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Many students take piano lessons for 10, 13, even 15 years. They can read music notation and may even be their church pianist. But ask them to sit down at the piano and pluck out “Happy Birthday” without sheet music in front of them and they can’t do it. That’s one of the reasons why classically-trained piano students attend Terry Maddock’s Chord Approach workshops being taught all over Texas and Oklahoma. “These students would like to be able to improvise and make the music sound like they want to sound” said Terry Maddock, instructor for these workshops. “I promise my Chord Approach students that by the end of the course they would be equipped to play any song, any style, in any key, with both hands.” That must have sounded good to the 18 students in a recent workshop who listened to Maddock explain how she’s simplified and demystified piano playing because they all seemed excited about what she said and couldn’t wait to get home to their pianos. Deborah Daily whose children are reared and out of the house said all her life she’s wanted to learn to play the piano. “It was a matter of committing myself,” she said, and not having the time to do that. Armed with instruction and a comprehensive packet of materials Maddock offered to the students, she’s ready to dig in. “I’m excited” she said. “My kids and grandchildren will be so impressed. We’re going to do this as a family!” Buying the packet was optional, of course. Others just paid their $55 for the course and went home to practice. Oops…”practice” is a word Maddock tries to avoid. “I like to play the piano not work the piano. I don’t even like to use the word practice.” There’s a reason for her word choice. “I want people to have fun when they learn to play the piano. This gets people playing music at a simple level. I give them ways they can improve and embellish and sound really cool when they’re ready for that.”“I love doing these workshops and people love coming. People are busy. They are looking for the fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to do about anything these days. When I put these workshops together, these were the 3 things I kept in mind in structuring this approach” says Maddock. “This workshop-idea came about as a result of working with adults at the piano for 15 years. I developed a way to play that would cater to their needs and desires instead of mine. It’s worked so well for the past 12 years and I know there are people playing today that would never have tried traditional piano”, Maddock says. “All piano players don’t have to be classically trained when their main desire is to play for their own fun and enjoyment”, Maddock adds. Learning 12 chords which is central to this system is augmented by ornamentation, different music styles, improvisation and playing by ear. Maddock says it’s helpful if students can read some music, mainly to be able to play the melody with the right hand. The left hand plays chords instead of following the notes written in the bass clef. However, if you’ve just always had a desire to play the piano and you know nothing, you can make this system work as well, according to Maddock. Maddock says she does encounter a fair amount of skepticism, but she says this method gets results! For details about workshop opportunities in Ardmore on September 13th & 14th call the Ardmore City Schools’ Community Education Department @ 580-221-3030.