Worship Essentials
When I started teaching piano after college, I discovered the need for worship piano resources. I found that traditional piano lessons often focus on a different skill set than what is needed to play for worship. As a result, people who have taken years of lessons often find themselves frustrated when trying to play from a chord chart or improvise on a basic chord progression.
I also found that the worship piano resources that do exist tend to focus on how to play the piano but not on how to worship. I discovered a need for practical teachings on worship – how to cultivate the heart of worship in the secret place, how to play for Jesus alone, how to know if He likes your worship, how to lead while keeping your eyes on the Lord, how to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit.
As a result of these findings, I developed the Worship Essentials approach to help others learn how to play worship piano. This approach combines a simple, easy-to-follow method of learning the piano along with teachings on the heart of worship - and it has proven successful for students around the world!
What Is Worship Essentials?
Let’s be honest. Learning on YouTube can be frustrating, and lessons are often expensive and time-consuming. But what if you could learn to play piano in a way that is fun and easy? What if you could play your favorite songs in less than a week? What if you could worship freely at the piano? With Worship Essentials, you can!
With Worship Essentials, you start by learning the basics of the piano, such as key names and hand position. From there, you learn simple chords and the basic accompaniment patterns for worship. And voila… you’re already playing worship music!
Then we expand the techniques in your toolbox to make your playing sound cool through chord inversions, new accompaniment patterns, color chords, improvising, modulation, the Nashville Number System… and the list can go on as long as you want it to! Basically, with Worship Essentials, you can start at your current level and end up wherever you want to be. Do you want to know just enough to get by? You can do that! Do you want to be a pro? You can do that too!
As a bonus, if you ever have questions, online lessons are at your fingertips! What are you waiting for? Start playing your favorite songs today!
Learn all of the foundational skills
necessary to play worship piano – including the keyboard, basic chording, accompaniment patterns, chord inversions, introductions and interludes, playing with nuance and musicality, reading advanced chord charts, and more!
Play a variety of familiar songs
such as Amazing Grace, Here I Am to Worship, O Praise the Name, Way Maker, What a Beautiful Name, and Worthy of It All.
Reflect on the importance of worship
and discover how to cultivate the heart of the worship pianist. Learn how to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit in worship and lead others into His presence.
Courses Include
Learn all of the foundational skills necessary to play worship piano – including the keyboard, basic chording, accompaniment patterns, chord inversions, and more.
Content: 15 videos, plus chord charts and cheat sheets
Duration: Almost 3 hours
Add more tools and techniques to your pianistic toolbox, including accompaniment patterns, creating introductions and interludes, playing with nuance and musicality, reading advanced chord charts, and preparing and leading a worship set.
Content: 15 videos, plus chord charts and cheat sheets
Duration: Over 3 hours
Master advanced topics such as 7th chords, fills and color chords, accompaniment patterns, all 12 key signatures, improvising, playing behind a speaker, and the Nashville Number System.
Content: 15 videos, plus chord charts and cheat sheets
Duration: Over 3 hours
Learn the Biblical foundations of worship as well as how to worship in the secret place and at your instrument. Also discover how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, go deeper in prayer, and lead others in worship.
Content: 15 videos
Duration: 1 1/2 hours
Discover the foundational principles to know as you begin writing songs. Topics include inspiration and brainstorming, writing the lyrics and music, and rewriting.
Content: 10 videos
Duration: 2 hours
Access all Worship Essentials courses
Unlimited access to ALL
current & future courses, including:
Beginning Worship Piano (15 lessons)
Intermediate Worship Piano (15 lessons)
Early Advanced Worship Piano (15 lessons)
Cultivating a Heart of Worship (15 lessons)
Songwriting: How to Create a Worship Song (10 lessons)
$2,640 value
$9.99/month
Billed monthly. Pause or cancel anytime.
OR Purchase courses individually
Beginning
Worship Piano
$99
Lifetime access.
Intermediate
Worship Piano
$99
Lifetime access.
Early Advanced
Worship Piano
$99
Lifetime access.
Cultivating a Heart of Worship
$29
Lifetime access.
Songwriting:
How to Create a Worship Song
$99
Lifetime access.
What Students Say
“Makayla’s love for Jesus, and the reverence and beauty in worship for Him shines forth in her lessons and video courses. I purchased both the Beginning and Intermediate worship piano courses to reinforce what she has taught me in our lessons. They have been so helpful. The most important thing I've learned is to make this all about Jesus, and where my heart should be for Him. Thank you, Makayla!”
— Kimberly
“I was always frustrated when I tried to learn piano by myself because I'm not very motivated on my own, and the books I used tended not to teach piano in a way that kept me interested. With Makayla, however, lessons are enjoyable, engaging, and extremely helpful. I have made significant progress and now enjoy playing a wide selection of worship songs.”
— Miranda
“I am an older piano student (over 50). Makayla is patient, kind, thoughtful, and filled with ideas about how to keep the experience of learning piano fun and exciting for her students. She is able to understand how her students learn best and adapt her teaching style to support that. She is professional while being friendly and relatable. Makayla has advanced software that will help to make your experience learning piano rich and rewarding.”
— Marie
“Makayla is a wonderful teacher! She really went all out to understand me and help me learn piano basics! She’s a wonderful pianist and excellent teacher!”
— Patience
About Makayla
Makayla was self-taught at the piano until college, when she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music, with specializations in Piano Pedagogy and Arranging. She is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano through MTNA and also has associate degrees in Education and Business.
When Makayla started teaching piano independently after college, she discovered the need for worship piano resources that teach not only how to play the piano but also how to worship. She also found that traditional piano lessons often focus on a different skill set than what is needed to play for worship. As a result of these findings, she began to develop and refine an innovative method for learning worship piano, which she uses for her private lessons and Worship Essentials courses.
Each person has a unique story, sound, and style; and the role of the music teacher is to discover it and develop it for the glory of the Lord. Making Melody Music Academy exists to help musicians and worshippers find their unique sound, reach their God-given potential, and use their gifts and abilities for His glory. Our vision is to raise up a generation of musicians and worshippers who love Jesus, play their instruments with excellence, create music to worship the Lord, and impact the world with the sound of heaven.