Overview
Course No. 7794
Tickle the ivories and awaken your inner Beethoven with lessons from a master piano instructor—no appointment required! The piano is one of the most gratifying instruments to play and an excellent introduction to the theory and practice of music. From folk melodies and holiday tunes to challenging classical forms or jazzy improvisation, the piano is versatile, allowing both melodic lead and harmonic accompaniment.
In How to Play Piano, you’ll learn everything you need to know to have a great time on the dance floor. Taught by acclaimed pianist Professor Pamela D. Pike of Louisiana State University, these 36 accessible lessons give you the building blocks needed to go from an interested novice to an expressive and talented player.
Blending music theory and history with hands-on examples, Professor Pike takes you on a journey from learning how to sit at the piano to inverting chords, arpeggios, sight-reading, and much more. This course is entirely self-guided, allowing you to practice and work on assignments at your own pace.
Video Lectures
01: Basic Piano Rhythm and Fingering
Familiarize yourself with the piano, perform basic exercises, and explore introductory rhythm patterns. By the end, you’ll know how to play the theme from Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
Duration: 34 min
02: Pitch and Off-Staff Notation
Delve into the concepts of pitch and meter, learn about measures and types of notes, and explore the C major five-finger pattern with your first étude.
Duration: 31 min
03: Tonic and Dominant Harmony
Explore the tonic and dominant notes of a scale and revisit Ode to Joy to understand these concepts in action.
Duration: 31 min
04: Intervals and Basic Notation
Continue working with harmony and melody, and embark on basic notation—the first step toward musical mastery.
Duration: 30 min
05: Major Chords and Simple Accompaniment
Familiarize yourself with landmark pitches as you practice five-finger patterns like C major, and learn about chords, a triad of notes for richer accompaniment.
Duration: 30 min
06: Fourths, Accidentals, and Relaxation
Explore major five-finger patterns and learn how “accidentals” work, featuring tunes like “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Duration: 31 min
07: Primary Chords
Delve more deeply into chords and examine the popular chord progression: I-IV-V-I (tonic to subdominant to dominant to tonic).
Duration: 33 min
08: Transposition at the Piano
Learn transposition—moving a melody from one key to another—and practice with melodies, including “Woodland Jaunt.”
Duration: 29 min
09: Chord Inversions
Understand inverted chords and recognize how they look on the staff, along with correct fingerings to play them.
Duration: 33 min
10: Chord Progressions and Arpeggios
Examine the dominant chord and transpose a new chord progression while practicing C major cross-hand arpeggios.
Duration: 31 min
11: Accompaniment Patterns and Sight-Reading
Discover a practice technique called “blocking” to recognize chord patterns, focusing on broken-chord patterns, waltz patterns, and Alberti bass.
Duration: 27 min
12: Harmonization and Damper Pedal
Learn the final five-finger pattern—G flat—and begin to harmonize melodies using the damper pedal.
Duration: 33 min
13: Minor Finger Patterns and Chords
Shift your attention to minor finger patterns and chords, adding new pieces to your repertoire while you practice sight-reading.
Duration: 29 min
14: Articulation: Legato and Staccato
Consider techniques to enhance the artistry of your playing by exploring articulation, practicing with pieces by Gurlitt and Diabelli.
Duration: 29 min
15: One-Octave Major Scales and Major Intervals
Expand your abilities to play full eight-note scales in C major, G major, and D major, adding new pieces to the mix.
Duration: 33 min
16: Dotted Rhythms and Isolated Repetition
Hone your skills and experiment with new rhythm patterns while studying pieces like Beethoven’s Minuet in G.
Duration: 27 min
17: Secondary Chords and More Dotted Rhythms
Deepen your understanding of secondary chords and use this lesson to review what you’ve learned so far.
Duration: 31 min
18: Sixteenth Notes and More Secondary Chords
Investigate the importance of secondary chords and practice them alongside Beethoven’s Minuet and the Harp Étude.
Duration: 28 min
19: Compound Meter and Technique
Explore new time signatures and practice pieces that help you grasp compound meter, including “Cheerful Tune.”
Duration: 27 min
20: Parallel Major and Minor Keys
Reflect on the relationship between parallel major and minor keys while refining your knowledge of harmonizing melodies.
Duration: 30 min
21: Three Forms of the Minor Scale and Syncopation
Examine the natural, harmonic, and melodic forms of the minor scale while witnessing syncopation in action.
Duration: 33 min
22: Artistic Expression and More Minor Keys
Revisit the expressive quality of music and how to use techniques to convey expression while continuing your repertoire.
Duration: 34 min
23: The Classical Period and Fortepianos
Survey the history of the Classical period and the development of the piano as an instrument, practicing pieces by Mozart.
Duration: 29 min
24: Seventh Chords and Sonata Form
Explore the sonata-allegro form and seventh chords, practicing music by Haydn and Mozart.
Duration: 33 min
25: Sight-Reading and Technique
Tackle sight-reading head-on with new pieces and technical études while polishing your skills on earlier pieces.
Duration: 34 min
26: The Romantic Period and Seventh-Chord Arpeggios
Shift your focus to the Romantic era, examining arpeggios and the influences on composers from this time.
Duration: 35 min
27: More Romantic Repertoire
Refine your repertoire and try your hand at pieces by Liszt, which are tailored for your current level.
Duration: 29 min
28: Sonata Form Revisited
Participate in a musical tradition while revisiting the sonata form and practicing themes from various masters.
Duration: 35 min
29: The Baroque Era and Harpsichords
Discover the history of the Baroque era and the characteristics of instruments from that time.
Duration: 29 min
30: Baroque Repertoire
Enjoy musical treasures from the Baroque era while practicing pieces from composers like Bach and Pachelbel.
Duration: 30 min
31: Deliberate Practice and Learning Music
Learn strategies for “deliberate practice” and work on a new harmonization example in E minor.
Duration: 33 min
32: The 20th Century and Modern Music
Survey common trends in 20th and 21st-century music, including the work of contemporary composers.
Duration: 33 min
33: Chorale-Style Repertoire
Study chorale-style piano music and its variations from various composers, including Schumann and contemporary pieces.
Duration: 31 min
34: Impressionism and the Una Corda Pedal
Explore impressionism and how it relates to Debussy while learning about the una corda pedal.
Duration: 28 min
35: Triplets and Continuing Piano Study
Finish with your final rhythmic pattern—triplets—and reflect on everything you’ve learned throughout the course.
Duration: 36 min

