Learning to play the piano isn’t just about learning repertoire pieces. It’s about developing a set of keyboard skills that lets you make music anywhere, with anyone, in any style. Technique, performance, and sight-reading are part of it, but so are harmonization, transposition, chord knowledge, and voice-leading. It’s more than the ability to perform what’s on the page; it’s understanding how the music is made.

In this episode, I’ll share why keyboard skills matter for students of all ages and a few strategies I’m using in my studio to build them into lessons from the very first year of study.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: some of the links in this episode are affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase through any of them, I will earn a small commission. This helps support the podcast and allows me to continue creating free content. Thank you for your support!

RCM Piano Syllabus

Piano Safari Repertoire Book 1

Diversions (Juan Cabeza)

Piano Safari Friends

Piano Safari Sight-Reading Cards

Sight-Reading and Rhythm Every Day (Helen Marlais)

Rhythm Keeper, Vol. 1 (Samantha Steitz & Steve Aho)

Ep. 085 - Everyone Can Improvise

Through the Windowpane (Chee-Hwa Tan)

A Child’s Garden of Verses (Chee-Hwa Tan)

Free download: 12 Variations on Diversion 12 (Juan Cabeza)

Create First! Duet (Forrest Kinney)

Free download: 27 Easy Chord Progressions (Tim Topham)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can work together:

1️⃣ Need fresh teaching ideas? Schedule a quick 25-min. call and we’ll brainstorm on a topic of your choice. Build an idea bank that you can pull from in the months to come.

2️⃣ Have questions about teaching or managing your music career? Book a 60-min call and get personalized advice, creative ideas & step-by-step strategies on up to 3-4 teaching/business topics.

3️⃣ Develop the skills and strategies you need to plan the year, refine your teaching methods, and manage your time more effectively with a suite of online courses and professional development trainings