I’m not gonna lie…
I am a total Piano Guys fangirl (and I’m a guy!).
I’m not scared to admit it, I love their music. But I found out something very…interesting… about their piano arrangements…
I’ve bought a TON of their sheet music. And sheet music in a similar style. And after analyzing piece after piece, I discovered something.
There’s a certain “formula” that they use. And they use it in every. Single. Song.
And not just them.
Kyle Landry uses it too. So does David Sides, Stantough, Akmigone…
If you’ve ever heard the song “River Flows In You?” That song absolutely SPAMS this technique.
That’s what gives it the certain beautiful sound.
After studying the sheet music for all these songs I found the secret formula:
9th Chord Arpeggios
(Note: If you don’t know what 9th chords are, don’t worry, I’ll get to it)
That’s it. You can literally add 9th chord arpeggios to ANY song… and it will sound beautiful, sensitive… it will have that “Piano Guys” sound.
I wasn’t sure if it would work at first… so I tried it.
And it worked.
EVERY TIME.
Don’t believe me? Watch this piano mashup of “All of Me” (beautiful song) and… “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea (NOT beautiful song MADE beautiful by the 9 chord secret sauce!).
Oh yea… I call it my “secret sauce.” 😉
Or try this video of a LIL WAYNE song made to sound beautiful on piano using… you guessed it… the secret sauce.
So how can you add “The Secret Sauce” to your songs?
Well if you know some theory and what a 9th chord is, just add it in.
If you don’t know your theory… Shame on you!
Haha just kiddin. But seriously, it’s important… Don’t worry though I’ll teach you how to learn it in lesson 11 of this free course.
But for now…
I developed a 9th Chord Arpeggio pattern that I use in a ton of songs. And you could learn it in less than a week… with no theory. It’s not that hard.
There’s an entire lesson on it in my free Piano Superhuman course.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the course (It’s completely free) and watch Lesson #11 (the “Secret Sauce” lesson).
Now, let me tell you about one big difference between wannabe piano players and… “real deal” piano players.
Wannabe piano players read a lot.
Read all about piano tips. Piano advice. Piano knowledge.
And then they don’t do anything with it.
And they tell their friends all about the cool things they learned. And give their friends advice. And think they “understand piano.”
The wannabe’s sound smart and sophisticated. But when you ask them to actually sit down and play… all that knowledge doesn’t seem to help one bit.
I was a wannabe piano player for a loooong time.
I’d “trick” myself into thinking I was learning. Because I was reading blog posts. Or watching videos. And I’d tell myself… “Well, I’ll practice that later.”
But I wouldn’t actually sit down at the piano and practice.
Wow, I wish I could go back in time and slap myself silly!
“Real Deal” piano players also read a lot. But they take what they read and IMMEDIATELY apply it. Actually sit down at the piano and use it to better themselves.
Once I figured that out it really took my progress to a whole new level.
Bottom line: To become a Piano Superhuman you gotta put in the practice.
And don’t get me wrong. In my [PSH] course I’m going to show you the shortcuts, the loopholes, the “Accelerated Learning Techniques”…
I’m going to show you the shortest path to get there.
But you still gotta walk the path.
Aah I’m ranting… You already have a lot to think about with the Piano Guys Secret Formula thing (in lesson #11).
And you probably already know that it takes actual sit-down-at-the-piano practice to get better. But I think this stuff’s important. And I think sometimes it’s good to hear it again and again.
Anyway, my next article is going to be about the single flashiest technique that’ll take you in the eyes of others from “Oh, you can play piano” to “WOW! You can really play!”
And it’s actually a lot easier than it looks…
But for now, just go to the Piano Guys Secret Formula Lesson #11 in the course (Sign up here) and try it out for yourself.
Happy practicing,
-Zach “Piano Guys Fangirl” Evans
P.S. The Piano Guys secret formula isn’t the ONLY secret formula out there.
There are tons of other formulas out there to achieve certain sounds, don’t worry I’ll give them all to you in some of the upcoming articles.
Oh, and there’s formulas for other things too… practice efficiency stuff
How to learn music WAY faster. How to master certain tricky passages. And my personal favorite… how to get CRAZY FAST ARPEGGIO RUNS.
That stuff that blows peoples minds.
Captivates audiences.
And it’s actually not as hard to learn as you might think…
But that’s a story for later article.
