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Jon Holowaty

Using Chords to Play a Song

Below is a new video I put up continuing a series you can watch on my YouTube Channel under the “MTJ Episodes” playlist. This series is for beginners in piano, exploring how to play chords, how to read music, and more.

This most recent episode it about how to use chords as harmony in the left hand and string together a melody in the right hand to create a song. I hope you enjoy it.

Ep. 4 – Using Chords to Make a Song

Interested in online piano, guitar or ukulele lessons or, if you are in the Sacramento area, in-person lessons?

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©2021 Jonathan Holowaty

Jon Holowaty

What Others are Saying about MTJ Studio

Both my son and I took piano lessons from Jonathan for many years. He is patient, thoughtful and totally understands how to relate to his students, no matter what age or skill level. As an adult student he was especially understanding of my limited time for practice.

~Don, from the San Francisco Bay Area, California

We love him! He is patient and encouraging and my kids have grown as pianists under his instruction.

Kim, from the Sacramento Area, California

Jonathan is a great teacher. He teaches four of my children ages 6-12. He has so much patience with them and truly knows how to work through the challenges that children present, for example, busy bodies, silly moods, confusion, lack of understanding, etc. He consistently does this with a very calm, joyful, understanding demeanor. All of my children love him and and are motivated by him to practice and improve their skill.

Jenny, from the Sacramento Area, California

Jon is fabulous! Our two boys have taken piano lessons from him for years, both live and ONLINE. They thrive under his teaching style and have advanced rapidly. Jon doesn’t just teach piano, he helps to cultivate a love of learning and an appreciation for music. His prices are more than fair as well. He is a treasure to our family and we recommend him highly.

Dee, from the San Francisco Bay Area, California
Jon Holowaty

Want to Learn Online?

For a long time, in-person music lessons has been the way to go. We simply didn’t have the tools to bring the person-to-person interaction into the digital space. But the technological tools we have at our disposal now make the online learning of an instrument much more accessible – and often even preferable.

I got into online teaching when years ago students of mine moved away to Singapore. Despite the distance, they still wanted to continue lessons. So we tried connecting over Skype and went from there. At times, if it was raining outside, the connection would be choppy, but other than that, there was nothing really prohibitive about teaching or learning in this new setting.

That was a decade ago. Today there are so many more options. There are online platforms that connect teacher and student. There are multiple video chat applications with helpful features that facilitate a positive and beneficial learning experience. Online teaching will never be as good as a real person standing next to a student, but it comes pretty darn close. So close, in fact, that when I offered to actually switch from online teaching to in-person teaching with one of my students a couple months ago, he said he preferred it being online.

You might wonder why. I did. But there are reasons, both tangible and intangible, that make online learning enjoyable – even preferable – to in-person lessons.

  1. The experience is more relaxing. Both teacher and student are in the comfort of their own home or studio. It’s convenient for both to be able to, say, make a cup of tea in the morning, walk over to the computer, and begin a lesson. You don’t have to pick up around the house. You don’t have to make sure the dishes are clean.
  2. Scheduling is nearly always flexible. It is far easier to reschedule an online lesson than an in-person one, or to move a lesson a little later or earlier. There is no need to fight with traffic – either for teacher or student. Lessons can be scheduled early in the morning or late in the evening if the school day or work day doesn’t allow for any other time.
  3. Lessons are less expensive. Without needing to waste time driving from place to place or pay to rent a studio, I can pass my savings on to my students. I charge considerably less for online lessons than in-person ones.

Through PDF’s, links, downloads, and videos, the teaching experience can be powerful in an online setting, and the technology is getting better every day.

If you are interested in taking private or group online piano, guitar, ukulele or general music lessons, please contact me here.