Mr. Ron's "Tricks of the Trade" Mr. Ron's "Tricks of the Trade" piano lesson product is chock-full of great material. Here's just some of the topics covered: Time Signatures Basic Rhythm Notation Clapping Rhythm Finger Numbering Practice Tips Keyboard Geography Treble Clef and Bass Clef Sharps and Flats  These early sections introduce the basics and assume little about the reader's previous knowledge. They can serve as a good introduction for both kids and adults.  I thought the "clapping rhythm" exercise was great.  Even for people with some exposure to music instruction, the clapping exercise is a nice reminder of the importance of paying attention to rhythm - on the piano or any other instrument.  In fact, I think it would be great if there were more of those exercises.  There's nothing worse than the right notes and the wrong rhythm. Fingering Every set of piano lessons needs a basic fingering diagram, and sure enough, you get one here.  No confusion possible about thumbs and pinkys!  In terms of practicing, it is emphasized that a new piece should be learned one hand at a time.  I follow that advice myself while I stumble through Mozart.  But it's worth it.  The lessons that follow lay out the notes on the keyboard, explain the treble and bass clefs, followed by the difference between sharps and flats.  All in all, the basics of approaching the keyboard are well covered.  In addition, I should mention that there are a number of audio file examples included with these first few lessons - especially helpful with the rhythm exercise.  At this point, the reader is ready to play a simple melody, following which basic chord ideas are introduced.  An audio file is included for the introductory melody.   The obvious next step is a little chord practice and study which is provided in link -audio examples are again included.  Chord Inversions Chord inversions (different ways to play basic major chords) are covered next, again with audio examples that demonstrate some progressions (a series of chords).  Graphics providing some chord practice exercise are given in a link. Following these, a right-hand melody exercise is given, utilizing the chords presented earlier.  So even a beginner, with careful attention to the material and the appropriate practice, can be playing simple melodies with chord accompaniments, in relatively little time.  Arpeggios The next section introduces arpeggios (means "harp-like") which are simply chords that are played by striking each note in the chord separately and in succession.  Playing arpeggios is a great way to build finger strength, which really is required for piano mastery.  I was shocked when I first went back to my piano studies by how weak the fourth and fifth fingers of each hand had become.  Building strength and control of these fingers is very important for building your skills.  Scales Next on the list - scales.  Yes, it's true. To play the piano well, you actually need to practice scales.  Basic scale exercises are provided here, and are available form many other sources too.  Mr. Ron tells it like it is on this topic - practice is required!  There are products on the market that make it sound as if a few minutes is all it takes to master the piano.  This product doesn't attempt to fool you into thinking there's no work required. Keyboard Harmony A few more popular chord progression/practice examples are next, followed by a link to "Keyboard Harmony Studies".  The lesson goes over the four fundamental chord groups, comparing each to a particular part of speech. I thought it was a great mechanism for taking your understanding of music to the next level.  It's not just notes - it's a language!  There are also good charts of the 7th chords for both the right and left hand - these are great references for practice.  By the way, all the chord and scale and note diagrams are easily printed so you can take them to your keyboard for your practice sessions.  The second section of Keyboard Harmony Studies is more about chord progressions, including a video clip (in two parts) that make it even easier to get the hang of it.  The third section of Keyboard Harmony Studies introduces improvising melodies with scale tones.  The importance of practice is emphasized once again and a section on the "psychology" of learning music is included.  The point is made that new pieces should be played slowly at first, until the student has a had a chance to learn the notes and rhythms.  One mistake most new students make is trying to play a new piece too fast.  I see this in my son (11 years old) as he tries to learn new material.  The material is new, he hasn't mastered it yet and inevitably, makes mistakes, and gets frustrated.  I constantly tell him to slow it down, get it right, then try it at faster pace.  So, the advice in the lesson is well-taken!  The next goody is a chart of the scales in all the major keys.  An audio accompaniment is provided that you can use to make scale practice a little more fun.  Lead Sheets and Improvisation What follows next was one of my favorite parts of the course. A lead sheet for the popular "All of Me".   A lead sheet is just normal music notation but with only with the melody and the names of the chords - meant for musicians that can "fill in the blanks".  Now most of my lessons have been with classical music but I've always wanted to master playing popular songs too, so I had a ball fooling around with trying to fill in with the left hand on this song.  The point of introducing the lead sheet is to bring in a little about improvisation and left hand fill patterns in the next section which includes some more good practice tips. That's a quick summary of the online course part of the product.  It's not something you go through in a single day and provides tons of material and practice tips, all for about what one "live" piano lesson could cost.  Take a look at the site by clicking here.