2

Easy As That Piano

by Arturo Moises

Written by Arturo Moises

Interior Graphic Design by Itamar Katz

Cover Art by Johnny Fazzingo, Irazeth Torres, and Joseph Alari

Photo (Day 1) by Peggy Cai

Copyright © 2017 by Arturo Moises

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2012

www.easyasthatpiano.com

3

Preface

How to Play the Piano

Welcome to Easy As That – The Revolutionary Piano Guide. Before we get started, I'd like you to know a few things about the piano and what you'll be learning in this Seven Day Program.

The piano is the easiest instrument you could possibly learn how to play, and the most creative tool ever made. It isn't really just about classical music like you see on T.V. You can play your favorite pop songs (my personal favorite use), R&B/rap, Blues, Country music, Latin music, Jazz, Rock, even Metal, and so much more. People who can sing and/or want to learn how to sing, or those interested in producing/engineering music, choose the piano because it is the most versatile and convenient for their composing purposes.

By the time you’re done with this guide, you'll see the piano the same way I do. You'll laugh and notice that it's all just common sense. See, the average piano teacher tends to complicate the piano by overwhelming you with a lot of unnecessary sheet music and mandating that as the only method to learning how to play.

The image above displays characters from the Mandarin/Chinese alphabet, based on their Logograms. The phrase is pronounced “Ni hao”, meaning “Hi”, in English. Isn't it easier to just say “Ni hao” perfectly, and understand exactly what you’re saying, than to break your head for years trying to read those sticks? This is the perfect analogy to compare the Easy as That Piano approach versus traditional piano lessons based on sheet music. My method is like teaching you how to speak Mandarin fluently, like a native from China, in less than ONE week – except you will be reading the language with our traditional ABCs. If you’re okay with that, then you’re about to get started!

Originally, I learned how to play the piano on my own, without the internet, or a teacher, from a keyboard in my closet at 11 years old. After music school, and playing for over a decade now, I created this book to reveal all of the secrets I wish I knew when I first started. I was self taught, and classically trained later on. Wielding both perspectives, I combine them in the teachings of this program. Upon the completion of “Easy as That Piano”, you will have acquired the ability to show off whenever there's a piano in the room - playing hit songs, and even composing your own, using your new branch of creativity. You'll learn a simple method of reading music called “Chord Notation” (music notation based on the ABCs). In a nutshell - you will also understand notes, harmony, chords, different types of chords and their variations, creative chord sequences, how to play with the right hand and left hand together, chord inversions, transposition, and scales. Have Fun!

4

Table of Contents

Day 1: Introduction to the Piano: Harmony and Chords

Day 2: Introduction to Chord Sequences and Adding the Left Hand

Day 3: Start Playing Your First Songs

Day 4: New Chords and Creative Sequences

Day 5: Chord Inversions and Inverted Sequences

Day 6: Introduction to Transposition

Day 7: Introduction to Scales

5

Day 1

Introduction to the Piano:

Harmony and Chords

I know that right now, you're feeling a bit like this guy… but don’t panic. All of those keys usually haunt everyone at first! But what people don't know is that the amount of keys on a piano is irrelevant. Whether a piano has 12 keys, or 88 keys, it's still a piano, and it's still just as easy. Let's zoom in and break it down for you:

6

Let's zoom in a little more:

Aha! What do we see here? A pattern, I think. This is the first little secret piano teachers hide from you. A piano is just a bunch of white keys and a pattern of black ones. The pattern of black keys goes like this: 2 black keys, 3 black keys, 2 black keys, 3 black keys, and repeats.

The White keys of the piano are called white keys. Real hard to remember, I know…

The Black keys are called “Sharp” or “Flat” keys. We'll get to these later.

Every one of these keys has an individual corresponding musical note. We've all seen The Sound of Music and know about “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti (or Si), Do” right? Well, if you can say that, then you know every note of the piano and in music by heart already!

Say it out loud a couple of times – “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do”.

Now, you would think it'd be a hard task to locate these notes on a piano, but there are two secrets that I'm about to share with you to simplify everything. These secrets will allow you to find any note you want, in a matter of seconds... and not days like with sheet music.

If you can find “Do”, which is the first note, you can make your way up to find the rest of them from left to right. The order of the notes will never change. Here is secret #1:

Take another look at that pattern of black keys that I spoke about previously, and find an isolated pair of black keys. Now go down to the first white key to the left, and there you have “Do”.

7

Starting from the first highlighted key, count seven (7) white keys; the eighth (8th) note will be another “Do”.

Wherever there's a pair of black keys, another “Do” will be found. It's a cycle. This is why a piano can be of any size; you could keep adding “Do” after “Do” after “Do”, eight (8) keys at a time, and stop until the notes get way too high in pitch, or way too low. Notice how each “Do” sounds similar – one will just be a higher version than the other.

In music, notes are most commonly identified in two different ways:

We now know the “Do, Re, Mi” approach. The second way uses letters - so if you know the alphabet, you won’t have a problem! A lot of great musicians don't know both because they never had these secrets to learn them.

When learning the alphabet method, it's best to know what letter corresponds to what note; this way you'll end up learning both ways of identifying them. Don't worry, if you know that “C”, is “Do”, you will not need to memorize the letters and names of the notes; your brain will automatically connect them as you practice. Observe:

Now take a look at it starting from “La” (A) - the first letter of the alphabet. Count your way up:

Notice how if you say your ABCs, starting from A (La) and pausing at G (Sol), the next key will be A (La) all over again. The first seven (7) letters of the alphabet form the seven (7) notes. If you're reading this, you can handle it; it's easy as that. With most full-size pianos (88 key pianos), you'll find that the bottom won't start with the two black-key pattern that we spoke about. These pianos are made this way so that the piano starts at the beginning of the alphabet – at A. Observe:

Now, let's talk about the black keys. Black keys, as I said previously, are commonly known as Sharps, or Flats.

Black keys (Sharp Keys) are identified by the white key that precedes them, followed by the number symbol ( # ). In simpler words, this means that the black key directly to the right of “Do” (C), is called “Do” (C) Sharp (#). It would be read as “Do#” (C#). The same principle applies to any note that is followed by a black key.

The other common way of identifying black keys is as Flat Keys. Let's take a look at the “Mi” (E) note, for example. Notice how there is no black key to the right of it; there is only a black key behind it, to the left. Therefore, any black key behind a white key can be called a “Flat”, identified by the white key followed by the (b) symbol. This is just another way of naming a black key, because “Mi” (E) flat is literally the same thing as “Re” (D) sharp. What you call it

8

simply depends on what perspective you’re looking at it from. A little trick I developed to remember this one - Think of the symbol “b” as “The note b – ehind…“

The piano is simple, yet you can play anything on it; the notes are the building blocks that make up anything you'd like to play. Now that you know them all, it’s time to learn how to use them together in order to create harmony and chords. These are the two factors that make up a song. If you master both, you will have technically mastered the piano.

In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches (tones, notes), or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions (sequences), which you'll learn about soon, and the principles of connection that govern them. In simpler words, when you play two or more notes at the same time that sound nice on the piano, or on any instrument, you're forming harmony between them. When a low note and a high note are being played simultaneously, they are said to be “harmonizing”.

Play a “Do” (C) and a “Mi” (E) at the same time. It doesn't matter where, just make sure one of the two notes is on a higher part (the right half) of the piano.

Play that harmony a few times; play it loudly. That's a beautiful sound, huh? Not just any two notes will sound this nice. But this is exactly what singers do when they perform duets; they produce harmony. If a girl sustains a “Mi” (E) high up there, and a guy sustains a “Do” (C) at the same time - it would sound superb.

The piano can be seen as many voices, each one just ready to be used. So, let's ask ourselves - what if we use three of these notes to make harmony? What would that be? - Well, we call that, a “Chord”. A chord is any three or more notes producing harmony.

Let's take a look at an example of a chord. I will add another note to our previously played “Do” (C) and “Mi” (E) combo:

9

Play all three notes “Do” (C), “Mi” (E), and “Sol” (G) simultaneously. I want you to do this with one hand. Play it hard now, don't feel afraid or whatnot...the piano will not break. Don't go crazy but you want to sound loud. Play this chord 4 times (4x) slowly and loudly. Listen to that! Beautiful harmony! Wow... You've played your first chord.

Each of the 7 musical notes has their own corresponding chord. The one you've just learned - “Do” (C), “Mi” (E), and “Sol” (G) - is the chord for “Do” (C). You'll learn the reason why later on. For now, just temporarily remember: The first note of the chord identifies what chord it will be, or what chord name the group of harmonizing notes belong to. The example you learned starts with “Do” (C), so according to this theory, we will call it the C chord. You will be learning the 7 basic chords for the 7 notes in this chapter.

“But wait, THERE’S MORE”, it gets really interesting. There are two main types of chords: The Major chords, which are the “happy“ sounding chords, and the Minor chords, which are the “sad“ sounding chords. You will be able to hear the difference, and the reason why the chord is said to be a happy/sad one. You will also be able to see the difference because they are obviously played differently to sound differently.

Major and Minor chords show us one of the many great purposes the black keys serve. Black keys separate the Major chords from the Minor chords, and vice-versa. One silly black key makes the whole difference.

The first chord you learned was a C Major; now let's take a look at C Minor.

In the image above, we can see the same chord as the first, but with a slight difference. This slight difference causes a BIG change in sound. Instead of a combination of “Do” (C), “Mi” (E) and “Sol” (G), what we see here is a combination of “Do” (C), “Re” Sharp ( D#), and “Sol” (G). We could also say this reads “Do” (C), “Mi” Flat, (Eb) and “Sol” (G). It's the same thing, remember?

Play this C Minor chord 4 times (4x), slowly and loudly.

Now go back to the previous chord, C Major (image shown below). Play this chord twice.

10

Now return to C Minor. Play that chord twice.

Do you hear the difference? Well, play each twice again to be sure. In sound, there is a huge change. That is the secret – Sound. The Minor chord gives you a more dramatic and suspenseful sound, while the Major chord gives you a happier and more “alive” feeling. The way they're played is also different.

What's funny is that when changing a Major chord to a Minor chord, or vice-versa, all you really need to do is move the middle note. Move nothing else. The piano is truly this easy. It's easy as that.

Before you learn any more chords, you should learn the correct positioning of the hands. No, not just because you need to look professional. Despite how uncomfortable the correct hand positions may feel at first, they will help you tremendously later on.

Trust me; I had to learn that the hard way. There were so many things I had difficulty playing because I didn't have anyone to teach me the right positioning of the hands when playing chords. My hands looked like crazy lost spiders, the way I used to play. I didn't look like I knew what I was doing. It was terrible. Proper hand positioning opens up the piano for you and provides you with more space to play diverse things, whereas any other positions would just limit you. I will now explain the right way of playing a chord:

We will now add your fingers to our diagram, numbered from thumb to pinky - “#5 to #1 from pinky to thumb”, is a good phrase I came up with to remember the numbering.

11

As the diagram above shows you, to play a C chord properly with the right hand, you must use fingers 1, 3, and 5, accordingly. For the left hand, it would be the other way around – 5, 3, and 1. As you can tell, the piano isn't played with flat fingers. In other words, you must curl your fingers, similar to the way you'd grasp a baseball, and pivot your wrist so that it isn't leaning on the piano lazily. Practice on your two previous chords with the correct hand positioning before moving on.

Remember that C Major and C Minor are played almost the same way; your middle finger, #3, is the only one that should move when changing chord type.

Now that you know proper hand positioning, let's get back to learning more about different chords. Shall we? But first, a quick review:

A chord is commonly composed of three notes.

Some chords sound “Happy” (Major) and others sound “Sad” (Minor).

One movement to a black key determines the change in mood. Listen well.

From what you’ve gathered so far, a basic major chord is commonly made up of all white keys. Its minor form seemed to require a black key to sound sad.

However, some chords work the other way around. I like to call them “Odd” chords. In other words, in an Odd chord's case, a Major chord will be composed of white keys and black keys. Its Minor form will be made up of only white keys. As you can see, it’s simply the opposite. That's the only thing that makes them special. A good example of one of these special chords would be the one next in line after C. Let's take a look at D Major:

12

Play this chord twice. Notice you don't get a dramatic, sad and suspenseful sound... yet there is a black key involved. This is why it's an Odd chord; it’s a Major chord with a black key.

So, I know what you may be thinking – “If an ‘Odd’ chord actually requires a black key to sound happy, what would make it sound sad?” The basic process is still the same - the middle note is the only thing that needs to move. Observe D Minor:

Play this chord twice. Notice how in the case of an Odd chord, all white keys indicate a Minor chord, instead of a Major Chord. Listen to how dramatic that sounded. So, now you see that you can’t just rely on the color of the keys. The type of chord is always determined by how the chord sounds. All you have to do is move the middle note up or down to find out. Does it sound happy? If so, then it's Major. Does it sound sad? If so, then it's Minor.

For these next diagrams, take it slow. Go easy on yourself and do not rush it. You will see a list of all seven chords in their Major and Minor forms. Please bear in mind the black key pattern method of identifying notes that you learned about in Chapter 1. You must avoid playing the wrong notes when following these diagrams. Your job is to practice all of the given chords. Make sure to spot the Odd chords! - Using the correct hand positions, play the Major form first, then the Minor. Check which chord sounds happy, and which sounds sad.

13

14

Notice something different about the B chord. Both Major and Minor forms contain black keys! But not to worry - It's just as simple. Despite how the chord may be played – the change is no different than the others. The only key you should move to convert the chord from Major to Minor (and vice versa) is the key in the middle. Finger #3 will be the only one that moves.

Congratulations! That's a lot of awesome work for one day! You’ve learned all seven of your chords in both of their forms! That’s a total of 14! You should be proud. Practice this chapter thoroughly, and then come back tomorrow. It is crucial that you are completely fluent with all the listed Major and Minor chords before entering the next chapter. It’s going to get amazing.

15

Day 2

Introduction to Chord Sequences

and Adding the Left Hand

A song, any song, is just a sequence of chords, with lyrics. Some songs may change their sequence in the chorus or bridge, but they'll always use some type of progression. It's the only way they make sense.

Just like drawing a circle always begins and ends at the same point, so do chord sequences. Chord sequences will usually consist of 4-6 chords at a time. Unless there is a change in the sequence, you will always have to end the progression with the same chord you started it with. This is the only way a song can sound right; the key is forming a proper progression.

You are going to learn your first chord sequence! For this exercise, go back to yesterday's chapter and make sure you remember the order of the notes. Make sure to also remember our theory: “Whatever note you start with to form the chord, determines the name of the chord”.

This next exercise must be played with your right hand. Play the chords in the order given, 4 times (4x) each, in any beat you desire. Please note: the slower you play, the faster you'll get the hang of it.

Play around with the directions given in the chart above. The Chord diagrams are provided for reference.

16

Here's a little fun fact for you: Did you know that what you just played in that last chart is the exact chord sequence to maybe about 100 different songs? Yes, you can find over 100 songs that are played with the same silly chords. I know…you don’t believe me yet.

So, let’s make a deal: If you get through this entire chapter today, this time tomorrow you’ll be learning your first awesome song with Easy as That Piano. Guaranteed.

But before all that good stuff, it's time to combine both of your hands to begin building proper coordination and an overall more professional sound. You can do it!

For the next exercise, you're not just going to play a chord with both hands. That's boring. This is why we have “Left Hand Note Additions” and/or “Bass Notes”. These are any notes that you add on with your left hand to help harmonize or amplify the sound of the chords you are playing with your right hand. In fact, this is precisely the job of the Bass instrument when playing in a band. A bassist will play a series of lower pitches that sound great in conjunction with the chords being played by the other musicians (guitarist/pianist/etc.). The presence of lower harmonies helps create a fuller and enhanced overall sound.

There are many ways you can use your left hand to accompany the chords you play with your right hand. I’ll be sharing four of the most common left hand note additions:

Left hand position #1:

• Place your right hand on a C chord. Don't play it yet. Don't move from that position.

• Now, place any finger of your left hand on a single “Do” (C) note, on the left side of the piano. Don't play this yet either.

• Play them now simultaneously! Play it four times, slowly!

What you played should look like this:

Beautiful, huh? You just played a C chord and added its matching corresponding note “Do” (C) with your left hand. This created some bass for your harmony. Whenever you play a note or chord, and you add the same corresponding note elsewhere at the same time, you are playing its “Octave”.

17

In the word, “Octave”, the prefix 'Oct' means eight, right? We know that from words like Octopus and Octagon. Well, there are exactly eight notes from one "Do" (C) to the next “Do” (C), and there are also exactly eight notes from one "Re” (D) to the next “Re” (D). The same rule applies to any note.

Keeping this in mind, you can also play a chord, and its octave, with only one hand! I call this an “Octave Chord”. This technique is used to make a chord sound “bigger”. In order to form an Octave Chord, you'll need to change your hand position temporarily. Observe an example using your right hand:

Practice this next sequence, which is similar to your previous one. You are going to play all of the chords with your right hand, as usual. But this time, your left hand will accompany them by simply playing each chord’s matching octave.

The following diagram will give you instructions on when to play each hand. Follow the beat.

18

Left hand position #2:

For this next exercise, you are going to do the same thing you did earlier, but instead of just poking the chord's corresponding octave with your left hand, you’re going to accompany your chord with what I like to call a Double Octave. Follow the directions and mimic the diagrams below:

• Place your right hand on the C chord position on the right side of the piano.

19

• With your left hand, mimic the diagram. Place your pinky (finger #5) on one “Do”

(C) note on the left side of the piano, and extend your thumb (finger #1) to the nearest

next “Do” (C) note.

• Play everything simultaneously.

Your left hand should be positioned like this:

Your right hand should be positioned as usual:

Do you now see why your left hand is playing a Double Octave? You're playing the same note on each side - eight notes apart from each other.

Left hand position #3:

20

You don't have to always stick with just octaves. You may certainly add another note in there for more harmony! As long as the note is part of the original chord, it’ll always sound good. Next up, you’ll be using your left hand to simply play a Double Octave, with an added harmonizing note in the middle. Observe an example:

Remember when I had mentioned you can also play any chord, and its octave, with just one hand, if you wanted to? Well, for this position played with the left hand, you’re doing just that – except taking one note out of the picture. For the C Chord, we’ll be removing “Mi” (E).

So, as you can tell, this is definitely a Double Octave. The only difference is - your adding a harmonizing note. In this case, we added “Sol” (G), because it is part of the C chord.

Your right hand should be positioned as usual:

21

Now, only when you're ready, let's test out your new knowledge. In this next exercise, for each chord you play with your right hand, you’re going to play a double octave + an added harmonizing note, with your left hand. Remember the practice beat:

Now perform the exercise:

22

You're gradually getting used to coordinating your hands to do two separate activities. By now you have mastered adding the individual octave with your left hand. That is the humblest of Left Hand Note Additions. Despite its simplicity, it really brings out the overall sound of your right hand.

With that in mind, I realize that the Double Octaves require extending your pinky and thumb continuously. That can get tiresome. Therefore, I’ve come up with a middle ground that you may like:

Left hand position #4:

In this FINAL exercise on Left Hand Note Additions, you’re going to perform an easier version of what you just learned. Your left hand is simply going to play each chord's single octave + a harmonizing note. Observe the diagram below:

In this example, you’re almost looking at a regular C Chord, right? We’re just excluding the middle note. So, it’s simply the chord’s octave, with an added corresponding note. In this case, “Sol” (G), will sound great, because it’s one of the notes that make up the C chord, which would be the chord played with your right hand. Try it in this last exercise:

Remember the practice directions:

23

Now perform the exercise:

Practice this chapter thoroughly and get a good night's sleep - tomorrow we'll be playing some songs!

24

Day 3

Start Playing Your First Songs

You're officially on your way to becoming a pianist! Sheesh! I know you don't believe me, but you can already play songs. So, it is time I prove it to you. Let’s get you playing one! No, not “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, like you would have to endure with sheet music.

• Go to www.youtube.com and search for “Stay With Me by Sam Smith”. His video has over half a billion views; you won’t miss it. This will be your first song.

• This song requires nothing but the four chords you know best: Am (m means minor), F,

C, and G. Each chord will only be played once at a time.

• Listen to the song first, and get an idea of its rhythm or timing. This way, you’ll be able

to play each chord at the correct time, and sing along. The chord letters will be

strategically placed directly above the corresponding lyric.

Stay With Me by Sam Smith (Album: In the Lonely Hour):

If you need a quick reference page on how to play these chords, refer to the following diagrams:

25

Congratulations! You’ve just performed your first song! New Milestone completed!

If Sam Smith’s rhythm/beat felt hard to sing and play along to, that’s okay. Remember, you’re only getting started here. I wanted you to get a feel for what it’s like to play a Grammy Award winning song. You are just touching the surface of what you will be capable of by the end of this program.

FYI - the intro alone for Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me”, described using sheet music, would look like this:

I’m happy you weren’t forced to go through that on your first days of playing piano. You’ve played virtually the same thing, using chord notation instead.

I have another surprise for you to practice. Perhaps you’re not a Pop/R&B fan. So, we’re going to try some Classic Rock! Are you ready for, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, the Boss, Bruce Springsteen? I’ve picked his legendary single, “Fire”.

Just a heads up – this second song will revolve around six different chords, instead of your average four chords. You must bear in mind the “Odd” chord rule that you learned about on day 1 to ensure that you are always playing the correct indicated chord type (Major/Minor). For example, the chord prompts above the lyrics may ask you to play an A chord, and later on, they may ask for an Am chord. You must be able to recognize these subtle changes in sequence.

26

These chord illustrations are in no particular/specific order. They are only displayed for reference:

• Go to www.youtube.com, and search for “Fire by Bruce Springsteen”.

• The song uses the chords you know best: G, Am, Em, C, D, and A. Each chord will only be played once at a time during the verses, and multiple times each during the chorus.

• Listen to the song first, and get an idea of its rhythm or timing. This way, you’ll be able to play the chords at the correct time and sing along.

27

Fire by Bruce Springsteen (Album: The Promise)

You should be extremely proud of yourself. Whether it’s modern-day Pop/R&B, or Classic Rock, you can play it. Told you so!

Before moving forward, I’d like you to please go on www.youtube.com, and look up a band named “The Axis of Awesome”. Watch their LIVE skit called “4-chords”. You’ll thank me later.

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw3eYsnl31c

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpB_40hYjXU

28

Day 4

New Chords and Creative

Sequences

Now that you've gotten the essential Major and Minor chords down and into sequences/ progressions, a.k.a. songs, I think it's time to teach you the last fundamental set of chords. I present to you, the Sharp (#) chords. Yes, the Sharp chords, or Flat (b) chords; however you'd like to call them. They are necessary to know because many songs contain them.

Before we dive in right away, let me briefly explain the Sharp Chord concept so that they completely make sense to you. As we’ve learned, there are only 7 musical notes, which are:

Let's say I played: “Sol” (G), “Sol” (G), “Sol” (G), “Sol” (G)…

And I decided to change that repeated note to: “La” (A), “La” (A), “La” (A), “La” (A)…

This would mean I now played the note one whole step upwards from “Sol” (G). That’s easy enough to understand, right?

As you can tell, finding a whole step is literally skipping a key – in this example, we skipped right over the black key, “Sol” Sharp (G#).

Now, let's say I went back to playing: “Sol” (G), “Sol” (G), “Sol” (G), “Sol” (G)…

And I decided to switch that repeated note to: “Sol” Sharp (G#), “Sol” Sharp (G#), “Sol” Sharp (G#), “Sol” Sharp (G#)…

This would mean I now played the note half a step upwards from “Sol” (G). Needless to say, landing on that black key in between is considered a half step.

Very important: Going upwards a half step does not only apply when going to the neighboring black key. Remember that between “Mi” (E) and “Fa” (F), there is no black key. The same goes for the space between “Ti” (B) and “Do” (C). In these cases, both gaps are each considered half-steps apart, as well.

The rule is: You must be able to skip a piano key in order to have gone a full step. As noted, a Half Step is the distance between two keys, with no keys in between. A Whole Step is the distance between two keys with ONE key in between.

29

If you’d like to learn a fancy word for the day – whether you like it or not, you’ve just learned the concept of “intervals”. In music, an interval is literally defined as “the distance or amount of space between notes” (whether it’s a whole step or a half step).

You're probably wondering how this relates to Sharp/Flat Chords. Well, now that we got the main concept explained and out of the way, I can finally show you:

A basic G Chord is composed of the notes “Sol” (G), “Ti” (B), and “Re” (D), right? Well, if you were to simply move each individual note of that major chord upwards, half a step, you’d have your G# (Sharp) Major Chord. It’s Easy as That. Observe:

In the following chart, you'll see the chord's regular Major form, followed by its Sharp Major form. This way you can compare them side by side.

Take your time and practice each chord individually.

30

Since the Sharp (#) chords are their own separate field of chords, they each have a Major and Minor form. Don't worry, the rules haven't changed! To find the Sharp (#) version of any chord, all you must do is move each individual note a half-step upwards. It's Easy As That.

31

In this next chart, you'll also see the chord's regular Minor form, followed by the chord’s Sharp Minor form. Take your time and practice each one:

32

Play each of the Sharp Minor Chords at least twice. Compare these to the Sharp Majors you just learned. And remember, Sharp chords (#) are Flat (b) chords; there are just two names for the same chord.

Notice how the Sharp chord's Major and Minor forms are a lot like what you've been doing all along - moving finger #3 up or down. I wasn’t lying, watch:

The piano is truly this easy; just keep in mind that practice always makes perfect. You've officially learned all of the chords you need to know! - You can now literally play any song you want.

So, are you ready to finally mix in your knowledge and play harder songs? I hope you are. This will be fun. Your next exercise will be your very first chord sequence containing a Sharp chord. This progression will also be using the “Odd” chords! Make sure you're using the correct Major/Minor forms (m means minor):

Follow the chart, and play the given chords. Remember to use your left hand with the techniques you’ve learned!

I don’t know if you noticed, but that last chord sequence/progression that you completed is the EXACT one that The Axis of Awesome used to play all of those amazing songs in their skit. In

33

fact, there are over 73 songs you can play with those same chords. Check out the song list on the next page.

The reason that this is all possible is because a song has a specific pattern of happy and sad chords. For instance, all of the above songs that I listed coincidentally contain the same order of sounds – Happy, Happy, Sad, Happy… which, in musical terms, would be Major, Major, Minor, Major.

34

So, in a sense, because of the order of happy and sad sounds, the musical composition of each of those 73 songs sounds similar to our ear. You’ll learn more about why on chapter 7.

In the next chart, you're going to play a sequence that contains three Sharp (#) chords, instead of one! This one is one of my favorites:

You will find similar chord sequences to this one in songs like:

35

And the list goes on…

It must have been hard trying to switch from chord to chord like that (quickly), especially when the chords aren't so close together or easy to change to. Starting out, I know it was for me.

So, what if I told you that you no longer have to go through that? I wouldn't be lying. I'll prove it to you tomorrow, when you'll be learning about Chord Inversions! By the end of the day, you will have mastered all of the chord essentials, and you will become better than many musicians out there.

Before taking a much-deserved night's rest, try to dominate what you've learned so far – I know I promised to teach you how to play the piano in only a week, but the best things are never rushed. Play around with your favorite songs, practice, and then move forward.

36

Day 5

Chord Inversions and

Inverted Sequences

This isn't complicated at all, don't worry! It's a simple technique that will make the chords you've learned easier to play.

Remember our temporary theory? “The note you start with names the chord”?

From what you’ve learned so far - if you played a C chord, you would logically start with the note “Do” (C). The notes would be “Do” (C), “Mi” (E), and “Sol” (G), respectively. This is a C chord in what we call “root position”. The big question is, why does a chord have to be in that order?

If you were to try to stand on your hands, with your feet in the air, you would be upside down. Would this turn you into a different person, because you're not standing on your legs? I think it’s safe to say you would still be you. Sadly, many people get all confused when chords are turned upside down. They recognize them only when they are in root position.

The last picture displayed a C chord in root position because the “Do” (C) note is at the bottom. But hold on a second, what if we simply placed the “Do” (C) note on top, instead? Let’s see:

37

Notice that it's still a C Major chord. It contains the same notes as your regular C chord, but the root note “Do” (C) is now at the top. Try comparing this to the regular C chord. It sounds slightly different, but has the same quality. You can play this version of the chord anywhere you see the letter C chord specified. If this version of the chord is specifically required, then it will be written as “C/E”. This means “Play me a C chord but use E as the bottom note”.

How many such inversions are there for a particular chord? Simple; for a 3-note chord, there are only three possible variations. In this case, with either the “Do” (C) note at the bottom, the “Mi” (E) note at the bottom, or the “Sol” (G) note at the bottom. Here's the C chord with “Sol” (G) at the bottom (C/G):

As you can now see, the rule is: the chord will never change unless one of the notes changes.

Another way of looking at it is that a given chord has two ways of being inverted, as well as its root position. This means you are free to choose from three different ways to play a chord.

• The 1st inversion of the C Chord (C/E) shows us that piano player has placed the root

note, “Do” (C), at the top, instead of the bottom. This forces you to start the chord with

“Mi” (E).

• The 2nd inversion of the C Chord (C/G) shows us that the piano player has placed the

root note, “Do” (C), in the middle. This forces you to start the chord with “Sol” (G).

38

• When the chord is in root position, it is at its original state. In this position, a C Chord

starts with “Do” (C), as you’d normally play it.

With inversion, you no longer have to jump from one end to the piano to the next. Switching from chord to chord can now be super simple.

Chord sequences that were difficult for you may no longer be as hard. The chords may be much closer than you thought.

Now we're going to put these new positions into action and learn about Inverted Sequences! You're going to see and feel how comfortable they really make things for you.

In this exercise, I want you to play the following chords as you normally would. Simply place your fingers where you would normally place them and play the sequence below. This was your very first sequence; it should be familiar:

Now you're going to learn how to play these very same chords, in the same sequence, but in an easier way! The only difference is – each chord will be inverted when it's convenient.

Now that you've seen an inverted version of the C, G, Am, F chord sequence… play around with it!

See the difference? No more jumping from one side of the piano to the next. You played four chords without really moving from one spot.

Below, you will see another regular chord sequence. I want you to play the following chords as you normally would. Simply place your fingers where you would normally place them; and play the sequence:

39

40

Now let's see how inverting the chords can help you play this sequence more easily:

41

Now that you've seen an inverted version of the chord sequence D, B, Em, A - play around with it!

You are now playing perfect inverted sequences. These exercises will help you develop a keen awareness of the keys surrounding the chords you play. Piano playing must be smooth, comfortable and free. Let your fingers fly, and be aware. Practice - practice, makes perfection.

42

Day 6

Introduction to Transposition

Transposition, wow, what a fancy word. This is where the magic happens in music.

A professional definition could be – “In music, transposition refers to the process of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval”. Remember, an “interval” refers to the audible distance between two pitches (how far one note is from another).

In simpler words, Transposition is just a cool name for what you’ve been doing all along. Observe:

If you skip a key to reach the next note, you've gone a whole step. So, typically we measure intervals by individual half steps. One piano key to the next can be described as one half step to the next. Some people refer to "half steps" as "semitones", or "halftones"

.

For example, you can also say that “Do” (C) to “Re” (D) are two keys (or half steps) apart. Why? – Well, let’s count: “Do” (C) is 1 key, “Do” Sharp (C#) would be the 2nd key, and then there is “Re” (D).

The C chord, for example, is composed of the notes “Do” (C), “Mi” (E), and “Sol” (G). So, it is now understood that if you brought each of these notes a half step upwards, you would simply be changing (or “transposing”) this group of notes to a C# chord. Observe:

43

I know, you’re probably saying – “I get it already...” - Well, guess what? If you understood this, then you already learned transposition!

Now re-read the seemingly confusing definition of transposition as it was first introduced – “It’s the process of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval”.

As noted, when you’re “transposing”, you are not just moving one note upwards or downwards. You’re moving a group of notes, all at once, each to the same distance (upwards or downwards). The question is - How do we use transposition to our advantage? The word may seem pretty pointless to you right about now. So, believe it or not, you’re about to learn the most widely used trick in music.

Transposition doesn't show its use by transposing an individual chord. It proves useful when you transpose a whole chord sequence/progression! This process is specifically called “Changing the ‘Key’ (or ‘Key Signature’) of a song”. Pay close attention aspiring singers, songwriters, musicians, music producers, actors, and/or entertainers!

In the following example, here are the chords you will be using:

In this segment, you’ll be learning another Grammy-Award winning song with Easy as That Piano. It’s called “Say Something” - a duet performed by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera. I will first teach you how to play it, and then how to “transpose” the entire song, afterwards. It’ll blow your mind.

44

• Go to www.youtube.com, and search for “Say Something” by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera.

• The song uses chords you know best: Bm, G, D, and A. Each chord will only be played predominately twice at a time. During the chorus, they each may be played four times. See what works best when following along.

• You must listen to the song first, and get an idea of the song’s rhythm/timing. This way, you’ll be able to play the chords where best prompted, and sing along accordingly.

• Remember: The chord letters will be strategically placed directly above the lyric where it should be played.

Say Something by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera

You are on a roll! I’m so proud of you. You’re learning songs so easily now!

Okay, now let’s get back to transposition, using this new song as an example.

“Say Something” uses the chords you know best: Bm, G, D, and A. So, let’s experiment – we’re going to transpose all four of these chords, Half a Step downwards each. Let’s see how it will look:

45

The sequence has now been transposed to: A#m (also known as Bbm) - F# - C# - G#.

46

Next, we will analyze an example of what our new chord sequence will sound like when applied to the lyrics of this song:

Say Something (transposed half a step downwards)

Do not play this version along with the original track. Remember, we’ve transposed this entire song, so the chords will not exactly match. However, I want you to sing and play each version on your own.

Understand that this new sequence sounds almost identical to the original (when played separately), mainly because we’ve kept that same order of happy (Major) and sad (Minor) sounds. If you hadn’t noticed, both chord progressions follow a strict pattern of Sad, Happy, Happy, and Happy. In other words: Minor, Major, Major, and Major.

In this exercise, all we’ve done is re-compose the song to be based on what is called a different “Key Signature”, or “Key”, (also known as “Scale”), so that the song can be played with different notes. We will cover what this even means in the next chapter. For now, we’re simply going to cover why we would want to change the Key of a song in the first place. The answer is simple - musicians transpose songs in order to adjust them to their singing voice.

“Say Something’s” original key requires the singers to hit relatively high notes that some men/women may not be able to hit (as you may hear in the climactic chorus, for instance). So, lowering the Key of the song half a step, and maybe even a few half steps downwards can be very convenient. Ideally, the singer’s voice should match the chords being played. This is how there are male renditions of female songs, and vice-versa. This is also why if you search for a song's chords on www.google.com, or any general search engine online, often times you'll find

47

transposed versions of your desired song with its lyrics, instead of the actual original chords. Some people just assume it's more convenient for you. So, watch out for that.

With the same procedure that you used to transpose our example song HALF A STEP downwards, we are now going to transpose it TWO HALF STEPS downwards from the original Key.

48

The sequence has now been transposed to: Am - F - C - G.

Let’s apply it to the song! Here it is:

Say Something (transposed two half steps downwards)

See how we still kept the Sad (Minor), Happy (Major), Happy (Major), and Happy (Major) sound pattern? It’s the same song, in a different “Key”. Furthermore, notice how transposition can also make the song easier to play. By transposing a little further, you managed to eliminate chords that may be harder for you to shift to (like chords involving black keys), WHILE creating a version of the song that may be more comfortable to sing in.

Lastly, let’s talk about one more concern - what happens when a song is too low for a female? In other words, let’s say the singer is “The King of Rock N’ Roll”, Elvis Presley, and she really loves his song “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You”. If the notes required for the original song are challengingly low, what can be done?

I will first teach you how to play it, and then how to “transpose” the entire song upwards.

• Go to www.youtube.com, and search for “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” by Elvis Presley.

• The song uses chords you know best: D, A, Bm, G, and F#m.

• You will notice that this song can be played a little bit differently than the ones you’ve been learning. Today, you’ll be learning a basic version that simply shows you the chords and notes the song is made up of in order to sing along.

• Remember: The chord letters will be strategically placed directly above the lyric where it should be played.

49

Can’t Help Falling in Love With You by Elvis Presley

When playing this song’s background piano track, you have two options: Play the basic version by just singing along to each chord as prompted, or using its original piano style.

The original version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” uses a common piano playing technique that simply breaks down the chords into single notes, and plays them rhythmically with the song. This break-down can also be called an “Arpeggio”. We will dive deeper into this when we begin speaking about “Melodies” in the next chapter.

But for a quick example of an Arpeggio, remember how to form an “Octave Chord”?

An “Arpeggio” is simply playing each note (individually) in a pattern, as opposed to all at once. You could play the notes of the chord (separately) upwards, then back down, or vice-versa. It’s Easy As That.

To learn the original melodic version, you may go to www.youtube.com, and search for these exact words: “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You Piano Tutorial” by Elvis Presley. There will be a dozen free comprehensive videos that offer step by step instructions on how to play this song. The same goes for virtually any song you choose to look up, by simply typing “Piano Tutorial” after the song’s title.

Now, suppose we transpose the chords for “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You“ five (5) half steps upwards so that it is easier for the average female to sing.

50

51

Now, let’s organize these new chords to fit the song.

Can’t Help Falling in Love With You (transposed 5 half steps upwards)

So, as a guy, this version may now seem a little challenging – the new notes required to be sung are higher this time. But for a lady, this is a piece of cake, and it’s likely for her to sound more appealing. Naturally, the average female singer is more comfortable singing in a higher range than a lower range.

52

Day 7

Introduction to Scales

Scales, wow, these are what make the piano so creative. They’re what we construct melodies with.

What exactly is a Melody?

A Melody is defined, professionally, as a rhythmic succession of single notes, in a specific order, that form a unique recognizable tune. It may be considered the foreground to the background accompaniment in a song.

In simpler words, the melody of a song is the little tune that gets stuck in your head; a specific collection of notes required to be played in a specific order to a particular beat.

The background music of a song is usually composed of chords. The sung portion of a song is considered the “Melody Line”. In classical music, there is no voice, but the recognizable tune that you end up humming becomes the melody line – as you may find in Fur Elise (Beethoven). Your voice simply imitates the individual notes of the piano that stand out, if you think about it. Many melodies just break down chords into single notes, and are played rhythmically with a song. Remember, this break-down can also be called an “Arpeggio”.

So how does this information relate to Scales? – Well, any “melody”, chord, sequence of chords, and/or harmony, must be based on a particular “Scale”. What exactly is a Scale?

A “Scale” is defined, professionally, as a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. The notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical work including melody and/or harmony.

In simpler words, just as each chord you’ve learned belongs to an individual musical note, every individual chord belongs to a respective scale. For example, there is a “Do” (C) note, which corresponds to the C chord. The C chord derives from the C Scale.

Scales explain how chords are composed, why specific notes harmonize well (why a chord, is a chord), and how to make your own sequences/progressions.

Observe an easy example of a scale:

This is the C Major scale. It starts and ends with “Do” (C). It can’t get any easier than that.

53

Using the example of a C Major scale, you can now see how the C Major chord was constructed!

The C chord is formed by establishing harmony between the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the C scale - “Do” (C), “Mi” (E), and “Sol” (G). The reason we now know that these three pitches will sound great together is also because they're within the same scale. Hopefully it's starting to make sense.

Scales are 8 note repetitive single-note sequences. Each scale is different, however, and utilizes specific notes.

With that being said, I’m going to share the secret to learning all of the essential scales, without having to memorize them, like you would with sheet music. But before anything, take a moment to play each individual note of the D Major Scale provided to you below:

If you hadn’t noticed, the way you form a D chord is by combining the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the D scale. The same Rule of Harmony applies:

54

Up until now, you have only been playing the scales strictly according to the notes that are provided. So, it’s time that I show you how to figure out any Major scale, for any note (key), on your own:

Let’s go back to looking at the piano’s notes as numbers. The first note of the scale will be numbered as 1, and the last note of the scale will be numbered as 8.

The distance between two pitches is called an “Interval”, remember? So, that is exactly what “Whole Steps”, and “Half Steps” are - Intervals. If you look at the C scale closely, in ascending order, as you’ve just played it, you will notice that you’re going upwards, a whole step, almost every time. The only instances in which you’ll be going upwards a HALF step is from “Mi” (E) to “Fa” (F) (3 to 4) and from “Ti” (B) to “Do” (C) (7 to 8) because those pairs of notes don’t share another note – or a black key – between them.

You can easily remember The Major Scale Rule of Intervals and literally find any Major Scale!

It also helps that there are eight (8) notes! It’s not an odd number.

Remember: The Rule is – They are all increments of whole steps, EXCEPT the middle note, and the end note. These are the only two times you’re going to be ascending in half steps in this rule.

So, in order to find the scale to another note (key), one way is to manually “transpose” every individual note of the C scale accordingly, OR… you could just follow the simple Major Scale Rule of Intervals that you’ve just learned. It speeds up the process. It’s Easy As That.

If there is still confusion, I’ll give you another example:

Help me build an E Major Scale using the Major Scale Rule of Intervals that we’ve just covered! Can you guess the last Note of the E Major Scale? Hint: We know it’s going to be a half step. But more importantly, we also know that every scale starts with the same note it ends with.

55

Here is the answer:

Half step from “Re” Sharp (D#) [Note 7] is “Mi” (E) [Note 8]

In conclusion, the notes of a given scale generally determine what notes will sound good in a song. In other words, let’s say you are starting a song with the C chord, for example. The only way that you can determine what notes will sound good when singing along to that chord, or when playing a melody to accompany that chord, will typically have to be based on what notes are within the C scale.

If a song is in the key of “Do” (C) Major (the C Major scale), and the singer attempts to hit a note outside of the scale (key) the song is set in, he/she would be singing “out of tune/key”.

Let’s say a C chord is being played, and a singer is supposed to accompany the chord by singing the note, “Mi” (E), which is one of the notes from the C Major scale. Suppose he/she sang a “Mi” Flat (Eb), instead, accidentally. It would be correct to say he/she was “Flat”. The singer sang a note from a different scale; he/she would be out of bounds. It may not sound too good.

Now let’s say a C chord is being played, and a singer is supposed to accompany the chord by singing the note, “Do” (C), which is obviously the root note of the C Major Scale. Suppose he/she belted a “Do” Sharp (C#), instead, accidentally. It would be correct to say he/she was “Sharp”. The singer sang a note from a different scale; he/she would be out of bounds. And yes, it will sound ugly.

And of course, if you tried to play a C Chord with your left hand, and accompanied that chord with the note “Sol” Sharp (G#) using your right hand, the same concept applies. It will sound weird.

Exercise:

Now that you know how to find the Major Scale for any key, locate the rest of the scales!

We Found the “Do” (C) Major Scale.

We Found the “Re” (D) Major Scale.

We Found the “Mi” (E) Major Scale.

Find the Rest!

Let’s do them together. Remember the Major Scale Rule of Intervals:

Complete the Following “Do” Sharp (C#) Major Scale:

56

Complete the Following “Re” Sharp (D#), also known as “Mi” Flat (Eb), Major Scale:

Complete the following “Fa” (F) Major Scale:

Complete the following “Fa” Sharp (F#) Major Scale:

57

Complete the following “Sol” (G) Major Scale:

Complete the following “Sol” Sharp (G#) Major Scale:

Complete the following “La” (A) Major Scale:

Complete the following “Ti” Flat (Bb) Major Scale:

58

Complete the following “Ti” (B) Major Scale:

Now Challenge Yourself Before Moving On! Attempt to play some of the scales in Descending order (BACKWARDS)!

But wait, I can’t let you go that easy! No worries though; we truly are almost done.

Previously, we discussed the Major Scales. How did we know the scale was “Major”? Well, for starters, when you followed the Rule of Harmony – the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes formed a MAJOR chord, every time.

How would we construct a Minor Scale? You may be asking. Simple. Check it out:

We’re going to follow the SAME concept of following the intervals (whole steps and half steps) to guide us.

The only difference is that Major Scales consist of making Notes 4, and 8, the exceptional notes that require half steps. The Minor Scales, on the other hand, will require notes 3 and 6 to be half steps, instead.

Note: Minor Scales sound much prettier in descending order, than they do in ascending order… Just Saying.

Let’s take a look at the “Do” (C) Minor Scale:

59

As you can see - If you follow the Rule of Harmony discussed earlier… The 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes: “Do” (C), “Re” Sharp (D#) and “Sol” (G), will form the “Do” (C) Minor Chord.

Take a look at the “Do” Sharp Minor (C#m) Scale:

The system doesn’t change. As long as you can remember the secret “Minor Scale Rule of Intervals”, you will always be able to construct a Minor Scale, no matter the key.

So, now that you know how to find the Minor Scale for any key, help me locate the rest!

• We Found the “Do” (C) Minor Scale.

• We Found the “Do” Sharp Minor (C#m) Scale.

What’s next? Let’s do them together as an exercise. Remember the “Minor Scale Rule of Intervals”:

60

Complete the Following “Re” Minor (Dm) Scale:

Complete the Following “Re” Sharp Minor (D#m) Scale:

Complete the Following “Mi” Minor (Em) Scale:

Complete the Following “Fa” Minor (Fm) Scale:

61

Complete the Following “Fa” Sharp Minor (F#m) Scale:

Complete the Following “Sol” Minor (Gm) Scale:

Complete the Following “Sol” Sharp Minor (G#m) Scale:

62

Complete the Following “La” Minor (Am) Scale:

Complete the Following “Ti” Flat Minor (Bbm) Scale:

Complete the Following “Ti” Minor (Bm) Scale:

Congratulations! You did it! You learned all of your natural Major AND Minor Scales!

The neatest part about scales, if you haven’t figured it out on your own yet, is that you can take specific notes from a particular scale and convert these selected notes into chord sequences/progressions (A.K.A. songs)! Allow me to explain:

Suppose you’d like to make a Song in the key of “Do” Sharp Minor (C#m). I would imagine you’d begin the chord sequence/progression by playing the “Do” Sharp Minor (C#m) Chord.

So… How would you know what chord to play next? Answer: Refer to the “Do” Sharp Minor (C#m) Scale! Here are the notes that make up the “Do” Sharp Minor (C#m) Scale again:

63

You’ve just followed the three steps to making an original song!

• Choose Any Particular Scale

• Pick Four Notes of That Particular Scale That Sound Great in Sequence

• Convert Each of Your Four Selected Notes Into Separate Chords

VOILA!

As a conclusion for this chapter - in the last page of this book, we’re going to get you to play this new “song” with both hands!

Remember one of our first exercises from the beginning of the book? Yup… I’m going there.

Remember the practice beat [per chord]:

Now perform the exercise:

64

65

Ending

Yes! You’ve made it! It’s true! Seven days of hard work! You should be so proud of yourself! You’re officially an intermediate pianist. A musician capable of even teaching the contents of this book! You have completed the 7-Day systematic approach of Easy as That Piano.

Go Learn More Songs!

You are now officially a musician. Don't believe me? Here's the list of things that you've learned:

• Identification of the Piano's notes.

• The definition of harmony and the composition of chords.

• Three different chord types (a total of 28 Chords learned - Majors, Minors and Sharps).

• Proper Positioning of the hands when playing chords.

• Creative diverse chord sequences/progressions.

• How to coordinate your left and right hand to play/create songs and organize a beat.

• How to invert your chords to comfort your hands when playing.

• Unintentionally, you've learned how to read basic chord notation, fluently, instead of sheet music.

• Developed a Musical Ear

• Learned the Main Concepts of Scales and how to use them

Again - You've gone through it all, it doesn't matter how long it took you - whether it was a week or a month. Use this knowledge now to play any song you desire!

Reminder: www.Youtube.com, will provide you with endless amounts of tutorials for diverse songs of almost any genre of music. You simply type the title of the song you want to learn in the search bar, and type the word “Tutorial” at the end of your words. You will get endless results. There are probably over 10 tutorials of EACH song ever made, on Youtube. Yes, I may have exaggerated a tad, but only because Youtube is that good. Everyone on there is teaching their favorite songs, and it's up to you to take advantage of this now that you can understand their fast-talking and over-load of musical “terminology”.

Be proud of yourself. You will only need Youtube tutorials if the particular song you want to learn has a specific unique melody (many individual notes in a specific order making a specific tune). In a case like that, commonly seen in classical music, and in piano solos/intros of many songs, you'd just have to follow the short tutorials that will teach you the specific melody you seek.

Please visit www.easyasthatpiano.com/contactus if you have any questions, or if you’d like to share your experience with Easy as That Piano. All comments are appreciated. If there’s anything we can do to improve this system, we welcome all suggestions! Good luck with your future as a Musician! Goodbye!