Note:
"Mr. Ron" Worthy offers three
excellent courses.
Because we don't want them to hog three spaces, we
reviewed all
three in one page. Following is a description of all three, with
commonalities and differences.
Play Piano Like a Pro
Multimedia eBook:
Multimedia eBook
Multiple Audio Files
Multiple Video Files
Chord Vocabulary lists
Free Karaoke Player
Personal Guidance by Phone (!)
1yr Membership to Digital Sheet Music Lessons site:
Over 500 Songs in Sheet Music and MIDI
Thousands of songs in Digital Sheet Music
24 Extra Music Lessons
Free Music Resources
Music Dictionary
Extra Songs, Lessons, Exercises, Worksheets
Piano
Tricks of the Trade DVD for Visual Learners - Beginner to
Intermediate (2006 version)
DVD containing 25 Video Lessons
Personal Guidance
by Phone (!)
Piano Tricks of the Trade DVD for Visual
Learners - Intermediate to Advanced (2007 version)
DVD containing 25 Video Lessons
Personal Guidance
by Phone (!)
Suitable For:
All levels:
Beginner , Intermediate , Advanced , Professional.
Also suitable for Children of 8 years and
above.
With adult
assistance, also suitable for Children under 8 years old.
All
courses compatible
with both PC and Mac.
DVD courses
also
playable on CD and DVD players (No need for a
computer)
-
Multimedia eBook:
$97.00
-
Beginner to
Intermediate DVD: $147.00
-
Multimedia
eBook + Beginner to Intermediate DVD Bundle:
$197
-
Intermediate to Advanced DVD:
$147.00
-
Beginner to Intermediate DVD +
Intermediate to Advanced DVD Bundle:
$197
-
Gold Bundle:
Multimedia eBook + Both DVDs:
$297.00
For Multimedia eBook
click here
 .
For items marked in
black click here
.
For items marked in blue
click here
.
No Risk Order,
Full
Guarantee.
Orders
for all three courses are processed by a
PayPal, over a secure and encrypted
connection, so order and credit-card details are very safe and
secure. Payment can be made via your PayPal
account, or using your Credit Card.
All Courses are
fully guaranteed by Ron Worthy and his company RAW Productions
to be one of your
better investments in Music
Education. If you feel they are not -
just contact Worthy.
This is REALLY our way of doing
business. Two thumbs up!
Course Creator Bio:
Our grade: Excellent!
Unlike many course producers, "Mr. Ron" Worthy is a gifted
pianist and songwriter, that has been playing piano and electronic
keyboards virtually all of his life. Gaining formal piano education
since he was 4 years old, Worthy has developed his own unique style,
and has played in countless bands and with some of music's greats.
Worthy has written other books and courses (which are outside our 5
best, though).
Until Learn and
Master Piano arrived, we considered these the best courses
around. Now, however, they have to settle for 2nd place and "Best
below..." status only.
The 3 courses are
extremely efficient for beginners and advanced
players alike, and the intermediate to advanced DVD is truly
effective even for professionals. However,
the course's eBook+2DVD format and high price make it difficult for
the course to battle Learn and Master Piano's 14DVDs, 5 CDs and
physical book, offered at a lower price.
The strength of
both Learn and Master Piano, and of Worthy's programs is is that
these courses don’t only quickly teach you how to play the piano, as
some other courses do - They also teach you how to be a very
good pianist. To demonstrate what we mean - it’s like the difference
between learning to speak and becoming a very good singer. Most
piano courses focus on the first only, but Learn and Master Piano
and Worthy’s courses teach you quickly and effortlessly how
to play, then move on to increasing your fluidity, creating your own
playing style, and more.
Of the several
piano programs authored by Ron Worthy, three (!!!) made it
into our top-5 list.
These programs are a
multimedia eBook
for beginner to intermediate students, a
DVD
course for
beginner to intermediate students, and another
DVD
course for
intermediate to advanced pianists.
Although this seems
like overlap, there is a reason for this. Worthy sees "real" piano
playing as playing by ear. Yes, it is important to
know to play sheet music, but the purest form of piano playing is
ear playing: You hear a new song on the radio - and you can play it;
You remember a song you loved in your youth - and you can go play
it; You're in front of the piano and your friends throw a song's
name - and you give them your interpretation of it. Jazz, Rock,
Gospel and Blues piano would be nowhere without ear playing.
Worthy's courses
are arranged according to the sight reading vs. ear playing line.
Although all his courses teach ear playing, his multimedia eBook
focuses on playing using sight reading and sheet music. The beginner
DVD and intermediate DVD, on the other hand, focus entirely on ear
playing.
All three
courses provide personal guidance by
phone, by Ron Worthy himself. In fact, he actively encourages his
customers to contact him if they have specific lesson plans, and he
hosts teleseminars to his students. No
other program we know of offers anything like this.
The
next paragraphs describe each program separately. Following the
descriptions, we will help decide which course fits you best.
Play Piano
Like a Pro
Multimedia eBook:
This course is
based on a comprehensive eBook, and a host of audio and video files.
The eBook and the
surrounding files teach
you the following subjects:
-
Scales, Chords, Chord Inversions,
Chord Progressions, Arpeggios...
-
Music Theory
-
The patterns
behind the keys
-
Reading sheet
music - sight reading
-
Playing by ear any song you hear
-
Training your ear for the above
-
Practicing
correctly
-
Finger
independence, strength, energy
-
Right hand,
Left hand, Two hand playing
-
Playing alone
-
Playing in
bands
-
Gaining fluid
piano performance
-
Building
harmonies and melodies
-
Songwriting
-
Improvising and playing your own
music
-
What to do and
what to avoid in playing
-
And the list
goes on...
Course is based on
several genres: Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop, R&B and Gospel. It is well
structured, and utilizes a unique four step approach to learning
notes and chords. As such, it succeeds in producing a
mental-breakthrough of seeing and visualizing chord patterns almost
immediately after you start the course. We consider this extremely
effective.
The course also
includes a "Karaoke player" that enables you to see the keys and
chords used in the audio lessons. You can play music and exercises,
and see the keys on the player light up. You can also control the
playing speed, or freeze it, to observe specific chords and
patterns. We consider this a thoughtful addition to the course, as
is the chord vocabulary.
Also included is membership to Worthy's huge
digital sheet music lessons site. This site provides thousands
of songs you can play, including
hundreds in MIDI files which can play your electric piano if you
connect it to your computer. It also provides 24 extra lessons
teaching you how to read music and improve your sight reading, and
numerous songs, lessons, exercises and worksheets which bolster your
playing to levels no course by its own can achieve, due to course
size limitations.
Beginner to Intermediate 2006 Tricks of the
Trade
DVD:
Taking a very
different approach than the eBook course, this DVD teaches piano to
visual learners, who don't want to bother with learning sheet music.
The DVD focuses on one thing: bringing you from complete novice to
skilled intermediate level, as quickly and easily as possible. It
does not spend your time or effort teaching you how to read music,
or leading you through sight reading exercises; for that Worthy
developed the
eBook
course. Rather, the DVD immediately starts teaching you what piano
playing is all about, going through the following:
-
Scales, Chords, Chord Inversions,
Chord Progressions, Arpeggios...
-
The patterns
behind the keys
-
Keyboard
harmony and Rhythm concepts
-
Melodic
techniques
-
Memorization
techniques for chord progressions
-
Playing by ear any song you hear
-
Training your ear for the above
-
Practicing
correctly
-
Finger
independence, strength, energy
-
Right hand,
Left hand, Two hand playing
-
Playing alone,
Playing in bands
-
Gaining fluid
piano performance
-
Building
harmonies and melodies, melodic riffs
-
What to do and
what to avoid in playing
-
Creating your
own playing style using Modes and Improvisation
-
And again, the
list goes on...
Course is based on
several genres: Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop, R&B and Gospel. The DVD
assumes no previous knowledge in piano. However, if you do know some
piano, the course enables you to progress quickly while checking
your previous playing style and eliminating mistakes and bad habits.
The Beginners DVD
easily takes you to intermediate playing level. It does dive
into more advanced topics, but if you're already an intermediate or
advanced player, Worthy has another DVD for you:
Intermediate
to Advanced 2007 Tricks of the Trade
DVD:
This DVD was
developed only for intermediate to advanced pianists. Beginners
should not buy this course, except when bundled with the Beginners
DVD forming a complete beginners to advanced course.
Like the Beginners DVD, this DVD doesn't deal
with sheet music, and focuses on ear playing only. However, it is
equally effective for advanced sight reading students who want to
improve their ear playing and master advanced piano playing
techniques, as it is for intermediate to advanced ear-players. This
DVD teaches and instills several advanced piano techniques, such as:
-
Rhythm Changes
-
Advanced left
hand techniques
-
Advanced
patterns
-
Jazz techniques
-
Contemporary
music and pop techniques
-
Pick Up Notes,
Suspended Chords, Quartal Harmony, Secondary Dominants
-
Playing 10ths
-
Improvisation,
improvisationand then some more
improvisation
-
Focus on
advanced topics in creating your own unique playing style
-
Playing
and Performing in front of audiences
-
Playing solo, Playing in bands
-
Harmonic movements for easy
songwriting
-
Eliminating bad
playing habits
-
Advanced Do's and Don'ts
-
And as usual,
the list goes on...
As this DVD is for
students who already know how to play the piano, a lot of focus is
put on eliminating mistakes and bad habits the students may bring
with them. As always, the numerous video lessons pack a strong
punch, enabling students to progress quickly, learning advanced
techniques, methods and ideas.
As
stated before, professionals we consulted with consider videos a
must have for
courses of this type, and this is even more true
for intermediate and advanced levels. To fully benefit from your
learning, at these levels you must see exactly how things
should be played: the correct posture, hand placement and movement,
exercises etc. This DVD course excels in providing the visuals, and
Worthy truly amazes with his playing
abilities
- far better than the playing in about 95% of the courses we tested.
As with the
beginners DVD, this course can be used even without a computer on
your DVD. We found this very convenient for band playing sessions
you might have as an advanced player.
Which Courses Should You Buy?
If you can afford
to buy Learn and Master Piano, you'll probably be better off
buying it, as with 14DVDs, 5CDs and a book it now surpasses even
Worthy's "Gold Bundle" 2DVDs and eBook format, and at a lower price.
If, however, you cannot afford to buy that course, Worthy sells his
courses as standalone units for a lower price than Learn and Master
Piano. To select which of his courses suits you the most, you must
first determine whether you are a beginner or intermediate student:
Beginners:
First you should
decide what you prefer to focus on, sight reading or ear playing:
-
If you learn
better by watching, prefer to focus on ear playing, or just want
to learn piano or electronic keyboard as quickly as possible,
buy the 2006 beginners DVD for Visual Learners.
-
If want to use
sight reading and enjoy the digital sheet music lessons site,
buy the multimedia eBook course. This is also the
best course we found under $100.
-
If you want the
fastest results and the most thorough teaching, purchase the
multimedia eBook + Beginners DVD Bundle.
-
If you want to
buy a course that will bring you from beginner to advanced
levels, buy the 2006 Beginner's DVD + 2007 Advanced DVD
Bundle.
Intermediate/Advanced:
-
No big
decisions here: the 2007 Intermediate to Advanced DVD
is the one for you.
-
If you want to
refresh your basics, and benefit from the tips and tricks Worthy
provides in his beginners course, buy the 2006 Beginner's
DVD + 2007 Advanced DVD Bundle.
The bottom line:
Until very
recently, our testers voted Worthy's courses the best piano and
electronic keyboard lessons courses around, and by a wide margin.
Although more expensive than most others, they are also much more
professional and we decided they were well worth the difference.
However, a short while ago Learn and Master Piano arrived and KO-ed
the other courses. Mr. Worthy's courses remain as good as ever, and
if you don't want Learn and Master Piano, or can't pay the price,
they would be an excellent alternative. Worthy's single courses
(eBook only or a single DVD) are less expensive than Learn and
Master Piano, so if saving is a high priority you might want to buy
them. Buying more than one product, however, brings the price closer
to Learn and Master Piano, and makes the purchase harder to justify.
Product Site:
For more
information about "Mr. Ron"
Worthy's courses or if you would like to
order the
courses, click the
following links:
For Multimedia eBook click here
.
For Beginner to Intermediate DVD or Multimedia eBook +
Beginner to Intermediate DVD Bundle click here
.
For Intermediate to Advanced DVD or
Beginner to Intermediate DVD + Intermediate to Advanced DVD Bundle
click here
.
Next: 3rd Place
&
Best Course Below $100 - Rocket
Piano
>>
Or: Click Here
for Conclusions |
