Play the Piano and Sing!

Sarah Bonsignore is an award winning musician with  over twenty years in music education. If you are looking for an introduction to singing and how to begin playing the piano, this lesson course will teach you the fundamentals of music notation, how to build chords and improvise melodies, how to produce a clear vocal sound and accompany yourself with simple triads (root chords) and their inversions, as well as how to play scales and open chords with lots of rhythmic patterns to make your songs come alive.

Music fundamentals can't be learned over night. Please be prepared to practice for a few minutes everyday. The more time you practice each lesson, the better you will get! It's that simple. Take the lessons at your own pace and move on only when you are ready. By the end of the series you will have gained a deeper understanding of how music works, and you'll have 8 songs in your repertoire as well as chord exercises for improvising. The lessons will give you the tools you need to read music notation and chord symbols so that when you are done, you can download or buy easy sheet music for all the songs you love.

These lessons will also help to develop your "ear training" skills (how to hear harmony), time signatures, scales, phrase and cadence. Each lesson will have sheet music attached which should be printed out and used for independent practicing. Videos should be watched multiple times, focusing in on one hand at a time until you are ready to play the songs with both hands. Many of my students work on songs hands separately for a few days to a week before attempting to play with both hands. It's not so easy, especially for a total beginner, so please go easy on yourself, and don't give up! With a little effort, you WILL get better!!

There are more challenging options at the end of the lessons so that students who want to take their music to the next level will have an opportunity to do so. These lessons are designed for the motivated beginner, but they are also appropriate for intermediate and advanced students who are interested in learning how to play and sing songs by ear, as well as develop their ear for harmony, sight reading and theory skills.

If you have any questions or concerns along the way, please don't hesitate to reach out!