Learn how to play classical piano with 50+ exclusive free lessons, hand-selected from the tonebase tutorial library. These free lessons cover all-things classical piano – from fundamental musical concepts to advanced technique and repertoire. Dive into your first free classical piano lesson below!

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Technique

Building Technique on Classical Piano with Claire Huangci
Huangci tackles the triplets in the middle Agitato section of Rachmaninoff's C-sharp Minor Prelude.

Principles of Technique for Classical Piano with Boris Berman
Berman addresses the foundations of technique that support a well-trained pianist's movements and discusses two-movement principles: the "economy principle" and the "extension principle."

Scales, Arpeggios, & Trills on Classical Piano with Sara Davis Buechner
Buechner breaks down the core techniques at the heart of much of the classical repertoire.

Hand & Finger Independence on Classical Piano with Seymour Bernstein
Bernstein reveals an exercise he uses to help his students develop hand independence away from the piano.

Alignment on Classical Piano with Penelope Roskell
Roskell demonstrates crucial rounded movements of the arm that will help you express the shape of a musical phrase.

The Importance of Forearm Rotation with Robert Durso
Robert Durso clarifies Taubman's often-misunderstood principle of forearm rotation and shows how this movement is the most natural way for human hands

Arpeggio Technique on Classical Piano with Penelope Roskell
Roskell shows you how to develop the flowing arm movements necessary for playing smooth, accurate, and powerful arpeggios.

Technical Tips - Playing Schubert’s Arpeggios with Henry Kramer
In this lesson segment, Henry Kramer provides tips for playing the arpeggios in Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy

Open Arpeggio Stretch for Classical Piano with Jeffrey Biegel
The purpose of this stretch is to activate all 5 fingers, get comfortable with wider spans between intervals, and to build up the energy in your hand over time.

Movement on Classical Piano with Barbara Nissman
Nissman shows how to capture the power of Prokofiev's titanic Sixth Sonata by leaning in, swapping hands, and even flinging your fist once in a while!

Executing Ornaments with Benjamin Laude
In this lesson segment on Chopin's beloved waltz, tonebase Head of Piano Ben Laude presents advice on executing ornaments when it feels as if there’s not enough space for them.

Stamina on Classical Piano with Evan Shinners
Shinners offers advice and technical solutions to practicing that helps avoid fatigue.

Multitasking on Classical Piano with Juliana Han
Han dispels what she calls the "multitasking myth' - the notion that we can focus on two or more activities at the same time.

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Scales

Scale Fingerings on Classical Piano with Juliana Han
Scale fingerings can be daunting: with 24 major and minor scales to worry about (plus the different forms of minor), it's easy to feel overwhelmed by all the different fingerings. Never fear: Han is here!

Building Fluidity Through Scales with Jeffrey Biegel
Jeffrey Biegel presents a primer on scale practice. He discusses how to make scales sound seamless as if sung

Thumb Preparation on Classical Piano with Jarred Dunn
Dunn discusses scale technique and proper finger-to-finger relationships with a special focus on thumb preparation.

Rotation on Classical Piano with Seymour Bernstein
Bernstein introduces the pivotal concept of rotation in choreographing scales.

Stylizing Scales on Classical Piano with Jarred Dunn
Dunn discusses how applying proper balance and arm motion to these Mozart scales allows for better execution, tasteful style, and ultimately a refined conception.

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Touch

Touch on Classical Piano with Garrick Ohlsson
Ohlsson explains that whenever you execute crescendos or a cantabile style of playing at the piano, you are in fact creating an illusion.

Arm Weight on Classical Piano with Louis Schwizgebel
Schwizgebel teaches the essential technique of “arm weight” and shows how to properly carry your weight so that your fingers are supported by your whole arm.

Firming Up the Fingers for Classical Piano with Seymour Bernstein
For Bernstein, it is a myth that you must be "relaxed" to play the piano. In this lesson, he looks at what muscles contract while at the keyboard.

Fingerwork on Classical Piano with John O'Conor
O'Conor demonstrates how to lift and drop each finger individually in order to develop a strong foundation before moving to faster passagework.

Fixation & Relaxation on Classical Piano with Arie Vardi
Vardi discusses the topics of fixation and relaxation in regards to the fingers, palm of the hand, lower arm, and upper arm.

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Pedaling

Pedaling on Classical Piano with Garrick Ohlsson
Ohlsson calls pedaling, the "soul of the piano." In this lesson, he covers the dos and don'ts of pedaling.

Pedal Adjustments on Classical Piano with Jarred Dunn
Dunn discusses Chopin's music and how using a partial pedal on harmonic changes can help keep the rich sonorities hanging in the air and reduce empty spaces.

Pedaling Bach on Classical Piano with Evan Shinners
Shinners discusses the idea of pedaling in the context of Bach's music and discusses the use of both the soft and sustain pedals for this music.

Surgical Shift Pedal with Frederic Chiu
Chiu presents his trademark "surgical shift pedal" technique.

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Practicing

Warming Up on Classical Piano with Seymour Bernstein
Bernstein helps you warm up for the "musical dance" and avoid injury by showing you some basic exercises and stretches.

Connecting the Hands on Classical Piano with Leann Osterkamp
Osterkamp uses Beethoven’s Sonatina in G Major to demonstrate a few tricks for combining the hands after learning them each separately.

Practicing on Classical Piano with Garrick Ohlsson
Ohlsson shares his insights into practice routines and for identifying your strengths and weaknesses.

Practicing Like a Pro on Classical Piano with Asiya Korepanova
Korepanova shows you how to break down and build up the death-defying runs found in Liszt’s “Mazeppa.”

Overcoming Feared Passages on Classical Piano with Garrick Ohlsson
Ohlsson provides a method for identifying holes in your knowledge and overcoming difficult passages.

Musicality

Communicating a Musical Message on Classical Piano with Nicolas Namoradze
Namoradze discusses communicating a dramatic narrative in your own way with the technical tools you have at your disposal.

Informing Our Performance with Analysis with Johnandrew Slominski
In this lesson segment, music theorist and concert pianist Johnandrew Slominski demonstrates how to approach repertoire with an analytical lens that can actually inform interpretative decisions.

Rubato on Classical Piano with Leann Osterkamp
Osterkamp helps you develop a natural feeling of rubato.

Texture: Dynamics & Articulation with Leann Osterkamp
Leann Osterkamp focuses on two fundamental aspects of piano playing – dynamics and articulation.

Melody on Classical Piano with John O'Conor
O'Conor presents ideas to express a melody effectively with special emphasis on listening.

Creating Fluent Phrasing with Leann Osterkamp
In this lesson, Leann Osterkamp addresses the question of how to create phrases at the piano by considering speech and song.

Motion & Emotion on Classical Piano with Rebecca Penneys
Join Penneys for a lesson on expressive and fluent piano playing.

Textures on Classical Piano with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Bavouzet helps you learn to controll the textures found in Debussy's music through dynamics, rubato, and tone.

Independent Voices on Classical Piano with Frederic Chiu
Chiu breaks down a fundamental challenge at the piano: multitasking to produce the illusion of independent voices.

Legato Lines on Classical Piano with Seymour Bernstein
Bernstein takes a moment during his interview to demonstrate how to shape each note of this famous passage from Chopin's Nocturne with seamless legato, as if bowing a violin.

Phrasing on Classical Piano with Nicolas Namoradze
Namoradze shows you how to craft the eloquent phrases of Scriabin’s expressive Etude Op. 42 No. 4.

Improvising a Prelude with Peter Dugan
Join Peter Dugan as he discusses the importance of improvisation especially when playing the music of Gershwin.

Chord Voicings on Classical Piano with Jon Kimura Parker
Parker demonstrates his personal chord voicing exercise to help achieve more shades of color and gradations in sonority.

Rhythm

Internalizing Rhythm on Classical Piano with John O'Conor
O'Conor helps you with feeling the dotted rhythm of the opening chords and shares tips on bringing out the wide-range of emotions contained within Beethoven's famous "Pathétique" Sonata.

Swing Rhythms - Intro to Comping with Jeremy Siskind
Jeremy Siskind breaks down the triplet subdivisions underlying swing rhythm before introducing you to some basic comping patterns that give life to harmonic patterns.

Rhythmic Flexibility on Classical Piano with Seymour Bernstein
Bernstein presents the culmination of years of research into Chopin's expressive markings, revealing the truth about how crescendo/diminuendo "hairpins" were originally intended to indicate flexibility in rhythm, not dynamics.

Polyrhythms on Classical Piano with Leann Osterkamp
Osterkamp discusses the challenges posed by polyrhythms in the music of Chopin and demonstrates how polyrhythms can be determined precisely by visualizing where the notes of each rhythm fall.

Repertoire

The Excitement of Learning Difficult Repertoire with Ursula Oppens
Join Ursula Oppens as she discusses the joys and challenges of contemporary music with tonebase Head of Piano, Ben Laude.

Pulse, Flexibility, & Sound Production for Bach with Evan Shinners
Evan Shinners presents tips for keeping a pulse with Bach’s music, how to take time for musical reasons that also make it easier to play.

The Importance of Pulse in Bach with Anne-Marie McDermott
Join Anne-Marie McDermott as she discusses the importance of having a rhythmical pulse or groove in when playing Bach's music.

Ravel - Sound, Touch, Pedal, and Detail with Gwendolyn Mok
Gwendolyn Mok discusses the importance of developing a sound “worthy of Ravel’s music,” one that is “supple, warm, and loving, but not overcooked."

Beethoven: Pathetique Sonata with John O'Conor
O’Conor offers some practical technical advice including a solution for keeping the wrist loose during tiring left-hand broken octaves.

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 with Leon Fleisher
In this magical moment, Fleisher returns to a piece he calls his "lifelong companion," the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1.

Why Study Partimento? with John Mortensen
This lesson with John Mortensen introduces the fundamental ideas behind partimento and explains its relevance to today's musicians.

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 with Leon Fleisher
Fleisher teaches the opening cadenza from Brahms's epic Second Piano Concerto, a piece he immortalized nearly 60 years ago in a recording with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Chopin: Berceuse Op. 57 with Rebecca Penneys
Join Penneys for a look at one of Chopin’s most bewitching pieces: his one and only Berceuse.

Chopin: Prelude In E Minor with Seymour Bernstein
Bernstein demonstrates a few of the physical mechanics necessary to realize your own expressive intentions of Chopin’s “Prelude in E Minor.”

Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 with Garrick Ohlsson
Ohlsson experiments with the "mysterious, almost atonal" opening of the C-Sharp Minor Scherzo before workshopping the blazing octave passage that follows.

Listz: La Campanella with Asiya Korepanova
Korepanova breaks down a few of the technical challenges found in Liszt’s “La Campanella” and demonstrates practice strategies for reducing the difficulty.