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Now anyone can learn to play piano with the revolutionary Cling Koo La Chords Movement Method developed by Dan Rather. Up to now, Piano students had a choice of two ways to learn the piano, the traditional classical approach, and the chords method or, as I call it, the Rote Chords Method. Many students have learned using these two methods, but for many it hasn't been easy. There are good reasons why it hasn't been easy. I have designed a new method of learning the piano, The Cling Koo La Movement method, a chord construction technique that is the quickest and easiest way to learn. Let me tell you about the three methods and I'll show you why I am convinced that the Cling Koo La Movement Method is the way to go.
The Cling Koo La Movement Method that I have developed teaches you how to find the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th degrees of a chord and how to apply them in the left hand for chord construction and in the right hand for harmonies and improvisation. I first show you to find the root or 1st, and then I show you how to find the 7th using three simple techniques. I call this the shell of the chord. When you are comfortable with the shell, I show you how to find the 5th and add it to the chord using two simple techniques. This handful of simple techniques with the 1st, 5th, and 7th lets you construct every chord and play every tune that you can play with the Rote Chord Method. Optionally, the 3rd can be put into the chords or added to the right hand melody. Adding the 3rd requires memorization of a handful of notes, but allows you to place them in either the left or right hand in techniques that go beyond what can be learned with the Rote Method. The added bonus is that the chord construction method is the foundation for
future professional techniques that are as easy to learn as the initial 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th, and it is the method that is used by professionals every day.
The Traditional Approach of learning to read the treble and bass clefs teaches you to read and play pieces written with the treble clef for the right hand and the bass clef for the left hand. Every note is written for you, you play every note written - no more and no less - and every piece is written for a specific level of proficiency. Beginner's pieces are written for beginners, and advanced pieces for advanced players. What this means is that beginners don't have the ability to play the advanced pieces, and advanced players would not be challenged by a beginner's piece. Even worse, advanced players wouldn't know how to make a beginner's piece sound like anything other than a beginner's piece. You learn to play what is written, no more and no less. Now don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful pieces written in the classical treble and bass clef, and advanced players can make them sound beautiful. You can too, if you want to work on it for a year or two. But there are easier ways than spending a couple o
f years on the bass and treble clefs, and that is why people are learning piano using chords and melodies.
The Cling Koo La Chords Movement is particularly suitable for kids to learn piano. I have also developed a special version for young kids between ages 4-7 to use the Cling Koo La Movement Method. My experiment with real kid students shows that learning piano becomes much more fun as it quickly directs a new learner into playing real songs. But learning to read music for kids is another task that I will discuss in a separate article. The one thing I wanted to remind parents is that reading music on a piano board cause substantial strains on kids' eyes. My elder kid is near-sighted pretty much due to reading music with dim lighting. And I suggest getting a good piano lamp before having your kid spending too much time reading music from a piano bench.
Anyway, the Rote Chords Method has you memorize chords in your left hand and play simple melodies in your right hand. It's as easy as that. But in reality it isn't easy. It's easy to start with the first few chords, but difficult to complete. Consider that there are numerous chord suffixes like min7, min7b5, aug7, maj6, min6, dom7, and so on: at least 14 suffixes that appear often in popular music. Those 14 suffixes apply to 12 different roots like C, C#, D, etc., meaning that you must learn 168 different 4 note chord combinations to be ready to play. This is a daunting task, and it is not easy to learn. Even if you do learn it, it is still a limited and stilted way to play, because all you can do is play the 168 chords in your left hand and the melody in your right hand, no more and no less. At best you become proficient, but that is all you will ever be. You have not built a foundation for continued growth in your playing.
The Cling Koo La Movement is a superior way to learn the piano for 3 reasons.
1. It is the easiest way to learn to play the piano.
2. It lets beginners play any piece that advanced players can play, and lets them play the same piece better as they become more proficient at the piano.
3. It is based on the theory of chords and chord structure and not the rote memorization of chords.
Why is this third point important? Because chord theory is easier to learn, easier to play and easier to adjust to your level of proficiency than rote memorization, and because it is the foundation of playing chords in the left hand and harmonizing with chord tones in the right hand in beautiful ways that rote chord playing will never achieve.
The Cling Koo La Movement method is a foundation that can be expanded upon in the years to come if you wish. It is not a dead end, but a starting point. You will play nice music today and you will play even better in the years to come, and it will be easier and faster to learn as well. A well-designed piano light makes your learning experience a bit more excellent. It is one of the few true win/win situations that you will ever come across.
OK, you are convinced that playing chords and melodies is easier than learning to read bass and treble clef... then why is Cling Koo La Movement easier than Rote Chords? It's sort of like spelling. The rote chords method is like memorizing how to spell all of the 30,000 words in the dictionary, one by one. Start with aardvark and then move on to the next word. Chord construction is like learning your alphabet and phonics, and being able to spell all 30,000 words because you know how to construct them using your understanding of phonics and the alphabet. It's the better way.
So, the Cling Koo La Movement is easier, but it doesn't stop there. It lets you create increasingly beautiful music. Because you have learned the pieces of a chord, and not memorized a left hand chord structure, you can apply the chord parts in either hand. When you apply chord parts to the right hand, it is known as harmonization or improvisation. When you know the chord parts, you can add beauty to a right hand melody through harmonization, or you can create your own additions to the right hand melody with improvisations. The options are endless, but they are available only because you know your chord parts and how to apply them. As you progress with the method, you can go beyond the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th. You can learn how to use the 9th, the 11th, the sharp 11th and so on. It is the foundation of a very professional technique that will astound you and your friends as you play.
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