Method book · 42 lessons · 7 parts
Piano for adult beginners
42 free piano lessons in 7 parts: First keys & rhythm, Five fingers & note reading, Hands meeting, Accidentals & scales, Building chords & inversions, Accompanying a song, Playing with feeling & checking yourself.
Start this course →Part 01 · 6 lessons
First keys & rhythm
Finding keys, holding long notes, rests and splitting the beat
- Lesson 51
Find middle C and the high register
Find keys using the groups of two and three black keys.
Open → - Lesson 52
Long notes still count
Tell apart whole, half, quarter and dotted half notes.
Open → - Lesson 53
Rests on the beat
Rest in the right place while the beat carries on.
Open → - Lesson 54
Dotted notes and eighths
Hold the dotted quarter for a beat and a half.
Open → - Lesson 55
A gentle three
Keep 3/4 time, even on long notes and rests.
Open → - Lesson 180
Complete piece: Hot Cross Buns
Your first complete piece: all eight bars, keeping the beat through long notes, eighths and rests.
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Part 02 · 6 lessons
Five fingers & note reading
C position, landmark notes, treble and bass clef
- Lesson 56
Right-hand five fingers
Play five fingers in right-hand C position.
Open → - Lesson 57
Left-hand five fingers
Play the five-finger phrase with the left hand.
Open → - Lesson 58
Six landmark notes on two clefs
Recognise C4, G4, C5 in the treble clef; C3, F3, C4 in the bass clef.
Open → - Lesson 59
Treble clef reading: steps and skips
Read the direction and the seconds/thirds from C4.
Open → - Lesson 60
Bass clef reading: the answer
Read a bass-clef line in C position.
Open → - Lesson 181
Complete piece: Lightly Row
Play all 16 bars in C position: the right hand sings phrase A, the left hand sings phrase B in the bass clef.
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Part 03 · 6 lessons
Hands meeting
Familiar melodies, long bass notes and swapping roles
- Lesson 61
Mary: holding the bass for a bar
Hold the left-hand note under a familiar melody.
Open → - Lesson 62
Ode: meeting on beats one and three
Combine the melody with two bass notes per bar.
Open → - Lesson 63
Twinkle: looking ahead to the bass
Change the bass note while the melody carries on.
Open → - Lesson 64
Frère Jacques: passing the phrase
The right hand calls, the left hand answers; the resting hand doesn't play along.
Open → - Lesson 65
Carrying the phrase across the bar line
Join the two hard bars instead of going back to the start after each mistake.
Open → - Lesson 182
Complete piece: Ode to Joy
Put the hands together for all 16 bars: a familiar tune over root–fifth bass notes.
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Part 04 · 6 lessons
Accidentals & scales
Sharps, flats, naturals; C, G and F scales
- Lesson 66
Accidentals last until the bar line
Read sharps, flats and naturals correctly, octave included.
Open → - Lesson 67
C scale: right-hand thumb-under
Play a one-octave scale up and down with consistent fingering.
Open → - Lesson 68
C scale: the left hand's path
Play a one-octave scale up and down with consistent fingering.
Open → - Lesson 69
G scale: remember F sharp
Play a one-octave scale up and down with consistent fingering.
Open → - Lesson 70
F scale: thumb-under after finger four
Play a one-octave scale up and down with consistent fingering.
Open → - Lesson 183
Complete piece: the G scale becomes a song
The G major scale as an eight-bar piece: up an octave, back down and home.
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Part 05 · 6 lessons
Building chords & inversions
Major, minor, block chords and close position changes
- Lesson 71
Major and minor: one note changes
Hear C major and C minor when only E changes to E flat.
Open → - Lesson 72
Six chords on the white keys
Build C, Dm, Em, F, G and Am with the formula.
Open → - Lesson 73
Block chords, resting to prepare
The chord sounds as one; release on beat 4 to prepare.
Open → - Lesson 74
Three positions of the C chord
Move through root position, first and second inversion of C.
Open → - Lesson 75
C–Am–F–G: choosing close positions
The right hand moves to close positions, the left hand changes roots.
Open → - Lesson 184
Complete piece: four chords tell a story
An eight-bar piece of close-position chords: C–Am–F–G and home to C.
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Part 06 · 6 lessons
Accompanying a song
Root, block, root–fifth, broken chords and progressions
- Lesson 76
From root notes to block chords
Keep the same melody while changing the accompaniment.
Open → - Lesson 77
Mary with root and fifth
Keep the same melody while changing the accompaniment.
Open → - Lesson 78
Mary with block chords on beats one and three
Keep the same melody while changing the accompaniment.
Open → - Lesson 79
Mary with broken 1–5–3–5
Keep the same melody while changing the accompaniment.
Open → - Lesson 80
Canon progression: keeping common tones
Accompany a song with close positions in the right hand and roots in the left.
Open → - Lesson 185
Complete piece: Twinkle with three accompaniments
The whole 12 bars, a different accompaniment in each phrase: roots, block chords, then the broken 1–5–3–5.
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Part 07 · 6 lessons
Playing with feeling & checking yourself
Loud and soft, legato/staccato, pedal and new phrases
- Lesson 81
Four steps of volume
Make four levels, pp, p, mf, f, through the speed of the key stroke.
Open → - Lesson 82
Mary: two touches
Two bars legato, two bars staccato, with the tempo unchanged.
Open → - Lesson 83
Pedal: hands first, foot after
Practise legato pedalling on a real piano, clearing the old sound at each chord change.
Open → - Lesson 84
Little waltz: opening phrase
A legato melody over bass–chord–chord.
Open → - Lesson 85
A new phrase: read, then check yourself
Separate the learning run, the next-session check run and the full run.
Open → - Lesson 186
Complete piece: Evening waltz
A 16-bar waltz: a legato melody over bass–chord–chord with short chords, with dynamics shaping each phrase.
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