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Schedule of Events
Note: With your free Online PianoCon pass, you can only watch the expert sessions for 48 hours from when they are broadcasted. After that, you’ll need to purchase the All-Access Pass to get lifetime access to view the sessions.
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DAY 0 - Live Kick-off!
Allysia Van Betuw
June 25th, Tuesday @ 20:00 PM EST | 17:00 PST
Join Allysia Van Betuw (PianoTV) LIVE on the eve before the convention begins. We'll chat, answer questions and have an all-around good time.
DAY 1 - Reading and Understanding Music
June 26th, Wednesday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
Simplifying Sight Reading: Reading Music Without Reading Notes
Lisa is an organized and methodical teacher who is also warm and friendly – a wonderful combination for a piano teacher. She has a wealth of videos online to get the absolute beginner started at the piano, and her session today will help you become a better sight reader, whether you’re starting from scratch or have been at it for a while.
Most of us think that we need to master and memorize the letters/note names to be a good sight reader, but Lisa proves that this isn’t the case – and that obsessive focus on the note names can actually be a hindrance. You’ll love her teaching style – she leaves no stone unturned!
June 26th, Wednesday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
Becoming a Better Sight Reader with SASR and Piano Marvel
Sean works closely with Piano Marvel in addition to teaching piano. He’s an excellent sight reader, so he’s here today to share his best tips for becoming a better sight reader. He explains the SASR – what it is, how to use it, and what the numbers mean – and why it’s such a useful and groundbreaking tool.
Sight reading is only one component of being a musician, but it’s such an important part that we often overlook. You’ll learn plenty of actionable tips in Sean’s session today!
June 26th, Wednesday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
Learn the Three Essential Elements of Musicianship Skills
Glory, the Wonder Woman behind the popular Ultimate Music Theory series, will teach you about melody, rhythm and harmony. If you’ve never enjoyed music theory before, you’re going to love Glory’s passionate and easy-to-understand approach.
This is the perfect session to check out if you’re just getting started with music – she covers the basics so you have a rock-solid foundation for your learning. It’s also great if you’re simply looking for an enjoyable refresher!
June 26th, Wednesday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
Learn Any Piece on Piano With Nahre
Most of you already know Nahre from her popular YouTube channel – she’s an excellent Classically-trained pianist who loves to compose to understand a piece or genre. In her session she takes us through three different pieces of music at various levels and shows us how she would learn them, advocating for a three-dimensional, creative approach that is very refreshing.
DAY 2 - Piano Technique and Fluency
June 27th, Thursday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
Your Technique Questions, Answered by Billboard #1 Artist Josh Wright
You asked, and he answered! In this session Josh answers your various questions about technique, addressing everything from dynamics to tempo to playing without tension. You’ll be mesmerized by his piano demonstrations that he illustrates his points with. As a bonus, find out which Chopin Etudes he considers the most brutally difficult.
June 27th, Thursday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
How To Get Your Hands Doing What You Want Them To Do
Jason Sifford, a multi-talented piano teacher and educator, will take you through three different pieces at different levels (easy, intermediate and difficult), discussing the same practice strategies applied to each piece. He tells us that “fingers are the legs of the arm” and advises us to really slow down and focus on our movement to make sure we’re staying tension-free. That’ll not only improve our enjoyment of practice, but our pieces will sound better too!
Jason is full of great advice from his many years of teaching experience. It doesn’t matter what level of piano you’re at – you’re bound to get something out of this session. Don’t miss it!
June 27th, Thursday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
How to Become Fluent in Music: 7 Non-Piano Activities to Become a Better Musician
Sometimes playing piano for hours and hours isn’t an option. For those times, Sam’s got your back with suggestions on non-piano activities to enrich your learning. Fluency is built on immersion – your musical experience shouldn’t just be limited to one activity (practicing piano).
June 27th, Thursday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
How to Fix Problem Spots in Your Music for a Seamless Performance
This interview with Graham Fitch, the talented teacher and author of the website "Practising the Piano", will answer all your questions about how to take your piece from 80% to 100%. Graham's full of specific and actionable advice that you'll be able to apply immediately, regardless of what level you're at.
DAY 3 - Piano Practice
June 28th, Friday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
How to Make Piano Practice Fun with the Creator of Hoffman Academy
Joseph Hoffman, Piano Teacher and Academy Founder Extraordinaire, is the perfect person to talk about making piano lessons fun. That is, after all, the entire premise of his online (and offline) academy. Though the academy is geared toward children, about a quarter of its students are adults who want a more light-hearted approach.
In this session, Joseph gives some specifics on how to practice and what he expects from his students. He talks about the biggest mistake adult students tend to make, and how to fix them. He touches on his experience with solfege and ear-based learning, which he thinks is critical. And, most importantly, he’s full of great advice on how to actually enjoy your practice sessions – something that all of us need a refresher on.
June 28th, Friday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
The Five Best Apps for Adult Piano Students
Leila is the most tech-savvy piano teacher I know, so she’s the perfect person to sift through all the apps out there to find the best of the best for adult students. She takes us through all of her picks (plus a bonus one or two), and her criteria for selecting apps for this list. It covers a broad palette of musical topics – everything from tutorials to backing tracks to funky metronomes.
Of course, there are many great apps out there – five is such a small amount! This list is designed to get started with incorporating technology in your practice sessions, not only to improve your skills but also to have more fun.
June 28th, Friday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
Goal Setting and Mindfulness with the Feely Piano Method
Emilee, the impressive entrepreneur behind Feely Music, shares her insights on goal setting and mindfulness at the piano. She’s personally hired dozens of teachers and her school has had many scores of students use her method, which heavily features the idea of journaling and reflection, having short but engaged practice sessions, and monthly mini-recitals. This is a great session to watch if you’re wanting to make the most out of your time at the piano – even if you don’t have much time to spare.
June 28th, Friday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
How to Practice for a Bulletproof Performance
In this interview, Noa from the popular blog Bulletproof Musician shares with us the latest in music and performance research into strategies we can apply immediately to our practice sessions. He talks about how to cope with “nerves” that often plague us before and during performances, and how to quell that negative self-talk many of us have experienced during a performance.
This interview is packed full of science and excellent visual ideas (like the chain of noses!) – he is a performance psychologist at Julliard, after all. As a classically-trained violinist he’s set apart from other performers and teachers you’ll see in the convention, but his practice suggestions work well across all instruments. You don’t want to miss this session.
DAY 4 - Chords, Pop and Improv
June 29th, Saturday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
How to ACTUALLY Play Chords and Melodies by Ear with Aimee Nolte
Aimee’s curiosity drove her to figure out a lot of things in music on her own. Inspired by her musical grandfather and a grade-school teacher, she taught herself how to grab melodies in her head and put them on the keys, and how to figure out what chords musicians were using in their music.
In this session, she nails down what chords to start with so you’re not overwhelmed. She discusses how to get started playing by ear (both chords and melody), even if you’ve never done it before. She even shows you how to take boring solid triads that you’ve learned and make them sound more interesting. Lastly, she’ll share an exercise for you guys to try out to improve your ear.
June 29th, Saturday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
What to Do with Major and Minor Chords Once You've Learnt Them (Exercises with PianoPig)
Simon is going to show you how to make your chords sound good. We spend all this time learning a bunch of chords, but then when it comes time to apply them, we don’t know what to do.
Simon thinks triads are critical to learn, but they can also be problematic. He walks us through how to solve those problems and gives us five great tools to improve the sound of our triads. He also shares some exercises that you can start trying today!
June 29th, Saturday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
How to Turn Standard Piano Music (P/V/C) into Lead Sheets You Can Understand
Popular YouTuber Bill Hilton takes us through the process of converting a complex-looking piece of music into something logical and easy-to-understand. He explains the problem with typical piano music (the kind that’s scored for piano/vocal/chords) and how we can adapt it to better suit our needs.
This is such a fun conversation and you’ll love Bill’s down-to-earth approach to learning jazzy piano.
June 29th, Saturday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
Write Your First Pop Song (Chords, Melody and Lyrics) with PianoTV
Allysia, the host of PianoTV.net, has been writing music since she was a small child penning the masterpiece “More Than A Million You”, an 8-year old’s sassy take on an unsatisfactory boy. In her session, she’ll show you how to write lyrics, chords and a melody for a pop song, even if you’ve never written anything before. Not only will she give you tips on these areas of writing, she’ll give you some actionable exercises that you can immediately try out.
You won’t want to miss her breathtaking lyrics about pancakes.
June 29th, Saturday @ 18:00 PM EST | 15:00 PST
3 Improvisation Exercises for Complete Beginners
Eric is a down-to-earth, multi-talented jazz musician based in California. He runs a thriving piano studio where he both teaches and works with teachers. Today he’s going to give you a lesson on improvisation. This lesson is aimed at someone who has never attempted improv before and is intimidated by the process – it’s incredibly accessible, easy-to-follow, and most importantly – fun!
He’s provided some worksheets and audio files to use (for All-Access Pass members), which will make his three useful exercises foolproof to use.
June 29th, Saturday @ 18:00 PM EST | 15:00 PST
Wrong-Noteless Noodling with the Piano Guy
In this fun and beginner-friendly session, Scott takes us through three different exercises to start trying today to improvise some blues music. He gives us a cool, modern variation of C7/F7/G7 chord to try and has plenty of advice for improvising in your right hand and getting started with comping in your left hand.
Most of you are probably familiar with Scott Houston, aka “The Piano Guy” from his popular PBS show, but if not, you’re in for a real treat.
DAY 5 - Tutorials
June 30th, Sunday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
Jonny May, former Disneyland Main Street Pianist, has helped thousands of students learn jazz, blues, & improv through his learning platform PianoWithJonny.com. In this lesson, Jonny shows you one of the most important progressions in jazz called the Turnaround. You'll learn 3 swing approaches (beginner, intermediate, & advanced) plus how to transform basic 7th chords into cool jazz voicings
June 30th, Sunday @ 10:00 AM EST | 07:00 PST
Working with Complex Key Signatures and Minor Scales
Nicole is a teacher/performer/academic who has written Classically-inspired music for her piano students. In particular, she found music with more than one or two sharps or flats hard to come by for beginners and opted to write music using the more beastly key signatures. We’ll talk through the 16-measure Sarabande she wrote in F minor, and she’ll give us tips on how to go about learning it, what to look for, and how to spot patterns.
If you want to follow along and learn a new piece, she’s provided the PDF of the music.
June 30th, Sunday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
How to Start a Piano Meetup Group (and Why You Should)
Frances has been blogging about piano online for many years, and she’s been involved in running meet-up groups for adult piano students in the London area. Since us piano players tend to be solitary creatures by default, I wanted to pic her brain on how to get out of the house and meet other piano enthusiasts.
She makes the process incredibly easy – really! Even if you’re just starting out with piano, you can start your own piano meet-up group. We often forget how powerful the social element is to learning any skill, so if you want to stay enthusiastic and motivated, you’ll definitely want to check out this session.
June 30th, Sunday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
5 Fun Ways to Make Twinkle Twinkle Sound Cool
Jerald from Music Motivation will inspire you with his 5 different takes on Twinkle Twinkle – he’s a fabulous and enviable improvisor, but he also shares some down-to-earth tips on how to get started. It’s so fun to watch him share great music with his laid-back storytelling style – if this doesn’t make you jump to the piano, I don’t know what will.
Jerald is quite prolific and has created an enormous body of work for his many students. This includes 25 music books, his “Cool Songs Club” and many other (very affordable!) projects.
June 30th, Sunday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
Jon Brantingham Teaches Allysia (PianoTV) How to Compose a Piece of Music
In this fun and totally unique session, Jon walks me through the process of creating a beginning, middle and end of a piece of music using one of his PDF resources. We get a little nerdy into music theory here, so if you don’t know anything about chords, you might want to brush up first.
Still, one of the great things about this exercise is that anyone can do it – beginners and advanced students alike. Pour a cup of tea and prepare yourself for many hours of fun and creativity that this session will inevitably inspire.
DAY 6 - OPC Encore!
Allysia Van Betuw
July 1st, Monday @ 14:00 PM EST | 11:00 PST
Join us LIVE at 2pm EST for an encore session to celebrate the FINAL 24 HOURS of Online Piano Con. We'll chat and hang out, and I'll be sharing some surprises as well.
Once the sessions expire, they're gone forever. Upgrade to the All-Access Pass now, which will give you unlimited access to every session forever, plus some great bonus materials.
©2019 Online PianoCon is curated by Allysia Van Betuw and is a trade mark of PianoTV.net