Meet Brian, the third place winner of the 2013 Piano Improvisation Contest.
You’ll learn about his musical journey in this blog video post.
Location: Ireland
Song/music: A Celtic Winter Dawn
Here is what he said:
“My father was a brilliant piano player, and was completely self-taught and could not read a note of music. I too from a very early age also taught myself to play piano, and it was not until I was in my late teens that I began to explore and learn to play in other keys other than C major. I never attempted to learn to read music or have any formal lessons as I had what most people would describe as “a very good ear” : if I could hum or whistle a tune, I could play it in C major and figure out a suitable base to play along with it. It was not until many years later that I became interested in the theory of music and the structure behind it that led me to start looking at Internet music sites and learning from the large number of sites that provided free piano lessons.
When I came across the Harmony and Melody site and read the write up on the Definitive Piano Improvisation program that was available on DVD, its content really interested me, so I purchased it. I found that course brilliant, and since then I have expanded my skill in the range of keys I play in normally and my ability to play and improvise in various styles.
I have also purchased Yokes tuition products to learn to read music, but I really am not disciplined enough to stick with it. I just want to play rather than go through the process of doing exercises. So although I can now read the melody line (or at least work it out), I don’t really “read” music. However, I have also purchased Yoke’s Fake Book courses and found them a very good way of getting up-to-date with some music I don’t know the melody of, very quickly.
Yoke’s free lessons and demonstrations available on the site have increased significantly over the years, and I think that is very good for aspiring piano players and also for promoting the paid courses that are available. The quality and quantity of these free lessons are excellent and give potential clients a very good idea what to expect in terms of quality and tuition from the paid lessons.
For aspiring pianists I would encourage them to really make use of the free lessons and demonstrations available on the Piano Mother site and then decide on the paid courses they need after they have decided on the skill area they need to advance further.”
The piano courses recommended by Brian
Definitive Piano Improvisation course, the award winner of "Best Tool for Improvisation".
Play Piano with Fake Book Series 2
