This specialization will give you the necessary practice techniques and performance skills to play the piano either alone or with a group. You will begin with Piano Techniques for Modern Music, which provides an essential foundation and overview to build your piano playing efficiently and healthily. You will learn to read piano music and strengthen your hand independence using exercises and examples from popular music. From there, you will move to Piano Scales for Modern Music, which will give you insight into how to use well-known scales to create melodies and improvise over common chord progressions. Finally, you will complete Piano Chords for Modern Music, where you will combine all of your previous knowledge to build and use chord progressions that fit every genre of music. Across all three courses, you will experiment with various musical genres, discover common rhythms and patterns that will elevate your playing, and develop the skills to confidently perform both as a soloist and in ensemble settings.
Applied Learning Project
You will utilize provided exercises and examples to develop essential piano playing skills, applying these skills by playing real music in a variety of genres. In each course, you will be assigned practice exercises to enhance your playing through focused practice. At the end of each course, you will perform a variety of songs along with a backing track.
