How to play piano keyboard Music lesson book Learn 1 hr

You get:-

Coloured stickers to put on your piano keys (by post)

32 page music book, full colour with 18 tunes and 5 exercises (by post)

Printed instructions how to read, play Piano Tabs music (by post)

Free 600 popular tunes to download from our website to print and play

Free Music Notation Software change, arrange, listen, write, print, re-size, score, internet find, MIDI import

See actual feedback with links to the buyers:-

My daughter is already playing tunes from memory. Much cheaper than lessons! FAB clements8791(132*)

Others have said it and it's true - a fabulously simple idea. Brilliant! pursestretchermum ( 52*)

I was rightly proud of me, After 2 hours I was playing real music on keyboard YES recorderbill ( 63*)

Our 6 year old was playing twinkle, twinkle little star within 10mins, fantastic pennypitstop22 (43*)

This is amazing!! Bought for my 6yr old but addicted myself. Playing in mins! theboysteel (65*)

Oh my gosh! amazing! just received the book, within an hour I was playing songs!! webbeg(389*)

A simple method that is easy to understand & best of all it works  4586francisb(39*)

You are a genius. Best music product I have found. It does work. Thanks a lot tioljasa(45*)

Great idea! Maybe music will be taught this way in the future trebor5575(46*)

Simplifies the mystery of piano playing, recommended choc713(75*)

It’s true, works great, now playing the piano better than I have ever done 0600pea(91*)

Great stuff, really easy to follow, my 8yr old was playing within 10 mins miss-jet(20*)

Reading music made obvious, nice concept, very helpful peasoup39(137*)

Tried my nieces, then ordered my own, Brilliant, Foolproof, Genius. Thank you farley077(2*)

So easy we had three of us fighting to get our hands on the keyboard, excellent” turningjohn(60*)

IF THIS WAS £9.99 IT WOULD STILL BE GREAT VALUE. USE FOR A LIFETIME OF PLEASUREdannymcgowan(234*)

AMAZING METHOD OF FAST LEARNING- A must for all- try it & see...it works aidy190(343*)

Silent piano for 40 years, my wife is now playing Away in a Manger Thanks” sellyourstuff4$$(68*)

Fantastic! myself daughter and hubby all playing in under an hour! U Genius man jkparker.2007(2*)

Excellent, 9yr old playing in under an hour. Thanks aren't enough. It's Brilliant s17sharp(388*)

Fantastic at 46 I can now READ music! Incredible. Lot’s of practice now I’m hooked kimbeverley(182*)

Unbelievable 10 mins & I was able to play and read the music, now teach 8 year old 25jungle(9*)

Incredibly easy to pick up - Outstanding idea BUY THIS NOW it’s a steal 5*ebayer! marrskiller(79*)

Amazing Product, 1hr bit optimistic but that’s just me, was playing in 2hrs WOW! dionnejt12345(11*)

As a music teacher I am very impressed grahamc7459 (*)

Brilliant idea. A genius, Can't stop playing. So easy-played ‘til 2am on day arrived oddzanendz ( 866*)

I have just been able to play a piano for the first time in 45 years FAB Gt lairdofkincavel (191*)

Thanks, after years struggling to read music, light at the end of the tunnel eunicycle  (142*)

I love this system so much. My 5 year old daughter played a tune in minutes. I'm so proud! Jacintha

Contents of Book 1:-

Away in a Manger                               Auld Lang Syne

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep                        Chopsticks

Frere Jacques                                     For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow

Fur Elise                                            Jingle Bells

London Bridge is Falling Down           Mary Had a Little Lamb

Prelude in C Major, Bach                    Rule Britannia

Star Spangled Banner                         The Entertainer

Toreador’s March                              Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

We Wish You a Merry Christmas        When the Saints Go Marching In

Five Finger Exercise                           Major Scales and Chords

Harmonic Minor Scales                      Chord Inversions

Chord Exercise

See how easy it is, click on these YouTube links to watch my son Hugo:-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DKy9sRQwpX0 Hugo aged four playing The Entertainer. He learned it by reading Piano Tabs. I do not believe any four year old could read traditional music over six octaves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K3w9ZxhXwA If a three year old can read Piano Tabs then so can you

Piano Tabs is visual. You don’t need to learn the notes or their names. There are no sharps or flats to confuse you

Coloured stickers are placed on the black keys of the piano (see picture) Coloured lines of the music represent the, now coloured, black notes. A note on a space between lines is a white note.

Piano Tabs is not just for beginners. All grades of music are possible and transition to ordinary music notation is easy for proficient players.

Be a winner and have your musical world opened up. Good luck.

Russell Ambrose

The Important Elements of Ambrose Piano Tabs

1.      Have fun first. Choose your favourite songs and make music before you learn the theory

2.      The music font size is kept large so you can read it easily

3.      A note on a coloured line (through it) is always a black note. A note in a space between lines is  always a white note

4.      The lines are printed in the same pattern of two’s and three’s as the black keys. Visualise the coloured lines in their 2 and 3 groupings. See the lines as the black keys

5.      Play the notes shown like reading letters across the page. When notes are in line vertically play them at the same moment in time

6.      Where the stems of the notes go down play them with your left hand and when they go up use your right hand. Right hand usually plays the red, green and purple notes; left hand usually plays blue, orange and pink notes

7.      The number above or below the note is the finger used. Your thumb on both hands is 1 and the little finger is 5. All fingering is optional and  numbers are a suggestion only, use whichever fingers you find more comfortable

8.      Faded notes (tied notes) are held down and not played twice

9.      Practice each hand separately, when perfect play both hands together

Coloured Stickers

Piano Tabs uses coloured lines to represent the black keys on the keyboard (board of keys) to tell you which notes to play. Stickers are placed on the black keys using a different colour for each group of five black keys. The lines on the page match the pattern of the coloured black keys.

Placing the Stickers on the Black Keys

Firstly identify the exact middle of the piano / keyboard using a tape measure. To the right of the centre there is a group of three black keys. Place 3 red stickers on these 3 black keys. Place 2 more red stickers on the black keys to their left, the pattern must look like this:  I I   I I I.  Position the long end of the sticker starting near the back of the black key (next to the lid of the piano).

Then place: -    blue stickers on the 5 black keys to the left of the red keys

green stickers to the right of the red keys

orange and  pink on the left and purple to the right, as below

You now have 6 groups of coloured stickers placed on adjacent groups of black notes

I I  I I I    I I  I I I    I I  I I I     I I  I I I    I I  I I I    I I  I I I

Smaller keyboards:- Piano tabs works on all sizes of keyboard. Put the first red sticker (bold) red > I I   I I I in the middle of the keyboard and the rest of the red stickers to its right. Work outwards from the red stickers as above until all the black notes are coloured. You must keep the I I  I I I pattern for each colour.

Removing the stickers

The stickers can be peeled away with a finger nail and the glue removed with a little neat vodka on a tissue, if it hasn’t worked for you, drink the rest.

Please DO NOT LEAVE FEEDBACK like this: -

“Received, thank you”, “gr8”, “good job A++”, “V. fast delivery”

These are not helpful to others when deciding to try Piano Tabs and they hide the ones that are. I prefer no feedback than feedback about eBay service or delivery, thank you.

Below are some letters I have received. Thank you, and keep ‘em coming, don’t be shy, sly

I am absolutely amazed that I have been able to progress as quickly as I have through the music. I have downloaded lots of additional songs from your online site and am having the time of my life learning new pieces. I have always wanted to play music and always been too impatient to learn...this system is so quick to pick to up that this has not been a problem. I am still progressing (trying to separate my left and right hands is slower, but I can see this improving every time I play). I can now play River Flows in You by Yirama...something I would never have dreamed possible!! It has been fabulous and I have recommended your system to everyone that will listen!!. Thankyou. xxx –chakayalf Debbie Pilgrim, East Sussex

Hi, my little boy aged 9 has been having piano lessons at school for 1 year and he found it boring and still couldn’t play the piano. He has learning difficulties. I bought him your book, it is bright and easy to understand now he as regained his interest in the piano and he loves it. Thank you very much -hazeltomcai3

I have always loved music, but have never been able to sing or play an instrument. The Christmas before last my partner bought me a keyboard and it had been sitting gathering dust until I discovered Piano Tabs. I was amazed - for the first time in my life, at 46 years old I could actually read music! You have no idea how satisfying it was to "play" a recognisable tune! It is an absolutely fantastic system - lots of practice now, and this certainly makes it more pleasurable. Thank you so very, very much. Sharon Hardwick –kimbeverley 

Hi Russell
I am really enjoying playing the piano this way. I started learning 50 years ago and had an older sister who was much better than me so gave it up. As you can imagine that put me off. Now this is pure joy and just for me.
I have downloaded some more from your website but what I mustn’t do now is go forward to more difficult  tunes until I am fairly proficient. Having said that I do hope to play like Hugo, and then I would be entirely happy. I have  downloaded Blue Danube as Strauss was one of my favourites when my sister was playing - also Tales from the Vienna Woods. I didn't get that good to play it myself!
I wish you the best of luck with it.
Regards, Marian –oddzanendz

I purchased the beginners book for Piano Tabs and as a teacher
I am very impressed and are keen to try out this system on children. I am
interested to know if there are further tutor/music/song books available.
If so, details please. I appreciate that plenty of music can be downloaded.
Regards, Graham Cousins -grahamc7459 

Got it yesterday and my wife was up all night going through your book, I awoke to hear music on the piano that we have had for 40 years (first time ever). I just wanted to say thank you and I have left positive feedback and 5 star rating. My wife is already talking about getting your other books once she masters this one. Thank you again, Dennis. -sellyourstuff4$$

“One of the best things I've found about Piano Tabs is that I've been able to learn a few classical pieces that had previously seemed far too advanced for what I had perceived my skill level too be. It is ideal for beginners but can also bring out the best in intermediate level and self taught players" David Reade, Chelmsford

James Catterall, Professor of Music Education, University California LA:

“Two years of piano can increase children’s academic levels up to two letter grades, math scores up to 40%, and social skills up to two grades level”

Some feedback fun: -

“i hAVE MASTERED THE FDINGER EXERCISE BYT VERY SLOW GRASPING PIANO BUT THANKS” > Russell: I wonder why? You type so well

 “This really works! I'm just having a hard time getting my left hand to join in!” >Russell, I have the same problem

“Bought this for me (25) lol and its GREAT 10 mins I played twinkle star pmsl FAB” >Russell, but what is PSML ?

Ambrose PIANO TABS in more detail

Part 1:          Introduction

Part 2:          Piano Tabs for absolute beginners

Part 3:          Notes for professional piano teachers, please see the bottom ¼ section of this listing

Introduction

Piano Tabs is a new form of writing down music that makes learning to play the piano simple and fun.  The concept was developed by Russell Ambrose, who was frustrated trying to read traditional music. Conventional notation can take years to learn and most students give up This Piano Tabs Book illustrates a new way of reading piano music. Now everyone, including you, can learn how to play an easy tune within the hour. You will have instant fun by playing tunes in large easy font sizes without the need to learn any theory. Guaranteed or all your money back.

§         Ease of reading is simple with Piano Tabs.  It is a visual system that links the black keys to coloured lines on the page.  Reading every note on the piano can be learnt in minutes and there is no need to learn the names of the notes or to know any music theory before you can start playing tunes

§         Ease of playing is achieved by you selecting your favourite tunes to play.  Knowing a tune allows you to get started without learning the timing and note durations. You can learn the theory (the boring stuff) after experiencing the delight of making music

§         You will be able to play your first tune in the first hour

We all hate reading instruction manuals and most find unfamiliar music boring. You will want to practice and you will make rapid progress as a result

The Ambrose Piano Tabs website contains many popular pieces, graded by difficulty and style. And you can listen to the tune to help you get it right 

Apart from the number and colour of the lines there are no other differences to ordinary music. This allows easy transition to reading traditional notation once you are a proficient player

Progressive piano teachers should embrace this innovation when they see how quickly their students learn. They are usually pleased to teach you in this method if you ask them to. But don’t expect a good reaction from all piano teachers. Here is a response from someone who responded anonymously to a job advert of mine, using my words from the advert in quotation marks:-

...go to music school, lazy dummy, and learn musical theory and notation for at least five years "full or part time".... and then, in case of your "remarkable success" you will maybe "clever enough" to know how to scratch your first scores with your own hand and not "direct from a keyboard". Forget about it, it’s not for beginners at all...

I think you should start to realize who you are, and who special music software’s designed for. It’s for professional musicians after ten or more years of musical education only, and not for silly amateurs (as I can see from your request) who don’t even understand what "music lessons" mean.

Don’t expect professionals, who obtained music specialty through the years of hard work, to spend time on your "fun", or to make the learning process easier just because you want it, as well as to score something for you, presumptuous idiot....

Don’t even address your stupid offer to experienced professional musicians because it’s not for them.....

Regards, Experienced piano player and teacher.

diana@yahoo.com March 2009

RA – fun isn’t it. It's a fake email address! I wanted to ask her if she would reconsider if it was proven that Piano Tabs advanced her students progress by two years, but I suspect not.

Piano Tabs for Absolute beginners

The Keyboard

There are only 12 distinct tones (called notes) in music which are played by pressing keys on the keyboard.  These groups of 12 keys are repeated about seven times on a standard size piano (less on smaller keyboards).  Keys are either black or white

Note carefully the repeating pattern of the black keys in 2’s + 3’s along the keyboard. These identify the 12 different notes

The left hand end of the piano is called the bottom of the keyboard and the right hand end is the top

The notes on the right (top) are higher in pitch than those on the left (bottom) of the keyboard which are lower in pitch                  

Piano Tabs Coloured Lines Staff lines (Staves in plural)

The staff lines are printed in coloured groups upon which the music is written. Piano Tabs coloured lines are in the same pattern of 2’s and 3’s as the black notes on the keyboard are. The coloured lines represent coloured black notes and the white spaces between the lines represent white notes

Piano Tabs Notes

Notes are shown as coloured dots with a black surround. Dots in the white spaces between the lines show the white keys to be played. Dots with lines through them represent the coloured black keys. Piano Tabs notes are identical in time duration and meaning to traditional notation notes

Coloured lines represent Black notes

The horizontal coloured lines represent the black keys. Familiarise yourself with the pattern of the two lines and the three lines which copies the pattern of the black notes (2’s and 3’s). Black notes always have a line through their middle

White Notes

The seven white notes (keys) can be identified by their position between the lines and by their names A to G. White notes never have a line through them

The Piano Keyboard

A note is shown as an oval dot.  When a line is through the note a black key (note) is played.  When the dot is between lines a white key is played

Visualise the lines on the music as the keyboard.  Coloured lines = Black notes coloured with stickers

Piano Tabs main difference to traditional notation is the use of 15 coloured lines in place of the 10 black lines for the three octaves normally shown on sheet music. Anything that can be written on 10 lines can be written as clearly, possibly more so, on 15.  Using a distinct space and colour for every note enables instant identification of all the notes over the whole keyboard.

You will enjoy playing straight away; theory can be left until later when you are ready to understand more about how music works.

Notes for Professional Musicians

Source: Giles A, (1983).  Reading music.  Clavier, 17(8), see the 6^th paragraph, link: - http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/keyboard/ppf/1.2/1.2.PPFke.html

 “More piano students give up piano study because of reading problems than for any other single reason. People don't give up activities that they enjoy. But if each piece presents a learning prospect to be dreaded, the result is predictable. We should not be surprised that the country is overrun by millions of people who 'used to play the piano,' but who now cannot pick out a single-note melody at the keyboard.” 

See Professor of music Denver University Jerald Lepinsky on the same subject:-

http://www.meloz.com/elegantsolution.html “It is now unnecessary -- and it should be unacceptable -- that we relegate most of our citizens to a role of illiterate spectators in their favorite art!  The great educational deficit among normally educated people is music.  Most adults remember just one lesson from their music classes” -- "Music is too difficult!"

Most of us are reluctant to try a new computer program because we hate opening the manual and having to decipher it. Most piano students have the same attitude with every new piece of music

Piano Tabs is simple to read because each of the twelve notes has its own space on the lines (a chromatic scale) sharps and flats are no longer difficult to read. Both left and right hand lines represent the same notes. Notes outside the normal range are as easy to read on ledger lines as any other note. Beginners have no difficulty read music over six octaves. The benefit is that Piano Tabs cuts out years of tedious struggle. The time saved can be spent usefully, on learning how to play music. An instant start is achievable for everybody and this opens up the world of music to those with less natural ability. Instant gratification works to keep students interested and enjoying making music.

WYSIWYG - Key Signatures, Tonality, and Accidentals,

What You See Is What You Get. Piano Tabs uses a chromatic staff with no sharp or flat signs and no need of a key signature to play the right notes. This makes all notes and key signatures equally easy to read and play. In traditional notation it is much more difficult to read music in some keys than in others. B Major is as easy as C Major in Piano Tabs.

Clefs and Staves

Unlike the traditional diatonic staff, Piano Tabs staves repeat with each octave, on the octave. This means that a note has the same appearance in every octave. This makes notes easier to recognize and play and there is no need for different clefs. This is a significant advantage over the use of four different clefs as in traditional notation (treble, bass, alto, and tenor) where the staves look identical but whose notes are different.

Interval Relationships compared to Traditional Notation

Please see a discussion on this subject at The Music Notation Project site:-

http://musicnotation.org/tutorials/intervals1.html

 “At first it may seem that chromatic staves are best suited for atonal, non-diatonic music, but actually they are very well-suited for diatonic music. Unlike traditional notation, they give a consistently accurate representation of the intervals between notes, including the intervals found in the diatonic music. In all scales in any position it is easy to distinguish between half step and whole step intervals. This difference is obscured in traditional notation, though it is fundamental to diatonic scales - both in how they sound and in how they are played. Chromatic staves make it easier to recognize and understand these and other important diatonic intervals such as major or minor thirds, fourths, fifths, and chords”.

Interval recognition is easier in Piano Tabs but very different and will take time for the traditional musician to get used to.

The following paragraph is taken from http://www.musicalfossils.com/notation.html and demonstrates transition to klavarscribo.

“The second point is an example of a very bright, successful 13 year old who played the Bach Invention in d minor at my last student recital. I asked him to try the Klavar notation from the progressive Hal Leonard Student Piano Library series. Within 45 minutes he was in Book V playing pieces he never seen before. He said he found it a much easier system to read. I asked him if he would rather have worked on the Invention that way and he quickly said yes that it would have been easier to learn. That a successful student found this system easier to use after 45 minutes than the conventional system after four years says something that should not be ignored.”

The Disadvantages

Professional musicians say they don’t need it (true) and nor does anyone else (not true). For the 5 accidentals to have their own space a chromatic stave requires about 30% more vertical space than traditional music. Another disadvantage of Piano Tabs is the lack of music in all styles and grades. This is being addressed by our team of professional musicians who score for our library. By encouraging users to upload contributions to our website library I hope to have a comprehensive range of music available to all before long.

Historical Background

There have been hundreds of attempts to improve traditional notation in the 800 years since Guido of Arezzo in Italy invented traditional music notation. A chromatic system called Klavascribo was the most successful alternative notation introduced so far. Introduced in 1931 it still has thousands of players and teachers around the world. The failure of Klavarscribo to be widely adopted was put down to the lack of sheet music available. With the vast amount of internet MIDI files and uploading from users’ Piano Tabs is not restricted by this.

Piano Tabs has the following advantages over Klavarscribo: -

1. Piano Tabs Colours identify every key on the keyboard with ease. B+W is available for those without colour printers

2. Piano Tabs lines are horizontal making music reading natural

3. Piano Tabs fonts, note designs, spellings and durations of notes are     identical to traditional notation

4. Easy progression to traditional notation when the student is ready

5. Unlimited contemporary FREE music available from the internet and our library

6. All keys signatures are equally easy to read

7. Tied notes can be faded to avoid confusion

8. Rests can be hidden for simplification where required

9. Three styles of ledger lines available to you liking

10. Stem direction can be selected to denote left and right hand parts

11. The size of the music can be as large as you wish Great for children, beginners and older students alike

12. You can alter the arrangement to your taste or ability

13. Music can be transposed into any key

14. Hear the music at any speed or with any instrument

15. English words (not Italian) used when the meaning is the same

16. A metronome to hear the timing in playback

These features make Piano Tabs reading easier to learn for beginners without losing the quality required by the professional musician.

Piano Tabs can be used for all instruments, not just the piano

Transition to traditional music.

Piano Tabs uses the same notes, annotation and musical spelling as traditional notation, Piano Tabs lines and colours are the only difference. Examples prove that once a player becomes accomplished there is an easy transfer over to reading traditional notation. Bobby Chen, a concert pianist, learned to read and Piano Tabs music to a high level performance in less than 15 minutes. When the library of music in Piano Tabs becomes large enough there may never be a need to use traditional notation for most users.

When you speak to adults who gave up on piano lessons they often say they couldn't read music because they are slightly dyslexic. However the same people can read Piano Tabs easily, therefore it cannot be dyslexia that was the cause. The fault lies with the inherent difficulty of reading traditional notation.

Thank you for your interest

Regards

Russell Ambrose, 128 Finchley Road, London. NW3 5HT

Tel 07973 182 594

7th November 2009

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