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What’s Your Dream?

Piano Keys

So you want to learn to play piano. Jewish music. You know, the same kinds of songs you sing along with when you’re in the car, in the kitchen, or singing together with friends.

Maybe you are hoping to play for a kumzits or a school production. Perhaps you just want a great outlet to help you relax after a long day. Or maybe you want to make a fun activity of playing and singing with your kids.

You may never have touched a piano in your life. Or perhaps you have tried unsuccessfully in the past. You really want to learn to play once and for all. But you have not-so-fond memories of note reading and stupid made up songs that you’ve never heard before.

Or you could be an accomplished pianist, having spent years learning to read notes. But playing Jewish music eludes you. You can’t find decent sheet music for the songs you want to play. Maybe you’re frustrated that you have to rely on notes for every new song you want to learn.

You can just imagine yourself sitting on the piano bench, hands gliding gracefully across the ivory keys, a group of friends around you singing and harmonizing … But the question remains: how do you get there?

Learning to play can actually be fairly easy

It definitely takes practice to learn how to play piano, but it doesn’t have to be hard or tedious.

Instead of starting out slaving over reading notes, you can actually be playing proficiently in just weeks by starting with building blocks: chords and rhythm. This provides a quick win because you’re playing and enjoying almost immediately. Instant gratification goes a long way to providing ongoing motivation to learn more (even tedious note reading, if you desire!).

Besides for the factor of quick results, learning to play chords has the added benefit of super availability of songs to play. Proper sheet music featuring right and left hand notes can be hard (impossible?) to find, but sheets with lyrics and chords are plentiful!

If you sing along while you play, you can skip playing the melody too, eliminating a lot of hard work and allowing you to play beautiful music really quickly. (Again, the confidence you gain by playing beautiful music will likely motivate you to want to learn to play melody – whether by notes or by ear – someday too!)

When broken down into actionable tasks, anyone who loves to sing can learn to play this way.

Why People Choose 5 Weeks to Kumzits Piano Course Over Standard Piano Lessons

  • Take your lesson at your convenience, in your home – no need to go anywhere or worry about scheduling conflicts
  • Innovative method will have you playing real songs in less than 5 weeks
  • Learn the secret of professional musicians that many teachers don’t teach (and sometimes don’t even know!)
  • Learn to play even when you can’t find proper sheet music
  • Lay the foundation for playing by ear
  • Learn piano skills that will benefit you no matter what you decide to learn next (even note reading)
  • Get results fast. You won’t be playing a dumbed down version of rain rain go away after many weeks or months of lessons! With 5 Weeks to Kumzits you’ll be playing songs you love in record time!
  • Its FUN! When I ask my students how things are going, they all say, “It’s so much fun!”(I am fond of saying that “practice” is a dirty word! If it’s fun, you won’t think of it as “practice”, but rather as “playing”. It takes “playing” to learn how to play!)

Who this course is for

  • Anyone who loves to sing
  • High school and older
  • Willing to commit to 15 minutes 5 days per week plus an extra half hour once a week on lesson day
  • Experience level:
    • have no playing experienceOR
    • know how to play but can’t learn a new song without notes (ie classically trained)(You will already know the very beginning of the first lesson, but will quickly advance to a new approach to playing piano. What you already know will just help you to learn faster.)

This course is NOT for you if:

  • You are younger than high school age

    I believe young children learn best when they have a live person sitting next to them. An interactive online course such as this is best suited for approximately high school age and above.

    You can take the course together with your younger child as long as you are prepared to help him/her out as needed.

  • Your goal is to play classical music.

    If your real goal is classical music you should get classical lessons and learn to read notes from the beginning.

    If you play classical but want to play Jewish music too, 5 Weeks to Kumzits is an excellent supplemental program to your regular lessons. And it is short, so you can complete the course over a summer, if you wish.

  • You don’t like to sing.

    This course requires a lot of singing!!!

    You can certainly learn by playing along with the recordings, but you’ll really miss out if you aren’t prepared to sing along!

  • You don’t want to learn to play – someone is forcing you.

    There is no course or lessons that will teach you to play if you aren’t really interested.

  • You are not open minded about better ways to learn to play; you just want to do whatever everyone else is doing.

    There are lots of “standard” teachers in nearly all geographic locations who can give you “standard”, run-of-the-mill lessons.

    They also provide a “standard”, run-of-the-mill experience and a “standard”, run-of-the-mill drop-out-before-you-really-learn-to-play rate.

    With 5 Weeks to Kumzits, you “really learn to play” in 5 weeks, so you’d have to drop out pretty quickly to “drop-out-before-you-really-learn-to-play”!

  • You aren’t going to practice (“play”, as I prefer to say!).

    If you aren’t going to put in the effort, don’t bother taking lessons. You will not learn from sitting at a lesson or from watching a video. The learning happens when you apply the knowledge and actually play!

5 Weeks to Kumzits Piano Course – How it works

The goal of the 5 Weeks to Kumzits piano course is to have you playing songs you love in a short time.

Here’s how it works:

  • 2 Lessons/Week

    Each skill is divided into 2 lessons:

    • Part a) video lesson + song(s)
    • Part b) 2 more songs

    The 2 lessons for each skill were originally intended to be completed in the same week. However, the course is totally self-paced and you can progress at whatever speed is convenient for you.

  • Supporting Materials

    Each lesson comes with audio recordings of that lesson’s songs as well as other supporting materials (sheet music, charts etc).

  • Accountability and Feedback

    A huge determining factor whether someone actually follows through and learns to play or not is accountability. People who plan to learn on their own usually stop playing on their own too. Those who feel that someone is waiting to hear their progress are much more likely to really play and learn.

    5 Weeks to Kumzits is an interactive experience. After you watch your lesson and try out the new songs, you send me an audio or video recording of yourself playing the songs.

    I then provide you with feedback about your playing – what you did right, what can use a little tweak etc. Sometimes there is a little mistake causing a big problem – by listening to or watching you play I can help you smooth out the wrinkles right away!

  • Questions Answered Anytime!

    One of my favorite features of the course is the ability to get your questions answered anytime. You don’t have to wait for your teacher to come next week to ask a question – you can ask it any time you want via email. I generally respond to questions within 24 hours.

  • Bonus: Kumzits Songbook

    As a free bonus, when you complete the course, you will receive a kumzits songbook, featuring all the songs you learned plus some extras. You will also receive relevant note and chord charts for future reference.

  • Money Back Guarantee

    Learn to play or your money back – if you complete the course (send me your recordings) and don’t learn to play, I will happily refund your purchase price.


Wondering if 5 Weeks to Kumzits is right for you? Contact Us

Package Options

  • Standard Package (Online Access):

    $149.99
    • 5 Weeks to Kumzits Piano Course (video lessons and all supporting materials)
    • Accountability via recordings and feedback via email
    • Questions by email
    • Free Bonus: Kumzits Songbook

    Please allow up to 24 hours for delivery of welcome email and your first lesson.

  • USB Flash Drive Package:

    $199.99

    • 5 Weeks to Kumzits Piano Course (video lessons and all supporting materials)
    • Accountability via recordings and feedback via email
    • Questions by email
    • Free Bonus: Kumzits Songbook
    • Physical USB Flash Drive and complete printed materials. Free shipping within the US.

    Choose this option if you don’t have regular internet access or prefer to have a hard copy.

    Please Note: The USB Flash Drive/printed materials are for a personal/household license only.

    That means it is okay to share with people who live in your home.

    It is not meant to be shared with all your friends and extended family.

    I offer this option because many people don’t have regular internet access; please don’t abuse it by sharing with others. You can gladly refer them to get a copy of their own!!

To purchase the USB Flash Drive option, please Contact Us.


Imagine yourself . ..

  • Playing for a kumzits or a group of friends
  • Sitting at the piano with your kids around you singing
  • Playing for a school production, color war, or camp concert
  • Relaxing at the piano bench after a stressful day

Where will you be in 5 weeks?

Testimonials

  • “Everything is clear and understandable … [Daughter’s Name] is doing great … ”AS, from NY, took the course together with her 9 year old daughter
  • “My biggest fear was that I would not have time to practice. It was true to some extent. I couldn’t practice as much as I would have liked. But I did get practice time in and enjoyed it!My favorite part was being able to have to audio with me so I could hear what the songs were supposed to sound like. I think that is a great feature.I would, and did, recommend it to my best friend!Thank you Ita for this wonderful gift! I have truly enjoyed it and look forward to continuing to play these songs and eventually learning more.”JS, from FL, played at a kumzits after just four and half weeks!

FAQ

  • I don’t have a lot of time. Can I take this course?

    The only way to learn to play is to actually play. This course requires about 15 minutes a day of playing time, 5 days a week, plus an extra half hour on your “lesson day”.

    If you prefer, you can take the course over 10 weeks. Since there are two lessons each week (one that introduces the new skill and song and the second that provides two more songs to play), it is easy to just take one lesson each week for 10 weeks instead.

  • I tried to learn to play in the past with little success. Will this course help me?

    Lots of people attempt to learn to play piano but become quickly frustrated by lack of progress or bored from playing silly songs they don’t even know.

    5 Weeks to Kumzits is designed to have you playing songs you know and love in a short time. This quick success is very motivating!

    If you follow the program for the 5 Weeks, you will learn to play!

  • Will this course teach me to play by ear?

    This course does not specifically address playing by ear. It does, however, lay the foundation you will need if you want to learn to play by ear. For some students, this alone is enough to get started playing by ear. Others might need further instruction in this area.

  • Why don’t you teach note reading?

    Reading notes is one of the most standard methods of piano instruction. It is particularly useful for learning to play classical music or for learning to play songs you have never heard before.

    However, reading notes is not the fastest route to playing Jewish music. First, sheet music available for popular Jewish music is extremely limited. Second, reading notes is a long, tedious process. It takes a long time to see real results and have fun playing when you learn by notes. My goal in 5 Weeks to Kumzits is to get you real results quickly so you are motivated to keep playing and learning.

    If you do decide to learn to read notes after taking this course, the skills you learned in 5 Weeks to Kumzits will only make your journey easier. Many concepts (such as time signatures, rhythm, keys etc) are common to both methods of learning and will apply no matter how you decide to play. Learning to play chords will also help tremendously with pattern recognition, which many “standard” teachers do not even teach.

  • Do you have a course for men?

    Yes! 5 Weeks to Kumzits has been revamped and all female singing has been replaced by instrumentals. It is now suitable for both male and female students.

  • I can’t sing on key. Will I be able to learn to play?

    With discipline and practice, you can learn to play even if you cannot sing at all on key. You can play and sing along with the recordings of each song to help you as well.

    The course does require a lot of singing, but I have seen students who couldn’t sing on key learn to play beautifully!

  • Will I really be able to play for a kumzits in just 5 weeks???

    Yes! If you follow the program, you can play for your friends to sing along in just 5 weeks!

  • Can you really learn to play piano using an online course?

    My past students sure did!

    Some benefits of learning to play using my online lessons:

    • Take your lesson at your convenience, in your home. No need to worry about scheduling conflicts. Learn before you go to school, after you put the kids to sleep, when you come home from work or during baby’s nap – whatever suits your schedule!
    • 5 Weeks to Kumzits comes with recordings of how each song should be played. If you forget or aren’t sure, just listen to or play along with the recording.
    • Email me your questions – no need to wait for “lesson day” to get your questions answered; get them answered by email all week long!
    • Send me a recording of yourself playing to get feedback and help. Just because it’s online doesn’t mean you don’t have a real teacher there to help and support you!
    • Much more affordable than taking private lessons! The cost of learning all this in private lessons would run you at least hundreds of dollars!
    • My innovative teaching method will have you playing real songs you know in no time! I cannot say the same for “standard” style piano lessons.
  • Will I learn to play classical music?

    No, 5 Weeks to Kumzits will not teach you to play classical music. There are lots of local teachers who can help you if classical is your dream.

  • What if I don’t know all the songs?

    I have tried to choose popular songs that many people know. Inevitably, not everyone will know every song. A few songs are included for each skill; even if you don’t know every one, you are likely to know some.

    Each song comes with an audio recording. If you don’t know the song, you can listen to the recording to learn it, or you can simply play along with the recording.