Thank you for watching! Get in touch with us so that we can help you liberate your piano playing and ask for our Free Resources Pack: www.contemporaryschoolofpiano.com/contact/

@anwmus

Ай бұрын

Please, what’s the pricing for the courses - I cannot find this information on your website?

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

@@anwmus drop us a line at admin@contemporaryschoolofpiano.com

@johnapple6646

27 күн бұрын

I'm a piano teacher still figuring out how to deal with my students requesting to learn pop songs. This may be the most important video on the subject I have ever seen. Thank you for making this!

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

27 күн бұрын

@@johnapple6646 I'm so glad you've found this helpful, playing and teaching popular music is definitely a dark art!

This is precisely why I always advocate all piano students, learn your chords (not from written notes, learn the structure) and then train your ear. This is critical. Listen and transpose to your instrument then you are unshackled from the chains of terrible sheet arrangements. A little bit of work and I promise you that you will be able to listen to a song, sit down, figure it out and play it in no time. Your style, your way.

@jimmyponds5504

8 күн бұрын

andybarker: For/with me, you hit the note on the head with your comment, "learn your chords (not from written notes, learn the structure).... " I am too "note oriented," if that is the correct description of my lack of learning chords. As your comment recommends, I need to learn the structure of chords!

@andybarker8787

7 күн бұрын

@@jimmyponds5504 it will change how you approach and see the keyboard and music. Look up some chord lessons online and practice major and minor chord inversions and root positions without sheet music and so much I’ll open up to you. You will read music so much better for doing this too.

You are a teacher for teachers

I really think this is the single best video on piano playing I have come across, and I have seen a lot. So much valuable information here. Thanks doesn’t cover it.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Many thanks, I'm delighted to know you've found this helpful!

That Hotel California arrangement was epic.

wow that was really enlightening !!i wish i can play like you one day !! keep up the good work sir and may god bless you🙏🙏

That was GROOVY. KIller arrangement on Hotel California

Sheeeet ! music. Be careful!

You are so right. Chords make the music not the melody notation. Elton John rarely plays the melody in his songs. The reason the songs do not sound right is because sheet music notion has melody notation in the sheet music, most of the time. Your ear hears the recording where the musican is playing the chords.

I have been playing piano for my whole life. You have taught me some great things at age 63. Thank you.

I'm a bassist and when learning a song by ear I listen until I can sing the bass line in my head. Knowing the chords allows me to have a good idea of the notes that would fit within a given key centre. I learned before the advent of KZread so repeated dropping the needle on vinyl or rewinding a cassette was the only way to learn a song without sheet music. Even then the sheet music only had chords & the melody but no bass clef. Ear training is a must.

That melody in Chopin's style sounded really cool.

I’m a professionally trained pianist but have wondered my whole life how to approach popular music. This video summed up all of the issues I’ve had with popular sheet music and provided solutions to them. I owe you a subscription to your school! Thank you immensely for taking time to post this and answer my questions!

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

23 күн бұрын

Dear Paddy. Many thanks for this, I'm so glad you found it useful, It is a matrix isn't it!

@Gottenhimfella

5 сағат бұрын

There are many reasons why pop music's sheet music is generally so limited (unless it's a "transcription" by someone with deep understanding). One is that the publishers figure that their target market is dilettante players, who are either wanting to play without a singer (in which case they need the melody on the keys) or with a singer who needs a lot of prompting and support (ditto). And over time this has created the misunderstanding that the instrumental backing of a pop song includes the melody. As pointed out here, usually it does not, and in most cases, it would ruin the effect if it did. Setting aside this key limitation, the dilettante target market is why the underlying arrangements in sheet music are typically so inauthentic and ineffective. It's very complex and daunting to do a really faithful transcription with grace notes, flams, passing chords, swing time, tempo and meter changes, etc etc. The music would have to cost a lot more and most of the musicians who would play at that level don't really need sheet music in the first place. So demand would be negligible.

I don’t think there is anyone else out there who touches how to create pop music on piano like this. Thank you for this understandable explanation! So good!

@uklum

Ай бұрын

nate piano bases his pop arrangements on chords, with the melody mostly sung. it is standard comping for pop back to jazz standard arrangements using cheat sheets which are just chords written down with melody notated

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

@@uklum yes, I am a big fan of this approach- it makes life much easier to just sing the melody. But so many people want to play the tune on the piano too, and I can understand that. I had to learn these skills for my days when I was a piano bar cocktail pianist!

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Thanks for your kind words: we are currently promoting a course which is a cumulation of my life in music education. If you'd like to find out more you are very welcome to email us at tom@contemporaryschoolofpiano.com with the subject line "Complete Musician" and we have some discount vouchers available to our fans across the web. Your support is very much appreciated and valued!

@uklum

Ай бұрын

@@contemporaryschoolofpiano At my elementary level having a lead sheet style presentation of a pop song keeps it simple so I can comp with the written chords and attempt to sing the melody through the lyrics. It is a great way for me to gain confidence with finding workable inversions and seeing chord progressions. I can also extend this to using 7 chords and other add chords and then I am able to find more jazz voicings. I find now that I don't get much value from sheet music that doesn't include chords written in. At my level it is hard to see the chords within the sheet music and so I don't understand so well how the song is structured. So , for now, I find most value from comping with chords in the right hand and root,octaves or root, 3rd , 5 in the left. You mention incorporating melody for cocktail piano and this is interesting and I hope to be doing this soon. The Heavy Piano artist on KZread and Spotify produces dense, beautiful solo arrangements of pop songs which are very impressive. It's also great to hear Brad Mehldau interpret Beatles etc in solo style. Thanks for the videos and sharing some of your approaches to teaching piano, it is appreciated.

@DV-mq5fv

Ай бұрын

Berklee College of Music

I started piano lessons at the age of 9 and wrote my first song the same year. I'm 59 now. It's beyond me how people can play the piano and not play by ear. How can you not learn where those sounds are on that keyboard? I understand I may have a better ear than average but I firmly believe if you practice it, any pianist can train their ear. It opens up SO much more enjoyment.

This is pretty much exactly how i've been teaching piano for many years, and it's amazing how few adults and even kids today, still are not taught these essential skills, so many teachers out there ONLY teaching classical technique, and reading treble and bass clef.... GREAT SKILLS for sure to have, but not as useful for playing contemporary pop music, as one might expect. Thanks for spreading the word.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Amen!!

Brilliant demo, and as a long time arranger keyboard player much more inspiring to me than many piano tutorials have been, to learn/play more piano style

Thank you so much, my search is over.

Brilliant thank you. Self taught on a keyboard having watched this I find I actually do 90% of it when I play piano…but had no insight as to what I was doing or why it worked, and therefore no way of improving or refining it. The single best video I’ve watched in a long time 👍

Lessons from a Real PRO..😍🙏⚡️⚡️💜

Hello, my dear friend! Thanks for sharing this wonderful lesson!🎹🎼🎵🎶💜 Like👍. Very nice! Always be healthy and happy! Have a great day!

This a fab video showing how important it is to understand and learn songs from the bottom up.: chords, groove, melody, arrangement. Tom’s video’s are always a great learning tool and inspiring. Thank you.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Thanks for your kind words: we are currently promoting a very ambitious course which is a cumulation of my life in music education. If you'd like to find out more you are very welcome to email us at tom@contemporaryschoolofpiano.com with the subject line "Complete Musician" and we have some discount vouchers available to our fans across the web. Your support is very much appreciated and valued!

Thanks. Loved that Classical version of Hotel California. 😂😂 Im inspired now to try that!

Fantastic! You are truly a virtuoso. And your audio sounds great, too! Noticeably improved sound engineering over your earlier stuff. Sound quality deserving of your amazing playing. I have so much to learn. At 62.5, I fear I do not have enough time left to play as beautifully as you (tear rolling down my cheek).

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Wow, thank you!

@marionandrews9510

Ай бұрын

Well I am 72 next birthday in September and I’m still going strong. You have to make the best of the time available. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. Enjoy the moment now!

@blehoo1

Ай бұрын

he is not a virtuoso but has an excellent ear and great sense of rhythm.

I grew up in the 70s and bought a lot of sheet music for piano. On some level I knew the arrangements were pretty bad because the right hand was almost always dedicated to the melody. The first real sign of relief was the Hal Leonard series of note for note transcriptions. I can sing, so I took to these right away and have always wished there were more. My lessons as a kid were classical, so I’ve always needed to wrap my head around the chords, especially economy of movement which really ends up meaning which inversions are you going to play?

Was lucky enough to learn the "chord way" to play by my piano teacher and an Italian piano bar player. Must send a link of this video to quite a few older piano students around who fail with pop music! Awesome!

That's why the piano is the easiest and toughest instrument (after the organ, hail to the king) and we love it. Melody and accompaniment.

brilliant piano-playing video. thank you so much.

Best piano teacher and videos on the web. 👍

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Thanks for your kind words: we are currently promoting a very ambitious course which is a cumulation of my life in music education. If you'd like to find out more you are very welcome to email me, with the subject line "Complete Musician" and we have some discount vouchers available to our fans across the web. Your support is very much appreciated and valued!

You're answering all my queries, just by what your saying, your do right, your are the best. Thank you brother, much love x

Some real priceless Golden Nuggets of info in this here tutorial!! I learned sooo much.Can't thank you quite enough sir!

Excellent video! Exactly what musician should be teaching and explain ! Also fantastic playing! Thank you

Outstanding piano skills and presentation just witnessed there.

Thanks for a simple but complete way to approach playing music for the beginner!

Great presentation - one of the very best. Thank you. Look forward to more from you. Houston Texas

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Many thanks!

Thank you, Tom, for being real...!

I find your lessons so entertaining and engaging. Great job explaining all about groove!

Thank God I've found you, Tom! I want to play like this! Got my pack!!! Thanks!

You are my new go to for piano videos Tom. This is great, giving so many nice options to work on, and good choice of song examples too! Many thanks and keep up the good work.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

You're very welcome!

Groovy baby. Yeah.

This is excellent! I'm trying to get off the page. No easy task. You break it down so well. ❤

Thanks Tom for being so awesome 😊

3:20 What I deduced a while ago is putting the melody on the piano is good for a musical solo act, but knowing the chords and for me I play the bass along with it, is good enough to accompany someone who can sing the song. Or maybe I can play the chords and bass, and try to keep up by la-la-ing or trying to sing

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Yes. That's it.

A simple but powerful lesson. Thank you very much.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

You're very welcome!

Love the Liszt pose!

Oh god this was amazing to watch…

On Hotel California I just play guitar part on piano. It sounds good too. Then when I get to the verses I just improvise with the chords.

Always felt I was lacking because I knew chords but couldn't read music. Your lesson has given me confidence. Thank you. And extra thanks for the Hotel California chords! I'll be having fun with them today.

You are the best at teaching holistic piano playing

Wow. The best thing I have ever seen. All the magic unfolded. As a guitar player coming to piano, this video made me feel at home.

Oh! What a sensational lesson. This has to be one of the best tutorial videos on the Internet and complimented by a really cool teacher.

Whoo, this was a standout tutorial!! I can use this when writing songs on my keyboard, section by section, on the white keys (transposed to the root). Yeah, that's where I'm at on piano, but I'm loving this.

Everything your saying is so right. Could I meet more people like you, dude you are ace x

The world gets better because of the people like you. I am amazed ....simply loved it. A treasure for all.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Thanks for your kind words and support!

Thank you for the liberating words of piano wisdom

Thanks for explaining pop for me!

I’m learning chords and inversions for Radioheads’ ‘Creep’…you are so right, it’s very hard to vary it enough to get the ‘groove’. Thank you, you are an excellent teacher; the only one to highlight this important aspect.👍

Its a good idea in printed sheet music is to just play the guitar chords printed above. it will sound much better.

Great explanation. Thank you !

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks for your answer…Appreciated

I had an Elton John piano book that separated the vocal part from the piano part. This was a game changer for me way back. Then, I quite my classical lessons at age 15.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Heres an idea - approach the classical stuff like you approach Elton John. It's truly liberating.

WOW! You did it again Tom, Thank you very much for sharing this insight with us. I had no idea, how. At least I can go ahead and establish my groove. Thank you, God Bless. Richard B

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Many thanks, Best of Luck with it all!

you are spot on here - I was classically trained in a conservatoire but assure you the skills I learnt playing in bands as a teenager are every bit as useful in the high school classroom I teach and helping young people form bands etc. It's all about chords, being able to voice the melody at the top by using inversions which gives your left hand freedom to create rhythm through octaves, 5ths and passing notes etc. When you get into playing with vocalists and other musicians your job is then to actually play less and add more to the groove picking out lines in the spaces etc. Great video mate.

Outstanding, as always! Such timely and relevant advice for all of us scouring the web for pieces and advice. I must learn how to play Hotel California like this. That's my new goal, Tom. Thank you again!!

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Its a great chord progression to play with!

@michellemonet4358

Ай бұрын

Mine too

Awesome Dear Tom 🎉 THANK you so much Sir 🎉

It's amazing your lesson about pop songs! Thank you!

Excellent Tutorial. I’ve learned more today than weeks ago. Amazing.

I’ve immediately subscribed. A no bullshit, instructive lesson. Thank you! (Not that I can do much of it yet…)

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

It all starts with chords! Then you are 60 percent there!

So incredible thank you.

opera at the hotel california….any time of year…you can find it here….

Brilliant- thanks !😊

Thank you for this information.🎉

Great video! TY for sharing!

Tim Minchin's foreword in the Matilda Piano basically explains the concept of studying chords. Greatest lesson I ever learned 💯

I agree! This is very understandable and doable!! Thank you!!

xcellent vid mate!

Kind of opened my eyes and ears, thanks a lot.

Thanks for this tutorial Tom. As always simple and straight forward

The guy is an artist

This video resonated with me on so many levels. Most of all it now made me feel more confident because you clarified why certain songs don’t work as piano solos. Many many thanks.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you so much for making videos like this. You are teaching us so much! I’m going to buy the Groove package.

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

@billhasty5197

Ай бұрын

You will Love the Groove pack, lot of fun and very enlightening.

Good stuff. There was a point when I was young and trying to get out from under all that classical training which I wasn't very good at. It was a struggle to transition to pop/rock. This video would have saved me a number of years of playing blind.

One of my students sent me a link to this video. Solid stuff. I had the hardest time figuring out how to teach pop music to students, which is funny because playing it is the thing I do best. Even now, you had some explanations that will help me better explain it to my students. Keep up the good work of spreading the groove!

I'm so glad someone has covered this subject. I couldn't agree more. The tutorials on KZread butcher the songs by trying to weave melodies into the fabric. It sounds so corny. Richard Clayderman with respect drove me nuts over this. I've always considered the piano an accompaniment instrument.

the majority of the "sheet music" available on line is garbage. it's not even close to correct.

@MrAdam3855

27 күн бұрын

I really been feeling this forever.

@Saschaslullaby

24 күн бұрын

The reason it is incorrect is b cause when it becomes completely correct, it infringes on copyright. Often it is a matter of a couple of small adjustments, and you've got it. As a music teacher myself, I often look at online submissions to get a rough idea, and my ear does the rest.

@bikratanachantra2302

20 күн бұрын

Seriously one No Surprises is fully off tune.

@johnmc3862

11 күн бұрын

​@@Saschaslullaby Exactly.

@tommym321

3 күн бұрын

@@SaschaslullabyThat cannot be right. Sheet music companies have to pay a license fee to publish the sheet music. It makes no sense that they would pay the license fee and then intentionally make the sheet music inaccurate.

Great lesson !! Very practical and useful information! You got a new subscriber 😊Thank you!! 🙏🌹🌹

This video is great! I am a beginner and I thought you had to play the melody in the right and chords in the left, your explanation is perfect!

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

2 күн бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

any videos on the little rhythmic variations your doing in the left hand because this is making it more interesting i think

PS. Tom, my “Yesterday” is on the way 😘

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Please share!

@amusical12

Ай бұрын

I will. Thanks Tom 😘

@amusical12

Ай бұрын

Done 😌🎹🎶 It’s on my channel now. Sorry for long winded essay earlier, it was turning into a novel haha.

Mark Harrison’s Pop Piano book is the best method for Pop styles.

im just new to the keys and you are so right....learn chords first everything else will fall into play within time..keys to me are the hardest instrument to learn but its all about dedication...

Yes, thats what I want to play like! (ha ha)

Excellent as usual! Thanks a lot Tom, Inga from Germany

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Many thanks Inga

The melody can be played by the top note of the cords. That sounds a million times better

Excellent lesson exactly what I needed

I've just started relearning to play the piano. I agree 100% that learning chords is the best first step to learning pop songs. I can't believe how quickly I am able to play. I also prefer using lead sheets. You are an excellent teacher and you've just earned a new subscriber 👍 Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent 🎹

@contemporaryschoolofpiano

Ай бұрын

Welcome!!!

Damn this guy is good! 🎹

Wow! Hotel California rocked!!!❤

This guy's great.

Thanks for this. Glad the algorithm found your video. You’ve succinctly summed up what I’ve gleaned intuitively over the few years I’ve been dabbling with piano (with no formal training). I will keep an eye on your channel.