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.
What In The World Is a Musical Door? As you know, music is composed of individual notes and scales and scale fragments and chords and broken chords, all arranged in a sequence of some kind that we call “rhythm”. And … Continue reading →
How Pianos Are Made In the early part of the 20th century, there were more than 300 piano makers in the U.S. Today there are about 15. Most pianos today are made in Japan. The piano is a stringed instrument with … Continue reading →
Two Hand Piano Chord Formation To Create A Big Sound Good morning, this is Duane, and I’d like to ask you a question. How many fingers do you have? Oh, good answer, good answer. How many chords, how many notes … Continue reading →
What In The World Is “Chord Color Magic”? Good morning. This is Duane. Today I’d like to talk about adding some chord color magic to our piano playing. I’ve taught literally thousands of students over the years, and the easiest … Continue reading →
Kumbaya On Piano – Many Ways To Play It Good morning, this is Duane. Today I’d like to talk about what knowing a few extra chords can do for your piano playing – like Kumbaya on piano. Let’s say that … Continue reading →
“Take Me Out To The Ballgame” – Learn To Play It! Well, good morning, This is Duane and as I’m speaking, spring training is in practice, is in session in Arizona and other places. Baseball season is upon us … Continue reading →
How To Create Fillers Between Musical Phrases As you play through a song it soon becomes apparent that the song is composed of musical phrases instead of a constant flow. If it were not so, music would quickly becoming boring. … Continue reading →
Practice Piano Songs Phrase By Phrase This is Duane again and we’re having a series on practice tips. Today I’d like to urge you to practice your piano songs in phrases. Most people when they practice, they make a … Continue reading →
Piano Fingers – Are Yours in Great Shape? Good morning. This is Duane and we’re doing a series on practice ideas, things that will help you improve your piano playing by way of practice. Yesterday I talked about a … Continue reading →
Here Is an Idea For Your Piano Practice Good morning. This is Duane. We’re doing a series of short videos on practice ideas, piano practice ideas. A swing bass is where you swing your hand from a low … Continue reading →
