Most piano books put a month of reading between you and anything that sounds like music. This is the page that comes first in mine: the opening of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, five fingers that never move, and nothing on the sheet to decode.
It is genuinely one page. You can be playing in the time it takes to read it.
I was trained in the Russian school, where a child plays for months before meeting a printed note. The reason is not tradition. It is that the ear has to lead the hand, and if reading comes first the hand learns to obey the page instead of the sound.
Adults are almost never taught this way, and it is the single biggest difference I hear between someone who plays and someone who presses the right keys.
You already know how this tune goes. That is the whole advantage, and this page spends it.
Your first piece, by ear — one page, free. You will also get the occasional letter from me about learning the piano as an adult.
✓ Thank you — check your inbox!
No spam — just piano. Unsubscribe anytime.
Doctor of Musical Arts, concert pianist and international competition laureate, trained at the Moscow school and the Gnessin Academy, doctorate in the United States. I teach piano at university level and privately, and I write for adults who are learning on their own.
Forty-one video lessons, in order, from the first sound to reading with both hands. Free on YouTube, no sign-up.
Start at Lesson 1 →Record a few minutes and I will write you back about what I actually hear — the specific thing, where it happens, and what to do. Free while the pilot runs.
Send a recording →