There’s something about a ballad with a beat, am I right? Think about “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars, or “I’ll Show You” by Justin Bieber… Something about the slow tempo but fast hi hats, and the very melodic vocals over a beat that is usually reserved for more of a hip hop delivery. I […]
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When I first heard “Sign of the Times” I had no idea it was written and performed by a former member of One Direction. It sounded more like Elton John, David Bowie, and Pink Floyd got together and inspired a brand new artist… I loved it! And when I found out it was Harry Styles,
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This tune is very pretty… plain and simple. It’s got a fun ’80s beat and a classic chord progression. I first became aware of this song through a cover version performed by a group called Thirdstory, and that blew me away! Taylor Swift always performs well on YouTube, but of her songs this might be
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As a fan of pop music, I have a total blast whenever I play “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic on piano. What a fun, catchy tune! I was humming this one for hours after I recorded the YouTube lesson. I chose to do this one for a few reasons: 1. Left hand arpeggio pattern Here, in
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In the classic movie, The Breakfast Club, as well as many parodies that followed, “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds was absolutely iconic. But strictly musically speaking, there isn’t too much to it! There is, however, a few cool things that make this song stand out, and they’re also why I chose to
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My students who are fans of EDM have asked me time and time again to teach them how to play “Faded” by Alan Walker on piano. I wasn’t familiar with Alan Walker when I first heard this song, but what captured me was how melodic and pianistic it sounded, despite its ‘dance club’ nature. And
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“Closer” by The Chainsmokers and Halsey is an incredibly catchy song! When this dropped, you couldn’t go 15 minutes in your every-day life without hearing this… And it was so popular on YouTube, I just had to teach it! But I didn’t just arrange and teach it because of its popularity; there are specific musical
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If you dig folk music, you’ll want to learn how to play “Ophelia” by The Lumineers on piano. Folk music is really fun to play on the piano. With the emergence of bands like The Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, and more like them, folk and folk rock was put into the pop main stream for
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“Sorry” by Justin Bieber is one of my favorites to play in the Playground Sessions collection! Bieber surprised me with this one, since up until this point, he was more strictly hip hop and R&B. But ‘Sorry’ came out of the gate with a specific kind of rhythm usually found in upbeat latin music or,
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Want to learn how to play “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran on piano? Good choice! “Photograph” is a beautiful, folky ballad that sounds great when translated to the piano! This arrangement is on the easy/intermediate level, so no matter how new you are to piano, you’ll be playing “Photograph” sooner than you think. Here are two
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