Piano and music theory

Learn keyboard geography, rhythm, notation, and chords. Play a Beethoven theme and an original rock-style study.

Prerequisite: Complete beginner. A keyboard, ideally your Casio CT-S300; no MIDI or pedal required. Use the diagrams and optional sound, then practice on your instrument. Each lesson has exercises, hints, and worked answers.

Lessons 1–6 introduce the keyboard, notation, and a first two-hand study. Lessons 7–12 build on those skills with scales, inversions, accompaniment patterns, and a longer piece. Lessons 13–24 develop new keys, meters, phrasing, harmony, and early-intermediate studies. This is a curriculum target, not an automatic assessment of your playing. Continue when the earlier exercises are comfortable; there is no need to reach a fast tempo first.

Lessons

1. 1

   Finding your way around the keyboard

   Find C, name the keys, and use finger numbers. Set up your keyboard and hands.

2. 2

   Keeping time

   Count a steady beat, hold notes, and leave rests. Hear how rhythm differs from tempo.

3. 3

   Playing your first melodies

   Play a short Beethoven theme with five fingers. Follow sheet music with fingering and practice small phrases.

4. 4

   Reading music at the keyboard

   Connect staff positions to keys. Read treble and bass landmarks, steps, and skips.

5. 5

   Chords and simple accompaniment

   Build major and minor triads, hear their difference, and change chords over a steady bass.

6. 6

   Putting a short piece together

   Coordinate both hands in an original rock-style study. Use a short, specific practice routine.

7. 7

   Reading intervals and short phrases

   Read steps, thirds, and fifths from staff landmarks. Try a new phrase in each clef.

8. 8

   Moving beyond five fingers

   Play a one-octave C-major scale, hands separately. Plan thumb crossings and comfortable hand movement.

9. 9

   Chord inversions and smoother changes

   Keep a chord’s identity while rearranging its notes. Compare root positions with nearby voicings.

10. 10

    Broken-chord accompaniment

    Turn a held chord into a left-hand pattern. Keep a melody held while the accompaniment moves.

11. 11

    Different rhythms in each hand

    Coordinate attacks, holds, and rests without losing the shared pulse.

12. 12

    Learning a longer piece

    Learn an original eight-bar study in phrases. Combine hand shifts, crossings, and a choice of accompaniments.

13. 13

    Playing in G major and F major

    Read key signatures and put black keys into familiar scale patterns.

14. 14

    Minor keys and accidentals

    Compare natural and harmonic minor. Read changes that last to the bar line.

15. 15

    Three beats and compound time

    Distinguish 3/4 from 6/8 through counting, notation, and accompaniment.

16. 16

    Ties and syncopation

    Hold across strong beats without adding an attack. Keep the other hand steady.

17. 17

    Articulation, dynamics, and phrasing

    Separate note length, loudness, and phrase shape. Bring out a melody.

18. 18

    Using sustain pedal without blurring

    Coordinate keys and pedal changes, with a complete no-pedal practice route.

19. 19

    Seventh chords and chord symbols

    Read a melody with harmonic instructions. Choose playable voicings and accompaniment.

20. 20

    Scales, arpeggios, and subdivisions

    Extend your range with planned fingering. Practice even notes without forcing speed.

21. 21

    Coordinating rhythm and balance

    Keep a steady bass under eighth-note melodies, with separate control of each hand.

22. 22

    Learning an unfamiliar score

    Plan a first reading, diagnose errors, and make a practice plan you can use independently.

23. 23

    Lantern waltz: an early-intermediate study

    Learn a sixteen-bar F-major piece with moving bass, phrasing, and contrasting sections.

24. 24

    Cross town and the intermediate checkpoint

    Combine G major, syncopation, ties, subdivisions, and balanced two-hand playing.