Private pop piano lessons in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village — for adults and teens who want to play the music they listen to, the way it actually sounds.
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You want to play the music you love — and sound like it. Not a simplified version. Not a “beginner arrangement.” The real thing, learned in a way that actually makes sense.
Pop piano lessons here start with what you’re listening to. Bring a song you wish you could play. We’ll figure out together what’s going on harmonically, what the groove is doing, and how to get from where you are to playing it well. The goal is for the music in your head and the music coming out of the piano to start sounding like the same thing.
What this isn’t: a method-book ladder where you grind through “Hot Cross Buns” for a year before you’re allowed to touch a song. You can play real music from your first lesson. The technique and theory get woven in alongside the songs, in service of them — not as a gauntlet you have to clear before you’re permitted to enjoy yourself.
Most pop songs are built on a small number of chord patterns and a small number of rhythmic gestures — once you understand them, you unlock a huge amount of repertoire at once. We’ll work on hearing those patterns, voicing chords so they sound like the record, building the kind of left-hand grooves that make a song feel right, and singing along with what you’re playing if that’s of interest.
For some students, this is a complete musical education. For others, it’s a doorway into other styles — jazz, R&B, gospel, songwriting. There’s no wrong direction.
The Pop Piano Jumpstart is built for the player who wants to focus — chord voicings, accompaniment patterns, learning songs by ear, and finishing the program with a song you can actually play. Eight 50-minute lessons, $850 for the pack, valid 1 year from purchase.