Beginner Learning Pathway
Learn the fundamentals of piano.
Beginner pianists
First time sitting at a piano? No problem. This class requires no prior experience and will take you from your first notes to your first songs.
3 months
Dion Todman will guide you through 6 grades of instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Build your foundation
Develop the essential piano skills that will set you up for a lifetime of confident playing.
Take the next step
Once you've built your beginner foundation, continue your journey with the Late Beginner pathway.
What you'll learn
This practical Learning Pathway will get you playing melodies and chords right away as you build essential piano skills.
- Take your first steps into the world of piano
- Avoid bad habits that slow beginners down
- Use real songs to build up your skills
- Turn simple chord shapes into real music
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Grade 1. Piano basics
To start, you’ll get comfortable with the layout of the piano and then start playing right away. You'll learn basic chords and melodies while you work on coordinating your hands to work together.
Day 1. Getting started
Set yourself up by getting familiar with how to sit at the piano and learning the layout of the piano. You’ll then learn a helpful warm-up routine before tackling your first melody.
Day 2. Your first chords
Chords are the foundation of music. Learn how to form them in both hands and play through a real chord progression.
Day 3. Melody and chords with both hands
Now, you’ll combine everything you’ve learned so far. You’ll play the melody in your right hand while supporting it with chords in your left hand.
Day 4. Chords with both hands
You’re ready to learn how to play real, full chords with both hands. You’ll even add a bit of movement and rhythm to make things extra musical.
Day 5. Building out your chords
Learn how to think in chord shapes rather than memorizing a bunch of random notes. Apply your new skills to one of the most popular piano-centric songs of all time: If I Ain’t Got You by Alicia Keys.
Day 6. R&B chords
Continue working on If I Ain’t Got You using a new, colorful chord progression and learn how to jump around the keyboard with confidence.
Day 7. C major workout
Grab that water bottle and tighten those laces because it’s time for a workout to solidify your new C major skills.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 1 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of professional L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro pianists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 2.
Grade 2. Building Blocks
In this grade, you’ll focus on expanding your chord vocabulary and moving more musically across the keyboard. You’ll build on the shapes you already know while learning new ways to connect chords, add rhythm, and explore R&B-influenced sounds.
Day 1. Building two-handed confidence
Get more comfortable playing with both hands as you learn the progression to Every Breath You Take by The Police.
Day 2. Sus chords
Add some musical tension and resolution to your chord progression with sus chords.
Day 3. Arpeggios
Unlock more movement and musical texture in your progressions by replacing block chords with arpeggios – which break up chords one note at a time.
Day 4. Inversions
Conserve energy and start voice leading with chord inversions.
Day 5. Inversions, continued
Learn how to combine inversions with syncopated rhythm over the class song Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty.
Day 6. Applying inversions and 7th chords to R&B
Return to If I Ain’t Got You armed with your inversions and 7th chords to unleash all of its R&B goodness.
Day 7. Chords workout
Break a sweat while you work out your new chordal muscles.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 2 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro pianists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 3.
Grade 3. Inversions
Now that you have your basic chord shapes down, you’ll break out of those patterns by learning chord inversions. You’ll learn how your favorite songs use inversions to make playing piano easier and more musical.
Day 1. 1st inversion
Use 1st inversion chords to smoothly connect chord progressions by moving just a couple of notes. Besides sounding better, these chords actually make playing easier.
Day 2. 2nd inversion
Continue opening up your chordal options with 2nd inversion chords.
Day 3. Dm7 to G7
Practice Dm7 and G7 chords over a Bill Withers-inspired track. This is a super common progression you’ll find throughout jazz and R&B: the ii-V.
Day 4. Touch and articulation
Zoom in on the particulars to refine your technique. Work on your dynamics and articulation – all while staying relaxed.
Day 5. 1st and 2nd inversions
You now have root position and inversion chords to play through any progression without making big jumps. Practice flowing between these chords over a track inspired by John Legend’s All of Me.
Day 6. Add9 chords
Make any chord progression sound instantly richer by adding add9 chords. Learn the theory and technique behind these colorful chords.
Day 7. Inversions workout
Lock in your inversion skills with another killer workout.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 3 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro pianists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 4.
Grades 4-6
In these last grades, you’ll take your playing beyond basic chords by adding color and movement with 7th chords and walkdowns. Then you’ll apply these concepts across pop, rock, soul, and R&B while focusing on touch and feel. By the end, you’ll be able to sit down at the piano and confidently build your own compositions.
Grade 4. 7th and Slash Chords
In this grade, you’ll add richer harmony and movement to your playing. You’ll learn how to build 7th chords, use slash chords to create bassline movement, and apply techniques like pedal points and walkdowns to make your playing feel more dynamic.
Day 1. Intro to 7th chords
Learn how to build 7th chords using the triad shapes you already know.
Day 2. Maj7 and Min7 chords
Learn major and minor 7th chords by applying them to a track inspired by Michael McDonald’s I Keep Forgettin’.
Day 3. Slash chords
Experiment with slash chords by putting a different note in the bass of your chords. Learn how to use this concept to add descending basslines to your songs in the style of the Beatles.
Day 4. Pedal point
Meet the slash chord’s opposite by keeping the bass note the same while your chords change.
Day 5. Slash chord walkdown – right hand
You’ve studied both slash chords and walkdowns individually, but now it’s time to combine the two techniques in your right hand.
Day 6. Slash chord walkdown – both hands
Finish learning Billy Joel’s Piano Man by using slash chord walkdowns in both hands.
Day 7. 7th and slash chord workout
Step back into the Pickup Gym to top off your 7th and slash chord training.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 4 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro pianists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 5.
Grade 5. Expand Your Chord Vocabulary
In this grade, you’ll uncover a new corner of the harmony world by putting everything that you’ve learned to good use. You’ll practice more advanced harmony tricks that’ll elevate your chord vocabulary to a whole new level.
Day 1. C, Bb, F
Bring in those black keys for some more advanced chords and colors. Get a leg up on the competition by incorporating black keys into your playing early.
Day 2. Abmaj7, Gm7, Csus4, C
Add sus chords to your chordal vocabulary while learning how to form advanced 7th chords using simple, two-handed shapes.
Day 3. C7, F7 blues
Tackle dominant chords as you learn the blues. This is one of the more important (and fun) genres for any beginning pianist to get comfortable with.
Day 4. 12-bar blues in C
Continue your dominant 7th chord journey by learning a full 12-bar blues progression.
Day 5. Walkdown into F, Fm, C
Explore walkdowns and learn how changing one chord in the progression can radically alter the emotion behind it.
Day 6. C, E, F, Fm
Use the E major chord to add a new dimension to Radiohead’s Creep.
Day 7. Advanced chords workout
Crush another workout as you solidify all that hard chordal work you’ve put in so far.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 5 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro pianists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 6.
Grade 6. Styles
In this final grade, you’ll apply everything you’ve learned to different genres and styles. You’ll also learn new stylistic techniques that bring progressions to life across different genres.
Day 1. Pop
Learn a complex version of Let It Be that involves more movement and energy. Your hands will each be playing different rhythms, which means they won’t be synced all the time, so this will test you.
Day 2. Old-school soul
Revisit Bill Withers’ Use Me through the lens of soul. You’ll explore incorporating a step-wise walking bassline that will propel your progressions.
Day 3. Ballad
Learn how to leave tasteful space in songs for singers and the rest of the band with ballads.
Day 4. Rock
Time to rock out with some familiar Elton John-esque patterns you’ve explored before. You’ll keep a steady left-hand pedal point and add more active right-hand movement.
Day 5. R&B
Now, you’ll learn all of If I Ain’t Got You using triad inversions, 7th chords, and arpeggiated walkdowns.
Day 6. R&B (continued)
Finish learning If I Ain’t Got You to complete your beginner R&B training.
Day 7. Dynamics workout
Cap off the class by honing your dynamics in the Pickup Piano Gym.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 6 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro pianists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to new challenges.
REAL students
Don’t take our word for it, take theirs
Your Instructor
Dion Todman
Dion Todman is a pianist, composer, and educator who helps aspiring pianists build a strong musical foundation through clear, music-first instruction.
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Frequently asked questions
The most structured approach to learning music
