Tyson Farmer:   Music Lessons

Piano Lessons

Although guitar is my first instrument, I can also play keyboards. Although most people think of playing keyboards as "piano" lessons, it does not require playing an actual piano. The piano is just one instrument (and the most popular one) that one can apply their keyboard playing skills to- like an organ, harpsichord, or electronic keyboard. So for most cases, consider "piano lessons" and "keyboard lessons" to mean the same thing. Every musician, from trumpet players to drummers to harp players, can benefit from learning to play the keyboard, as it is the best and most logically laid out instrument for songwriting, orchestration, and understanding basic musical concepts. In addition, it's a fun instrument to play! This is why all college music majors are required to take piano classes in addition to their instrument's curriculum (yes, even drummers!).
    Piano is much easier at first to begin playing than most musical instruments, as you don't have to have any special skills to push down on a piano key and get a sound out of it. The tricky part comes with getting it to sound like you want it to! This involves learning about chord construction, right and left hand multitasking and coordination, rhythmic concepts, music theory, and developing muscle memory.
    If you've ever seen yourself playing piano songs like Elton John or Billy Joel, or rocking out to Journey, or even playing some beautiful classical or contemporary piano music, then you should give piano lessons a try!

My teaching skills with this instrument


I can teach any student to read chord charts, play songs (both keyboard- heavy songs or songs that do not even have a piano in them), learn to play by ear, sing and play at the same time, prepare for and get better at playing in ensembles and bands, and much more. I can teach any student to read sheet music and standard notation if they desire , although I don't require it for any of my students.
    I can also teach any classically (or "traditionally") trained piano player to play by ear, write their own songs, and understand, read, and improvise over jazz and pop chord charts, lead sheets, and fake books if they are only familiar with reading standard notation and would like to diversify their skills.


If you have any further questions I couldn't answer here, check out my FAQ section.

Concepts I teach:

Names of the piano keys
Chord construction and triads
Major and minor chords
Sharps and flats (# & b)
Octaves and their role
Left and right hand coordination
Proper piano fingering technique
Roots and the role of the left hand
Chord inversions
Reading standard notation
Reading chord charts and lead sheets
Playing melodies
Chord embellishments: 7s, 9s, etc.
Jazz concepts
Rhythmic notation
Scales and their use
Understanding and playing modes
Improvisation and soloing
Arpeggios and their role
Playing an learning songs by ear
Using the internet as a song resource
...and much more than I can list here!