Nathaniel School of Music

5 Pieces of Piano Advice to Level Up Your Playing

To level up on piano, automate your left-hand patterns, study dance rhythms and subdivisions, learn the 12-bar blues, balance theory, ear training and technique, and practise with purpose by tackling new material and playing with others.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 31 min

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Key points

In this lesson Jason Zac of Nathaniel School of Music shares five pieces of advice he has given his students, and himself, over years of exploring music. It suits beginners and intermediate pianists who want a clearer sense of what to work on next, whether they come from classical training, keyboard lessons or self-teaching.

1. Work on your left-hand chops

In most songs, improvisation and composition, the left hand plays a repeating pattern. Jason demonstrates a spread triad voicing: the root, the fifth and the third placed an octave higher (a tenth). He plays it with a groove, the tresillo, instead of plain crotchets.

The goal sounds odd: focus on the left hand so that you can forget about it. Once the pattern runs on autopilot, your conscious attention is free for the right hand, which is usually the creative hand. You cannot consciously think about two tasks at once, so one has to become subconscious.

Treat a pattern, even a simple arpeggio, as an engine and get everything you can out of it. Learn chords with the right voicings, the right inversions and the right rhythm patterns.

The bottom-up approach

Many children's and exam books start with a right-hand melody on the white keys and neglect the left hand. Jason suggests the opposite order:

  1. Start with the foundation that makes listeners move: the pulse and the chord progression.
  2. Add rhythm patterns and voicings.
  3. Bring in the catchiest part, usually the melody, last.

This gives you a template you can reuse across many songs. Both hands deserve equal effort, like walking on two feet.

2. Learn groove through dance rhythms

Classical study and sight-reading improve technique and reading, but they will not by themselves give you strong timing or a feel for groove. Think of the piano as a percussion instrument, like a drum or tabla.

Dance music gives you the context to learn:

Playing fast continuous notes is mostly finger skill. The brain really works when you subdivide and play less, leaving well-placed gaps.

3. Learn the blues

Whatever your style, learn the roots genres, starting with the blues. Understand the 12-bar blues form, built on the I, IV and V chords. Jason plays through it moving from I to IV, back to I, then up to V, down to IV and home to I.

The form teaches songwriting structure and how lyrics are shaped. Listen widely, for example to BB King, Eric Clapton and John Mayer. The progression is simple, but the feeling is what matters.

4. Balance theory, ear training and technique

These are the three pillars of music:

Do not obsess over any one pillar, and do not give up because one feels weak.

5. Practise with purpose

Questions about this lesson

Why should I focus on my left hand on piano?

The left hand usually repeats a pattern. Once that pattern is automatic, your mind is free to be creative with the right hand, because you cannot consciously focus on two tasks at the same time.

What is the bottom-up approach to learning piano songs?

You start with the foundation that makes people move, such as the pulse and chord progression, then add rhythm patterns. The melody, usually the catchiest part, comes in last.

Do I need perfect pitch for ear training?

No. Relative pitch, hearing the gaps between notes, is what matters. Work on intervals, chords, progressions and rhythm, including clapping written rhythms.

What should I play first when I sit down to practise?

Use your fresh, alert time for something you cannot yet do, such as a new exercise, rather than a song you already know. Play with purpose instead of noodling.

Practise it

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