Why Everyone Should Play the Piano

The first instrument I ever took seriously was guitar.

Imagine a twelve-year-old Jeff spending hours in his room practicing Stevie Ray Vaughn solos, Jimi Hendrix licks, and Lynyrd Skynyrd riffs.

It’s a miracle I had any friends in middle school.

A few years later, I became obsessed with jazz saxophone, spending even more hours in my room shedding Charlie Parker lines in all 12 keys as fast as I possibly could.

But before any of that…back when I was a little boy wearing footie pajamas…I would sit down at the piano and mess around on the keys.

I didn’t take it seriously. I didn’t even take lessons.

But I tinkered around enough to learn the notes and some chords and was able to figure out how to play movie theme melodies with basic triads underneath.

Why am I telling you all this?

Well, as someone who plays a handful of instruments, I can say without a doubt that piano is the instrument that has made me the musician I am today.

I owe my ears to the piano. I owe my understanding of music theory to the piano. I owe my ability to compose and arrange music to the piano.

So maybe I’m biased, but I think everyone should learn how to play them hammers and strings, especially if you’re interested in jazz, R&B, neo soul, or any other genre of music that is harmonically complex.

I’m not saying you need to be able to shred scales up and down the keys like Lang Lang or Glenn Gould. But if, at the very least, you learn how to play some decent-sounding chords, you’ll find that your ears, theory knowledge, and composing/improvisation skills will improve drastically.

So whether you’re an experienced ivory tickler or a total piano newb, click the link below to watch my new, 10-minute training video (it's free) in which I teach my three-step formula for learning how to play rich, colorful, and impressive sounding chords on the keys.

Watch My Free 10-Minute Training