About Me

Hello, I’m Emily Dean, a college-age Oregonian with a story of my own vacuousness, and how, with a few sentences, my life was changed forever.

Six years ago, I was a somewhat experienced although not dutiful piano student who was living in the dim world of piano theory ignorance. I was trying to learn a song by ear, something that I was terrible at, and I realized that I was playing the wrong chords for the song, and yet it still sounded…good. I pointed out to my mom how my series of random chords made the song sound different but still good. My mom, looking at me like I was stupid, said something like, “Yes, my silly child, that’s how music works. Chords form the basis of songs. If you change the chords, it’s going to sound different.”

My jaw dropped open. All this time, I had been playing music, playing so many different songs with so many different chord progressions, and I had never realized that…the foundation of songs was chords! Using a series of chord progressions with a melody, I could create my own songs. This was my lightbulb moment. It was about time; I had been playing the piano for nine years. My only excuse is that I was barely out of junior high; of course, my analytical thinking skills hadn’t fully developed yet…hehe.

Now I live in the blissful world of music creation. The light is turned on, and I see a bright world full of musical possibilities. I can create melodies, change chord progressions, form “new” chords. Many people say that creating a song is difficult, but all it takes is a lightbulb moment, and a lot of practice.

So who am I? I’m a piano player who loves to create and improvise and who wants to teach others the same skill. I want to show you this bright world of musical possibilities in the most simple, down-to-earth way that I can. I am by no means an expert, but I’m passionate (which obviously makes up for my lack of expertise). I want to help anyone who wants to learn how to create music on the piano or how to improve their songwriting skills. I’m on a journey to become a better pianist, and I want you to join me.

So yes, hello, I’m Emily Dean, the passionate pianist, at your service. 🙂