About

Hi!

I'm John Geraghty, 

 

I am a musician, songwriter, composer, performer, author, teacher and contributor to Pianist Magazine. 

To date, I’ve spent 27 years teaching folks to play the piano. Most recently, I’ve distilled that experience into The Complete Classical Piano Course.

Over the years, I’ve taught hundreds of students and I’ve learned from them too, and one of the most important things I learned was this…

 

"There's no such thing as a bad student, just a bad teacher."

 

I discovered that there's a difference between musicians who teach music and teachers who teach music.  

The key is in the role. When I play the piano, I am a musician, but when I’m teaching, I am a teacher. If it sounds simple, it’s because it is, but as with most things in life, it’s often the simple things we miss. 

To be honest, I probably learned the wrong way. 

I started playing at 17, after an epiphany at college. It felt like someone had touched me on the shoulder and said 'you're going to be a professional songwriter'. I was into art at the time, so music was way off my radar. At that very moment, I went to the music section of the library. 

I figured I should learn to play an instrument if I was to write songs. I picked up the first music book I saw, I think it was called 'How To Read Music'. I opened the first page and saw a picture of a piano. That's why I play it still today.  

 

Practice, Practice , Practice

I taught myself to play the piano and after two long years, I realized that I didn't really know much at all about music. So, I enrolled in night school and learned classical piano from Diane Tigg. After my first lesson with Diane and for the five years she taught me, I practised 4 hours Monday-Friday from 7-11 pm and 12-8 pm on Saturday and Sunday for about 5 years. Around 36 hours a week practising piano! Sometimes I would rest my head on the keyboard for a few minutes, knowing I had another hour to practice. I realized that my peers had already taken Grade 8 piano and I was way behind all of them. I just wanted to catch up. 

Oh, great hindsight, how you mock us… 

I now know, there's a quick way to learn the piano and there's a bad way to learn. Most people learn like this... 

 

 

"Too much time and not enough progress." 

 

When really they should be making this progress...     

 

 

"Less practice with faster results."

 

Yes, there are lots of piano tuition online courses, books, and private lessons. You may even have tried some of them. 

The way I teach is different.  

I can help you get there in no time at all. There are no gimmicks and no fluff with my teachings. 

Everyone can learn, but so often we need to learn in our own way. The best way to teach one student may be completely different from another student.  

  

The Brain is a Curious Thing

When I teach, I always try to get inside the head of each student. I want to know what they’re thinking, why they're thinking it and work out why they keep thinking it. I do this for every student. 

  

"In a group of three people, there will always be one person I can learn from"

This old Chinese proverb makes sense to me. I learned from all of my students….and still do. I discovered how and why they would play, practice, and understand the music in a particular way. Indeed, I found through 27 years of experience, that they all had similar experiences.

  

Strategies and Tips 

I applied what I'd learned from the children to my adult students and showed the children what my adult students had taught me. Over the years, learning how each student thought, practiced and played the piano, I realized that both children and adults had the same recurring problems. 

And I would just keep... 

SIMPLIFYING how to teach it to them.  

I knew I had to collate it all in one simple, straightforward course. I wanted The Complete Classical Piano Course to include all my tips and strategies that I learned teaching through the years. I wanted a concise comprehensive course covering EVERY scenario when learning the piano. A comprehensive system, but one which allowed anyone to learn in their own unique way. Tips and strategies on...  

• Sight-reading
• Ear Training
• Technique
• Practicing
• Theory