The Simply Music program is a perfect fit for learning piano and for my son, Nate.  I was dubious at first of any piano course which claims they can get the student to be playing actual songs in less than two weeks.  It's usually a formula to sidestep the actual theories of music and deceive the student into thinking they are further along than they think.  However, the main thrust of Simply Music was, as I found out, to provide Nate with the proper visual and mental tools which acted as the first building blocks to understanding music.  I discovered that the spatial and geometric principles they were teaching matched with how I instinctually learned music:  pattern recognition and improvisation.  Usually piano lessons (and in my case, guitar lessons) were always couched in traditional methods, remaining for the most part unchanged and unamenable because "that's the way we've always done it."  This left no room for improvement or innovation in teaching techniques. The notation of music, although still widely-used, is ultimately an approximation of what the composer had in mind; much as words are an approximation of human feeling...sometimes we nail it, sometimes ideas and sentiments are lost in translation.

What is new about this program is the fact that they emphasize shapes and patterns, much the same way we as children first learn the tangibility of our physical world.  I saw an amazing surge in Nate's progress on the piano. Although I believe he has a natural penchant for the instrument, it would not have been brought to the forefront anywhere as prominently, and with such effectiveness, as it has with this approach.  Plus, the emphasis on the importance of improvisation is definitely an earmark in piano teaching at this level.  The student learns to survive by their own wits and instincts...to trust themselves to navigate through the  musical forest without a map. A map, like sheet music, can be lost, misplaced, or simply fall off the music stand. But if one learns to "steer by the stars", you'll never be lost.  This is not to say Simply Music isn't about reading music in the accepted way; it is.  However, this is heavily supplemented by the use of these new techniques developed by Neil Moore.  It provides a much larger and rounder picture of this magical thing called music and in the case of my son, has stimulated and elevated him beyond all expectation. 

This revolutionary technique allows the student to better recognize the forms of music without the mystery and enables them to more quickly participate in the joy of creating and performing.

This isn’t a shortcut to understanding music, it’s a straight line. 

Marc Bonilla

Currently based out of L.A. Marc has played guitar and toured with Warner Bros. recording artists Toy Matinee as well as recording two critically acclaimed guitar instrumental albums for Reprise “EE Ticket” and “American Matador”.

He has also has produced, recorded and performed with several artists including Ronnie Montrose, Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple and Keith Emerson of ELP fame.

          For over a decade he has composed and performed for numerous television shows and major motion pictures including The Scorpion King, The Replacements, Falling Down, Terminal Velocity, Waterworld, Mad Money, Spy Kids, Spiderman 2, Bruce Almighty, Las Vegas, Kid Notorius, The PJ’s, and ER, collaborating with such notables as James Newton Howard, John Debney, Joel McNeely and Snuffy Walden, receiving an Emmy award nomination in 2001 for his score for David Milch’s Big Apple.

           In addition to just recently completing an album with Keith Emerson, he has also finished composing score for another feature film entitled “Two:Thirteen” as well as a new album, Full Circle, with California Transit Authority featuring original drummer and co-founder of Chicago, Danny Seraphine.