Billy Joel Keyboard Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Piano Man - Piano Lesson

  Piano Man is Billy Joel’s signature song. It was released as a single in 1973 and has been on several albums. It was his first major hit In this lesson, I’ll introduce the 7 different triads used in the song. Two of these chords are played with an added 7 and the walking bassline of the song means that there are many slash chords – where the bass note is different from the root of the chord/ As usual, we’ll first go through each part of the song with chords in root position – then follow that up by using the technique of finding the nearest inversion. There is a special section to this lesson – Readers’ Corner – to provide you with sheet music for the piano solo in the middle of the song. I also suggest fingering to make the solo easier to play.

• Lesson 2: Honesty - Piano Lesson

  Honesty was written and recorded by Billy Joel. It was released in 1979 on the 52nd Street album. In this lesson, we’ll talk about the 13 different triads used in the song. Some of them are played with an added 6 or 7 and many are played with bass notes other than the root – so we’ll cover slash chords – these slash chords are a big part of Billy Joel’s style. As usual, we’ll first go through each part of the song with chords in root position – then follow that up by using the technique of finding the nearest inversion. In the song specific techniques section, I’ll take you through the song front to back – detailing the Intro, Outro, and many of the signature licks in the song.

• Lesson 3: My Life - Piano Lesson

  My Life was written and recorded by Billy Joel. It was released in 1979 on the 52nd Street album. In 1980 it got all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 In this lesson, we’ll talk about the 10 different triads used in the song. Some of them are played with an added 7 or even a 9 and many are played with bass notes other than the root – so we’ll cover slash chords – these slash chords are a big part of Billy Joel’s style. As usual, we’ll first go through each part of the song with chords in root position – then follow that up by using the technique of finding the nearest inversion. In the song specific techniques section, I’ll take you through the song front to back – detailing the Intro, Outro, and many of the signature licks in the song.

• Lesson 4: Just The Way You Are - Piano Lesson

  Just The Way You Are was written and recorded by Billy Joel. It was released in 1977 on his album, The Stranger. In this lesson, we’ll talk about the 15 different triads used in the song. Some of them are played with an added 6 or 7 and many are played with bass notes other than the root – so we’ll cover slash chords – these slash chords are a big part of Billy Joel’s style. As usual, we’ll first go through each part of the song with chords in root position – then follow that up by using the technique of finding the nearest inversion. In the song specific techniques section, I’ll take you through the song front to back – detailing the Intro, Outro, and many of the signature licks in the song.

• Lesson 5: Only The Good Die Young - Piano Lesson

  Only The Good Die Young was written and recorded by Billy Joel. It was released in 1977 on his album, The Stranger. In this lesson, we’ll talk about the 6 different triads used in the song. Many are played with bass notes other than the root – so we’ll cover slash chords – these slash chords are a big part of Billy Joel’s style. As usual, we’ll first go through each part of the song with chords in root position – then follow that up by using the technique of finding the nearest inversion. In the song specific techniques section, I’ll take you through the song front to back – detailing the Intro, Outro, and many of the signature licks in the song.