Overview & About

Please Note: For Cory’s long bio, please scroll to the bottom of the page.

THE WELL-ROUNDED PIANIST USER’S GUIDE
Cory performing his own arrangement of Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D Minor
Cory performing a Chopin Impromptu
The World’s Original WELL-ROUNDED PIANIST

In 2017 coinciding with the publication of his popular book, SIGHT-READING & HARMONY: The Ultimate System of Sight-Reading, Dr. Hall (aka “Cory”) established THE WELL-ROUNDED PIANIST, a subscription website for online piano learning. This is not just a name, but Cory’s entire essence since childhood and throughout his university and conservatory training. There are many highly-trained competition and conservatory pianists in this world; however, how many of them can rightly be called a “well-rounded pianist”?

Cory is the world’s original self-professed WELL-ROUNDED PIANIST and he delights in being your personal professor on this website. Not only is Cory a classically trained virtuoso pianist with 40 years’ piano teaching experience, but he also has over 20 years’ experience in church music as a pianist/organist, excels in ragtime and early jazz styles, is a composer and arranger of piano music in his own right, founded a publishing company, authored and edited over 50 books as editor-in-chief, speaks fluent German, has a masters degree in music history in addition to three piano performance degrees, has experience as a vocal accompanist as well as renaissance, baroque, and ballet dance accompanying, is well-versed in music theory, invented a new system of scale fingering, has an interest for historical pianists and performances, and authored the reference book on J.S. Bach’s tempo system. (Please scroll to the bottom of the page for Cory’s complete bio.)

Cory’s goal on THE WELL-ROUNDED PIANIST is to teach aspiring pianists how to be complete pianists, musicians, and teachers!

cookie the boston terrier (amateur chopin critic)

In 2017, Cory envisioned creating a comprehensive and well-rounded piano teaching library which includes two types of tutorials (talking and non-talking) covering all the major composers and styles in addition to covering sight-reading, piano technique, music theory and other topics. It was an ambitious undertaking, but with new material uploaded weekly for eight years, Cory grew WRP from its humble beginnings into something worth bragging about.

And now as of this writing in November 2025, as a fruit of Cory’s labor for eight years, WRP has grown to over 3000 piano teaching and tutorial videos with a staggering number of composers, styles, and categories. Also, a “Pianist Hall of Fame” category has been added! The new, updated and expanded 2026 edition of WRP is MASSIVE!

marilyn hall (piano teacher & cleaning fanatic)

Cory typically uploads new material weekly, which is presented on the What Is New page. Members who would like to stay updated should check the What Is New page periodically throughout the week. On Sunday, Cory typically sends out a WRP Newsletter to summarize the week’s new uploads plus any blog posts (short posts that summarize new material for the week).

WRP Membership Etiquette

WRP is a subscription website with fully automated features to be controlled by the Member. The Silver and Bronze Memberships both renew automatically (auto pay) on the same day of the month or year of the initial subscription. Should you not desire to renew after your monthly or yearly subscription, it is your responsibility to cancel your membership before it is renewed again automatically. Out of respect and to follow proper etiquette, it is asked that you please NOT email Cory requesting a refund after a renewal took place that you did not desire. Thank you for your understanding.

WRP is the ideal learning platform for:

  • Self-learners who seek guidance — WRP offers a treasure trove of material for learners of all levels and ages all presented slowly and meticulously explained so that learning becomes a joy.
  • Experienced piano teachers who seek new material and new approaches — Sometimes even piano teachers can feel burnout, which can often be fixed by trying out new music, new techniques, and new approaches.
  • Beginning piano teachers who would like a rich overview of the piano literature — Teaching piano at a high level requires a comprehensive overview of the piano literature, which is WRP’s specialty. This is the ideal place for developing piano teachers to learn and grow!
  • Piano students who study privately with a teacher or are members of other piano subscription platforms. — WRP is the perfect supplement to private lessons with no conflict of interest. Also, many members of WRP are also members of Piano Marvel (who use Cory’s books), or Josh Wright’s (a friend of Cory’s) website, Pro Practice. This is all well and good. We are all friends and associates in the piano world!

Cory invites you to become a member of WRP today and build a solid foundation in piano practice, performance, and musicianship. Cory wishes to make you a more WELL-ROUNDED PIANIST!

cookie the boston terrier (piano music lover)

FULLY EXPANDED & UPDATED 2026 EDITION OF WRP:

General Features
  • Over 3000 videos.  24/7 access to a current total of over 3000 videos not publicly available on YouTube, except the “Pianist Hall of Fame” videos.
  • New content uploaded weekly.  New content uploaded weekly (most weeks out of the year), which is listed in the weekly newsletter (see next bullet point).
  • Weekly email newsletter.  Each week (most weeks out of the year), members receive an email with new content uploaded as well as relevant news and announcements.
  • Weekly blog. Cory posts weekly insights and articles on new content uploaded in the WRP Blog.
  • Efficient system of organization.  Everything is very easy to find on the new 2025 edition of WRP. Simply go to Piano Classics Tutorials or “Super Slow” Videos or any category in the top menu, scroll down the page and you will see a directory with all the videos in that category. If your membership is in good standing, you should have access to ALL the pages with instructional material.
  • Real piano tutorials from an experienced piano teacher with over 40 years’ experience.  WRP does not use any trendy or confusing apps or AI that teach only “notes” at the expense of more important expressive and technical issues.
Description of Menu Categories
  • LOGIN/OUT. If it says LOG OUT you are logged in and if it says LOG IN you are logged out. To have access to all the pages on WRP, please make sure you are logged in.
  • REGISTRATION. Publicly viewable page. This is where you sign up.
  • ACCOUNT. Only the member can view this page, where all aspects of the membership can be controlled. Please contact Cory for troubleshooting.
  • OVERVIEW & ABOUT. Publicly viewable page. This page has everything you need to know about WRP and your personal professor, Cory Hall.
  • WHAT IS NEW. For members only. This page displays a running list of the newest uploads with the most recent uploads on top. Normally, this “new content bin” contains three-weeks worth of new material before it is put into its proper category and sub-page. This also includes public YouTube videos selected for the Pianist Hall of Fame category.
  • GENERAL TOPICS. For members only. These are videos on topics that do not fall into any of the other categories and are usually more general in nature.
  • (UPDATED!) GRADED PIANO METHOD. This is an excellent place for beginners to start. It is Cory’s own system that agrees with the current standard practice. Cory calls it his “generic beginning piano method”. Learn all the skills within each Grade, and you will have a strong intermediate-level technical and musical foundation. Also, added in this new 2025 edition of WRP, is the Popular Classics category, which features many excellent pieces and teaching material for beginners and intermediates.
  • (EXPANDED!) DAILY EXERCISES. Publicly viewable page with instructional content for members. This category contains exclusive technique and exercise oriented content, which includes instruction from Cory’s books as well as specialized technical topics.
  • SIGHT-READING & HARMONY. Publicly viewable page with instructional content for members. This category contains the complete SR&H video tutorial library that accompanies Cory’s popular book, which totals over 900 videos.
  • HYMNS & CHORALES. Publicly viewable page with instructional content for members. On this page, Cory shows how all pianists can benefit greatly from the regular practice of hymns and chorales.
  • (EXPANDED!) PIANO CLASSICS TUTORIALS. Publicly viewable page with instructional content for members. This category features “How to Learn & Play” tutorials where Cory talks, explains, and demonstrates works from the standard classical solo piano repertoire. Most tutorials have links for free sheet music from IMSLP. Whenever possible, Cory tries to use freely available scores on IMSLP rather than from specialized books that may be difficult to obtain.
  • (EXPANDED!) “SUPER SLOW” VIDEOS. Publicly viewable page with instructional content for members. Cory invented the “Super Slow” idea on YouTube in 2014 with great success. Now, all Cory’s exclusive “Super Slow” content can be seen only on WRP for members. In this type of tutorial, Cory plays the piece at half speed with an overhead view, allowing one to clearly see fingerings, etc. as well as hear the music being played at a productive learning speed. Usually includes free sheet music from IMSLP. Where else can you hear fast and difficult works played by a human being at half speed with musicality?
  • (NEW!) POPULAR CLASSICS. Publicly viewable page. This category is a labor of love for Cory, who loves nothing more than performing less difficult teaching music and arrangements as if they were difficult concert works. Cory performs these little gems as if his life depended on it and if he were playing in Carnegie Hall in front of 1000 people. There is no reason to give less difficult music any less care and attention than more difficult music. Cory’s philosophy is to ALWAYS play musically even when playing “easy” music. Then, you will automatically sound better when approaching difficult music. Cory wishes to lead by example by performing these legendary Popular Classics that have stood the test of time.
  • (UPDATED!) RAGTIME ACADEMY. Publicly viewable page with instructional content for members. Cory is one of the few classical pianists in the world who also excels in classic ragtime. He wishes to share his expertise with ragtime enthusiasts in WRP’s Ragtime Academy.
  • (UPDATED!) MUSIC THEORY.  Publicly viewable page with instructional content for members. One cannot truly become a WELL-ROUNDED PIANIST until one has at least a good, working knowledge of the “nuts and bolts” of musical composition and performance, known broadly as Music Theory. Cory was always very strong in theory in his university and conservatory studies, and he looks forward to teaching you its foundations on this page.
  • (EXPANDED!) GREAT PIANISTS OF YESTERYEAR. Publicly viewable page with exclusive YouTube content for members only. One of the most fascinating and overlooked areas of piano study is history. Students, teachers, and concert artists can all benefit by learning about the great pianists throughout history. Cory has always had a keen interest in this topic. In this updated and expanded 2025 version of WRP, the Great Pianists of Yesteryear page has gone through a major overhaul, now featuring a Pianist Hall of Fame that includes over 70 artists and over 400 hand-picked videos highlighting the artists and their achievements. What a great addition to WRP this is!
  • (NEW!) SCARLATTI. Publicly viewable page. Cory recently published his magnum opus that took 30 years to research and write, Tempo & Duration in the Music of Bach: Uncovering J.S. Bach’s science of tempo, symbolism, and prorportion. In this book, Cory proves Bach’s entire system of tempo by statistical analysis. Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) was born the same year as Bach and operated with the same types of rules governing time signatures and tempos. Cory believes Scarlatti’s sonatas are usually played much too fast by the mainstream and we have all been conditioned into hearing tempos much faster than Scarlatti would have played or intended to be played. In this series, Cory performs Scarlatti sonatas at the tempos Cory believes Bach would have played based on his research. Fascinating and eye-opening!  
  • (NEW!) CORY’S “PIANO-BICYCLE” VLOG. Publicly viewable page. To spice things up a bit, Cory created this series in 2025 on YouTube. Basically, Cory rides around on a bicycle in sunny Florida weather and talks about all things piano. It is a fun and informative series that all pianists should enjoy!
  • (NEW!) CORY’S COMPOSITIONS & ARRANGEMENTS. Publicly viewable page. This exciting category features Cory’s Complete Composer Catalogue, which lists performances and sheet music for ALL of Cory’s published original compositions and arrangements. One needs to go no further than this page in listening to and locating Cory’s works as composer and arranger.
  • WRP BLOG. For members only. Normally, when Cory uploads new instructional content to WRP (usually Sunday), this is accompanied with a summary of the uploads in the WRP Blog. These are not long articles, but short and succint descriptions of the new content and its special features.
  • BOOKS & SHEET MUSIC. Publicly viewable page. This page lists links and resources for recommended books and sheet music from BachScholar Publishing as well as other publishers.
  • TESTIMONIALS. Publicly viewable page. Please email Cory (@bachscholar.com) with your glowing testimonial and it will be published (with your permission) on the Testimonials page!
  • CONTACT. Publicly viewable page. Cory is very easy to contact. He wants to help you become a better pianist.

Long Bio of Cory Hall

“Cory Hall played two works of towering artistic content and difficulty with a power and a finish that were startling. It was an impressive performance” — The Sacramento Bee (William Glackin,1986)

Cory teaches classical and ragtime styles to students of all ages and levels and currently has 40 years’ teaching experience. Known as “the pianist’s pianist” on YouTube, Cory is one of the most longstanding and revered teachers on this platform, producing nearly 2500 videos since 2008 that total 80 million views. In 2011 Cory established BachScholar Publishing, which currently has over 50 volumes of piano music and a variety of teaching material edited by Cory as editor-in-chief. Cory’s flagship publication from 2017, SIGHT-READING & HARMONY: The Ultimate System of Sight-Reading, is a perennial bestseller and is what spawned the creation of WRP!

Cory began piano lessons at the age of 6 in his hometown of Davis, California. Cory earned degrees in piano performance from California State University, Sacramento (B.M.), the Eastman School of Music (M.M.), and the University of Kansas (D.M.A.) as a recipient of the prestigious Graduate Honors Fellowship. In addition, Cory earned a M.M. in musicology (music history) from the University of Kansas concurrently while earning his D.M.A.

Already as an 18-year-old high school senior, Cory was gaining local attention for his musical prowess. For example, Cory participated in a large birthday recital celebration for the composer Béla Bartók on March 27, 1981, which was given a long and favorable review from The Sacramento Union. Cory performed Bartok’s Suite, Op. 14 in this joint recital featuring several performers:

The performance by Cory Hall was a delight on all counts. Although only a senior in high school, he displayed prodigious technique and the maturity to deal with highly complex music. This young man should really make a name for himself.

The sacramento union (march 27, 1981)

Cory’s main piano professors as an undergraduate and graduate student in order were: Gene Savage, Thomas Gentry, David Burge, Richard Reber. In addition, Cory also has studied in masterclasses with piano legends that include: Claude Frank, Abbey Simon, Nelita True, Daniel Pollack, John Perry. In addition, Cory is indebted to the great tutelage of Professor J. Bunker Clark (1930-2003), who was Cory’s main advisor in music history and performance practice at the University of Kansas.

Cory was admitted to the prestigious Eastman School of Music from a cassette tape of his senior recital at C.S.U.S, consisting of the Bach/Busoni Chaconne, Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit, and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (with his professor, Thomas Gentry, playing the orchestral reduction on the second piano). Prior to relocating to Rochester, NY, as a lonely California boy in 1986, Cory participated in another prominent concert production in the historic Crocker Art Museum in downtown Sacramento. Cory gained a glowing review for this performance:

Cory Hall played two works of towering artistic content and difficulty with a power and a finish that were startling. Busoni’s transcription for piano of the colossal Bach Chaconne, which ends the Partita No. 2 for unaccompanied violin in D minor, was given a truly big performance — which is, of course, the only kind of performance which could make Bach’s and Busoni’s points. There are three major climaxes in the course of these 33 variations, and Hall not only played all the notes but made us feel the emotional content as well. Equally difficult, in different technical and emotional ways, is Ravel’s “Scarbo,” one of the three poems for piano which make up “Gaspard de la Nuit.” Inspired by the nearly forgotten fantastical poems of an obscure French writer, Aloysius Bertrand, they evoke nightmarish images (Scarbo is a dwarf who drapes a snakeskin around the dreamer) with music described by one of Ravel’s biographers (Victor Seroff) as “super-Lisztian.” Ravel himself said it called for “transcendent virtuosity.” Hall was up to it — all over the keyboard, but always conscious of the magic the notes were designed to evoke. It was an impressive performance.

THE SACRAMENTO BEE (april 15, 1986)

After completing his M.M. in piano performance at Eastman, Cory had the opportunity to teach abroad, in Germany, where he taught for three years at a community music school near the city of Kassel (where the great publisher Bärenreiter is located). In his three years teaching in Germany, 1988-1991, Cory learned the language fluently and all piano lessons were conducted in German.

Then, Cory felt the urge to return to academia and he was not only accepted to the University of Kansas School of Music based on his academics and performances, but awarded the KU Graduate School’s highest honor with the Graduate Honors Fellowship.

The Graduate Honors Fellowship from the University of Kansas allowed Cory to complete the requirements for his D.M.A. in piano and M.M. in musicology in only three years. Then, came the final comprehensive exams that are feared by all…..

Cory was one of the only graduate students in KU’s history to have passed all 8 sections of the grueling Comprehensive Exams the first time (and did not have to retake any of the 8 sections), comprised of two days of testing consisting of four music history portions on one day and four music theory portions on the next day, both taking eight hours. Cory’s doctoral thesis (called a “D.M.A. Document” rather than “Dissertation”) was a Lecture Recital on the Piano Etudes of György Ligeti (Book 1). As an extra project and not required for the D.M.A., Cory also presented a second lecture recital, “Temporal Organization in Bach’s Goldberg Variations“, which Professor Clark claimed was one the finest concerts he had ever witnessed at the KU School of Music.

Following his graduate studies at the University of Kansas and shortly after relocating to Florida in 1998, Cory served for 11 years as adjunct professor in music and humanities at St. Petersburg College and for 3 years as adjunct professor of music at Eckerd College.

In 2008, Cory began making YouTube videos, and as they say……”the rest is history”. Due to his success on YouTube, in 2010-2011, Cory resigned from his two college teaching positions and began to be in high demand for teaching piano students all around the world remotely (Skype, Zoom, etc.), established BachScholar Publishing, and began producing and editing piano music and instructional material.

Cory was one of the first piano instructors in the world to teach remotely, having started in the Fall of 2012, eight years before remote teaching became normal due to the 2020 Pandemic. One of Cory’s earliest remote piano students was in……of all places…..New Caledonia! (A tiny island in the South Pacific). (True story: In the early 20th century, Cory’s great grandmother traveled to students’ homes via horseback as a piano teacher. Talk about DNA! Both sides of Cory’s family tree were blessed with musical aptitude, although Cory’s parents were not professional musicians or pianists.)

As a self-taught church organist, Cory has also served in United Methodist and Lutheran churches and currently serves as pianist for the Saturday evening service at Grace Lutheran Church (LCMS) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Cory grew up non-religious and agnostic and never attended or entered a church until an adult. In 2011, Cory experienced a powerful and life-changing conversion to Christianity. Cory is currently a practicing Lutheran (and pianist for LCMS Lutheran services) after having been an organist in the United Methodist church for 10 years and attending Southern Baptist churches along the way.

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