The year
Twelve months. Twelve songs. Four concerts.
One famous song a month, each one teaching the next skill. A recorded performance at the end of every month, a living-room concert for your family every quarter, and a recital at the end of the year.
Month by month
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Month 1: song
Let It Be
The Beatles
Skill: The four chords, steady pulse
C, G, Am and F with the right hand, the root with the left. Changing chords on beat 1 without stopping.
Reading: Chord charts, counting 1-2-3-4.
Milestone
Recorded performance -
Month 2: song
Stay With Me
Sam Smith
Skill: Pop rhythms, the minor feel
The pop-ballad pattern and left-hand octaves, on one three-chord loop so all your attention goes to rhythm.
Reading: Quarter notes, eighth notes and rests.
Milestone
Recorded performance -
Month 3: song
Lean on Me
Bill Withers
Skill: Chords that walk
The seven white-key chords. One hand shape moves up and down the keys, so if you know one chord you know them all.
Reading: How a lead sheet is laid out.
Milestone
Living-room concert 1 -
Month 4: song
Imagine
John Lennon
Skill: Broken chords, 7ths, the pedal
Broken-chord patterns instead of block chords, your first 7th chords, and clean changes with the sustain pedal.
Reading: Rhythm slashes and pedal markings.
Milestone
Recorded performance -
Month 5: song
Hallelujah
Leonard Cohen
Skill: 6/8 feel, arpeggios across the hands
Counting and feeling 6/8. A left-hand arpeggio under right-hand chords, passed smoothly between the hands.
Reading: Counting bars in 6/8.
Milestone
Recorded performance -
Month 6: song
Piano Man
Billy Joel
Skill: Waltz time, slash chords, bass lines
The waltz left hand, and slash chords that turn the bass into a line that walks down the keys.
Reading: A full lead sheet with slash chords.
Milestone
Living-room concert 2 -
Month 7: song
Hey Jude
The Beatles
Skill: Melody over chords, key of F
The big switch of the year: melody in the right hand, chords in the left. Your first black key.
Reading: A melody in the treble clef.
Milestone
Recorded performance -
Month 8: song
Shallow
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Skill: Key of G, root-fifth left hand
Root-fifth patterns in the left hand under a syncopated right hand. On this one, you are the band's rhythm section.
Reading: Root notes in the bass clef.
Milestone
Recorded performance -
Month 9: song
Thinking Out Loud
Ed Sheeran
Skill: Key of D, groove, ii-V-I
A laid-back groove with small fills, and the three-chord movement that turns up in countless songs.
Reading: A lead sheet with melody and chords together.
Milestone
Living-room concert 3 -
Month 10: song
When I Was Your Man
Bruno Mars
Skill: Ballad playing, richer harmony
Putting the melody note on top of the chord, playing soft to loud, and a few color chords.
Reading: The grand staff, with a short arranged intro.
Milestone
Recorded performance -
Month 11: song
Someone Like You
Adele
Skill: Key of A, the signature arpeggio
One continuous broken-chord pattern for the whole song, with a pedal change on every chord.
Reading: Reading the arranged intro pattern.
Milestone
Recorded performance -
Month 12: song
Don't Stop Believin'
Journey
Skill: Band energy, the recital
Driving eighth notes, one of the best-known piano riffs in pop, and ending a song with confidence.
Reading: Sight-reading a short new chord chart.
Milestone
Year-end recital
The first six months stay in the key of C, so you build confidence before any black keys arrive. Then the keys open one at a time.
Every song is in its original recording key, so you can play along with the real record. If you dislike a song, we swap it for one that teaches the same skill.
Living-room concerts and the recital
Every month, a recording
In the fourth lesson you play the whole song with the original recording, and we film it on your phone. Yours to keep.
Every quarter, at your home
Three songs for family or friends. About ten minutes, your sofa, no tickets. It is the deadline that makes practice happen.
Month 12, the recital
Twenty minutes in your living room: three or four songs of your choice from the year, plus a duet with me. Recorded, with a printed program and your Level 1 certificate.