Sit+Play Workbook

A note from the author

This course is for anyone who desires to simply PLAY at the piano. It’s for the people who want to interact with the piano not as an instrument to be practiced, but as an instrument to be PLAYED with. A keyboard shouldn’t inspire anxiety sweats, it should inspire creativity and fun. Let it become a tool for you to engage with the muses and express yourself sonically.

Whether you are a true beginner or have taken traditional lessons in the past, the course is relevant and moves at a pace at which most will feel both comfortable and challenged. Don’t be intimidated if you’re coming in with zero piano knowledge or experience. In fact, it may even be easier for you to master these concepts without preconceived notions about music theory. However, even if you’ve had college-level music analysis classes, you may still get something out of this simple but very foundational understanding of how songs are formed and how to communicate musical ideas outside of the traditional staves (treble clef and bass clef).

The Sit and Play Piano method is unique in that it does not teach note-reading at all, but instead focuses on pattern literacy so that the student can simply look at a piano keyboard and understand how to improvise and create their own music, how to accompany themselves or others singing along to popular songs, and how to speak the language of chords, keys and scales in order to play with other musicians. For many disillusioned sheet-reading students over the years, this out-of-the-box curriculum has reignited a love for music and empowered them to express their creativity in a fresh way.

Even if you feel like you have a basic working knowledge of music theory, try to look at it as if you are learning music for the first time. You may be surprised at what this unconventional method allows you to accomplish! The content does build on itself, so make sure you’ve thoroughly understood each section before moving on to the next. At the end of each unit you’ll find exercises meant to build your skills at the keyboard. Acquiring fluency through these exercises will be the key to creative freedom at the piano: it’s one thing to know something, it’s another thing altogether to be able to apply it. Similar to language acquisition, as you become more fluent in the grammar and vocabulary of music, your creative expression will become more apprehensible and pleasant to hear!

So buckle up, and put your thinking cap on: you’re in for a musical ride. By the end of this workbook, it is my hope that you will no longer be intimidated by the black and white keys, but will finally feel empowered to simply sit and play the piano.

Happy learning!

Jessica Lindsay Sideropoulos