Are there really secrets to becoming a really good piano player? Or is it just a matter of practice, practice, practice?

Practice is necessary, of course, but you could practice until the cows come home without understanding what youre doing at the piano, and all you would end up with is fingers that behave obediently to whatever the sheet music or score tells them to do.

Understanding how music works in terms of form and content is the key to productive practice. Then you are not just playing mechanically by rote like a machine, but you can get inside the music and eventually let it flow out of your brain and heart as well as your hands.

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.

So yes there really are secrets to becoming the piano player of your dreams. Its not that anyone is purposefully trying to keep a secret from you, but its a rare teacher who has the ability to not only play well but to be able to explain music theory chords, melody, rhythm, dynamics, and all the other elements that contribute to playing the piano well and with feeling.

In our piano teaching studio at Piano University we have identified 33 distinct skill that must be developed if a person wants to play up to the limit of her or his potential. Here they are:

1 – Hand & Body Position — Should you look down at your hands? How to use eye flips

2 – The key to productive practice — Spaced repetition

3 – Attitude — how it affects your learning

4 – How & when to pedal. Using explosive dynamics

5 – Exposure: why it’s critically important

6 – Ear Training — Intervals from 2nds to 13ths

7 – Fingering — which finger do you use when?

8 – Chord substitutions that create fantastic sounds

9 – Chord recognition — how to recognize what chord is being used

10 – Musical vocabulary: tempo words, form words

11- Arranging: how is your bag of tricks coming along? Head arrangements

12 – Melodic sense: how does the melody relate to the chords?

13 – Sight-reading: 7 fundamentals you just cannot ignore

14 – Key orientation: Can you think in the key you’re playing in?

15 – Scanning the score before you start playing

16 – Mental practice — how to learn music in bed

17 – Repertoire: Why you need one to be prepared for any opportunity

18 – Goal setting: How good can you get? Is there a limit?

19 – Rhythm awareness — samba, bossa nova, bolero, etc.

20 – Why knowing music history is important to you

21 – Idea stealing — how and where & from who

22 – 12-bar blues; creating a motif; blue notes

23 – Extended chords: 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, suspensions

24 – Technique acquisition: rubber balls, fingering drills

25 – Harmonization: Using I, IV & V to harmonize

26 – Key identification: Recognizing key signatures

27 – Voicing: Open, closed, registers, color tones

28 – Improvisation: Making music right out of your head

29 – Harmony & theory: How much should you know?

30 – Stylistic devices: Western, boogie, jazz, etc.

31 – Analysis: How to understand what you’re hearing

32 – Riffs & runs & fills: How to develop them

33 – Cross-pollination: The best of all worlds!

While reading music is important, the individual who develops these 33 basic skills will be light years ahead of the person who simply plays sheet music the way it is written. There is no longer any reason to be tied to the written music when you can master these techniques that allow you to play from the heart.

A complete list of the 33 essentials of exciting piano playing can be found at http://www.playpiano.com/33-tips.htm Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD’s, CD’s, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. His 4-CD and 33-card course titled 33 Tips For Becoming a Great Piano Player! is being used by pianists around the world. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions with over 70,000 current subscribers.

More articles at article database

There 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 dont 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.

For example, did you realize that all of these songs (and hundreds more) can be sung or played with just 3 chords?

Auld Lang Syne

Amazing Grace

Kum Ba Ya

Silent Night

Joy To The World

Jingle Bells

Happy Birthday

Down In The Valley

On Top Of Old Smoky

and hundreds or maybe thousands more!

Add just one more chord to the basic 3, and you can play another thousand songs or so. So why not learn a few chords and start your chording career?

Here are my top 10 reasons for learning chord piano:

1) Its easy. Learn 3 chords and start in.

2) Even though its easy to get started, you dont have to stop there. You can learn more and more chords and more rhythm patterns and get really good.

3) Youll be able to play Happy Birthday while the gang sings it.

4) Youll be able to play half-a-dozen Christmas carols. In case you havent noticed, Christmas comes every year, so every year youll get better as you participate in family gatherings.

5) You can help your kids learn to play the piano, guitar, or most any other instrument by learning chords. Most teachers dont teach chords, so youll be giving your kids an advantage by learning chords.

6) People will admire you. Its true. Musicians are popular. Anyone who can play anything is in demand at parties and social gatherings. And if you can chord while others sing, youre bound to be popular.

7) Piano playing using chords is good for your brain. Studies have shown that people who actively participate in music do their brain lots of good. And since chords require 3 or 4 notes at a time instead of one, you are giving your brain a good workout.

Piano playing, particularly using chords, is good exercise for your wrists and fingers. (Take the time to learn about correct hand position, though!)

9) Piano playing is excellent therapy for the stress of life. Many professional people come home from a hard days work and relax by expressing their emotions on the keyboard. Play a few dark and angry chords, and youll be surprised how much better you feel!

10) Piano playing is a blast. Its just plain old fun. So learn 3 or 4 chords and get going. Maybe youll stop there and enjoy it the rest of your life.

But just maybe youll love it so much that you keep going and turn yourself into an excellent piano player who can read music as well as play chords!

Duane Shinn is the author of the book-CD-DVD course titled How To Play Chord Piano In Ten Days! which has sold over 100,000 copies around the world and can be found at http://www.chordpiano.com/piano-chords.

More articles at articles host