I noticed there are only three online courses directly connected to keyboard (three if you include Basic Improv, which is for all instruments I think)... I plan to enroll for January, but I need to know if anyone has already taken one or more of the keyboard classes and if so, how comprehensive and helpful are they? I was classically trained and want to break into the jazz world, but I don't want to spend thousands of dollars and come up short. PLEASE HELP!!!

Ray

Ps. Also, should I take the theory classes BEFORE I take the BKM or after... or can they be taken at the same time with no problem?

I started the same way you did. I had 10 or so years of classical before I wanted to learn jazz. Before any class can teach you anything, you NEED to know inversions and how to read tab. The first "jazz lesson" i got was 2-5-1 in every key... starting with root in left hand then 3 and 7 in the right. then root on bottom and 3,5 and 7 on the right. Sorry that doesn't answer your question about classes, but that exercise will get you started on the right path. Then it's on to the fake books! Try and find someone who possibly plays bass or guitar to get you used to comping and switching from the very ridged classical world into the great unknown of jazz.

Hi Ray,

I too am interested in the Keyboard Certificate from Berklee Online. I'm 48 now, but only studied "kid piano" for two years as a small child. However, I did take 1 year of Piano Proficiency in College. My primary instrument is guitar and I play Jazz, R&B, and Country at a decent intermediate level. I studied Jazz and Classical for a total of about 10 years so I already read OK and know intermediate Theory pretty well -including the ability to identify chords written in Grand Staff notation.

My piano skills are OK at this point for a beginner. That is I can play scales, arpeggios, and inverted triads in two octaves with each hand. I also know some basic blues and II-V's and can read Treble and Bass Cleft adequately for a beginner.

The Berklee Advisers say I'm qualified to enter the Keyboard Certificate program, but I fear that I lack the facility that folks like you have who have studied Classical Piano for years as children. With the courses being only 12 weeks in length, I think that too much ground may be covered for my fingers to "learn" in that amount of time.

Nevertheless, as a busy working Software professional who can devote 10-15 hours per week, I feel that the Berklee Keyboard Classes *may* be the key to really get way into the Blues, R&B, and Soul/Pop Keyboard playing that I want to do. I also have the Berklee Piano Essentials book by Ross Ramsay and most of Dave Limina's DVD's/books. These materials seem to go along with quite a bit of what is in the syllabus for the Berklee Keyboard Courses. I'm pretty disciplined so I might be able to make good progress with these materials on my own, but I still think having a teacher and a "community" of other students is well worth the effort and $$$ cost involved.

I do hope that in the future Berklee provides additional Keyboard courses online.


Brian

I am taking a course called Learn and Master Piano by Legacy Learning Systems (www.legacylearningsystems.com) and it is the best I've ever seen, although I'm new to Piano/Keyboard so that's not saying much. (There's also a Drum course, a Guitar course and a Ball Room Dancing Course??!!) It's $149 on sale (and this sale happens all the time, this week actually). It's a 14 DVD/5 Jam Along CD/Workbook based course that you do at home and the discussion board has some amazing people on it what are very helpful. All levels and students of many instruments.

The course is taught by Grammy winning Nashville session musician Will Barrow and its broken down into 28 sessions

To get an idea of the topics, here's a link to the pdf file of the workbook. The DVD's are the real meat and potatoes of the course though.
learnandmasterpiano.com/resources/

You can be the judge of whether or not the material is suitable for you....Jazz Piano is definitely covered, but I'm not sure to what level.

I'm on Session 3 now and I look forward to every practice session. A nice break from the guitar.

Good luck!

-Jeff

Hello all,

I was just reading through the posts here and thought I would respond as well. My name is Michael and I am a student advisor for Berkleemusic as well as a Classical/Jazz/Blues pianist.

I too come from a classical world and learned to play contemporary styles by listening, transcribing, and lots of trial and error. I am currently taking the Blues and Rock Keyboard Techniques course taught by Dave Limina and I wish I would have started long ago.

The material is presented using video examples, simulations, animations, and lots of great audio examples from great pianists like Otis Spann, Floyd Dixon, James Booker, and more. Currently we are working on comping techniques for Chicago Blues and Texas Shuffle styles. Since the classes are capped at 20 students Dave has always been able to answer any questions I have and to give me detailed feedback on all recorded assignments. Getting an education from a Berklee professor is something I had always dreamed of, and I have not been disappointed.

I too, believe there should be more than 3 keyboard courses and I can assure you that we are continually working to create more courses for our students.

If anyone wants to talk further about what you can accomplish studying with Berkleemusic, please give us a call at 617-747-2146. We are happy to help!

Best,

Michael Moyes
617-747-2146
advisors@berkleemusic.com