Piano Basics: Learn Notes, Scales & Chords
Elijah Fox-Peck · Pianist, Songwriter, Producer
Thirteen short lessons in 31 minutes turn total blankness at a keyboard into reading notes, building chords, and playing a real progression.
Elijah Fox-Peck's "Piano Basics" is exactly what its title promises: a fast, hands-on lap around the fundamentals, aimed at someone who has never touched a keyboard with intent. At 31 minutes across 13 short lessons, it moves briskly from finding middle C to playing an original four-chord progression, and it does not pretend to be more than an on-ramp. It is the first entry in a five-part learning path, and it plays that role honestly, closing with a clear pointer to what comes next rather than trying to cram in extra material to feel more complete.
What the course actually teaches
The arc is logical and cumulative. It opens by identifying the C keys by their position relative to the two-black-key grouping, then builds the five-finger C-to-G exercise with the right hand before expanding it into the full C major scale, thumb-crossing technique included. The left hand gets its own lesson, followed by a hands-together drill that is, by the instructor's own admission, the trickiest fingering in the class because each hand crosses at a different point in the scale. From there the course pivots to naming sharps and flats, then strings them together into the chromatic scale with its 1-2-1-2-3-1-2-1-2-1-2 fingering.
The back half is where the course earns its keep. Chord construction is taught as a repeatable formula rather than a set of shapes to memorize by rote: a major chord is the root plus four half-steps plus three half-steps, a minor chord flips that to three-then-four. This is demonstrated on C, F, and G major, then C, D, F, and A minor, and framed explicitly as something to internalize as a shape rather than recalculate every time. The circle of fifths lesson follows the same demonstrate-and-generalize pattern, walking from C major (no sharps or flats) up through G, D, and A major while adding one sharp per step, and pointing to a fingering chart in the class resources for practicing all twelve major scales.
Where it delivers and where it thins out
The closing lesson is the practical payoff: a four-chord progression in C major (C, E minor, A minor, F major), played first with the right hand alone, then with a left-hand root-note bassline, then as a simple rhythmic variation. The assignment that follows, build your own three-to-five chord progression from the available chords and post it, gives the class a genuine creative output rather than leaving students with only isolated drills.
The trade-off for that pace is that nothing gets much room to breathe. Sight-reading is never addressed, rhythm and timing are not discussed beyond the pedal explanation, and the sustain pedal itself gets only a brief mechanical description with no dedicated practice. The history and mechanics section is a minute of trivia, pleasant but disposable, that trims screen time that could have gone to slower, more repeated practice of the trickiest crossing techniques.
As a standalone unit, it works best as a structured checklist a beginner can follow alongside a physical keyboard, pausing constantly to imitate the fingering on their own hands. Anyone who already owns a scale or two, or who has taken even a handful of traditional lessons, will find little new here. For a true first-timer, though, it compresses the first few weeks of typical piano instruction into a tight half hour, provided they treat the class as a starting checklist for daily practice rather than a one-sitting watch.
The standout
The major-versus-minor chord formula (four half-steps then three for major, three then four for minor) gives a portable rule a beginner can apply to any root note on the keyboard, not just the examples played in class.
What you will learn
- Locate every C on the keyboard and play the five-finger C-through-G exercise with the right hand
- Play the full C major scale hands separately and hands together with correct fingering, including the thumb-under crossing technique
- Name every sharp and flat and play the full chromatic scale using the 1-2-1-2-3-1-2-1-2-1-2 fingering pattern
- Build any major chord (root, up four half-steps, up three half-steps) and any minor chord (root, up three, up four) by ear and by formula
- Read the circle of fifths to identify how many sharps or flats belong to a given major key
- Assemble and play a four-chord progression in C major with a simple left-hand root-note accompaniment
Best for: A complete beginner with access to a keyboard or piano who wants a compact, hands-on run-through of notes, scales, and chords before starting self-guided practice.
Skip it if: Anyone who already reads sheet music or knows basic scales and chords, since nothing here goes beyond the fundamentals covered in a first piano lesson.