Open Piano Skills

A comprehensive, open-source framework for piano skill development

Note: This is an early release. We're sharing this framework to gather feedback and invite collaboration. If you know of similar existing systems (skill taxonomies, piano curricula, learning frameworks), please let us know - we'd love to learn from them and potentially integrate proven approaches.

How this was created: The initial version was generated with significant AI assistance, then refined through manual iterations. We see this as a starting point for community collaboration - not a finished product. Expert review and real-world testing are needed to validate and improve the skill definitions, dependencies, and exercises.

What's working: The skill catalog and exercises are usable as reference material.

What's planned:

• Interactive skill graph explorer (visual navigation)
• Personalized learning path generation
• Assessment tools to identify skill gaps
• More genre-specific content

We believe in building this openly with the community rather than in isolation. Your feedback, corrections, and contributions are genuinely welcome!

What is this?

Open Piano Skills is a structured catalog of piano skills, exercises, and learning paths. It provides:

• 131 Skills organized in 18 categories
• Mastery Levels 1-10 with clear progression criteria
• Skill Dependencies showing what to learn first
• Genre-specific Exercises (Gospel, Jazz, Classical, etc.)
• Learning Paths with checkpoints and assessments
• Curriculum Mappings (customizable for different standards)

Think of it as a "skill tree" for piano - like in video games, but for real musical development.

Who is this for?

• Piano Teachers - Structure your curriculum, track student progress
• Self-learners - Know exactly what to practice next
• App Developers - Build learning apps on a solid pedagogical foundation
• Researchers - Study skill acquisition and music education

Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Ways to contribute:

• Add or improve exercises
• Suggest new skills or corrections
• Add genre-specific content
• Report issues or inconsistencies

Structure

open-piano-skills/
├── catalog/           # Skill definitions with dependencies
│   ├── _index.yaml    # Master index with categories and skill types
│   ├── scales.yaml    # Scale skills (major, minor, modes, etc.)
│   ├── chords.yaml    # Chord skills (triads, 7ths, extensions)
│   ├── harmony.yaml   # Harmony theory (functions, cadences)
│   └── ...            # 18 categories total
├── exercises/         # Exercises per skill and level
├── paths/             # Learning paths and checkpoints
│   ├── generic.yaml   # Universal piano checkpoints
│   └── gospel.yaml    # Gospel-specific path
├── genres/            # Genre-specific skill weights and exercises
└── prompts/           # AI goal-mapping templates

Skill Types

Mastery Levels

Example: A Skill Definition

scale_playing:
  name: Scale Playing
  type: MECHANICAL
  requires:
    - scale_fingering_standard
    - keyboard_note_location
  variants:
    major:
      name: Major Scale
      mastery:
        1: "Play C major with correct fingering, one octave"
        5: "Play major scales in all 12 keys, 2 octaves, fluent"
        10: "Virtuosic scales at any tempo, any key, musical expression"
    minor_natural:
      name: Natural Minor Scale
      # ...

How to Use

For Teachers/Learners

Browse the catalog to understand skill progressions. Use the exercises as practice guides.

For Developers

Parse the YAML files to build apps, progress trackers, or curriculum planners.

import yaml

with open('catalog/scales.yaml') as f:
    scales = yaml.safe_load(f)

# Access skill definitions
major_scale = scales['skills']['scale_playing']['variants']['major']
print(major_scale['mastery'][5])
# → "Play major scales in all 12 keys, 2 octaves, fluent"

Attribution

When using this work, please include:

"Open Piano Skills" - https://the-ultimate-piano.com
Licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0

License

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

You are free to share and adapt this work, even commercially, as long as you:

1. Give appropriate credit with a link to https://the-ultimate-piano.com
2. License your adaptations under the same terms

Acknowledgments

Created and maintained by the community at the-ultimate-piano.com.

Special thanks to all contributors who help make piano education more accessible.