So about that accidental email… here’s the real one

Hey – it’s Dan 👋

If you got a stray Monday Musician email a couple weeks back, yeah, about that. I hit the wrong button. That wasn’t supposed to go out.

But here’s what I didn’t expect: people opened it anyway. A year of silence, and you were still there. Thank you for that.

Truth is, I didn’t run out of piano tips. I just kept overthinking what this newsletter should be instead of hitting send. Meanwhile I kept playing gigs, kept leading worship, kept teaching, kept hearing “man, I wish I hadn’t quit piano” after a majority of the services & shows this past year.

So here we go, but on purpose this time…

Heyyyyy keys players 🎹

Welcome to Week 1 of Mobile Left Hand, a 5-week series to get your left hand holding down bass and chords while your right hand carries the melody.

Here’s the mistake almost everyone makes on day one: jumping straight to playing an octave in the left hand, chord in the right, before your left hand can even keep time. It can honestly be really limiting to your playing instead of allowing your left hand to become more agile.

Here’s an exercise for you to try this week…

The Drill: play the exact same chord in both hands, same shape, same rhythm, locked together. Looks too simple to matter, but this is the drill that got my own left hand unstuck from just playing octaves. Try playing the chords against a slow, simple song like ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ or a classic like the verse of ‘My Girl’.

The real test: once both hands can keep up, drop your right hand entirely and play your left hand alone. If it can’t hold up on its own, take the time to find the closest inversions so your left hand doesn’t have to travel as far. That’s the whole subject of next week’s issue, but if you want a preview, I’ve actually talked about inversions before.

In the meantime, hit reply and tell me which song you’re starting with this week. I read every reply and I really want to help build up our community.

One more thing. I’ve been quietly building something fun on the side, it’s a different way to learn piano built around one idea: what if practicing wasn’t stressful, but rather, the thing that calmed you down? Not perfection, just you, the keys, and ten unhurried minutes.

It’s early, and I only want to open it to a small group first to help me test the ideas. If that sounds like you, reply “interested.” There’s no contract, just first access when it’s ready.

Until next Monday

– Dan 🎹

P.S. If that stray email landed in your junk folder, drag this one to your inbox, or add me to your contacts. It tells your email app I’m a friend, not a robot 🤖