Piano Lessons – Home is Where the Heart Is (Book 1)

Sarah is a classically trained pianist, composer, educator, songwriter and producer, who after teaching piano and music theory for over twenty years decided to write her own method books “Home is Where the Heart Is” 1, 2 and 3. Her accelerated teaching method is a simple chord based approach which aids students in learning how to read and play in treble and bass clef while also developing an ear for intervals and harmony.

The first book is designed to get students finding C position and playing in both hands in no time at all. The “shapes” allow students to play more complicated music quickly, while also training the ear to listen out for the “HOME” chord, which is always a HEART no matter the key they are playing in. Book 1 focuses on C major, C position, and playing and reading simple melodies based on the five note scale. Sarah covers chords, inversions, intervals, broken chords and the I, IV and V harmony. She also covers beat and how to use a rhythm language to identify patterns and improvise (towards the end of the book), which she goes into more deeply in book 2.

Sarah’s lesson are designed to build confidence, strengthen fingers and fine motor skills, and get students listening to the intervals and harmonies as they play. Another goal of the book is to give students a few simple tools for improvising so that when they reach the end of the book they can go back to the very beginning and play all of their pieces in more creative and complicated ways! By doing this, they will be further developing their sight reading and listening skills.

And of course, music is supposed to be FUN. Our brains are designed for solving puzzles and being creative, and it’s amazing how much music we can all make with just a few simple tools!!

We all have different learning styles, and we have to learn at our own pace! Watch the videos as many times as you need to until you are ready to move on. And remember, the more you practice, the better you will get. Even a few minutes a few times a week can make a huge difference.

Ideally, you will have a keyboard or a piano to practice on (a 32 key mini Casio keyboard will do just fine for book 1). And if you don’t have access to a keyboard, practicing on a table works too. Your fingers will still be able to make the shapes, tap out the melodies and rhythms, and connect the dots as you listen to the videos.

If you’ve ever wondered about how music works, wanted to play the piano for fun (or for real), or simply to get better at music theory and sight reading, this course might be a perfect way for you to get started. Write down your questions as you go, and if they are not answered by the time you’re done with all the videos, please reach out to Sarah. It is really important to her that you give yourself a chance, because you CAN do this. It’s never too late to learn music, and it might just bring you great joy!  Sarah is very passionate about music and teaching, and will be happy to help you on your journey.

Who this course is for:

• This course is ideal for motivated beginners. We are starting from scratch and moving in small steps
• Students who already play an instrument but would like some theory and piano knowledge
• Students interested in learning how to improvise over chords
• Singers who would like to read music and accompany themselves
• Students who wish to practice sight reading and ear training
• Singer songwriters who play guitar but would like to learn how to play chords and read sheet music