It's really not your fault. You see, you've been taught that in order to play piano you need to first learn how to read music, and second, play other peoples music.

Dont feel bad. You're not alone. Thousand upon thousands of frustrated piano students long to understand the "mystery" of creating music on this fantastic instrument only to be let down.

They work so hard learning note reading that they miss the most important aspect - understanding how music works! Guitarists don't have this problem. They jump into chords right away and are satisfied immediately.

For some reason, chords are not emphasized when teachers set out to instruct students. Their agenda usually revolves around starting you out on a series of grade books that progressively moves you up until you can play other peoples music. Absurd!

Now, I'm not saying that note reading is a bad thing. I am saying that there is no reason to start studying the piano this way. If you start by playing chords, you will begin to understand theory. And you will join the ranks of creative people who get it. They know that melody and harmony make music. They get the harmony part first (chord understanding) and then the melody is easy to play!

Of course, there are other aspects of music making that a student must understand if he or she is interested in making music. But by starting with chords, the piano student has quite an advantage over their note reading counterparts.

Edward Weiss

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet!