Online Piano Course, Piano Pieces and Studies, Piano Training

The ideas behind the method come from many years of research into the learning methods of the past combined with 20 years of experimentation with new learning materials. Keyboard musicians were trained to be fluent in the Eighteenth Century in ways surprisingly unlike current jazz and classical methods. Two hundred years ago, all keyboard players would be expected to improvise. In fact, improvisation was necessary as composers often only provided a bass line and some figures to suggest a harmonic outline: the keyboard musician would then invent his own arrangement. But also, extemporary improvising on the spot was the norm amongst the trained musicians of the day. Today church organists carry on this tradition to a degree but few have the skill to improvise a fugue and in any case their musical vernacular is not the one most of students desire today. The language of music constantly changes and the materials and methods for acquiring fluency in today's musical idioms must therefore change too. Musically Fluent is neither a jazz course nor a classical one. It cuts across many styles and although one cannot declare that it is universal, it does try to be as broad as possible leaving the musician who has attained Level 4 to then continue exploring the rhythmic and tonal idioms of their chosen musical genre(s).

Musical fluency was probably once the norm in the past when our culture had a thriving folk music tradition. A few hundred years ago, people could process the patterns of songs and dances effortlessly and the ubiquitous level of musical expertise was no doubt surprisingly high. Something like this still exists in Latin American countries where ordinary people enjoy amazing musical skills every day - dancing, singing and playing instruments to extremely high levels of skill and all with a fluency that is the envy of many of us Western musicians. The keyboard is readily available as a musical tool for everyone to use. And it is without doubt the instrument which most promotes fluency and literacy. Composers, conductors, producers, band leaders, arrangers - all of whom need to be consummately fluent and literate in the language of music - are generally keyboard players.

Consider that musical fluency might be your birthright every bit as much as the ability to speak, read and write. And the keyboard - an amazing centuries-old instrument - is the perfect tool for generating a musical fluency for this generation and into the future. Computers make professional levels of production and scoring possible for any aspiring musician with the dedication and discipline required to become skilled up: the keyboard is the essential interface between the fluent musician and all this new technology. Meanwhile, the piano in all its forms, is simply a magical instrument. The autonomy it gives a musician - all the notes mapped out, at your fingertips, literally - makes it the ultimate instrument of musical empowerment.

What does it mean to be Musically Fluent? Music, like language, is an essential mode of self-expression. Currently established piano and keyboard teaching methods work well for some but by no means all people. Sometimes students become too focused on theory and notation and this can cramp their natural expression. A preoccupation with 'getting it right' rather than being expressive can generate fear and hence stiffness in music-making. Fluent musicianship cannot grow if a student regards rhythm as 'correct timing' rather than a flow of gestures unified by a flexible structure of pulse and if they see keys and chords as a theoretical system of rules rather than beautiful and meaningful tonal relationships that make sense. We all intuitively know that this is not how music really works. A fluent musician hears music inside and plays it directly on the keys without much thinking.		New ideas or common sense? The ideas behind the method come from many years of research into the learning methods of the past combined with 20 years of experimentation with new learning materials. Keyboard musicians were trained to be fluent in the Eighteenth Century in ways surprisingly unlike current jazz and classical methods. Two hundred years ago, all keyboard players would be expected to improvise. In fact, improvisation was necessary as composers often only provided a bass line and some figures to suggest a harmonic outline: the keyboard musician would then invent his own arrangement. But also, extemporary improvising on the spot was the norm amongst the trained musicians of the day. Today church organists carry on this tradition to a degree but few have the skill to improvise a fugue and in any case their musical vernacular is not the one most of students desire today. The language of music constantly changes and the materials and methods for acquiring fluency in today's musical idioms must therefore change too. Musically Fluent is neither a jazz course nor a classical one. It cuts across many styles and although one cannot declare that it is universal, it does try to be as broad as possible leaving the musician who has attained Level 4 to then continue exploring the rhythmic and tonal idioms of their chosen musical genre(s). Musical fluency was probably once the norm in the past when our culture had a thriving folk music tradition. A few hundred years ago, people could process the patterns of songs and dances effortlessly and the ubiquitous level of musical expertise was no doubt surprisingly high. Something like this still exists in Latin American countries where ordinary people enjoy amazing musical skills every day - dancing, singing and playing instruments to extremely high levels of skill and all with a fluency that is the envy of many of us Western musicians. The keyboard is readily available as a musical tool for everyone to use. And it is without doubt the instrument which most promotes fluency and literacy. Composers, conductors, producers, band leaders, arrangers - all of whom need to be consummately fluent and literate in the language of music - are generally keyboard players. Consider that musical fluency might be your birthright every bit as much as the ability to speak, read and write. And the keyboard - an amazing centuries-old instrument - is the perfect tool for generating a musical fluency for this generation and into the future. Computers make professional levels of production and scoring possible for any aspiring musician with the dedication and discipline required to become skilled up: the keyboard is the essential interface between the fluent musician and all this new technology. Meanwhile, the piano in all its forms, is simply a magical instrument. The autonomy it gives a musician - all the notes mapped out, at your fingertips, literally - makes it the ultimate instrument of musical empowerment.
	The Established Way Traditional classical and jazz piano and keyboard training systems use set pieces, scales, exercises and theory learned by rote. And this works extremely well for some students. The danger is that the student becomes too focused on correct execution of lists of notes instead of perceiving the underlying rhythmic and tonal patterns and their inherent meaning.
This is rather similar to learning set phrases in a foreign language. In the end, you will be able to ask for a cup of coffee or the way to the beach - in a way that tends to sound stiff and rehearsed - but you are given no real conversation skills. And that's absolutely fine, if it's all you want! But so many would-be students of the piano encounter difficulties and frustration. Alternative methods are constantly popping up which may offer a quick fix, focusing on learning a few chords and figures but everyone knows that there are no shortcuts to becoming fluent on the piano keyboard.
	The Musically Fluent Way So an approach is needed to encourage people to play the music they hear inside, expressively and effortlessly on the keys with a deep and intuitive understanding. The Musically Fluent approach does this - trains people to play by ear, improvise, compose and read fluently - see the score and instantly imagine the sounds, just like reading words. It is a 'play-orientated' training system with 7 levels although the 1st 4 are the main focus. Each of these is subdivided into 3 - Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced.
The courses are designed to generate real musicianship in any current Western musical style. Based on fundamental principles, it is both groundbreaking and yet based on tried and tested common sense ideas that provides a solid structure for musical empowerment. The main emphasis is changing the state of the student into a spontaneous and musical one. Fluency is an attitude first and foremost. Upon this firm foundation, the rhythmic and tonal elements of musical language are introduced in a way which is both structured and flexible. BACK