Chord substitutions using "Silent Night" as an example

You can create your own chord substitutions to freshen up any song just by using a couple simple principles:

Teach Yourself Piano?

Back when I was a kid it was unheard of to learn to play the piano without a teacher. Oh sure -- lots of people picked out tunes by ear, played pleasant sounds and patterns, or learned a few chords from friends. But virtually no one became a competent pianist by teaching themselves.

I took lessons from Mrs. Graham, a nice little old lady who lived by the college I later attended, from the time I was 6 until about 8, when an opening finally occured in the teaching schedule of Luzetta -- the most famous of the local teachers in my home town. I took lessons from her for about 4 years and learned all the scales and drills and hundreds of little songs until I could finally play some easy classics.

But it wasn't until I was 14 that I really took off in my piano learning, and from then on it was a matter of teaching myself and taking a series of 'crash' lessons from professional pianists, most all of whom were recording artists of some sort.

What got me motivated to teach myself? I'm out of time, so I'll tell that story tomorrow.