Elton, Billy, Ray, Bruce, Jamie, John, Paul, Alicia, Freddie, Prince, Stevie...
chord piano formula
Professional Pop-Pianist
Roland-featured author/instructor
Founder of Piano Couture
Creator of Piano Lingo, Chord Piano Formula
& the Hack the Piano Methodology
Like virtually everybody, when I started out playing piano at age 4 I was "forced" down the traditional path of learning how to read sheet music too. That didn't work out ...
... and so I quit.
Many years later, at age 17, when I saw my fellow classmates playing like rock-stars at our yearly school concert, I promised myself I was going to learn to play too. So, I went back to that old way of playing from sheet music, which -again- did NOT make me sound like my favorite artists AT ALL... and I almost gave up entirely.
Then, following the guidance of a talented guitarist-friend of mine, I taught myself how to play piano using his approach: by Chords. 4 years later I got accepted into the Conservatory of Amsterdam (major Pop-Piano / Vocals).
Now, over the course of 18 years of playing, I've performed on stage extensively -both solo and in multiple bands- written and recorded with many different artists, became a Roland-featured instructor & one of the top-5 Youtube piano teachers in the world and taught over 140,000 people worldwide how to play piano without sheets.
Hack the Piano is the methodology and backbone of all my playing & teaching.
It's the definitive guide on how I accomplished all of the above without ever reading a single sheet.
the Chord Piano BluePrint is Hack the Piano, plus its successor Advanced Piano Hacks, evolved into a fully guided, premium online course experience.
It will teach you the exact ways I used to accomplish all of the above and create beautiful piano accompaniments that sound just like those of my favorite musical heroes - Elton, Billy, Stevie - without ever having needed a single sheet.
On this page only we've bundled it with "Chord Piano Mastery" — the full library of recorded BootCamps, workshops, and training sessions — all organized to help you implement the method, apply the concepts on real songs, and stay on track.
That synergistic bundle is what I call Chord Piano Formula.
Have you ever dreamed about being able to use the piano with complete freedom - to express yourself?
To play anything you feel like, on the spot, and actually sound like your musical heroes.
It might surprise you that this is not nearly as hard as it may seem.
Not with the right approach, that is.
It requires a few things: understanding, practice, discipline and a clear path to follow.
A plan that tells you exactly what to do and when to do it.
Without it, the process can be overwhelming.
Chord Piano Formula provides this support - showing, guiding, holding you accountable and making sure you actually follow through.
It will fast-track your growth and save you years of frustrating trial and error.
Chord Piano Formula is created to help you:
Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to read sheets to play piano. Think of guitarists. They learn to understand chords - music's building blocks. Piano and guitar are in fact very similar. Chord Piano Formula teaches piano using this "guitarists' approach" - you won't need sheets.
Even though music might already be the coolest thing ever, it still requires discipline to learn. Chord Piano Formula eases that pain, making learning fun by being set up like a game. Grow levels by acquiring eXPerience- & Ability Points completing lessons, exercises and passing quizzes to earn badges, certificates and unlock cool extras.
The Hack the Piano methodology is based on years of experience from within the field. Made by actual musicians who have been doing this for a living for decades. This is how we do music. With the Chord Piano BootCamp we add that level of unprecedented guidance to help you learn the language of music.
There’s a reason this program is so popular. Our strategies work across all styles of music and for musicians at virtually every stage of their journey.
Next to a carefully planned out, comprehensive, step-by-step online course plan, the 12-week MasterClass BootCamp Coaching Program adds workshops, accountability, exercises, assignments & guidance. It's the closest you'll get to actual private lessons from a professional musician.
We’ve always backed our programs with a 100% satisfaction money-back guarantee. So you can rest assured that your investment is safe with us.
Whatever you wish to play - with a scalable lesson-plan, exercises & assignments and selecting your own music to personalize your journey; plus accountability built right into its 12-step BootCamp, Chord Piano Formula shows you exactly what to do when.
Guiding you every step of the way, we’ll demystify music, take out any guesswork and learn exactly what makes pro players sound like pro players - and how you can use these qualities to improve all of your playing - so you can focus on what you want to learn in the fastest, most convenient way possible
All concepts are explained in various formats in the BluePrint, then demonstrated with implementation help in the BootCamps and Workshops.
During the week, you'll practice your newfound skills using the scalable exercises and dive deeper into the main lesson's subjects using music of your own choosing.
With the MasterClass to support you through the journey, personal assignments and class-like workshops - we've taken out all the guesswork and paved the clearest path to playing anything you want in the shortest amount of time possible.
Twelve weekly classes with demonstrations, exercises and hands-on musical breakdowns, plus additional workshop and full-on practice sessions - all completely scalable - is where you'll get your hands dirty and mind spinning with all the new musical ideas.
Our Chord Piano BluePrint is a proven, step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to play pop-piano without sheets in precise detail.
Chord Piano Mastery helps you implement and apply all the Pop Piano concepts with extra lessons, workshops and BootCamps.
Chord Piano Formula is a synergistic bundle of integrated programs, consisting out of:
1: The Chord Piano BluePrint;
2: Chord Piano Mastery, with:
a. The Chord Piano MasterClass (Self-Serve "LikeLive" Ed.);
b: The Premium Lessons, Workshops & Practice Sessions Vault.
c.: Exclusive Bonus: "Play Like" (Elton & Billy) BootCamps (Self-Serve "LikeLive" Ed.);
d.: Exclusive Extra Surprise Bonus: The Premium Songs Library;
All course materials - including workshops, streaming videos, audios, transcripts, handouts and add-on modules - are within the online student environment.
the knowledge
Playing music shouldn’t be so hard to learn. Sadly though, for many people, it forever remains a “cloud of sound.” Structures lift the cloud to show you the fundament hiding below and how to use that framework to quickly learn, remember and play any song by heart.
Most budding pianists don’t sound like the real deal at all, because they approach music on a by-note-basis. Real musicians play by Chords, which is why they sound so full. Chords show you the way real musicians play, using the full harmonic spectrum, which opens the door to playing full and rich-sounding.
Unfortunately, for most people, creating flowing piano parts is like trying to speak fluent Chinese - hard, at best. Patterns will teach the building blocks that allow you to turn any set of notes into a flowing, grooving, moving piano part.
Unfortunately, most chords played on piano still sound bland. Extending & advanced voicing will show you the next phase in voicing, “sophisticating” your chords to take them from juvenile to mature.
Licks, riffs, fills. Alluring to most and - as nothing but “cheap tricks” - misused by many. These 2 mini courses will show you the correct ways, mindset, origin and application of any type of improvisation - from a quick grace note, to a full-blown solo.
Expressing yourself through music shouldn’t be a mystery. Sadly though coming up with anything not written on paper remains a guessing game for most people. These 4 mini courses will teach the different value each chord has within a song and how you can use that to your advantage when composing yourself - either when improvising, adapting a known tune, or when writing your own, full-blown songs.
blueprint implementation & application
Step-by-step hyper-growth programs to help you implement the entire Chord Piano BluePrint on a clear, week-by-week schedule.
Deep-dive workshops & song-breakdowns. Hands on demonstrations of how to use Piano Hacking in practice.
Follow along training-routines to improve your timing, feel & technique.
Chords are music's words, patterns it's conjugation. Licks are the final piece - standard phrases and fillers to spice up your sound.
Objectives-based, fully guided, fail proof, 12-step Chord-Piano MasterClass.
the Chord Piano MasterClass merges all previous versions of our "OnRamp," "Core & Advanced" and "Singer/Songwriters" BootCamps with the —fully integrated— Chord Piano BluePrint into one Master-Program.
You can select your own interval to be guided through the entire Pop-Piano curriculum in either 12 weeks, or 12 months.
*Every "Period" can be a week or a month, depending on your available time, commitment and preference for speed or depth.
Applying all Chord Piano concepts.
Improve your groove, technique & ears.
Phrases to use as fills & embellishments.
chord piano - elton & billy-style
Elton John & Billy Joel are Masters...
Masters of Chord Piano.
As two of the founders of modern pop-piano, they have managed to create and record some of the most inspiring contemporary piano parts.
So, how do they do it?
How do they transform seemingly simple chords into their magical piano accompaniments, riffs and intros? How do they think? What do they play exactly?
That is what these Play Like Elton & Play Like Billy BootCamps show - how to apply the Chord Piano BluePrint's concepts, to play piano parts EXACTLY like them - step by step.
These step-by-step programs are built around four hands-on workshops.
Each week we'll tackle a specific trademark stylistic layer of Sir Elton, or Billy Joel's iconic sound [chords & voicings - patterns, techniques & feel - signature fills & licks - overall style] using one or more of their fantastic songs as vessels to exemplify and demonstrate.
People have paid up to €999 to attend a live edition of JUST ONE of the NINE* BootCamps included with this offer, with the downside of having to wait for their actual cohort to start, show up on specific times for classes etc...
But you don't want to wait. You want to start NOW. Right?
That's why we have decided to make this *scalable* (i.e. suitable for any level) program digitally available in streaming "self-serve" format while preserving virtually all of its live benefits.
It allows you to hop on board now.
Start learning what you want to play today.
Re-watch and re-do the program as often as you like (scaling up and getting more advanced with every go-round).
Convenience up, price down.
Now THAT's a deal
*the MasterClass BootCamp is a merger of: the OnRamp BootCamp (3 prior editions), the Platinum BootCamp (3 prior editions) and Singer/Songwriters' BootCamp (1 prior edition) + you'll now get the Play Like Elton & Play Like Billy BootCamps included as a FREE bonus too - that's 9 prior programs that were previously sold for up to €999 each... an absolutely insane value.
Even thought the Chord Piano BootCamp + BluePrint allows you to choose and play ANY song you want, we've added a bunch of song courses that demonstrate the concepts. Explained and animated in Piano Couture's typical Chord-Piano style.
Our lessons are hosted in Piano Lingo - the Piano Hackers members' area, where you can find whichever tune you are looking for with speed and ease.
Here’s what Piano Hacking did for me...
..play anything within minutes, without ever having to decipher any sheet music...
... which has saved me a cumulative years of precious time, not spent slogging, but spent with loved ones ...
...improvise...
...get myself into the Conservatory of Amsterdam after just 4 years of playing (no I’m not that talented - I simply found this better way)...
...write my own music and publish a solo album...
...get collaboration deal offers and my system (this very system) featured by Yamaha and Roland...
...be the “Piano Man” when having the best time singing our favorite tunes at family gatherings...
...find dear friends through playing music...
...hone an amazing creative outlet for relaxation and fun.
And it’s not just me.
Over the past 8 years, thousands of people from all over the world have been learning to play their favorite tunes in no time using my system:
Learn how music is built and how to use those building blocks to play and create your very own renditions.
Whether you'd like to play with others in a band, or accompany anyone's vocals (including your own).
Understanding music's foundational building blocks will improve your arrangements, hooks, licks and riffs.
the Chord Piano BluePrint, will give you the key to...
That’s right. A skillset that - might you even be able to find the right person to teach it to you - would cost you over $20000 and years of tedious lessons... is yours for only a fraction of that amount.
Chord Piano Mastery adds the guidance that will help you implement, apply and improve on all the BluePrint's concepts in an effective, easy-to-follow, fail-proof way.
Both come as part of Chord Piano Formula, the complete Pop-Piano system, which we used to sell for €999, but I'm offering it here to you for only €499 €199* (nuts).
And you are 100% safe to try it out. That’s all I’m suggesting. Just try it for 14 days to see if it works for you.
If it does, you’ll be delighted - and I think that’s exactly what’s about to happen. If for some reason you’re not delighted with all the new musical insights and ideas, the speed you’ll improve, learning the songs you love and the way you’ll make them sound - just like they do on the records - then just let me know and you’ll get all your money back.
You have a choice to make: Do what you’ve been doing (or worse, do nothing at all). You know where that will lead. Is that really where you want to go?
Or take a new approach, and get a new result:
Finally understand what makes the Eltons, the Billies, the Stevies, the Pauls, the Jamies or any other favorite artist of yours sound the way they do and play like that yourself - without being a slave to your sheet music ever again.
Which do you really want for yourself?
Here’s what to do now… just click the “Get Access” button below, then click "sign up now" and fill out your details on the next page to join the program.
Don't be surprised if this turns out to be the best gift you’ll give yourself this year.
In case you're one of those people (like me) who just scroll to the end of the page to find the TL;DR - here's the deal:
Chord Piano Formula is our all-access system.
It consists out of a few different, step-by-step, integrated parts.
the Chord Piano BluePrint is the core of the curriculum - a self-paced course that teaches (aspiring) singers, songwriters, pop-pianists and accompanists how to play arrangements just like the pop-piano greats (think Billy Joel, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Jamie Cullum, et. al.).
You'll sound like them because this course will teach you how to think like them and approach piano in the actual way they do too - by Chords, by Ear, by Heart.
All those great players are completely free from needing sheets, and so will you be - you won't need sheets, ever again.
Just playing freely, from the heart.
Add our *NEW* fail-proof, 12-step, week-by-week or month-by-month implementation plan with our Chord Piano MasterClass BootCamp PLUS the unbelievable and unbeatable aspects of our included Chord Piano Mastery Vault - that tie everything together with clear scheduling, step-by-step trajectories to follow, practice routines and so much more and....
Together they form our Chord Piano Formula Program.
This bundle-program gives you access to a Pop-Piano curriculum that represents +/- 10 years worth of music education (were they to ever teach you how this actual "real deal" approach works - which they don't) and will thus save you roughly €20000 in tuition fees.
The difference?
It will take you mere months to learn to play and sound like you've always wanted to.
Heaps of money & time saved.
(besides sounding legit and being able to create any type of rendition, on the spot... imagine the wonderful feeling of such freedom)
(COMPLETE ONLINE CURRICULUM)
+
COMPLETE EDITION
+ Now includes a FREE YEAR of Chord Piano Mastery (Gold) Membership
Full Pop-Piano curriculum.
10 years+ worth of music tuition, at not even 1% of the costs.
A well balanced mix between HD videos, text, audio and exercises. Clear, bite-sized, step-by-step and easy to grasp - so you'll make exponential progress.
Always-and-from-any-device-accessible to fit your schedule. Open your laptop, tablet or smartphone at the piano.
Cement your knowledge with step-by-step exercises and assignments - clear, to the point, effective. NO guessing.
Whether you are more of a beginner looking to get a full-scope pop-piano education, or a more advanced player, diving deep into chord-piano practice & theory to finally break free from constraints and get that sound you're after - our complete and scalable program will boost any player's progress.
How to play anything you want, by ear.
We will learn Pop Piano tricks, traits and techniques to actually understand music. This works on ALL songs and you are free to choose your own songs, to do the exercises and assignments with.
Since we are Amsterdam -and thus Europe- based, you'll be charged in Euros. The dollar price depends on the current conversion rate and optionally costs your bank or credit card company charges for the conversion. These costs are outside of our control unfortunately and conversion rates vary by day.
Please note that we cover any taxes.
Not quite.
It is a bundle that includes a free year access to our membership as a free gift.
Essentially, you are buying all 4 of our courses (Bare Essential Keys to Harmony; Piano Chords Magic; Pop-Piano Patterns and Advanced Piano Hacks) - a €416 value when bought separately - at the reduced price of just €199.
As a bonus gift, you also get your first year of Chord Piano Mastery membership (normally €99/yr) included for free.
Chord Piano Mastery is our extensive premium library of 200+ exclusive in-depth lessons, including deep-dive workshops, detailed song breakdowns, creative lick tutorials, practice sessions, and the comprehensive Chord Piano MasterClass BootCamp. It’s designed to perfectly complement your core curriculum (Chord Piano BluePrint) by giving you detailed, practical examples and step-by-step guidance to master chord-based piano playing in real-world songs and scenarios.
When you join Chord Piano Formula, you receive one full year of Chord Piano Mastery included for free (normally €99/year). After your first year, you can easily renew your access for just €99/year—or cancel anytime. Even if you choose not to renew, you’ll still keep lifetime access to all your Chord Piano Formula courses.
Chord Piano Mastery is your ultimate resource for accelerating your skills, mastering your piano playing, and becoming fluent in the language of chords.
No.
You can cancel the included (one year free) Chord Piano Mastery membership at anytime before the next billing to prevent it from renewing.
This has NO effect on access to your courses - which, with this bundle, you are BUYING and are thus yours to keep forever.
When you cancel your membership you will only lose access to everything included with Chord Piano Mastery (BootCamps, Workshops, Song Breakdowns, Practice Sessions etc.).
Lifetime Access to the BluePrint courses.
You'll get a full year of Chord Piano Mastery included for free too. If you want to stay a member after the year, you can do so at just €99/year.
If you do not want to stay a member, you can cancel at anytime before the next billing.
Everything in this program is scalable and using the 6 pillars of chord-piano, we'll deconstruct and then build everything we do back up, gradually growing in level of difficulty.
You can "stop" (stick to) the level that's challenging, but not too difficult for you, which -whatever level that might be for you- will get you sounding very close to original records you listen to.
You can then redo the course later, going up to the next level.
Everything you need to know to play and sound like your favorite pop-piano singer-songwriters is there.
Everything you already know is easy to skip, or adapt to make it suitable for a level more advanced. (plus - repetition has never hurt a soul).
With that said, select the course that fits your current situation (see their descriptions).
Let me ask you this: Have you ever seen your favorite artist look at sheet music at any of his or her performances? Exactly.
That's because they play pop-piano: piano by chords. They know their chords, harmony-theory, voicings, patterns and how to play with those. This is how they form all of their piano parts and this is exactly what you'll learn in this program too.
Chord-piano. No sheet-music (only chord-sheets every now and then).
That's not a question! 🙂
Just kidding. You can ask me anything by simply sending an email to coen@piano-couture.com
A time when there were no other ways to record a tune that showed you how to play it (or let you even hear it)
Today, we live in a day and age where music is written, played and recorded differently.
So - why revert to that ancient system, when you want to play pop music and can use modern means to learn?
Why not learn the same approach your favorite pop-musicians use?
That's Chord Piano..
... a uniquely different system that teaches the actual approach that professional modern musicians use too ...
... an approach built on understanding music's foundational building blocks Chords ("what" to play) and Patterns ("how" to play).
It's much like learning a language - the language of music
Chords = words, Patterns = pronunciation.
And like with any language, you'll understand and be able to repeat what someone else says (plays).
For everyone it’s different…
For some it means being able to just sit down at any piano and "be the piano-(wo)man" - entertaining the crowd, accompanying your vocals or their singing along, blasting out the occasional impressive lick...
For others it means creating your own arrangements, whether for existing songs to make covers and post them to Youtube, or even composing your very own music, in the studio or with a band...
and yet others … are just looking to enjoy yourselves and/or your friends and family in the comfort of your own home.
What will be the same for everyone though, is how to achieve their goal in the absolute fastest, most convenient way possible — with Chord Piano.
Chord Piano Formula will show you how.