Learn like a Concert Pianist

Question: Mr. Frantz,

First of all I’d like to thank you for your amazing site. Everything you wrote and explained there has served me considerably.

I am an 18-year-old girl who has decided...

There is one ear training skill that every musician and every music student, including absolute beginners, must develop. It should be done from the very beginning of music study and is a suitable...

Question: How can I readily identify any chord when played?

– Timothy (Nigeria)

Albert’s reply: The first step in chord ear training is to learn to identify the basic types of chords,...

Question: In your opinion, which are the best urtext editions with regards to fingering, paper quality, critical commentary, etc.?

Thank you,

– Marcel (Ireland)

Albert’s reply: First,...

key-notes is pleased to offer The Entertainer sheet music for free download. Composed in 1902 by ragtime pioneer Scott Joplin, The Entertainer is among the most popular ragtime pieces ever written....

I’d like to share with key-notes readers the best imaginable resource for out-of-print sheet music ever. Its mouthful of a name, the International Music Score Library Project Petrucci Music...

Question: Albert,

Do you know where I might find a written out cadenza for W.A. Mozart’s Concerto No. 5 in D Major, K. 175? I’m aware that Mozart wrote one out for his sister but I am...

Question: Can I get easier sheet music for the Moonlight Sonata first movement?

– Annemarie (Netherlands)

Albert’s reply: The first movement of the Moonlight Sonata is really already...

I'm pleased to present a beautiful new edition of Beethoven’s beloved “Moonlight” Sonata. The first movement, available for free download, was edited by Albert Frantz...

By very popular request, key-notes is happy to offer the Happy Birthday sheet music for free download. This no-frills arrangement is easily accessible and suitable for early intermediate pianists.

By popular demand, key-notes is offering the Für Elise sheet music for free download. This special, professionally typeset edition has been prepared just for key-notes visitors.

Simply click...

I frequently get requests asking me to post popular piano sheet music for free, and I wanted to explore the issue with key-notes readers.

There are now many sites offering free downloadable...

This Free Piano Chord Chart is designed to be used as an aid to learning music theory and for occasional reference. It contains the major, minor, diminished and augmented triads, as well as ...

Question: I’ve been a guitarist for 30+ years and have always watched my left hand, and rarely my right. And now that I am learning/practicing the major and relative minor scales on piano, I...

Question: Hello dear teacher,

I had some problems and sickness and I couldn’t practice at all! I want to start again but my hands are too cold to play after about 3 months, so I try to warm...

Question: What is the best way to quickly warm up or get acclimated to an unfamiliar piano? That is, if you have, say, five minutes to prepare, what do you play to get your muscles and ears...

Question: Do you do or suggest any kind of physical warm-ups (non-musical) such as hand or arm stretches before practicing or playing (or after as well)? I believe I read that you used to do yoga....

Question: I want to knew when pedals are used and how can I guess their use? Also, there are many signs in the sheet music which are difficult to understand; could you please help me? My sincere...

Question: Albert, with little time to study every day, do you think it’s wrong to wake up, sit down and study a piece or is it necessary to do at least a half hour of exercises such as...

Question: I can get easily distracted from playing piano, whether it be my phone going off, hearing the TV or going to the computer and listening to a song for a second (which turns into hours). I...

Question: Do you have any tips for singing from memory? I can never remember it all and usually get stuck in the middle.

– Courtney (UK)

Albert’s reply: It’s most important to...

Question: Hello Albert,

I studied piano for five years, and the course was focused on jazz, blues, bossa nova, and other Brazilian styles. These styles are quite different from classical since...

Question: I am a late learner (75), probably grade 2 or 3. I am to play in a concert in 3 weeks’ time. I will play the first and third movements of Clementi’s Op. 36, No. 2, which...

Question: What about feelings taking over you by what you listen to before you produce the idea on the piano? Until what point can a pianist deal with passion evoked through the music he/she is...

Question: Hi,

I want to know how to learn to play a piece without making mistakes.
I have tried practicing the piece over and over. And when I am at home alone I can seem to get through it with...