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.
An easy way to break up chords: the Alberti Bass Good morning. This is Duane. Today I’d like to talk about the simplest way to break up chords. It’s called the Alberti Bass. It goes like this. Whatever the chord … Continue reading →
Left Hand Arpeggios – One Way To Play Chords Good morning, this is Duane and today I’d like to talk about left hand arpeggios. An arpeggio, as you probably know, is simply a broken chord. A chord is three or … Continue reading →
Are Music Theory And The Blues Somehow Related? Good morning, this is Duane. Today, I’d like to talk about music theory and the blues. Music theory is behind all kinds of music because all kinds of music can be broken … Continue reading →
Are you using chord inversions in your piano songs? Good morning, this is Duane and today I’d like to talk about the importance of learning chord inversions. Let’s take it right from the start, shall we? An inversion is simply … Continue reading →
What is a fake book? What are chord symbols? Good morning. Chord symbols. You know what chord symbols are? Those little notations above a line of music. They may say just C. That means to play the C chord in … Continue reading →
What do you do with your right hand piano chords? Good morning, this is Duane. We’ve talked a lot about left-hand chords, chords that you play in your left hand while the melody is going on, various kinds of chords. … Continue reading →
Flight Of The Bumble Bee by Rimsky-Korsakov When I was growing up in Auburn, California, I had an older cousin that would visit us each summer for a few days. He could play “Flight of the Bumble Bee” and “Bumble … Continue reading →
Re-harmonizing “Amazing Grace” To Make It More Interesting Good morning. I think everybody in the world knows “Amazing Grace,” not just those in the church, so I’d like to talk about re-harmonizing it. The song is to be played with … Continue reading →
Can you improvise on Canon in D? Good morning. Today I would like to discuss how to get started improvising on Canon in D. The last few videos we’ve talked about the chord progressions in Canon in D. Let me … Continue reading →
Chord Inversions Make Changes Much Smoother Good morning this Duane Shinn. Today I’d like to talk about using chord inversions to smooth out chord progressions. The last few days we’ve been talking about the chord progressions of Canon in D. … Continue reading →
