Learn
Learn music by playing
Interactive guides to understand chords, explore scales and take your first steps at the piano. Read, look, listen, then try it on the keyboard.
Start here
New to the piano? These guides follow on from each other.
- How to start playing the piano: a first interactive tourFind C, play a pattern, try a chord: your first ten minutes.6 min
- Learn the notes on the pianoUse the black keys to find every white key, then test yourself.7 min
- A 10-minute piano routine for beginnersFour short blocks for a daily session, with an optional timer.5 min
- Your first piano chordsC, F, G and Am: four chords that already make music.7 min
- Which scales to learn first on the piano?C major, A minor, G major: a gentle order to start with.8 min
- Your first chord progression on the pianoFour chords, one loop, a few rhythms.6 min
Getting started
Find your way around the keyboard, play a first pattern and set up a short daily session.
- How to start playing the piano: a first interactive tourFind C, play a pattern, try a chord: your first ten minutes.6 min
- Learn the notes on the pianoUse the black keys to find every white key, then test yourself.7 min
- A 10-minute piano routine for beginnersFour short blocks for a daily session, with an optional timer.5 min
Understanding chords
What a chord is made of, how to read its name and how to move from one to the next.
- Your first piano chordsC, F, G and Am: four chords that already make music.7 min
- Major or minor chord: what is the difference?One note changes, the third: see it and hear it.6 min
- How to build a chord on the pianoRoot, third, fifth: build a triad note by note.8 min
- How to read chord symbols: C, Am, G7, Cmaj7…Root, then quality, then extras: decode any symbol.8 min
- Chord inversions on the pianoSame notes, another order: the three positions of a triad.6 min
- How to change chords smoothly on the pianoKeep common notes, move the rest a little.7 min
- How to name a chord from its notesPress keys, read the chord, understand the result.6 min
Exploring scales
Which scales to start with, what they are for and how to practise them without boredom.
- Which scales to learn first on the piano?C major, A minor, G major: a gentle order to start with.8 min
- What are scales for on the piano?One scale, a melody and its chords.6 min
- How to practise a scale without just going up and downShort patterns, slow tempo, small sections.7 min
- Major or minor scale: understanding the differenceSame tonic or relative keys: two comparisons, kept apart.8 min
- The pentatonic scale: a first step into improvisingFive notes over a loop, and small pattern challenges.7 min
- Understanding tones, semitones and intervalsMeasure the distance between two keys.7 min
Accompaniment and creativity
Turn a few chords into music: progressions, left-hand patterns, arpeggios and your own melodies.
- Your first chord progression on the pianoFour chords, one loop, a few rhythms.6 min
- What to play with the left hand as a beginnerHeld bass, octaves, broken chord: same tune, three left hands.7 min
- Piano arpeggios: from chords to accompanimentBlock chord, then broken: several patterns on one chord.6 min
- I know a few chords: what can I play with them?Four chords, three original pieces to play.7 min
- Why do these chords go well together?Shared notes, one scale, a pull home.8 min
- One melody, several accompanimentsSame tune, three backings to compare.6 min
- How to write your first melody on the pianoA few notes, a motif, a variation.7 min
- How to change the key of a chord progressionSame degrees, another key: transpose in one click.7 min
Tools to look things up
The guides explain one idea at a time. The tools are for checking a chord or a scale and trying it out, whenever you need.