😢

Well done! And that’s not a problem - the people who run into difficulties seem to be the ones who really race through the first few lessons because they seem easy, but then don’t have a strong foundation when things get more challenging later in the course. If you really drill down hard into the first six lessons or so and learn everything in them until it’s second nature, that’ll give you a fantastic grounding that makes things much easier later on. Good luck, and let me know how you get on!

Sorry to hear that - some people’s networks don’t seem to like Google Drive! Drop me an email via www.billspianopages.com/contact and I’ll email the full set to you when I get home tonight!

Let me know how it goes!

Good luck, and let me know how you get on! I’ve talked to a lot of people who have been through the course, and the ones who finish tend to be those (I think) who are very diligent about the first few lessons and learn the very basics good and hard, so that they become instinctive. So keep plugging away!

Basically, yes! Or, at least, they sound OK because they're in the key's scale. As a general rule, anything from the major scale of a key will sound at least OK, most of the time, over most chord progressions (unless they start using chords outside of the key). Sometimes the fourth and seventh notes can cause problems. Even safer is the pentatonic scale (for the major pentatonic, just take the fourth and seventh out of the regular major scale). A key thing, though, is that when you're improvising no notes are "wrong"... it's just that some have different effects from others. If you wanted a really crunchy sound, you might well play Ab and Db over a C chord. They key thing is always to use your ears and listen to what sounds like what on the piano keyboard. I'm really glad you're enjoying the beginners' series. Stick at it, and let me know how you get on!

It's hard to say, but I've talked to a lot of people who have been through the course, and the median seems to be around 10 months. However, I've known people do it successfully in six, but also take 18-months to two years (I should really do a survey...). I wouldn't judge yourself on speed, though, and in particular it's important to resist the urge to whizz through the early material that seems easy - it's essential to get that stuff nailed down. Good luck, and let me know how you get on!

I learned my first blues riff from this man 👆. Happy New Year Rick!

You're really welcome, Samantha - let me know how she gets on, and give me a shout if you ever have any questions!

You're really welcome!

My golden rule is always "work with what you've got!" so I would say do what you can with your 19 keys, but explore ways of getting access to something bigger. Ideally at some point in the future you'll be able to get an actual 88 key piano with sustain pedal, but until then there are lots of things you can do: ask people and places that have pianos if you can have occasional practice on them; buy something maybe just a bit bigger, perhaps second hand; or even draw full-sized keys on bits of paper and use those (I know a guy in Rio who literally did that, and it took him a long way). Some combination of those strategies will do the job - like I said, always work with what you've got. You'll be amazed what you can do with very simple kit. Good luck and come back to me with any further questions or if you run into problems with future tutorials in the series!

@@BillHilton when I get to complicated pieces, like fur Elise or rondo alla turca , will it pose a major problem

@ Much more so than now, yes - ideally for those pieces you need a weighted, touch sensitive keyboard and a sustain pedal (or a real piano!). However, like I said, until you have one of those, do everything you can with what you’ve got - you can learn a lot of theory and really drill down some basic physical skills with a small keyboard. The secret of success, as in any field, is to say “what CAN I do with what I’ve got?” rather than focusing on what it sends you can’t do. Yes, for now you’re going to have challenges someone with a full size piano won’t have, but just getting on with the job can make up for many of those. Does that make sense?

We do like a few British laughs [sips tea, puts monocle back in]. Glad you like my stuff, and give me a shout if you want any suggestions for specific tutorials. I've got a bit of a comment backlog to get through at the moment, so apologies if I don't reply right away - I will, and if I don't, nudge me!

Good luck Nicola, let me know how you get on and shout if you run into any problems!

Greetings in return! Well, good luck with this course, and I hope I set a standard the nuns would approve of! 🇨🇦🍁🇬🇧

You're welcome Victor - Happy New Year!

You're really welcome - good luck with the rest of the course!

I’m glad you like it! Good luck, and let me know how you get on. You should find the choral experience really helps, btw.

Danke Schön, Julia! Good luck with the course and let me know how you progress!

Thank you very much! Yes, improvisation is difficult to make sense of to start with - the secret is to start in a very limited way (maybe just with a couple of notes) and grow gradually.

You're welcome Chris!

Thanks Jack! Yep, looking back at earlier stuff can be a big morale-booster. Btw, a good tip at this stage is to really revise and drill down stuff from earlier lessons. I've recently made a couple of tutorials about things I've learned from people going through the course, and you'll probably find them useful if you haven't already seen them - this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHvaimeAeqxslbs and this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHuUnH2cqJyVfcU -- good luck, and keep me posted with your progress!

@ thank you! I’ll give them a watch :) I’ve also recently been looking at correct posture, it turns out I was sitting way too close to the piano!

Good question! Regularity is the thing: it’s better to do a relatively short amount of piano practice every day, or six days a week, than to do two huge chunks a week. At this stage if you’re doing somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes a day that’s probably ideal. What also matters is the quality of the practice: during that time it helps to be really focussed and testing yourself. Does that help?

This is waaaaaay cheaper! 🤣 Good luck and let me know how you get on with the course!

The road map really is the thing that makes the difference, I think. One advantage you have is a clear goal: play Clair de Lune before you hit 80. The thing to do is focus on the skills that are going to get you there - scales, easier classical pieces etc - which also give you clear intermediate goals. One trick I’ve learned is not to set over ambitious deadlines for goals, but rather to instil the habits (eg daily scale practice) that make those goals happen. James Clear’s book “Atomic Habits” has been a pretty big influence on that regard. Good luck!