• markworthingtonmusic@gmail.com
Contact Me

markworthingtonmusic@gmail.com

Piano Lessons

Piano Lessons

Want to learn how to play the piano?

Want to learn how to play the piano?

I offer weekly lessons over Zoom for $60 an hour.

I’ll teach you how I personally learned to play as someone who took lessons for 20+ years and taught for 10+ years. My teaching philosophy is that music theory, sightreading, and technique through chord progressions, short songs, and scales are all essential for the learning process. More than that, I show my students how to build up the skill to play fast, virtuosic pieces. I firmly believe ANYONE can do this, and it is often overlooked by many piano teachers, especially at the earlier levels.

I offer weekly lessons over Zoom for $60 an hour.

I’ll teach you how I personally learned to play as someone who took lessons for 20+ years and taught for 10+ years. My teaching philosophy is that music theory, sightreading, and technique through chord progressions, short songs, and scales are all essential for the learning process. More than that, I show my students how to build up the skill to play fast, virtuosic pieces. I firmly believe ANYONE can do this, and it is often overlooked by many piano teachers, especially at the earlier levels.

The most important factors in your piano journey:

A Good Plan

Weekly scales, chord progressions, songs, & more + your own compositions or arrangements!

I’ll show you virtuosic exercises AND the theory to use them in your songs.

Consistency

You don’t need to practice 3 hours a day to become an expert pianist.

Even 10–15 minutes per day will develop your skills over time — you just have to stay consistent!

The most important factors in your piano journey:

1. A Good Plan
Week­ly scales, chord pro­gres­sions, & more + your own arrange­ment or com­po­si­tion over mul­ti­ple weeks.

1. A Good Plan

Weekly scales, chord progressions, songs, & more + your own compositions or arrangements!

I’ll show you virtuosic exercises AND the theory to use them in your songs.

2. Consistency

You don’t need to practice 3 hours a day to become an expert pianist.

Even 10–15 minutes per day will develop your skills over time — you just have to stay consistent!

2: Con­sis­ten­cy
You don’t have to play 3 hours a day to become an expert pianist! Even 10–15 min­utes dai­ly will devel­op your skill over time.

I wholeheartedly encourage creativity — it makes piano fun and inspiring!

I wholeheartedly encourage creativity — it makes piano fun and inspiring!

Want to learn one of my arrangements? Great!

I first learned to play dif­fi­cult pieces by copy­ing pianists like Marc-André Hamelin and Kyle Landry. I had an “I‑bet-I-could-do-that” men­tal­i­ty, and it even­tu­al­ly became true.

Let’s compose a song!

As you learn the basics, you’ll be able to make your own song that sounds great — even if it seems sim­ple at first. My stu­dents have vary­ing musi­cal back­grounds, and many of them make works they nev­er thought they’d be able to make pret­ty quick­ly!

Want to learn one of my arrangements? Great!

I first learned to play dif­fi­cult pieces by copy­ing pianists like Marc-André Hamelin and Kyle Landry. I had an “I‑bet-I-could-do-that” men­tal­i­ty, and it even­tu­al­ly became true.

Let’s compose a song!

As you learn the basics, you’ll be able to make your own song that sounds great — even if it seems sim­ple at first. My stu­dents have vary­ing musi­cal back­grounds, and many of them make works they nev­er thought they’d be able to make pret­ty quick­ly!

Sign up for lessons here!

Pay for a lesson here!

(Or, you can pay before the lesson via Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, etc.)

Pay for a lesson.

(Or, you can pay before the lesson via Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, etc.)

Add to Cart
Add to Cart

Teaching Experience & Method

My Teaching Experience & Method

I started learning the piano when I was about 4 years old. My dad had a bit of piano experience, so he sat down with me and told me which notes to hit. I loved the songs and had a strong ear, so I picked them up quickly.

For about 10 years, I worked with an incredible teacher named Bonnie Early who used Robert Pace’s method for theory along with Faber & Faber short songs. She gave me a little composition spiral notebook and told me to compose a song. By the end of the year, I had written a short song called “Skiing at Steamboat” and performed it to the other students and their parents. That was an inspiring process — every year, I made pieces that were increasingly complex to show people my ideas and playing abilities. It showed me that encouraging creativity in my own students is of utmost importance.

In college, I learned from the accomplished jazz and studio pianist, Mark Gasbarro. His recordings can be heard in Star Wars, Up, Spider-Man, and MUCH more as he is a well known figure in the music and film industry. This is where I learned jazz theory, chart reading, and improv. It took me from an impressive amateur to a well-rounded, advanced pianist who could play anything on the spot.

His teaching method, and one I use for my more advanced students to this day, is having the student choose a song and come up with their own jazz arrangement. In addition, they are given scales, jazz standards, Bach inventions, and various pieces by composers like Gershwin. He told me, “You know, ‘practice’ is really just the first 5 minutes after you sit down.” The piano has a way of keeping you there once you are inevitably immersed in the piece in front of you.

Because of my early start in piano, I’ve had the privilege of teaching many students for over 10 years. I have had people with varying musical backgrounds and different interests, and I have seen a lot of success in the improvements of my students. Often, piano students become discouraged early on because they lose their driving inspiration amidst the “boring” exercises and hard work. The philosophy of myself and my best teachers is that creativity and expressing one’s own voice are imperative to a student’s success — it keeps them coming back to the piano because it’s important to them, just like it was for us teachers who put in the thousands of hours.

I believe you can’t (and shouldn’t) achieve a high level of piano without learning the fundamentals. Some students become overwhelmed when they see the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. I know, it can be frustrating being stuck at your 100th harmonic minor scale and seeing pianists you admire play complex pieces with seemingly no effort.

Here’s the good news — it’s not as hard as you think to get the basics down if you practice them daily. Also, those impressive pianists are still doing their daily exercises. I give my students technique training, scales, chord progressions, short songs, and theory training. When you spend even 10 minutes every day on these things, the piano starts becoming second nature to you over time. You may not even realize it, but sooner than you think the instrument will become less of a mystery and more of an extension of your thoughts and ideas.

The better you are at the fundamentals, the more seamlessly your own expression will flow out of the keys. It takes patience and time, but it is inevitable through consistency.

So many teachers stay away from giving their students flashy, complex songs until a very advanced level. I’ll tell you this — I didn’t learn how to be “impressive” from my teachers. I sat down at the piano and copied the pianists who impressed me for hours and hours. I want to enable that kind of inspiration in my students.

Obviously, a beginner can’t learn Liszt’s Un Sospiro. But I do encourage my students to show me a song or a piano video that inspires them, and teach them step by step how to learn it, or, a version of it that suits their level. There are certain ways to sound like a top tier pianist that aren’t as tricky as they seem when you put in the reps. That learning process combined with the technique and theory to pull it off correctly makes you dangerous — you might stop one day and realize there’s nothing you can’t learn with enough practice.

I am a firm believer that ANYONE can learn to play the piano — and play it WELL. I always tell my students if there’s something they think they can play, just try! Figure out the notes from sheet music or by ear, then play through it slowly 100 times (literally, count it out). Most people are very surprised by what they can play by rep 100.

Every time I get a new student, I am honored and thrilled to work with them. The payoff for me is seeing their excitement as they put in the work and fuel their love for music.

I started learning the piano when I was about 4 years old. My dad had a bit of piano experience, so he sat down with me and told me which notes to hit. I loved the songs and had a strong ear, so I picked them up quickly.

For about 10 years, I worked with an incredible teacher named Bonnie Early who used Robert Pace’s method for theory along with Faber & Faber short songs. She gave me a little composition spiral notebook and told me to compose a song. By the end of the year, I had written a short song called “Skiing at Steamboat” and performed it to the other students and their parents. That was an inspiring process — every year, I made pieces that were increasingly complex to show people my ideas and playing abilities. It showed me that encouraging creativity in my own students is of utmost importance.

In college, I learned from the accomplished jazz and studio pianist, Mark Gasbarro. His recordings can be heard in Star Wars, Up, Spider-Man, and MUCH more as he is a well known figure in the music and film industry. This is where I learned jazz theory, chart reading, and improv. It took me from an impressive amateur to a well-rounded, advanced pianist who could play anything on the spot.

His teaching method, and one I use for my more advanced students to this day, is having the student choose a song and come up with their own jazz arrangement. In addition, they are given scales, jazz standards, Bach inventions, and various pieces by composers like Gershwin. He told me, “You know, ‘practice’ is really just the first 5 minutes after you sit down.” The piano has a way of keeping you there once you are inevitably immersed in the piece in front of you.

Because of my early start in piano, I’ve had the privilege of teaching many students for over 10 years. I have had people with varying musical backgrounds and different interests, and I have seen a lot of success in the improvements of my students. Often, piano students become discouraged early on because they lose their driving inspiration amidst the “boring” exercises and hard work. The philosophy of myself and my best teachers is that creativity and expressing one’s own voice are imperative to a student’s success — it keeps them coming back to the piano because it’s important to them, just like it was for us teachers who put in the thousands of hours.

I believe you can’t (and shouldn’t) achieve a high level of piano without learning the fundamentals. Some students become overwhelmed when they see the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. I know, it can be frustrating being stuck at your 100th harmonic minor scale and seeing pianists you admire play complex pieces with seemingly no effort.

Here’s the good news — it’s not as hard as you think to get the basics down if you practice them daily. Also, those impressive pianists are still doing their daily exercises. I give my students technique training, scales, chord progressions, short songs, and theory training. When you spend even 10 minutes every day on these things, the piano starts becoming second nature to you over time. You may not even realize it, but sooner than you think the instrument will become less of a mystery and more of an extension of your thoughts and ideas.

The better you are at the fundamentals, the more seamlessly your own expression will flow out of the keys. It takes patience and time, but it is inevitable through consistency.

So many teachers stay away from giving their students flashy, complex songs until a very advanced level. I’ll tell you this — I didn’t learn how to be “impressive” from my teachers. I sat down at the piano and copied the pianists who impressed me for hours and hours. I want to enable that kind of inspiration in my students.

Obviously, a beginner can’t learn Liszt’s Un Sospiro. But I do encourage my students to show me a song or a piano video that inspires them, and teach them step by step how to learn it, or, a version of it that suits their level. There are certain ways to sound like a top tier pianist that aren’t as tricky as they seem when you put in the reps. That learning process combined with the technique and theory to pull it off correctly makes you dangerous — you might stop one day and realize there’s nothing you can’t learn with enough practice.

I am a firm believer that ANYONE can learn to play the piano — and play it WELL. I always tell my students if there’s something they think they can play, just try! Figure out the notes from sheet music or by ear, then play through it slowly 100 times (literally, count it out). Most people are very surprised by what they can play by rep 100.

Every time I get a new student, I am honored and thrilled to work with them. The payoff for me is seeing their excitement as they put in the work and fuel their love for music.

©2024 Mark Worthington

All rights reserved

©2024 Mark
Worthington

All rights
reserved.

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