Free online Beginner course

Welcome to our free online course for Beginner pianists with Finchcocks Musical Director David Hall!

You can pause and replay each of the videos as often as you like until you can get the hang of each exercise. Then, once you’ve mastered it, you can play along with David as a duet – to whichever backing track he provides! Happy playing…

Lesson 1

In this first video David assumes literally no knowledge – and will get you playing along with him within 1 minute!

In less than 5 minutes, he’ll introduce to you to the world of classical and jazz, get you playing confidently with both hands and teach you the note names. Sounds impossible? Give it a go!

Lesson 2

In this second lesson, David picks up from where he left off, before busting out his recorder to get you playing along with him in the medieval feudal style!

After a quick recap on the note names, move onto a C major scale and then playing with two hands. David will then help you make it feel like a piece of music by playing a harmonised backing track for you to practise along with.

Without getting tangled in notation or reading music, David then introduces a piece which you can learn hands separately, before putting them together and playing along with David’s 4-piece band!

Lesson 3

An introduction to chords and, the joy of all those starting out on the piano, how to use the sustain pedal! Learn how chords are built and how to play them in two different ways. Play your first chord progression whilst David improvises over the top with his helpful backing track video, and then add some magic with hand-crossing and the sustain pedal!

Lesson 4

Learn how to read music notation: With guest appearances from Eira and Alexander singing the notes of the treble and bass clef, learn to name and write them down with some helpful mnemonics. By the end of the video, you will have played a 4-bar tune for both right and left hand, by reading a new language – that of written sheet music!

Lesson 5

The fifth and final online lesson, continues your lesson in written music, with notated rhythms. Begin with a left-hand bass line whilst David accompanies you with some jazzy improvisation. Play a mournful classical melody with your right hand to a different backing track and then follow this with your first written tune for two hands – what an achievement! If that wasn’t enough for you, David finishes off the lesson with an introduction to sharps and flats (the black notes), always an excitement for a beginner.

Thank you for joining us for the online Beginner course! We hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If you would like to find out more about our residential courses at Finchcocks, please check our course availability here, or drop us a line using the form below. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your musical background – even if you are a beginner. We’d love to hear from you!

Otherwise, if you’re up for a bit more of a challenge, why not try our free online course for Intermediate players here?