Playing Piano With Rosa

Welcome!

2009-01-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

COME AND VISIT MY OTHER PIANO SITE

http://www.LearnPianoWithRosa.com

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Hi, my name is Rosablanca. This is a beautiful Spanish name meaning white rose. My friends call me Rosa for short.

I am a self-taught pianist. I’ve been playing piano for churches for more than 26 years. Every time I’m relocated to a new city, I become the regular pianist in the new church in no time. On Fridays and Sundays, you see me in my own tranquil corner of the church playing piano. I didn’t set out to be a church pianist. It just happens. Is this merely a coincidence? Certainly, God has a message to tell me. I am about to unfold for you this part of my life that I seldom talk about.

I feel good every time I sit in front of a piano. God has given me flying fingers and He gives me joy in playing. Sometimes my eyes are teary. Often, I smile. Occasionally, I burst out laughing. I hear sweet musical notes coming alive nudging the listeners. When the congregation sings, I hear angels chiming in. The rhythm of my heart goes racing. The deep basses march out to finish the triumphant hallelujah! Suddenly, the music stops. The pounding of my heart comes to an abrupt rest. It is dead silent. I can’t even hear my own breathing. Guess what? I am transported to Heaven.

When I play the piano, I feel God’s pleasure. So play I must to the glory of His Name.

Every musician must tread on a long winding road before the passionate artist plays with creative freedom. When freedom abounds, you feel you are on cloud nine. But many pianists lament that they struggle endlessly. They dread the long hours of boring practice. They are worn out at the piano. All inspiration is quelled. I know. I’ve been there.

Is there a more effective path to learn to play the piano with enjoyment? The answer is “yes”. Does it take a long time to master such skills? My answer is “no”. Do you need to go through years of piano lessons? You can if you so choose. But then, you may feel you are already too old for that.

Maybe you have never touched a piano, but it has been your lifelong dream to play one. You may have missed the opportunity when you were young. Is it too late for you now? You are truly never too old to learn to play the piano.

But where to begin?

Rosa’s Color Chord Improvisation Method (CCI) will empower you to start playing piano well immediately. With practice, you will be playing with elegance in a very short time. The non-traditional approach is radical, but it works in a fascinating way!

Many aspiring pianists are groping through a maze in search of a better piano learning method. I’m one of them. After years of searching and exploration, I am now putting together a system that works marvelously. I don’t want to keep it to myself, so I invite you to try out this innovative CCI method. It focuses on the essential elements of music theory and techniques that will make your playing sound professional. You acquire the skill to color your songs with artistic tones. You also gain the ability to improvise creatively. Everyone will surely be delighted that you can play the piano!

This method has been brewing in me for 26 years. I could not find someone to teach me the chords the way I am presenting them to you.

Teaching this method has been an eye-opener as it involves my own development as a pianist. Yes, I learned to play the piano, but more importantly, I learned to think in a new way. When I play, my mind reveals a whole new method of thinking that I had not known before. This is a not a method derived from books or classroom theory talks, but from years of mistakes and blunders in my public playing. Now, you know the truth. I have not always played well and still don’t. Half the time my head is spinning in frustration. I fall flat on my face for not meeting the standard. I’m not good enough. My piano playing never ever seems good enough! But, from there, I experience many light bulb moments. Great insights are discovered in the most ordinary and unexpected places. Failure is indeed the best school of learning. That’s where I take my piano lessons. Never a boring moment. Nothing to memorize.

Though I don’t have a piano of my own, I always have a piano to play on. I play the piano that belongs to my parents, to my friends, to the church and to the school. People invite me to their homes to play their piano. They say their piano stands lonely in the living room. Nobody touches it. What a waste. I wonder why my parents put their piano in the basement. Right next to the piano on a wall hangs proudly the framed piano certificates achieved by my four older siblings. Life was hard in the sixties, so hiring a piano teacher was a luxury. I looked forward to this piano teacher who came to our home on Mondays to give lessons, but they were never for me. I hid behind the walls to peek through the cracks, wishing one day I could have my own piano teacher. But that day never came.

In my puberty years, nothing stopped me from dreaming that I would become a maestro. When I shared this with the adults, they sneered. Who wants to listen to your music? Ouch! My dream turned sour. I worked hard in my university years to find my career path. At age 18, I thought I was already too old to study music, so I studied Chemistry. But I graduated from Education and became a professional primary school teacher instead. I was confused. I hadn’t a clue what my passion in life was. But one thing I knew, and that was, wherever I taught, I requested to have a piano in my classroom. I always got one. I even had a piano to play at work. I was known as the teacher with the piano. I liked this "new label" to my career. Notice, I was not the piano teacher. I’ve indeed come a long way.

I know a few outstanding piano teachers. If you’ve found one, you are fortunate. In school, we have many teachers but when it comes to piano teachers, often only one. That one teacher can either make or break the music student. I’ve watched piano teachers making powerful impact on the lives of their students. But I’ve also seen too many piano students who don’t thrive, because they are stuck with teachers who are only able to pass on classroom music theories. Is it any wonder why the drop-out rate is so incredibly high? What’s more, church pianists are required to play in public. How well do you think a student can learn to play from teachers who don’t ever play in public themselves?

I’m here to share with you my inspiration based on my experiences. I play at romantic weddings. I’m usually more nervous than the bride. The wedding march becomes a wedding run! Once, I was asked to play at a graduation ceremony. I thought I would just play in a quiet corner. But this piano was on stage in front of 800 people. I almost fainted. “Please, not me!” My fingers froze. But as soon as I hit the first note, all fears melted away. That was my first time playing on a grand. The most touching moments are in funeral homes. People sit quietly deep in thought. Their eyes are eagerly waiting for you to convey meaningful expressions of condolences. Playing piano in these solemn hours is like performing a lonely recital. I want to hide under the seat. But then their heavy-hearted sobs become harmonious tones to my playing. They draw me to play even more intensely to strengthen their faith. Playing in private homes is one of my favorites. Everyone huddles around the piano, and you suddenly become their best friend as they make their requests.

My regular playing is in a church setting. I’m hidden in a corner enjoying my silent dream, and a lonely one. I would steal a few glances at the congregation. Whew, they are not watching! These are the moments when I become bold and daring. I’m no longer nervous. Suddenly my music takes on artistic satisfaction. I also enjoy playing at the end of worship services when people start talking. I seem to play better when there’s a lot of noise around. People don’t even know I exist anymore. There’s no distraction. I am by myself enjoying my music. I own what I play in that noisy environment because nobody judges me. I play as free as a bird.

The most challenging moment is playing at a church concert. You are in the spot light. Even your walk up the stage is critically analyzed. I often break into a cold sweat. The heroic scene turns into a nightmare, because the keys on the piano suddenly become a maze. Black becomes white and white becomes black. All of a sudden, everything turns white. I frantically locate middle C. I can’t find it, yet I can’t possibly get up and leave. I adjust the bench trying to look busy. “Sit up straight. Take a deep breath. Curve your fingers. Touch the piano.” With courage, I touch the piano. Oh, the piano has a real nice touch! It’s as though the piano is touching me to let music come into my fingers. Together, we make music. I like the sound I hear. So does the audience.

On one occasion, I was asked by the pastor of a church to play for the evening worship. “By the way,” the pastor said, “I know it’s your first time playing at our church, so I’ll ask our good ol’ organist to play with you.” I nodded. I’d never played with an organist before. When evening came, the pastor announced the first song. It’s in the key of E. I never like playing the sharps but I can handle it, so off I go. Hey, what’s happening? Is the piano out of tune? Why is it that my sounds on the piano clash so severely with the organ? Should I continue? If I stop, people might think I don’t know how to play the piano. I’m new to the church. I can’t possibly let the church down. Gritting my teeth, I continued. It was a disaster! The pastor gave me a look of comfort. I wanted to press the escape button to slide under the piano and disappear for good. When the service ended, the organist told me she played that song in the key of Eb as she hated playing sharps. A-ha! That was what happened! Never knew you could do that. Little was she aware how humiliated I was in those first five minutes. Only five short minutes, and that was enough to send an aspiring pianist to despair. A strange nagging voice always comes around to poke at your self-confidence.

The limited space here does not allow me to share all the mixed blessings of my life as a church pianist. Sometimes you feel exhilarated. Yet sometimes you wonder why you are doomed. Strange things happen at the most inconvenient time. Once, during the auditioning of songs, the sustain pedal literally came off while I was proudly performing my piece. I looked with appalling eyes. The poor pedal. It laid there like a dead fish washed in by the waves. Why didn’t this happen to the person before me or after me? Now, I have to admit the truth. I’ve got elephant foot! I often play for the choir. When rehearsals don’t go right, the pianist is often the person to blame. But then, the performances usually outshine the rehearsals. It’s because the pianist has taken the responsibility to cover the mistakes to let the music flow. The pianist never gets the credit when things go right either. Well, most of us won’t ever become a star, but we all learn to play our roles with style. Know this: what counts is a style marked with integrity admitting your flaws rather than a presumptuous style of perfect eloquence.

My stories are endless. I find myself fulfilling a dream on an unlikely path. I never envisioned myself teaching piano. I hear the call to train people to play piano musically as well as to play on the spiritual level. Playing piano can communicate a spiritual message of hope that brings peace to troubled souls. There is a sense of spiritual contact that I, a pianist, experience with people. They tell me they sense a deep calming effect in their souls when I play. Today, as soon as I step in the church, I make my way automatically to the piano. The piano calls me. It’s been like this for the last 14 years in Tsuen Wan Church. When people walk into the church corridor and they hear music, they know I’m already at church. The welcoming sounds of the piano make them happy. I see it on their faces. I greet them as I continue to play. They wave to me as if we are long lost friends. Even the most downhearted person cannot help but smile sweetly. Music is powerful even in this one-second encounter.

People often ask, “Rosa, how do you play so effortlessly with such ease and freedom?”

I do? I smile. I’ve pondered deeply on what the answer might be to this question. Here’s the secret: you need a quiet mind. A mind that is too busy counting the rhythm, fumbling around with techniques, juggling the fingerings will inhibit the flow of music. Creativity is blocked. Only when your mind is quiet, then you will listen to the sounds you make. If you listen deeply, you hear things you’ve never heard before. You get connected to music on the spiritual level. You become in tune with the music that allows you to play effortlessly in the flow. This is where inspiration comes in. Creativity knocks on your door. You are now receptive to ideas but you also need to allow them to come forth without being critical and judgmental. Don’t allow your mind to become a battle field. Ride on the river of creativity to bring your artistry to higher levels of spontaneous flow. Sometimes you see instantaneous result. Celebrate it. Sometimes you need to wait. Be patient. Trust the process to flow through you in its own time.

Most people think that they need to learn lots of piano techniques in order to play well. As a result, they quickly jump from one technique to another. Good piano playing is not measured by how many techniques you can do, but the quality with which you do them. Here’s a hint: Pick one technique that you like and let it sink into your being until you can do it well without thought. This is how you attain a quiet mind. Even a novice can do this. Train your mind to be still. Nothing is forced. The quieter your mind, the easier it is to allow ideas and inspiration flow unobstructed. The music will start playing itself through you.

Wrong thinking stops us from achieving our goals. You need to look at piano playing in a whole new way. Thinking on a completely new level will help you breakthrough to play the music that moves you and your audience. In the CCI method, I open a new path of thinking to inspire you to realize your potential. By sharing the thinking process with you, I am giving you the key to creative piano playing. This is not something static. It has to do with the flow of thinking translated into the flow of playing. I share not only the end product but the process of the journey with you. This, I find, is the most effective way to inspire a pianist to grow dynamically in this God-given gift.

You may find my presentation straightforward and simple. That’s intentional. Our mind gets restless when we make things more complicated than necessary. Music is not complicated once you see how music works in patterns. Pattern recognition underlies how we understand music. In fact, patterns underlie almost everything that happens in our lives. Our brain works by recognizing patterns. Patterns are very easy to grasp, but you need to see them in a flash. My lessons are specifically structured to help you see patterns at a glance. When you understand the overall structure of how music works, the relationships of the individual parts will become obvious. Keyboard diagrams, tables and charts show visual patterns, and simplify concepts that would otherwise seem complex or intimidating. Seeing patterns in one flash will relax your mind to become quiet. When your mind is at rest, it conserves energy. This is where growth takes place. Your options to play creatively will multiply manifold.

I witness people playing musically after showing them some small steps. You should see the joy glowing on their faces. It’s a shocking realization to them that playing piano can be easy and enjoyable. Professional musicians don’t like to reveal their secrets to novices, but often times they would say to me, “Rosa, let me show you a trick.” I am all ears. I listen, imitate and transform these neat tricks into patterns. These one minute lessons revolutionize my playing. I show these simple techniques to you on the video.

People have commented that my video demos look simple and easy. “Is this all there is to it?” Yes, that’s all there is to it! When you watch pianists perform, they may be playing something that sounds incredibly difficult, but they make it look easy. Why? It is easy! The techniques are trivially simple. Don’t judge and criticize the simplicity. Professional techniques are built on the foundation of simple patterns. Too often, we are tempted to fly through easy techniques and work on complex ones. This is precisely the moment we lose our inner connection. Tension and pressure have replaced the flow. Take this advice: Master the simple skills until you can do them easily and naturally. Give yourself permission to indulge on the simplicity.

Yet, simplicity doesn’t mean it lacks content. A simple, focused life is far richer than a life cluttered with unnecessary extravagance. Stay away from the temptation of feeding your mind with irrelevant information and complicated exercises. Do you notice that the best ideas are often the simplest ones? When something is simple, you have room to make it elegant. What is elegant is surprisingly simplistic. If this is true of all art form, painting, poetry, or even the way we dress, how much more true this is to piano playing. That’s it. Less is more. Dare to be simple. A beautiful elegant style of playing is our goal.

The CCI method thrives on its simplicity. When something comes across so easy, people think they know it when they have understood it. However, understanding concepts is not the same as putting them into action. The application is what makes this manual distinctive to give you success at the piano. Make sure you take all the ideas straightaway into a musical experience.

Today is my birthday! While Raymond and I were having lunch together, exchanging ideas of God’s work in our lives, God gave us an ever clearer vision. We see an urgent need to use our earthly time wisely to fulfill God’s calling. In our long years of pastoring the church, we have observed that there is a lack of instructional training for church pianists. Someone should come in to fill the gap. So, from this seed thought comes the birth of this book. PLAYING PIANO WITH ROSA: COLOR CHORD IMPROVISATION METHOD.

Over the years, people have asked me to teach them to play the piano. Their constant requests have prompted an urgent response in me to write this manual. I cannot delay anymore. As I pen this book, I wish such a book had existed 20 years ago.

God sends us pleasant surprises along our way. Whoever would have believed that I would write a book, let alone writing on music? I never went to music school, nor have I taken formal piano lessons. But in my life, I’ve been blessed beyond measure by people who pass on the art of life to me with their sense of humor, grace and spiritual strength. They inspire me to be what I am today and they make me want to write, to share all the inspiration that bubbles within me. I’ve truly been humbled by this awesome assignment from God.

A deep sense of gratitude wells up from within. I want to especially thank Raymond, my hubby and buddy in life for sparking up this vision. Just as a father would decide on a name before the child is born, today Raymond comes up with a title for this book. This is the greatest birthday present I have ever received!!! And in joy, I share this birthday happiness with you.

My whole inner being is intensely involved as I write this instructional manual. I write with abandon. It’s as if I’m not writing the book but the book is writing itself. I become a spectator watching the whole drama unfold. This is not just a technical piano method book. It is also a personal memoir of my life as a pianist over the last 26 years, and counting. Splashes of vivid events are woven in to share with you God’s transforming power in my life. I have been truly captivated with thrill and delight in the process of writing out my method that has brought out the best in me. I pray for the same to happen to you.

This is your time.

This is your moment.

Let this exciting journey begin.

Rosablanca Suen

Hong Kong, 2008

Color Chord Improvisation

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This method is called “Color Chord Improvisation” (CCI).

COLOR brings the art of life to the forefront. Think back to the times when you saw a rainbow. Those experiences linger within us even now. Our thoughts are romantic, happy, enthusiastic, imaginative, tranquil, sorrowful, passionate, daring, and refreshing. We feel young again. We are lost in our dreams. The hours pass in a flash. We have the urge to run to the end of the rainbow. We laugh until tears start rolling down our face.

The same happens when we sit still waiting for the sun to rise. Our eyes do not want to blink. The fiery ball is going to pop up any second. Every moment needs to be captured. We stare intently. The sky is painted a myriad of colors. Oh, the energizing colors of dawn! We are revitalized. We try to hold back our tears.

You, too, can experience such magical moments on this journey of learning to play hymns colorfully with flair. Songs are painted with chords of rainbow colors. Each color chord has its own distinctive quality of sounds. When splashes of color are added, they add sparks to our music. When old hymns are dressed up with contemporary color sounds, they bring out a fresh flavor. We feel uplifted.

Have you ever watched a painter move his brush across the canvas? The brush strokes of a good artist are swift and sure. He chooses appropriate combination of colors to make the picture blend in harmony. Different colors create different moods and atmosphere. He uses light and shade to create depth and dimension in the images. Like a painter, I show you the broad strokes of music. I also show you the details of colors in the actual application. Like a painter, you need to learn how to choose different color chords to harmonize your music into a beautiful masterpiece. Discover what these colors are and how different combinations of color tones can bring excitement to your music! Your piano playing will never be the same again!

CHORD playing is my main emphasis in the CCI method. You will learn many chords. There are the basic black and white triad chords, color chords, color chords with extensions and fancy alterations.

Here is a chart of color chords that are associated with the C chord:

CHORDS	CHORD SYMBOLS	CHORD EXTENSIONS	CHORD ALTERATIONS
C major	C
C minor	Cm
C two	C2
C suspended	Csus2 Csus4
C six	C6
C minor six	Cm6
C augmented	C+	C+7
C diminished	C ^o	C ^o7
C major seven	CM7	CM9 CM11 CM13
C minor seven	Cm7	Cm9 Cm11	Cm7-5
C seven	C7 C7/6	C9 C9/6 C11 C13	C7-9 C13 (-9 -13) C13 (-9 +11 -13) C13 (+9 -13)

We use a variety of chords to express different musical ideas. The CCI method leads you to play advanced color chords quickly so that you do not need to plough through years of studies. Chord substitution and reharmonization techniques will be explored.

Many frustrated pianists are unable to translate complex chord symbols straight away onto the piano. I’ve bridged that gap for you by providing keyboard diagrams to help you visualize what color chords look like on the piano. What is seen in your mind can then be easily translated into your fingers. My approach helps you find chord color tones effortlessly, so that you can tap into the secret of playing in the flow.

IMPROVISATION is the art of creativity which makes all songs come alive and fresh. You can indeed play a song a hundred times, yet play it differently each time.

Don’t you love it when you watch people improvise freely at the piano? And don’t you envy people who just sit down at the piano and play music off the top of their heads? I had often said to myself, “That will never happen to me!” I always had this burning desire to improvise, but how? I always thought this is only for the gifted. Wrong! My CCI method will help you see things in a new way.

Life without improvisation is dead. Improvising is something that we are engaged in every day. Every time we speak, we are actually improvising. We speak spontaneously. We don’t speak from a prepared speech. We say whatever our minds direct us to say. We can also say the same thing in different ways depending on our mood, and how we want to emphasize our ideas. Our words are often painted with accents, dynamics, and variations of pitch. Playing piano is similar to speaking. Tap into the power of improvisation to express yourself freely at the piano.

For a long time, piano teaching has routinely focused on playing exactly note-for-note in the music composition. But playing piano is not cloning a piece of music. Think for a moment. Who would ever want to live a carbon copy of someone else’s life? Yet oddly enough, we think the correct way to play piano is to follow exactly someone else’s score and play them note-by-note. Living is an art. So is playing the piano. We are unique individuals. Playing the piano should reflect our unique voice and character. But why is it that our minds go blank when we play without a score in front of us? The thought of creating music at the piano frightens us. Why? We have been misled into thinking that the correct way of playing the piano is to play exactly what others write on music sheets.

Music sheets have their values but try to free yourself from depending on music sheets. Throw away the crutch. Improvise. You can do it. You must be involved in the playing. When your whole being is involved, your personality will come out. Your character can’t help but shine through. Your piano playing comes out fresh and alive because you are in the music, not someone else.

Be present when you play. Let go and enjoy the process of creativity. Be open. Be willing to take risks. Be vulnerable. Be transparent. Dare to be different. Learn to fly into new uncharted territory. I do this all the time.

Improvisation is difficult only because you block this possibility even before you give yourself a chance to start. Wrong thinking stifles inspiration. You freeze your creativity by saying, “I don’t know enough. I am not good enough. I am not ready.” You will never be ready with this kind of internal dialogue.

When will you be ready? You are ready the moment you sit in front of the piano.

That’s all there is to it. This is the approach I want you to take when you follow my lessons. You don’t need years of piano lessons to improvise. You can start even as a total beginner. Play intuitively. Let the music within you bubble out unhindered. All my beginning students are shocked to discover they can start making their own music right away. It works. You must let go of all self-criticism and let the music lead you. This is not something you can learn by reading a book. Even my video demos are only one of the many possible ways of presenting the music across. You must connect to the music and play in the moment. Don’t stifle your creativity. Let your intuition take full rein. Your piano playing will take off like a breath of fresh air.

Improvisation is the first step to composition. Composition is a sophisticated word for writing your own music. When we were in school, we learned to draw our own pictures. We learned to write our own stories. We even wrote poetry and haikus. But did we ever write our own music? Never! Nobody, not even our music teachers, ever encouraged or taught us to make music! It seems to be an area that’s off limits, reserved for the gifted Mozart and the talented few. We were always taught to learn someone else’s music and sing someone else’s song. The idea of composing paralyzes us. Yet, oddly enough, we all made our own music and sang our own songs in our cribs. We were already enjoying our world of music. From the beginning, we were born with this gift of creativity.

In my CCI method, I deliberately include a section on free play to rekindle this unattended gift. I provide a framework with guidelines to develop your improvisational creativity. There is a composer in all of us. It is about playing spontaneous music that is fully original. Our deepest fear is not that we feel inadequate. Remember, we were born with the capacity to create. Our deepest fear is that we don’t know where that art of creativity may take us. We feel insecure when we move into unknown territories. We feel vulnerable. We feel we are not in control anymore. Similarly, we are afraid to put too much passion into our life, into our work, into our relationships, into anything. We want to remain in the safety zone of moderation to cover and protect ourselves where no one can come in to criticize us or judge us. This is where the majority of the crowd prefers to snuggle down. Dare to launch out to experience the freedom of creativity.

CCI METHOD

My CCI method seeks to empower you to become a God-pleasing musician. A good pianist is one who is able to deliver a thoughtful and powerful spiritual message to those listening. Your life needs to be in harmony with the Lord. Be a spiritual person and let God’s glory be manifested through your playing. Always remember that your piano is your instrument of service and that you are communicating a message at a deeper spiritual level.

Music is a living experience. Do not be detached. Let music touch you. Your heart will then be grabbed to hear the various color sounds, like the T*H*U*M*P*I*N*G of the heart. It is like falling in love all over again, feeling its magic and all its extreme rainbow colors of contrasting emotions: joy and sorrow, love and hate, calm and turbulence, longing and aching, hope and excitement, disillusionment as well as surprising fulfillments.

Let your favorite hymns burn within you.

Let God’s Spirit move in you.

Can’t stay neutral anymore.

Not I, nor you.

This manual is for YOU

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The CCI manual paves a way for beginners and intermediate piano students to play expressively and to make music that is fun, satisfying, fulfilling, practical, and most of all, possible. In my classes, total beginners start playing piano right away without difficulty, while advanced students find the method intriguing and motivating to play beautiful music. This program can also be used by piano instructors.

FOR PIANO PLAYERS

If you are an aspiring pianist who desires to play creatively with style, this manual is written especially for you.

Maybe you’ve already gone through many years of piano lessons and are so frustrated that you are at the point of quitting. The practising time at the piano does not seem to pay off. You’ve hit a threshold and do not know how to improve on your piano skills. You’ve been stuck for a long time. I have full sympathy for you. Try this radical approach. You need to see music in a whole new way.

You may have played piano for years, but you haven’t a clue what to do when it comes to improvisation. Many piano players are usually petrified when they are asked to play something on their own. They say they can’t. They are only able to play what they have memorized. This manual will provide a starting point for you to create your own music. Your heart will be captured beyond imagination. It is not as difficult as you were led to believe.

Church pianists often play straight from hymn books and follow the score note-by-note. To their annoyance, they are unable to play spontaneously in a way which leads the congregation to sing dynamically. I struggled with this for many years and wondered why that is so. The reason is that hymns are written as a four-part chorale (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) and not for pianists. What a revelation that was for me. This manual shows you how to play outside the box, to transform the traditionally written hymns into creative piano playing by using color chords.

I hope you will find my method fresh and fascinating. I wish you every success as you gain new insights to take your piano skills to the next level.

FOR BEGINNERS

If you have no knowledge of music, I have good news for you: you can start playing the piano today with this method.

I am one of those who never took piano lessons, yet I functioned as a church pianist right away. You ask, “How can that be?” I started off playing with only one finger. That’s how my journey began. I only knew how to locate middle C and played the C scale. That’s all you need to know to get started. I am including a bonus chapter in this book to help total beginners to understand the basics of music notations. I also put in a Virtual Piano Score Video for each song so that you can have fun following the virtual piano playing the lighted treble clef notes. You will be amazed at your progress in acquiring the sight reading skill.

To play well, one needs to understand some music theory, but don’t feel that you have to understand a lot of music theory before playing. In my approach, music theory is introduced one step at a time to help serious students to progress in an orderly fashion. Each theory comes in bite-size pieces with hands-on practice. I assure you that you are on the path to understanding music quickly. If I had learned these concepts from the beginning, it would have saved me many years of frustrations.

I want to empower beginners to acquire professional sounds right away. All the techniques are simplified in such a way that your fingers and hands can coordinate easily. Mastery of piano skills requires practice and finger muscular memory takes time. This will not happen overnight. But you also don’t need to struggle for years to play like a pro. You need a clear knowledge, a disciplined mind, and creative practices at the piano so that your time is well used. Let your time at the piano be intense, energized, focused, effective and satisfying. Soon all the neat tricks that you have put into practice will become part of your style and you will never lose them.

Jump straight in and enjoy playing beautifully. Your life will be ever more enriched with excitement as you find yourself playing your favorite songs, not sounding like a beginner, but with style.

FOR SONG TEAM MEMBERS

This manual is also suitable for song team members. You may wonder why this is so when they are not even the pianist. The task of a pianist is not just hitting notes on the piano. The same goes for a person singing hymns; they are not merely singing words. Our task is to communicate a spiritual message through songs to move our listeners into the presence of God.

In these pages, I talk about how music works in a song. Music works through three elements: melody, harmony and rhythm. Every time you sing, you need to find the flow to express musical drama through these three elements. Every singer and player needs to get into the spirit of a song by understanding the lyrics and the structure of a song.

I analyze the structure of each song, its melodic lines, its distinctive rhythm and chord progressions so that you know how to put expression into your singing and playing. Music moves dynamically. You need to know how to phrase musical sentences, as well as to identify the climax of a song. Good piano playing and singing always incorporate appropriate harmonic tension and relaxation in the delivery. When people sing and play musically, the congregation gets involved with the music.

You will be amazed what will happen to your song team members when they start using this manual. Don’t be surprised when you see them playing the piano also. This is good news for all music directors! Soon everyone will be inspired to be a church pianist! They want to play the piano. This is what is happening in Tsuen Wan church.

Many members in the Tsuen Wan congregation are not piano players, yet you see young and old gathering around the piano after worship service every Sunday. I am usually in the corner of the church for a long time playing the piano for them. Brothers and sisters with no knowledge of music are inspired to want to play the piano. Time and time again, I have referred them to other piano teachers. But they keep coming back to ask me to teach them. I owe them this book. I confess, like Jonah, I’ve been on the run to escape from this unwanted assignment. I have now woken up, as it were, thrown out from the belly of the fish onto dry land to embark on this important mission.

Before this time, the Lord was already working in my heart. It all began when sweet little Cheryl would come running up to the piano as soon as the pastor said “Amen” to the closing prayer. She would sit on my lap, and I would play the piano for her. She would listen attentively. Her eyes would sparkle as she watched my hands moving from left to right and right to left. I would whisper a few words into her ears. She would laugh and giggle. She would pull my face towards her rosy cheek. Little was I aware that our piano lessons had begun. She started this as soon as she learned to walk.

Today she is seven. She still sits on my lap as I play the piano for her, but she is no longer passively watching. She sings along as I play. She tinkles the ivories with her dancing fingers while my hands go to the extreme left and right of the piano. After our piano lessons, I sit her on the bench, and she is on her own playing the piano while brothers and sisters continue to enjoy their fellowship with one another. I walk away, watching this little girl imitate my right hand octaves, trill the notes with her delicate fingers, run glissandos from right to left with her palm, and then stretch her left hand to play the deep basses. What a scene! This little girl is making music. She is like a little Mozart.

Brothers and sisters in my church do not have formal music lessons, but they have the desire to play the music they hear in their minds and souls. A sister called Karen wanted very much to play the piano. Like many parents, this dream was first fulfilled through her two children. The opportunity for her to play the piano came later in life. Last year, while she was practising the piano at home, her next door neighbor heard her music and was deeply moved, so much so that the neighbor visited our church to give her testimony. Music played from the heart truly touches the lives of others.

And so the stories continue.

This instructional book is not just about music nor piano, but a spiritual journey for all who want to embark on it. You are going to have a blast! Is your heart tugging now?

Maybe you don't go to church and you don't know these songs. These songs are very easy to learn. What you learn here about piano playing can apply to all genre of songs. The most important thing is to digest the principles that you learn about music theory and understand how to apply the piano techniques into playing many other songs. If you can play one song well by applying the music principles and techniques, you can actually play hundreds of songs. Your result is manifold IF you know how to approach piano playing correctly.

Testimony & Feedback

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I am very grateful for many musicians who have taught me how to Play by Ear and how to Improvise. They are: Robert Laughlin, Joseph Chi, Michael Anderson, Yoke Wong, James Michael Stevens, Peter Friesen, and the late Professor David Sudnow. During my learning process, they have all given generously of their time listening to my recordings and sending critiques in both written and audio form to help me improve on my piano playing.

Robert, your visit to HK is always remembered close to heart. I've also made a lot of piano friends through Piano Magic and Piano World because many of us have been there for years to grow together musically. It had been a great desire for me to learn how to play by EAR and the first course that did it for me was PIANO MAGIC. I recommend this course to all who want to play by ear.

I have invited my piano teachers (in these last 5 years) to come to my site. They have all had a part of building up my musicianship. They've helped me find my unique style. This site is a result of all their labor, plus many many other musicians whom I am unable to name one-by-one but they know who they are. Thank you. So I reserve this place where I post the letters of what teachers and students say about my site and the book. Thank you for taking the extra effort to write to me personally.

Hi Rosa,

I've looked over your materials and I think your doing and are going to do a great job with this! You obviously have a passion for it and communicate it clearly and effectively. I like the "CCI" concept as well and your ability to interject your personality in your writing in a very pleasing way.

I really like what you've done. It's very impressive! I like the personal tone you use which I believe will be just right. You present a lot of good music theory in a non-threatening manner. I've planned for a long time to write an improvisation book, and I think you may have inspired me with your very diligent and creative work.

Your book is done in a most excellent way! I highly recommend the creative and inspirational techniques of Rosa Suen for church pianists wanting to improve their improvisational skills for worship!

I want you to know that I think you are on to something and I pray that God blesses your work!

Sincerely,
James

James M. Stevens, DMA
Chairman of the Music Department
Free Will Baptist Bible College
3606 West End Ave
Nashville, TN 37205

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Hi Rosa:

I am impressed by the amount of work you did.

You've got a wonderful product there. You should be proud.

Robert Laughlin

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Hi Rosa:

If we could only turn back time to the days when I first learned to play piano....this would be my wish:

To have available to me this wonderful book and DVD "Playing Piano with Rosa". This method would have enabled me to play piano the way I wanted to from the very beginning but instead I learned music thru traditional methods and only in the last few years learned to play by chording and by ear or using fake books and being able to put my own rhythms and chords to the music.

This method will allow everyone, whether beginner or more experienced player, to learn about music theory and the traditional things that everyone must know, but it also allows you to make beautiful music right from the beginning. Rosa's Dvd has video clips, mp3 and midi clips so that you can see exactly what she is teaching and how to play it, plus you can play along with her as well.

Thanks to Rosa's Color Chord Improvisation Method teaches us, right from the beginning, how to play these hymns using the styles you choose to play them. Plus the really neat thing about this method, is that it applies to almost all types of music not just hymns. What you learn here you can apply to other songs as well so the fun really gets spread around to whatever you want to play. Book 1 is just the beginning of where the fun starts as there are more to come.

Wonderful method, Thank you Rosa,

Alene Thornton,
Salem, Oregon

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Dear Rosa,

Congrats on the publication! I am excited for you! Way to go!
Thank you for thinking about me. Good job on the new product!

Your book is loaded with great information. I am especially touched by your foreword and your desires to help other church pianists. I am most impressed with your materials and the amount of time you spent into developing the course. It is a very thorough and well laid-out. I enjoy reading it.

The keyboard diagrams and many pictures are very appropriate and useful. I also like the mp3/midi files provided. It would be extremely helpful to your audiences.

I wish you the best for your effort and ministry!

God bless!

Cordially,
Yoke Wong

Harmony and Melody Studio,
Inc160 W. FootHill Pkwy Ste,
105-65Corona, CA 92882
USA

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The following letter is from my high school teacher, Mr Epp, in Killarney.

Hi Rosablanca,

I am impressed with your work and all the help your expert friends gave you. With all the effort so many people made, the book must be a masterpiece. The fact that you believe deeply in what you are teaching comes through clearly. You write passionately and vividly. I hope that many benefit both musicly and spiritually from your book. You have indeed embarked upon another major project. I admire your energy and drive.

May the Lord continue to bless you as you minister and share your knowledge of piano playing with others.

Take care.
David
Vancouver, British Columbia

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Rosa: You have obviously put a lot of work into your site and your book and it shows. The layout looks great and the instructions are clear and concise. Congratulations on such a great achievement.

Peter Friesen
Richmond B.C.

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Guest Book

2009-01-17T01:30:00.000-08:00

Please sign my Guest Book.

Just click on the comments.

Let me know you have been here.

Hope you had enjoyed the visit!!!

Sample Videos & Sample Lessons

2009-01-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

Bonus Video

Here are some sample pages and sample videos of Color Chord Improvisation Method Book 1.

DVD (3 hour Multi-media) 73 Tracks

A VIDEO SAMPLE

Playing Open Harmony. Using 10th in Left Hand

Virtual Piano Score

A Video Sample for Beginners to use simple LH Octave Drum

INSTRUCTIONAL MANUAL 135 pages

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SAMPLE PAGES

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COLOR CHORD IMPROVISATION METHOD BOOK 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF CCI BOOK 2

SAMPLE PAGES OF CCI BOOK 2

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PLAYING BY EAR BOOK 1

If you have any questions, you can contact me at PianoWithRosa(at)gmail.com

[ first part of email address is non-case sensitive; please replace (at) with the usual @ symbol.]

Ballad Style

2009-01-15T01:44:00.000-08:00

Many people ask me about how I started teaching piano. My lesson plans don't come from reading books but from a result of piano students asking me how I play my songs.

They tell me, "We want to play like you, can you teach us?"

I will be playing a song for them as shown in the following video:

They say, "Oh, we like that sound, what did you do?"

I then ask them, "Which part did you like?"

They say, "Everything."

I then say, "Oh....let me play this again."

So then I will be playing for them a second time as shown in the following video:

They say, "How come it's different from the first one?"

I say, "I don't know how to play it exactly the same, but some of the accompaniment is about the same."

They say, "Teach us."

I scratch my head....and I say, "I'll play slower, you stop me exactly at the point where you like to hear."

Then they stopped me every 5 seconds or so.

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From all this, I soon discover that I put in a lot of different variety into my playing without knowing it myself.

The students say they want SPECIFIC demonstration of what goes on in the accompaniment when I play a song.

For eg. in this ballad style, they stopped me a few times. And then I came to realize that I was playing the ballad in different ways. They want to know how to vary the ballad style. I found myself showing them each one so that they can see the basic structure first and then show them what they can do to vary one from the other. It is just a slight movement of the hand.

The following is a video that I will do for them so that they can see exactly what I do in slower motion in each ballad pattern throughout the song. I discover that they need to hear the same pattern throughout the whole song for their learning and that's why I had to stick to the same pattern in one demo. I didn't learn it that way because I have been playing all my life by exploring and experimenting on my own. But for adult piano learners at the beginning stage, they tell me they need everything shown in its specific structure.

The following video shows 6 different styles of a basic ballad 9. I played each pattern throughout the song. I don't ever play one pattern throughout the song but they say they need to learn it in that way, so that's why I did it for them.

As you can see from the above video, the patterns are slightly different and they give a slightly different mood or effect. Try to listen to the mood and effect rather than counting your beats. Just a slightly delayed note also makes a difference to the mood of the music. As for the fingerings, find the finger shape that is most natural for you. I seldom change my handshape because they feel good just as they are.

The following is another video showing a hypnotic ballad 9 where the 5th is alternated and repeated on all the off-beat. More variations for them to choose.

For me to stick with one pattern and play that throughout the song is more difficult. I have to really think to stay in the pattern. But I also understand why beginners want it this way because they do not have enough patterns in their hands to mix and match easily. Once you are fluent with each pattern, then mixing and matching is as easy as breathing.

I purposely captioned on the video the pattern and the numbers for beginners to see clearly which notes the fingers are hitting. They find these caption labels very very helpful. But it also requires me to spend hours and hours of work editing the videos. Can you believe it -- a 10 minute video requires 10 hours of work? No kidding. But if 100 students benefit from it then 10 hours is only 1 minute work.

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After watching these videos, my students will come back to me and say they need to practice the LH accompaniment and ask if I can give them some exercise on chords.

I say, "Just follow the video."

They say, "The LH moves very quickly from one chord to another, so it is not easy for us to practise."

I say, "Oh..... what do you want me to show you?"

They say, "Can you show us a demo of each pattern chord by chord?"

As a result, I ended up doing the following video to show them the technique pattern of each chord. I use mainly C F G chord to give them an idea. Once they know how to apply to these basic chords, they can do them on the others. Each chord is repeated about 4 times so that they can take the video to their piano to play along:

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In my books, I actually put these videos in reverse order. I show the techniques chord by chord first, and then I show how they can be put into the song. People learning from books do not have the advantage of a live teacher-student interaction so everything is done from basic to more complex in the books.

So I thought I'll explain to you how the videos came about in my teaching and why the books lessons and the video lessons are formatted in this way.

The theory part is explained in detail in the books. The ballad 9 is explained in Lesson 9 in Book 2 where I start talking about extension chords. There, I explain the numbers that you see on the videos.

As we learn to play the piano, it is good to train ourselves to think in numbers rather than in letter names because the numbers show us distinct patterns, whereas letter names such as "A B C" don't show distinct patterns. Once you learn a number system, you can apply them to different chords easily. This is all explained in my books.

Walking Bass

2009-01-14T05:03:00.000-08:00

The walking bass technique is used by the left hand to produce powerful effects in the music. You are like a bass player creating a regular forward movement by playing a series of bass notes, typically on the beat.

The walking bass is played on the lower octaves of the piano with the LH octaves handshape. Walking bass line notes include a mixture of scale tones or basic chord tones (1 3 5) or color tones as passing tones. The main idea is to play these bass tones on every beat to lead up to the next chord.

The most important thing to remember is to play the ROOT tone of the chord on the 1st beat.

For a long time, I had difficulty doing walking bass lines because of a certain way of thinking that is not conducive to playing a walking bass easily. This problem often afflicts people who rely on music scores to play their music.

When using music sheets, we count in this way:

/ 1 2 3 4 / 1 2 3 4 /

But when you play the walking bass lines, you must train yourself to hear a bar ahead, so you must think in the following way to help you think the chord 1 of the upcoming bar.

2 3 4 1 ..... 2 3 4 1

and not in :

1 2 3 4 ....... 1 2 3 4

Can you see the difference in the way of thinking?

You are not thinking of the present chord you are in, but you are thinking ahead of your target chord. After hitting the root on the 1st beat of the present chord, your ears need to hear ahead of the root tone of the next chord. Surprisingly, our ears can be trained to hear not only 1 bar, but 2 or even 8 bars ahead.

In a piece of music, you sometimes have a long note of 4 beat. You need to know the chord you are in and the chord of the next bar.

A lot of times there is no change of chord, it could be just C going to C in the key of C.

It means Chord I to Chord I.

The following video shows you what walking bass lines you can do from Chord I to Chord I.

My students like this a lot because they like to play along so I had to repeat it a few times so they get the gist of it.

But in a song, it is not always Chord I going to Chord I. Sometimes it is IV to ii. Sometimes it is V to I, which is most of the case.

The same concept applies but your head needs to be clear what your present chord is and what target chord you are going to.

Here is a video of what walking bass lines you can play in a song like Onward Christian Soldiers.

In my method book, I show you step by step in the lessons how you can walk the basslines from V to I, V going to ii, and IV to ii. They are also demonstrated in videos.

Let me know if you had benefited from this lesson.

new course

2009-01-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

Online Piano Lessons: Learn Piano With Rosa

Please visit.