-up for a final discussion of everything covered this year, including a retrospect look at everything you've accomplished. Duane ends this final course with a good-bye and encourages you to continue your piano studies beyond this year of lessons.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 46
Focus: Practice in the Supplementary Book
Week 46 dives right into the fourth supplementary book with a 2/4 piece helping you to practice sixteenth notes, broken chords and staccato phrasing. After playing the song as written, Duane shows you the possible arrangement techniques, focusing on swing bass, octave thirds, graces notes, chording and the half-step slide.
The lesson's next song again provides practice with sixteenth and eighth notes but this time adds a new chord: the D minor 7 chord, or Dmin7. Duane explains Dmin7 and its fingering and inversions before discussing it's relation to the F chord and how the two can be completely interchanged for arrangement purposes; this sort of interchangeability is what makes the concept of chord substitution work. After playing it as written, you'll begin arranging the song by adding sixths and half-step slides.
The third song is an instant review of the key of G major. Again, you'll analyze the piece's chords, form and theme before playing it as written. While walking you through the piece, Duane explains how to use non-scale tones to add tension, creating a chord that desperately wants to be resolved. You'll briefly cover some arrangement possibilities, but as this song is somewhat advanced and difficult to arrange, the majority of your work will be spent with the written version.
The lesson's last song, a fairly simple one, features more practice with sixteenth and eighth notes. You'll practice note and chord recognition while playing through this piece and also learn to interchange syncopated and non-syncopated elements within a melody.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 47
Focus: More Practice in the Supplementary Book
This week's lesson starts with a review song in the F major key. You'll brush up on the key's family chords, analyzing each one included in the song, before beginning hands alone practice. As you play, Duane points out the important elements within the song, such as the use of sixteenth notes. You'll then move into a classical song with which to practice the A minor key. The structure and rhythm of this piece is fairly simple, providing a focused review of the key and its fingerings. What's more, the piece switches to a relative major in its middle section, allowing Duane an opportunity to explain relative major scales and how to recognize them within a piece of music. You'll also analyze the song's dynamics and climax, paying close attention to both of these concepts.
The next piece is a well-known lullaby in A minor, again including a brief visit to the relative C major scale. The piece also provides an introduction to continuity bass, a variation of swing bass accompaniment that stays steady at the chord for a bit longer than swing bass does. After playing the lullaby's written version, you'll begin an arrangement using arpeggios in the left hand and echoing harmonies in the right.
This lesson's last song, "Lavender's Blue," is a simple C major song that focuses on your note-reading ability and finger dexterity. You'll analyze the song and review the key's most likely chords before playing it hands alone, continuing into an arrangement that includes arpeggios and passing tones.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 48
Focus: Supplementary Practice and the Key of E Minor
Week 48, another spent entirely in the fourth supplementary book, starts with a piece intended to help you practice diminished chords in 2/4 time. This song also demonstrates the delicate balance often needed between the right and left hand parts, a concept that Duane helps you fully explore during your eventual arrangement of this song.
The lesson's next song deals with several different rhythm patterns that aid in your practice of right and left hand independence. Additionally, you'll be playing a counter melody (and at one part, the melody) in the left hand, again reinforcing the sense of balance and independence between your hands. Duane takes you through this song both hands alone and hands together but doesn't include any arrangement techniques.
You'll then move on to another song similar to the second in that it focuses on the balance and independence of your hands with different rhythmic patterns. As the song is a bit more complicated than any of this lesson's pieces, you'll work on it hands alone and hands together without any exploring any arrangement possibilities.
The lesson ends with the popular "Greensleeves," which provides an introduction to the key of E minor, G majors relative minor. The song is rhythmically simple, allowing you ample room to not only practice your technique with E minor, but also to add a number or arrangement techniques after mastering it as written. Duane guides you through an arrangement that includes swing bass, grace notes, octaves and even introduces a new cadence technique used to end the song.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 49
Focus: Triplets and New Time Signatures
Week 49 begins with a formal study of the C major chord progressions you've learned about in terms of arranging; in the fourth main book, you'll brush up on scale degrees and family chords, moving on to a series of exercises that use the Roman numeral chord system, or figured bass, instead of the chord symbols you've previously been working with. Duane guides you through songs like "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" by way of this notation system, reviewing several arrangement techniques. You'll then move on to a new set of keyboard pointers designed to help you practice a number of skills, including chord recognition, finger dexterity, legato and staccato phrasing and complicated rhythmic patterns.
Next in the lesson is a formal introduction to triplets, a technique you've briefly covered during several arrangement lessons. Duane teaches you their note values and how to recognize and play them before guiding you through an exercise to get used to triplets and their rhythms. You'll get more practice with triplets by way of a new song that includes a bass accompaniment entirely composed of eighth note triplets and then another, a classical march, composted of 4/4 triplets with new rhythm patterns. This song, however, doesn't function only as a triplet exercise; Duane uses it as a sight reading test, asking you to run through the song hands together before attempting it any other way.
The lesson's next section includes a brief lesson in G major chord progressions, which you've already covered during arrangement techniques, and a formal introduction to the key of E minor. After a reviewing harmonic minor scales and their tetrachords, Duane teaches you the fingerings needed to play this scale and solidifies your knowledge with a set of keyboard pointers to exercise those fingerings and the scale's family chords.
Week 49 comes to a close by introducing two new time signatures: 3/8 and 6/8. You'll learn how to recognize and count these time signatures and try your hand at a few practice songs to get the feel for them.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 50Focus: Finishing Book Four
Week 50 starts out in main book four with a classical lullaby to practice 6/8 time with broken and block chords before moving on to a new set of keyboard pointers. You'll practice staccato phrasing, eighth notes and finger dexterity with these exercises in addition to learning a new notation marking. Duane then guides you through a new song featuring eighth note triplets and augmented and diminished chords; you'll also learn a few new chord positions.
The lesson then moves on to a brief review of F major scale degrees and the introduction of the D minor scale. After refreshing your memory on the construction of harmonic minor scales, Duane teaches you the fingering for both the bass and treble clef and guides you through "Charlie is My Darling," a song exercising your skills with D minor, sixteenth notes and complicated rhythm patterns.
You'll finish this week's lesson (and book four) with a few quizzes to test your knowledge of everything learned thus far. The first quiz is a 3/8 song designed to test your chord recognition; you'll be asked to play through the song without any written chord symbols. The next quiz, a waltz in A minor, again tests your chord recognition ability, this time asking you to sight read the left hand and play it as quickly as possible. The last quiz, another based partly on chord recognition, asks you to complete several statements about keys and scales; you'll finish the test by filling in the blanks on a number of written chords.
Review by Mollie Wells
Week 51
Focus: Arrangement Possibilities
You'll begin week 51, a lesson practiced completely in the last supplementary book, with a classical piece written in 3/8; consisting of staccato phrasing, counter melodies and broken chords, the song functions as a review of several techniques. Duane guides you through the song, both hands alone and hands together, explaining the middle section's key change and sixteenth-note pattern. You'll then move on to another, similar song, this time written in 6/8, that focuses on chord recognition and your ability to distinguish between C major and A minor. One more song in 6/8, a march, solidifies your knowledge of the time signature and provides a review for a few arrangement techniques, such as descending bass and melody octaves.
The next song, "Git Along Little Dogies," is a more advanced piece including complicated rhythm patterns in 6/8 time. There's quite a bit to think about while playing this song, so you'll be asked to go through it as written several times before attempting an arrangement. Once you're ready, Duane guides you through a stylized arrangement including western bass, right hand harmonies and twangs before moving on to "Mexican Hat Dance," another 6/8 review piece. Like the previous piece, "Mexican Hat Dance" includes some varying rhythm patterns and the room to create a very stylized arrangement.
Week 51's last song is a minor-key piece designed to test your chord and key recognition abilities. As always, you'll play through it as written before reviewing your arrangement possibilities, through which Duane guides you. You'll review several arrangement techniques with this piece, including right hand octaves and left hand chording.
Review by Mollie Wells

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