You are neither too young nor too old to play piano and compose. If you think otherwise, get that fairy tale out of your head.

A few geniuses began at age 3 and burned out in middle age. Gustave Mahler, a modern symphonic artist and Jazz Guitarist legend Wes Montgomery didn’t start serious composing until they were well in their 30′s. Verdi was still going strong at 87. Some of the great pop, jazz, and rock music of our time has been written by musicians who consider the age of 25 as over the hill.

Conclusion: forget about age.

What about music theory? Does it have anything to do with playing the piano and composing a piece of music?

Sounds come first. Theory books and systems tag along behind, explaining in words what you’ve already experienced by ear.

Composing is a hot creative act. Studying theory is a cool analytical act.

Theory explains what is going on in a piece of music. It shows us the machinery that makes the music tick. Training in theory helps sharpen our understanding, and helps the player and composer organize his or her musical materials.

Absorb theory for what it has to offer. But watch out for the trap of rules. In the early stages of playing piano and writing music, rules can be helpful disciplines to help focus our thinking. But given too much importance, rules become handcuffs; break them if you know what you’re doing.

Use your good ears to break through the endless blanket of sound that surrounds our lives.

Direct you hearing. Sharpen your perception. Isolate sounds. Listen, and make yourself aware of your sound-world.

A painting, a statue, and a building have a certain kind of life. All of their parts exist at the same time. But music is like a movie or a stage play: it unrolls slowly, bit by bit. A movie begins, continues, and ends before your eyes. Music does the same for your ears. Your piano playing and compositions live and breathe.

Guidelines for Playing Piano By Ear to Write Music

Begin your sketches with a simple, basic idea: a sound you like, a group of pitches, an interesting harmony, and attractive rhythm pattern, an idea for lyrics, and so on.

Next step: think out a number of possibilities for developing, expanding, exploiting, and contrasting your basic idea.

For example:

1. A group of pitches can be played forward, backward, upsidedown, or with its order rearranged.

2. You can keep the overall shape of a pitch group (the way it moves up and down), but change it by opening up or tightening the distance (interval) from one note to the next.

3. The same pitch group can be varied by changing its speed, meter, or rhythm… or by changing its color through changes of instrumental register (high vs. low).

4. A rhythmic idea, no matter how simple, can be stretched, tightened up, fragmented, or transformed into a repeated figure

5. A rhythmic idea can be applied to differnet pitch groups, or used to give movement to your favorite chord progression.

6. A harmony can be intensified by adding color tones (7th, 9th, added 6th, suspended tones, etc.); or softened by subtracting chord tones; or given a refreshed sound by the way you voice the harmony on the piano.

Try to keep a relaxed attitude toward you study of piano, and an open mind about new ideas that almost always turn up while you’re experiementing with your sketches.

Above all, don’t lock yourself into one way of thinking. After a certain point, a piece may have its own ideas about the way it should deveop; don’t try to force it into a cookie mold!

Let it grow and breathe.

Copyright 2005 RAW Productions

Ron Worthy is a Music Educator, Songwriter and Performer. To learn more Trick of the Trade, go to: http://www.mrronsmusic.com and http://www.playpianotonight.com

Rarely is a chord played with its tones contained in a single octave, the root on the bottom, the third in the middle, and the fifth on the top.

Usually chords are voiced!

This basically means that the positions of a chord’s tones are scattered over the keyboard. The tones may be altered, doubled, added to, missing, and so forth.

There are a great variety of possibilities available in voicing chords. Voicing chords properly is an art within itself. Using the correct voicing techniques in your playing will give your improvisation a hip, mature and full sound. Chords played in root position just does not seem to do the job when playing Jazz, Rock, Pop, Blues, Gospel and Smooth Jazz piano.

Learning and mastering good voice leading techniques in your playing is not difficult if you just follow some simple rules.

1. The most important notes in any chord is the 3rd and the 7th. The 3rd of the chord defines whether the chord is a major or minor chord. The 7th of the chord will define whether the chord is a dominant or major chord. Usually the bass player will play the root and fifth. The root and fifth are not essential tones and can be completely left our from your chord progressions. If you must use the root and fifth try using it in your right hand, not your left. You should add your color tones in your right hand.

2. When you are taking a solo and not comping (accompanying) for another soloist you should play your chord voicings in your left hand, so that the right hand can be free to improvise, do fills, double the left hand, add extensions, etc.

3. The range of your voicings is also very important. A good rule of thumb to remember when voicing your chords, is to always try to voice your chords around middle C. Keeping your voicings around middle C will sound full and clear. Limits of approximately an octave above or below will assure best results by preventing the voicing from assuming a quality of thinness or muddiness.

Ron Worthy is a Music Educator, Songwriter and Performer. He offers online piano instruction for all ages at: http://www.mrronsmusic.com/playpiano.htm

When I tell people I play the piano, the most common reply I hear is ?Oh I?ve always wanted to play but?? Here?s are the top-ten reasons that adults give for not becoming a musician- even though its their secret ambition. Read on for how to overcome these barriers and achieve your dream.

I?m just too busy

Most people assume that you will need hours of free time every week set aside for lengthy practicing to get any good. This idea is a complete fiction- in fact I would say about 5 minutes each day is fine at first (and if you don?t have 5 minutes per day to spare, I don?t believe you!). If you book lessons with a teacher, you will be committing some time at least each week to concentrate on learning, which may even be enough at first.. Don?t kid yourself you?ll be less busy in three months time because if you don?t start learning now you probably never will.

I work shifts/ long hours so I can?t fit time for lessons in

Many teachers will offer lessons in the daytime, evenings and weekends- so you should be able to find something that suits you- just call up some local teachers and ask when they have spaces in their schedule. There are also a good number of online courses for most instruments. Or you could buy a ?Teach Yourself Book? and take it from there.

Lessons are too expensive

Again, you could start off teaching yourself from a book- but not all lessons are as expensive as you might think. I teach in groups, which keeps the cost down for the individual, and also turns lessons into a social activity. Find out if there are any teachers in your area who do this.

I?m too old

Your definitely never too old to learn a musical instrument! In fact I?ve found adults of all ages learn much faster than young children initially. Learning new cognitive skills has even been found to have great health benefits.

?I won?t be able to learn?

Well, I?ve never met anyone incapable of learning to play yet! Obviously people have different standards and ?natural? abilities, they?ll learn at different rates. But everyone will be able to play to some degree. The best thing is to ask yourself what you want to achieve? and then just go for it.

?I?ll never be any good, so what?s the point in starting now?

This depends what you mean by good. OK, I admit if your 57 and never played a note in your life theirs no chance of you becoming a virtuoso after ten lessons. But is that really why you secretly want to learn your chosen instrument? How about learning just for the sheer achievement of acquiring a new skill. Or being able to pick out a few carols at Christmas. Or finally write down and record that song that?s been going round in your head your whole life. These are all achievable goals you could reach after learning an instrument for just a short time. And does it even matter if your any ?good? if you really enjoy playing?

?I?ve been told I?m tone-deaf and so I can?t learn?

The short answer to this is, your almost certainly not. Tone deafness is a very rare and specific condition, and music lessons should help improve your listening skills.

?I don?t think any teachers will be interested in taking on an older learner?

Most teachers I know (including myself) really enjoy teaching adults because they have made the decision to have lessons themselves and appreciate lessons so much more than children who are learning all the time. Maybe your children are having lessons, why not ask their teacher if they could teach you as well? I?m sure they would be pleased to, or at least recommend another teacher with vacancies.

?I?d love to learn again- but I hated my lessons when I was younger?

A lot of adults have horror stories about severe piano teachers rapping their knuckles with rulers for making mistakes, and punishing them for not practicing 30 minutes a day. Luckily, there aren?t many (any?) people like that around anymore. Please don?t let a bad experience from the past stop you from achieving what you want today. Find a teacher, let them know what you want to achieve and I?m sure they will be pleased to help. If you don?t enjoy their lessons, let them know why- music lessons should be enjoyable, and as an adult you will be the one in control, with your teacher there to help you.

?I?ve heard learning to read music is really hard??

Learning to read music is really very straightforward. And some teachers might be happy for you to play by ear. There?s a lot of advice on reading music, on the web which can get you started.

I hope none of these excuses are holding you back from becoming a musician! Good luck in learning to play your chosen instrument.

Polly Powell runs a keyboard and piano teaching studio in North Somerset, UK. Visit the website for further information on music lessons http://www.kweststudios.co.uk

Shell voicings are simple but functional.

They make use of the root and either the third of the seventh any chord. Sometimes referred to as shell voicings, these are commonly used as left-hand accompaniment in the piano stylings of Bud Powell, Horace Silver, Sonny Clark, and others who play primarily in the be-bop idiom.

With only two notes, they are harmonically incomplete; however, they do convey enough information to supplement many right hand melodies or improvised lines, especially those in the be-bop style where melodies are crafted to clearly outline the harmony.

Most Jazz pianists play these kind of voicings in a relatively sparse and percussive manner on medium or up-tempo tunes.

Shell voicings are most effective when the top note (played by the thumb) falls between D below middle C and the D next to middle C. These voicings are particularly useful in support an improvised line played in the middle range of the keyboard, which is stylistically typical of be-bop playing. If your melody or improvisation should dip lower and conflict with a voicing, here are some options:

1. Break the voice leading and pick the other inversion (e.g. Root- 3rd instead of Root-7th) which falls in a lower register;

2. For that moment play only the root, a Root-5th, or nothing at all in the left hand; or

3. Play the entire melody up an octave.

When you apply shell voicings to tunes, it is OK to break voice leading occasionally in order to select the inversion which best complements a given melody note (i.e. does not double it.) Since the voicings are likely to be somewhat rhythmically detached from each other, voice leading with shell voicings is not as critical as with other voicings. Nonetheless, it is still always best to avoid breaking voice leading within ii-V and ii-V-I progressions.

Always remember that any Root-3rd structure may be expanded into a Root-10th which sounds fuller.

Whether or not you are able to use a tenth in place of a 3rd depends upon the size of your left hand and spatial distance the 10th covers on the keyboard.

Physically, minor 10ths are easier to reach than major 10ths. In a ii-V progression, it is more natural to close in from a Root-10th voicing to a Root-7th, rather than expanding from a Root-7th to a Root-10th.

You just have to experiment to decide which tenth intervals fit your hands. But always STOP IMMEDIATELY if you experience any hint of pain in stretching a tenth or, for that matter, while playing anything on the piano.

Copyright 2005 RAW Productions

Ron Worthy is a Music Educator, Songwriter and Performer. To learn more about shell voicings, please visit: http://www.mrronsmusic.com and http://www.playpianotonight.com

When the practicing blahs strike, you just need an attitude adjustment. You don’t have to sweat blood to practice well. You don’t even have to think of it as work, or duty, or even something that you ought to do.

Stop a minute and think about it. You like music, and you want to play some special piece that really means something to you. You want it to sound through you – right through your fingertips.

Okay? Well, you practice it to fulfill that desire, not to frustrate it.

Pause here and ask yourself some questions:

What if you could look at a piece of music for the first time, and play it correctly straight off, just as fine as you please?

How would you feel about practicing then?

Or, what if you were practicing for the Olympic swim meet next year, and felt deep down that you had a chance? How would you feel then about the training? Would you plunge into it each morning?

What if you were interrupted at a good point in yesterday’s practicing? What if you had just about broken through a tough spot when you had to stop? Would you want to get back to it today as soon as possible?

You answer those questions, honestly, for yourself. There are ways to say YES! every day.

But, first, you’ve got to stop blaming yourself. You don’t have to be perfect every time. You don’t have to be the best player, today. And you don’t have to listen to what other people say about your playing – people who are only half listening, and don’t care the way you do.

Put all that out of your mind. What matters is your desire to play as well as possible.

Just start with playing – one note after another, and keep going. As the Chinese say, A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first, step. And, if the very first step leads to the first slip, be glad for it. You can’t, repeat, cannot learn without mistakes!

Now, start to think more personally about your instrument.

The piano, like the guitar, is a touchy instrument. Touch it, and you both produce and color its tones, like a potter molding clay. Think of the keys, all gleaming white, as the skin of the piano; you can either please them or hurt them. Stroke them, and the sound will come out mellow and purring. Poke them, and the sound will either bark sharply or woodenly thud.

Stop thinking of yourself as playing on or at the piano. Rather, think of the instrument as an extension of your own body. When an artificial leg is fitted to an amputee, he is then taught to walk with it. Gradually, it feels more natural – more like his own leg walking. The French call the keys les touches, or touch-points – as if the keys, not you, were doing the feeling.

Every musician wants to personalize this instrument. Take a look at the vocalist who hugs his guitar, or without a guitar, woos his microphone, or, without a microphone, simply woos the audience?

Every musician seeks to make his instrument an extension of his own body, the tool he or she needs to put across the strong feelings he as for the music.

Nadia Boulanger, one of the greatest teachers, put it best: Don’t speak to me of talent; speak to me of desire.

Go to the piano or keyboard not to reproduce a piece, but to experiment with your best way to bring out what is there. There is no one right way to play a piece – no matter how loudly some people protest that there is.

Artists in fact, vary greatly, and audiences return again and again to hear the same piece, as played by pianist X or pianist Y. You simply cannot play a piece twice the same way. Try it!

Here’s how to practice an exercise or a song:

Six quietly, upright and relaxed Hear the music in your head: hear it better than life. Sense its movement and pulse rolling through you, turning and adjusting your own pulse, you are the prime instrument of this music – sitting there alert, tuned by silence, vibrating to is rhythm, lending it your own life entirely.

As you feel the music filling you, heart and soul, you will know that it is getting ready to be born.

When it has stirred you, lift your hands to the keyboard. This is the reason you wanted to play in the first place: to bring alive what has already moved you. And, suddenly, by centering your focus, you’ve turned practicing from a duty into an attraction.

Copyright 2006 RAW Productions

Ron Worthy is a Music Educator, Pianist and Songwriter. He offers online instruction that focuses on Rock, Pop, Blues, Cocktail, R&B and Smooth Jazz piano styles. To Download Your FREE Piano Lesson Video, go to: http://www.playpianotonight.com/VC.html

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.

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When I tell people I play the piano, the most common reply I hear is Oh Ive always wanted to play but Heres are the top-ten reasons that adults give for not becoming a musician- even though its their secret ambition. Read on for how to overcome these barriers and achieve your dream.

Im just too busy

Most people assume that you will need hours of free time every week set aside for lengthy practicing to get any good. This idea is a complete fiction- in fact I would say about 5 minutes each day is fine at first (and if you dont have 5 minutes per day to spare, I dont believe you!). If you book lessons with a teacher, you will be committing some time at least each week to concentrate on learning, which may even be enough at first.. Dont kid yourself youll be less busy in three months time because if you dont start learning now you probably never will.

I work shifts/ long hours so I cant fit time for lessons in

Many teachers will offer lessons in the daytime, evenings and weekends- so you should be able to find something that suits you- just call up some local teachers and ask when they have spaces in their schedule. There are also a good number of online courses for most instruments. Or you could buy a Teach Yourself Book and take it from there.

Lessons are too expensive

Again, you could start off teaching yourself from a book- but not all lessons are as expensive as you might think. I teach in groups, which keeps the cost down for the individual, and also turns lessons into a social activity. Find out if there are any teachers in your area who do this.

Im too old

Your definitely never too old to learn a musical instrument! In fact Ive found adults of all ages learn much faster than young children initially. Learning new cognitive skills has even been found to have great health benefits.

I wont be able to learn

Well, Ive never met anyone incapable of learning to play yet! Obviously people have different standards and natural abilities, theyll learn at different rates. But everyone will be able to play to some degree. The best thing is to ask yourself what you want to achieve and then just go for it.

Ill never be any good, so whats the point in starting now

This depends what you mean by good. OK, I admit if your 57 and never played a note in your life theirs no chance of you becoming a virtuoso after ten lessons. But is that really why you secretly want to learn your chosen instrument? How about learning just for the sheer achievement of acquiring a new skill. Or being able to pick out a few carols at Christmas. Or finally write down and record that song thats been going round in your head your whole life. These are all achievable goals you could reach after learning an instrument for just a short time. And does it even matter if your any good if you really enjoy playing?

Ive been told Im tone-deaf and so I cant learn

The short answer to this is, your almost certainly not. Tone deafness is a very rare and specific condition, and music lessons should help improve your listening skills.

I dont think any teachers will be interested in taking on an older learner

Most teachers I know (including myself) really enjoy teaching adults because they have made the decision to have lessons themselves and appreciate lessons so much more than children who are learning all the time. Maybe your children are having lessons, why not ask their teacher if they could teach you as well? Im sure they would be pleased to, or at least recommend another teacher with vacancies.

Id love to learn again- but I hated my lessons when I was younger

A lot of adults have horror stories about severe piano teachers rapping their knuckles with rulers for making mistakes, and punishing them for not practicing 30 minutes a day. Luckily, there arent many (any?) people like that around anymore. Please dont let a bad experience from the past stop you from achieving what you want today. Find a teacher, let them know what you want to achieve and Im sure they will be pleased to help. If you dont enjoy their lessons, let them know why- music lessons should be enjoyable, and as an adult you will be the one in control, with your teacher there to help you.

Ive heard learning to read music is really hard

Learning to read music is really very straightforward. And some teachers might be happy for you to play by ear. Theres a lot of advice on reading music, on the web which can get you started.

I hope none of these excuses are holding you back from becoming a musician! Good luck in learning to play your chosen instrument.

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