Piano Fluency

You will always know what to practice next and why.

This is not a quick fix for dabblers, nor is it a disorganized information dump. We will get your hands on the piano and help you develop real musicianship over time.  

Adult students from beginner through late intermediate will benefit from this course. This is the benefit of a continuous learning path that progresses in difficulty: while the first units are appropriate for beginners, the later units offer challenges even to many professional musicians. 

Piano Fluency develops foundational skills that help with many genres of popular music. You’ll learn music theory along the way, but it’s really about getting things into your hands (and developing your rhythm) by playing songs and drills.

In the early levels, you will develop the practical skills you need to play accompany parts to popular songs using a chord chart. 

As you progress you'll learn how to apply the concepts of scale degrees and functional harmony, and get an introduction to essential technique and ear training. 

In later levels, you will learn how to expand upon accompaniment parts as an improviser. You will also begin to read lead sheets to play full melodic arrangements of classic songs. You'll learn how to approach playing two-handed extended harmony, and you'll tackle more advanced ear training challenges. Students who complete the program will have a strong foundation to learn independently, studying their favorite music by ear. 

My formal education is a BA in Jazz Piano from USC’s Thornton School of Music. Along with my jazz instruction, I received classical piano instruction and studied orchestration and composition as a non-major at USC. I have also continued private lessons independently as an adult on many instruments - guitar, bass, voice, and violin - and this informs my teaching approach. 

I have taught for over 10 years for organizations including Young Musicians Foundation, the Rhodes School, HDpiano, and School of Song.

Professionally, I have scored commercials by brands such as Carmax and KFC. I also collaborate with music artists as a session pianist and string arranger; one such collaborator is Laufey, winner of the 2023 Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. 

You can cancel your membership anytime in your account settings with just two clicks. You may also ask for a refund for your most recent payment if the course isn’t a good fit. 

YouTube is a fantastic resource that didn't exist until recently, and you may have found me there. However, it tends to create information overwhelm in adult students. Remember that 10 minutes of high quality practice is better than 10 hours of watching YouTube. In this course, our priority is high quality practice. 

For those who ask whether there is any material in the course that I haven't published on my YouTube channel - the answer is an emphatic yes! Only a handful of reference videos from the course are also available on YouTube. Otherwise, the video format is similar, but the content in the course is exclusive to members. My approach to YouTube is to provide free information; this course is about implementation. 

You will have direct access to me (Ted) through several channels: email, our Community Forum, and weekly live classes. I love answering questions!

I'm here to help! Send me a message at [email protected]