Gospel piano lessons, online, for adults who play by ear
From the author of Gospel Piano Chords by Ear. A camera pointed at the keys, a voice in your ear, and a hymn you can play at church by the end of the month. No sheet music, and no assumption that you read a note.
Book a first lesson — $20, 30 minutesOpens an email to Henry. He replies within a day with evening times (US Central).
Why learn this way
- The book is the syllabus.Read chapter 4, then play it with me the same week. No other online gospel piano teacher has a published method the lesson follows, so you always know what comes next and why.
- The charts are the homework.Twenty-two free, transposable hymn charts on this site. A lesson ends with “play Amazing Grace in F by Sunday,” and you have the chart to do it.
- I learned it this way, at thirty-five.My pastor asked me to become the church musician and I could not read music. I still play by ear every Sunday. If you think it is too late for you, I am the evidence that it is not.
What a lesson looks like
Forty-five minutes over Google Meet. My camera points at my hands; yours points at yours. We hear what you practised, I show you the one new thing for the week — a chord, a walk-up, a left-hand pattern — and then we play it inside a hymn until it sounds like church. You leave with a chart and a fifteen-minute-a-day plan.
You need a keyboard (61 keys is plenty), a phone or webcam that can see your hands, and headphones. That is all.
Prices
| First lesson30 minutes. We find out where you are and what Sunday needs. | $20 |
|---|---|
| Single lesson45 minutes, whenever you want one. | $45 |
| The Sunday-Ready monthFour weekly lessons and the 30-day practice plan. Three chords to your first full hymn. What is in it → | $160 |
Packages are paid up front. Reschedule with a day’s notice and nothing is lost. Evening slots, US Central time, and a small number of them — I play on Sundays and work weekdays, so when they are full, they are full.
Or reply to any email from the free guide — it comes straight to me.
Questions people ask
- I don’t read music. Is that a problem?
- It is the whole point. Nothing here uses notation. We work by ear, with chord names over the words, the way most church pianists actually play.
- I am a complete beginner.
- Then start with the Sunday-Ready month. It assumes you can find middle C by the second day and nothing else.
- I already play some. Can we work on my church’s songs?
- Yes, if they are public-domain hymns or your own arrangements. For copyrighted worship songs we work on the chords and the approach rather than reproducing the sheet.
- Do you teach in person?
- In St. Louis, a few. Ask.
- What if the singer changes key on Sunday?
- That is week four. Every chart on this site transposes in one click, and so will you.
Who teaches. Henry Q Allen has played piano at his church in St. Louis every Sunday since March 2007 and wrote Gospel Piano Chords by Ear and Music Theory for Self-Taught Gospel Pianists. More about Henry →