London Contemporary School of Piano

London Contemporary School of Piano Changing the way the world teaches and experiences music, based in London and worldwide. Age or ability is not a barrier to entry.

At the London Contemporary School of Piano, we are at the forefront of changing the way the world teaches and experiences music. We believe that making music and playing the piano should be a joy, not limited to outdated methods of teaching that no longer bare fruits. Why are so many people just so tense and fearful when they sit down at a musical instrument. We create a very different learning environment with our students and members, an environment where you can finally discover how to flow music, be it improvising and jamming on your favourite music, composing your own pieces or curating your own musical destiny with the right tools to get you excited about beating all of the challenges associated with music,

Under our unique and established methodology, piano and music will be a joyful part of your life, and never a chore and that you will come to experience the seemless flow of music, that you thought was only reserved for "great musicians". Our methods of teaching are fully inclusive, but you will need to be passionate about music to be able to succeed under our coaching. Our classes are all one to one, but we also offer group virtual courses as well as weekly masterclasses for our community of students. Please enjoy browsing through our social pages, and if you really want to step things up we strongly encourage you to visit our website www.contemporaryschoolofpiano.com and start your new musical journey at the London Contemporary School of Piano. We teach students from all over the world, and here in Central London. Students include, music hobbyists, adult professionals, surgeons, children with special needs, professional pianists and music teachers (we run LCSP accreditation), retirees, nurses, teenagers, youth workers and the list goes on. Whilst we are changing the way music is taught worldwide with our programs and courses, we believe that the power of music brings people together regardless of their background. Fancy joining us on your musical journey, we'd love to hear from you neverthless, www.contemporaryschoolofpiano.com

02/10/2026

Suspended 9th chords sound complicated? Here’s a chord trick that makes them surprisingly EASY! 👀

Cameron Ward shows you how to build a beautiful sus 9th chord using a simple slash chord approach:

🎹 Start with your bass note.
🎹 Build a major triad a whole tone BELOW it.
🎹 Play them together. That’s it!

A simple way to think about suspended chords and add richer harmonies to your piano playing!

💾 SAVE this trick for your next piano practice!

👇 Have you tried using sus 9th chords in your chord progressions?

30/09/2026

Never confuse a Major 7th chord again! 🎹

Here’s a simple trick to find ANY major 7th chord on the piano!

Start with a major triad, then add one extra note: the major 7th, just ONE semitone below the octave of your root note.

For example: Cmaj7 = C – E – G – B.

That’s it! A beautiful, rich-sounding chord that’s easy to recognise once you know the trick.

Cameron Ward shows you how to build it in seconds! 🎶

29/09/2026

We’re looking for a new piano coach and teacher to join the London Contemporary School of Piano.

Teaching is something we take very seriously here. We’re looking for a pianist who cares deeply about helping people learn, and who brings the same commitment to teaching that they bring to their own playing and professional work.

This particular role has a strong contemporary focus. We teach classical music as well, but we want someone who is excited to teach contemporary genres with real depth and skill.

Ideally, you’ll be based in London and able to teach both in person and online. We’re also considering a role based outside London as our online lessons continue to grow.

If you’re looking to build a career as a piano teacher, please don’t rule yourself out because you’re unsure whether you fit every part of the role. We provide training, and we give every applicant detailed feedback on what we’re looking for. We put a lot of care and resources into that process, so applying can be worthwhile even if the timing isn’t quite right this time.

If you’re interested, send me a message and we
will send you the application information.

28/09/2026

🎹 Struggling to combine melody + chords? Try this first.

One of the most important skills for arranging songs on piano is being able to integrate the melody and chords in your right hand — but it can be tricky at first.

Tom Donald shares a simple exercise to bridge the gap:

👉 Play the chords using the rhythm of the melody — without actually playing the melody notes yet.
This helps you feel how the melody and harmony fit together rhythmically before you start combining everything into a complete arrangement.

Tom demonstrates it with Hallelujah — but you can try this with almost any song you’re learning.

A simple exercise that can make arranging songs feel much more natural. 🎶

26/09/2026

🎹 The #1 Skill You Need to Arrange Songs on Piano

Want to turn your favourite songs into beautiful, complete piano arrangements?

Start with this essential skill: playing the melody and chords together in your right hand.

Using Hallelujah, Tom Donald demonstrates how chord inversions allow you to keep the melody on top while placing the harmony underneath creating a rich, full texture in just one hand.

Once you can integrate melody + harmony, you have one of the most important foundations for arranging almost any song at the piano. 🎶

Try it with a song you already know!

tomdonald

23/09/2026

🎹 Want to end songs like a pro? Try this.

Instead of going straight to your final chord, Cameron demonstrates a beautiful harmonic trick: play a major 7th chord a half step above your final chord, then resolve down by a semitone. 🎶

That tiny harmonic shift creates a gorgeous moment of tension and release and can instantly make your ending sound more polished and sophisticated.

✨ Want to stretch the ending out even further? Arpeggiate the major 7th chord, slow everything down and let the resolution breathe before landing on that final chord.

21/09/2026

🎹 Want to arrange any song on piano? Start here.

When you approach a new tune, don’t make the arrangement complicated too soon.
Cameron Ward shows a simple, clean way to build your starting point:

🎶 Top: the melody
🎹 Bottom: the bass line / roots of the harmony
✨ Middle: the remaining harmony, shared between both hands

This often gives you a beautifully clear four-part harmony without unnecessary doubling. If a chord note is already in the melody, you don’t need to play it again somewhere else.

The result? A spacious, balanced piano arrangement that already sounds complete, but still gives you plenty of room to develop it with richer chords, rhythm, movement and more advanced arrangement techniques.

Start simple. Leave yourself somewhere to go.

19/09/2026

🎹 Made a Mistake While Improvising? Do THIS.

“If you make a mistake in improvisation, just call it jazz.” ❌ Absolute nonsense.

A much better approach? Make it work.

If you hit an unexpected note, chord or rhythm, don’t stop. Listen. Respond. Develop it. Repeat the idea, change it, and turn it into something that sounds intentional.

Learning to improvise isn’t about never making mistakes. It’s about developing the creativity and confidence to turn the unexpected into a musical opportunity.

Sometimes the note you didn’t mean to play can lead somewhere far more interesting than the one you planned. 🎶

17/09/2026

🎹 Want to Improvise Better? Slow Down.

It sounds counterintuitive, but one of the fastest ways to improve your piano improvisation is to stop rushing.
In this reel, Tom Donald shares a simple but powerful tip for getting into a flow state on piano: slow everything down.

When you give yourself more space, you can actually listen to what you’re playing, respond to each musical idea and allow the next one to emerge naturally.

Don’t judge every note. Don’t rush to find the next idea.
Slow down. Listen. Explore. Improvise. 🎶

That’s where musical flow begins.

Save this for your next piano practice session. 🎹

15/09/2026

🎹 Are visual cues actually slowing down your piano progress?

Watching notes, shapes and visual prompts on a screen can make learning piano feel easier, but are you actually learning, or simply copying?

Tom Donald shares a simple but powerful strategy: write the idea down, switch off the video, and take it to the piano.

Work it out for yourself. Experiment. Listen. Find the notes and chord shapes without being shown every move.
That’s when your brain starts to really process what you’re learning — and information begins to turn into genuine musical understanding.

Next time you learn something useful from a piano video, don’t just keep watching. Write it down. Switch off the screen. Play. 🎶

Address

6 Baker Street
London
W1H6

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 8pm
Tuesday 10am - 8pm
Wednesday 10am - 8pm
Thursday 10am - 8pm
Friday 10am - 8pm
Saturday 10am - 8pm
Sunday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+447718248623

Website

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