Duane Shinn (that would be me) has good news for you if you want to play the piano. He (me) has little fat hands & stubby little fingers - not at all suited for playing the piano - more suited to making mud pies or some such. I am also fairly uncoordinated with just average musical ability - certainly not a great piano player. But I've learned a ton about music over the years and people tell me I'm pretty decent at explaining how music works & how to progress more rapidly on the piano. Over the years I have developed about 150 techniques for conquering the piano. Most professional pianists can do these techniques, but very few can explain them in a way people can understand. I specialize in making complex techniques simple. I invite you to watch a few of my free videos and see some of these for yourself before making any decision about taking any of my courses.
Americans love their country. They also love to sing about their country. American patriotic songs have a rich and colorful history. This history spans the centuries and ties the past to the present and citizen to citizen. No American has grown up without learning a few of these top ten American patriotic songs:
Continue reading →Adults often come to the point in their lives when they want to explore new hobbies. One of the most common hobbies adults pursue is learning to play the piano. It may be the first time they play or a return to a childhood pleasure. Whether you’re an adult sitting down to learn the instrument for the first time or you want to brush up on your skills, keep in mind some basic rules of piano practice.
Continue reading →Â Rock and roll piano springs from many different styles. On the surface the early styles just seemed to be blues playing at a high speed, but a closer look reveals a lot more under the surface. Rock and roll … Continue reading →
Last time we talked about how musicians improvise on the 12 bar blues. The other standard form on which improvisation takes place is the popular song. Each popular song has its own distinctive chord progression, plus its own unique melody. … Continue reading →
Using the 12-bar blues form to improvise
Continue reading →Most improvisation is done in one of two basic frameworks:
Continue reading →Tension and Relaxation in Music
Continue reading →As with patting your head and rubbing your stomach, it’s when you are least focused on what you’re trying to achieve that you’ll succeed in playing the piano with both hands. Once you’ve mastered this skill, you’ll find that it becomes such second nature that you don’t think about it anymore, you just put your fingers on the keys, and play!
Continue reading →The Mozart Effect refers to research that suggests that listening to Mozart’s music may cause short-term improvement of spatio-temporal reasoning. This suggests that listening to Mozart before performing a task will help you perform that task better.
Continue reading →Adults often come to the point in their lives when they want to explore new hobbies. One of the most common hobbies adults pursue is learning to play the piano. It may be the first time they play or a return to a childhood pleasure. Whether you’re an adult sitting down to learn the instrument for the first time or you want to brush up on your skills, keep in mind some basic rules of piano practice.
Continue reading →
