Method book · 54 lessons · 9 parts
Piano for adults · Book 2
54 free piano lessons in 9 parts: Leaving the five-finger position, Scales with both hands, Reading and hearing intervals, Minor colours, New metre: two groups of three, Chords in a key, Sevenths, suspensions and separate bass, Flowing accompaniment, Sight-reading and creativity.
Start this course →Part 01 · 6 lessons
Leaving the five-finger position
Rhythm review, extensions, thumb-under and shifting during rests
- Lesson 86
Rhythm check before moving on
A first-run check, without listening to the example or practising first.
Open → - Lesson 87
Stretch and return: right hand
Reach A4/B3 while the other fingers stay close to the position.
Open → - Lesson 88
Stretch and return: left hand
Stretch the thumb up to A3 and the little finger down to B2.
Open → - Lesson 89
The staircase: thumb-under and cross-over
The thumb passes under at F4, finger 3 crosses back to E4.
Open → - Lesson 90
Shifting position in a two-beat rest
Lift and move to G position during the rest, without delaying the first note.
Open → - Lesson 187
Complete piece: A walk across the octave
A 12-bar piece beyond the five-finger position: thumb under, crossing over, and moving the hand during rests.
Open →
Part 02 · 6 lessons
Scales with both hands
Contrary, parallel motion and the opening of a Minuet
- Lesson 91
C scale: hands moving apart
Play the scale hands together, each keeping its own fingering.
Open → - Lesson 92
G scale: hands in contrary motion
Play the scale hands together, each keeping its own fingering.
Open → - Lesson 93
C scale: two different finger changes
Play the scale hands together, each keeping its own fingering.
Open → - Lesson 94
G scale: parallel motion and F sharp
Play the scale hands together, each keeping its own fingering.
Open → - Lesson 95
Minuet in G: first phrase
Shift position while the three-beat pulse continues.
Open → - Lesson 188
Complete piece: Minuet in G
The whole 16-bar A section of the Minuet in G, not just the first phrase.
Open →
Part 03 · 6 lessons
Reading and hearing intervals
Reading direction, two-note releases, sing then check
- Lesson 96
Reading by interval: right hand
Read the first note's name, then the direction and interval.
Open → - Lesson 97
Reading by interval: left hand
Recognise direction on its own in the bass clef.
Open → - Lesson 98
Two notes as one sound
Drop 4ths/5ths/6ths as one sound instead of two strikes.
Open → - Lesson 99
Evening bells: first four bars
A melody built on intervals over two long bass notes.
Open → - Lesson 100
Sing first, then check the interval
Hear the lower note, sing the upper note yourself, then find the key to check.
Open → - Lesson 189
Complete piece: Bells and echoes
A 12-bar piece read by intervals: a call and its echo, then two notes sounding together.
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Part 04 · 6 lessons
Minor colours
A natural/harmonic minor, E minor, D minor and i–iv–V
- Lesson 101
A natural minor: a new colour on the white keys
Read A natural minor on the white keys; G natural is a whole step from A.
Open → - Lesson 102
A harmonic minor: G sharp pulls home
Read the harmonic minor scale; the 7th is raised a semitone, leading to the tonic.
Open → - Lesson 103
E harmonic minor: F sharp and D sharp
Read the harmonic minor scale; the 7th is raised a semitone, leading to the tonic.
Open → - Lesson 104
D harmonic minor: B flat and C sharp
Read the harmonic minor scale; the 7th is raised a semitone, leading to the tonic.
Open → - Lesson 105
A minor: i–iv–V–i
Play Am–Dm–E–Am with the major V from the harmonic scale.
Open → - Lesson 190
Complete piece: Song in A minor
A 12-bar piece in A minor: G sharp pulls back to A, the i–iv–V–i progression.
Open →
Part 05 · 6 lessons
New metre: two groups of three
6/8, sixteenths, dotted notes and syncopation
- Lesson 106
6/8: two big beats, three in each
Feel 6/8 as two groups of three, different from 3/4.
Open → - Lesson 107
Greensleeves: a short 6/8 phrase
Play long–short and dotted rhythms within two groups of three.
Open → - Lesson 108
Sixteenths: four parts of a beat
Divide the beat into four equal parts.
Open → - Lesson 109
Dotted eighths: long three, short one
Tell the 3:1 ratio apart from two even eighths.
Open → - Lesson 110
Syncopation over a steady beat
The right hand starts on the weak part and sustains through the strong beat.
Open → - Lesson 191
Complete piece: Row, Row, Row Your Boat (round)
A complete round in 6/8: the left hand enters two bars later and sings the same tune.
Open →
Part 06 · 6 lessons
Chords in a key
Roman numerals, harmonic roles and moving progressions to G/F
- Lesson 111
Seven chords in C
Name the Roman numeral and major/minor/diminished for each degree.
Open → - Lesson 112
One–five–six–four: key of C
Move the progression by degree numbers and hear each chord's role.
Open → - Lesson 113
The same progression in G
Move the progression by degree numbers and hear each chord's role.
Open → - Lesson 114
The same progression in F
Move the progression by degree numbers and hear each chord's role.
Open → - Lesson 115
Two–five–one: the feeling of coming home
Move the progression by degree numbers and hear each chord's role.
Open → - Lesson 192
Complete piece: The Canon progression
Four variations over the same I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–V progression, growing to the last phrase.
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Part 07 · 6 lessons
Sevenths, suspensions and separate bass
maj7, 7, m7, voice leading, sus and bass lines
- Lesson 116
How Cmaj7, C7 and Cm7 differ
Tell apart major 7, dominant 7 and minor 7.
Open → - Lesson 117
ii7–V7–Imaj7: close voice leading
Keep the common tones; each new note moves only one step.
Open → - Lesson 118
Sus: suspend, then resolve
Hear the suspended note resolve to the chord's third.
Open → - Lesson 119
A bass line descending under the chords
Read G/B and Am/G; the bass is its own melodic line.
Open → - Lesson 120
The river: hearing seventh and sus colours
The melody stands out over root+seventh accompaniment; hear Gsus4→G.
Open → - Lesson 193
Complete piece: Ballad in seventh colours
A 12-bar ballad: seventh chords, a resolving sus and a bass walking down step by step.
Open →
Part 08 · 6 lessons
Flowing accompaniment
Broken 1–5–8, Alberti, off-beat bass and a Prelude
- Lesson 121
Broken 1–5–8–5 under the melody
Keep the melody going while the accompaniment pattern changes.
Open → - Lesson 122
Alberti: low–high–middle–high
Keep the melody going while the accompaniment pattern changes.
Open → - Lesson 123
Syncopated bass, steady melody
Keep the melody going while the accompaniment pattern changes.
Open → - Lesson 124
Legato pedal: hands lead the foot
Practise physical pedalling that holds the sound while the hand releases.
Open → - Lesson 125
Prelude in C: the first four broken bars
The left hand starts, then the right hand continues the broken line.
Open → - Lesson 194
Complete piece: Little river
A 12-bar piece with a flowing accompaniment: Alberti in phrase A, then the 1–5–8–5 broken chord in phrase B.
Open →
Part 09 · 6 lessons
Sight-reading and creativity
D and B-flat scales, looking before reading, and pentatonic
- Lesson 126
D scale: two sharps
Read the new key and combine two different finger paths.
Open → - Lesson 127
B-flat scale: thumb on the white keys
Read the new key and combine two different finger paths.
Open → - Lesson 128
Sight-reading F1: right hand
Read it for the first time, without learning it beforehand.
Open → - Lesson 129
Sight-reading F5: left hand
Read the bass clef without borrowing the right-hand shape.
Open → - Lesson 130
Pentatonic: two bars singing, two bars breathing
Make up a short phrase over C–Am–F–G; nothing is graded right or wrong.
Open → - Lesson 195
Complete piece: New day in D
A 12-bar piece in D major, read fresh with F sharp and C sharp.
Open →