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Piano Lessons for Beatmakers and Music Producers

Name: Piano Lessons for Beatmakers and Music Producers
Rating: 4.5 (152 reviews)

Learn how to play piano by yourself. Improvise on the piano, and learn piano for hip-hop and edm music production.

Created byRiley Weller

Last updated 12/2019

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

How to improvise on a piano, and learn how to create catchy loops for powerful beats
What a beatmaker actually needs to learn with a piano
Differences between classical vs. a beatmaker for piano
How a piano works (the notes, octaves, keys and scales, what notes you're allowed to play)
Your hand's numbering for proper hand positioning on a piano
C Major scale, and understanding the notes and chords you're allowed to play
C MINOR scale, and understanding the notes and chords you're allowed to play
Setting yourself up to practice, and actually making it fun and enjoyable
How to count beats as a beatmaker
Practicing scales, and learning muscle memory to improvise on a piano
Using inversions for creative frequency spreading
Arpeggios for amazing fullness and emotion (broken chords)
More advanced chords for more variety in your music

Course content

7 sections • 29 lectures • 4h 13m total length

Introduction9:47
Learn to improvise on the piano from a beat maker's perspective. Master keys, scales, chords, and muscle memory to create catchy loops and melodies.

Presenting My Skills and Qualifications2:37
Develop piano skills for beat makers by building muscle memory, practicing chord progressions, and improvising with both hands through loops and emotion-driven progressions.
[DISCUSSION] Beatmakers vs. Classical Piano Players11:13
Compare beat makers and classical piano players, highlighting improvisation, the hunt for catchy loops, and muscle memory, and show how one key and scale plus transposition aid beat production.

General Overview of a Piano2:33
The piano has 12 notes that repeat in octaves, with higher notes doubling frequency. Learn seven notes per key and the 3-black-2-white pattern.
Piano Note Names2:05
Learn the piano note names across an octave and memorize the 12 notes, including sharps and flats, then explore major and minor scales while labeling the keys with masking tape.
Using Octaves as a Beatmaker7:48
Explore how octaves shift pitch and frequency, how middle C aligns with MIDI note 60, and how careful octave placement helps create space in your beats.
How Keys and scales Work [OVERVIEW]6:07
Discover how keys and scales govern piano notes. Learn seven playable notes per octave, major and minor scales, and how knowing the allowed notes simplifies melody creation and improvisation.
Your Hand's Numbering1:33
Master finger numbering for the piano, using one for the thumb through five for the pinky on both hands, to enable proper hand positioning and smooth octave moves.
How Chords Work - Major and Minor Chords6:12
Learn how major and minor chords work as triads, with three notes between the thumb and middle finger for major and two for minor, and practice left-hand outside notes.
C Major Scale Breakdown18:12
Break down the c major scale: seven white notes and the major or minor chords built from them, with notes on the leading tone and b diminished.
Diminished Chord - Leading Tone6:42
Clarifies the diminished triad and leading tone across major and natural minor scales for beatmakers, noting its placement on the seventh or second degree and practical usage tips.
C Minor Breakdown13:06
Master the C minor scale on a piano, identify notes and chords within the key, and learn how choosing a key and scale guides beatmaking for producers.
Note Names (Degrees)3:42
Explore note names and scale degrees, from the tonic to the leading tone, in major and minor contexts. Learn how key, scale, and terminology relate to crafting beats and chords.
Circle of Fifths and Fun Facts10:30
Explore the circle of fifths and related piano concepts, including major and minor scales, sharps and flats, and basic chord notes, with a beat making perspective on improvisation.

Counting Beats as a Beatmaker16:23
Count beats in four-four time using metronomes and drum loops, explore on-beat and offbeat patterns, sixteenth notes, syncopation, swing, and safe spots to tighten your beats.
Practicing Scales and Hand Positioning3:38
Practice scales to train hands and mind, build muscle memory, and speed across keyboard from C major to C minor; start with one hand using thumb, index, and middle fingers.
Using Inversions as a Beatmaker5:32
Learn how to use root position, first inversion, and second inversion in piano chords for beatmaking, and balance right-hand inversions with a clear bass to avoid low-end clashes.
Arpeggios - Manual and Automatic4:47
Explore arpeggios as broken chords and automate them in Eiffel studio, using adjustable range, direction, gate, and timing across C major, G major, A minor, and F major progressions.
More Advanced Chords4:24
Explore extended piano chords beyond major and minor, including sus2 and sus4, plus seventh chords, with examples in c and g, inversions, and practical advice for beatmakers and producers.

How to Use Chords to Make Beats8:45
Learn to create emotionally resonant chord progressions for beats with four to eight chords in a loop, using C major white notes, piano roll techniques, and velocity variation.
Adding Spice to Chord Progressions (Syncopation)7:51
Discover how to spice chord progressions with syncopation by shifting timing and placing chords off the beat, then build melodies with the right and left hands.
Playing with the Right Hand11:29
Learn to improvise with the right hand over a drum loop and chord progression, exploring melodies, arpeggios, and how reverb shapes piano sound, while the left hand sets emotion.
Playing with the Left Hand15:44
Master the left hand as the rhythm and emotional drive of your tracks, building basslines, offbeat patterns, tapping, and arpeggios to anchor your chord progression.
Playing with Both Hands Together8:08
Learn to play left and right hands together by practicing chord progressions (C major, G major, a minor, F major) with rhythm, arpeggios, and tapping for fuller melodies.
Learning a Song on Piano7:37
Learn to play 'giving in is giving up' in the key of C minor using left-hand arpeggios and right-hand single notes, with hands together and improvisation tips for beatmakers.
How to Find Powerful Chord Progressions18:25
Learn how to improvise on piano for beatmaking by finding powerful chord progressions within a key, layering left-hand patterns with right-hand melodies, and exploring inversions and scale-based notes.
Composing a Beat from Scratch23:15
Learn how to compose a beat from scratch by building a drum loop, layering sounds, finding a chord progression in C minor, and crafting melodies over a piano part.

Requirements

Must have a piano, midi keyboard, or some type of piano to play so you can practice!
Be able to use your DAW at a beginner level

Description

THIS COURSE IS AN UPDATE TO AN OLDER COURSE "Learn Piano for Beatmakers and Producers".

Learn Piano for Beatmakers and Producers has received MANY 5-STAR REVIEWS!

This course will teach how to learn piano by yourself, and is just like taking piano lessons for beginners.

With me continuing to create these online music production courses, I have acquired much higher quality video production gear, allowing me to achieve extremely high-quality courses.

Here's some reviews from the previous piano course (this course is very similar, but way higher quality, and a bit more in-depth.)

[Fantastic course. I had a hunch that trying to learn to play classic piano wasn't really going to help me produce. This course solidified that and I'm now on my way to actually making great music. I highly recommend this course. - Chad Fox (5/5)]

[This is what i been looking for!! Thanks!! - Gina Sloan (5/5)]

[The content so far is excellent and understandable so with a little practice I can achieve my personal goal I set at the beginning of the course. Awesome course!!!! - Rob Young (5/5)]

[Riley (GratuiTous) is a great instructor. I have a done 1 on 1 with him in the past regarding vocal mixing and a bit of mastering and he knows his stuff. If you are a beatmaker and have little to no experience with playing the piano and want to learn for production or just to learn to play the piano this course is for you! This course brought my music productions back to life - Andrew D Brown (5/5)]

So what's all covered in this course, and what's all the hype about? Why such good reviews?

Well, I've been creating these music production courses for many years now, and I would not have continued if it wasn't for your amazing feedback.

Students continually tell me I'm able to break down concepts in such an easy to way to understand, which still relates to the real world when it comes to music production and how we can apply these theories to real world practices!

As a beatmaker, I discovered we beatmakers actually play the piano differently than a classical piano player.

If you're trying to check out YouTube tutorials on "how to play the piano for a beginner", or, "how to play piano to make beats", you will not find your answer. Trust me, I was at that point in my production career, too!

Classical piano players have a different mindset behind the piano. Sure, we beatmakers and classical piano players use the same instrument to make our music, but our outcome is different. Therefore, our mindset should be different, and how we practice and use the piano should be different, too.

So how do we beatmakers use a piano differently to make our beats?

We need to focus on two main areas:

Improvisation (creating melodies on the fly, knowing what notes we're allowed to play; spontaneity)
Catchy loops (we need to train our ear to know what is catchy, and what will and will not work for our loops as a beatmaker.)

With that knowledge in mind, our course focuses on what is necessary to learn these two main concepts, and excel in this field of music production.

There is absolutely no prior knowledge of a piano required to take this course, as everything is covered from beginning to end.

We start at the basics, explaining how a piano works, what notes are available to you, how to play chords, but then keep referencing back to music production, and how these parts of a piano actually relate to music production.

For example, choosing to play an instrument up or down an octave can really help in the mixing stage, and prevent instruments from clashing in the same frequencies!

You may ask, is it necessary to learn piano for music production?

The answer is actually no. You can click notes in to make a beat, but if you don't learn piano, it will take FOREVER to click notes in, and it is much harder to create beautiful compositions and great ideas if you don't know the piano.

In my opinion, I'd say yes, it is necessary for a beatmaker to learn piano for music production to become a great music producer.

You can enroll into this course above, and I'll be happy to teach you how to learn the keyboard for music production.

Here's a quick list of what you'll learn:

Differences between beatmakers and classical piano players
How a piano works
How to make practicing fun on a piano
Learning and Interaction (I show you cool tricks you can use, then how to practice using them.)
How to actually play a piano to make beats (we even create a beat in this section!)
How to play with both the right and left hand together, and improvise!
Tips to practice the piano efficiently

Sound like a useful course? You bet it is. The previous piano course continues to help thousands of students every year learn the piano.

And now with my new video equipment, the piano course has gotten even better.

Enroll now, and take these online piano lessons for beginners. You'll learn how to produce music in any genre, as the information relates to music production as a whole. (hip-hop, edm, etc.)

Who this course is for:

Producers wanting to learn the piano to make amazing beats and compositions
Beatmakers wanting to make fire beats and program their MIDI notes from their MIDI keyboard

Piano Lessons for Beatmakers and Music Producers

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 10min

Course Warm Up2 lectures • 14min

How a Piano Works11 lectures • 1hr 19min

Practicing on a Piano1 lecture • 10min

Learning and Interaction5 lectures • 35min

Actually Playing Piano to Make Beats8 lectures • 1hr 41min

Conclusion: Recap Playing Piano as a Beatmaker1 lecture • 6min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: