The piano is a great instrument to learn and an excellent one for the beginning musician. A variety of musical styles can be played on the piano including rock, jazz, show tunes, blues, and classical music. This is a great way to expose your aspiring pianist to a variety of musical styles and also enhance their creativity and musical know-how.
Instead of purchasing a bulky traditional piano, why not opt for its space saving counterpart- the digital piano? A digital piano can be purchased to have the feel of a regular piano key but not all of them come this way. You can find full piano size digital pianos or smaller varieties if your aspiring pianist is just a beginner. Here is some additional information that will help you make a digital piano purchase.
Why Purchase a Digital Piano?
While you can find digital pianos that are quite expensive, most are quite affordable. However, a new acoustic piano can cost thousands of dollars depending on the style. Digital pianos cost much less in general than acoustic pianos.
There are other reasons why digital pianos are a great purchase. They save space because they take up less room. This make sit ideal for smaller homes or to put in your childs room. Also, they inspire creativity and enhance the learning experience because a lot also come with drum beats and different settings to mimic different instruments and styles.
Both the space saving aspect and the money saving aspect are huge considerations especially if your aspiring pianist is a complete beginner. It would be really upsetting if you purchased an acoustic piano only to realize that your child actually did not like it. If you purchase a digital piano, then you did not waste a lot of money.
Making Decisions
The first thing you should do when purchasing a digital piano is to do some research. Find out what is out there. Visit a few music stores to try some of them out. Read reviews. Talk to other musicians. Once you narrow down your choices, you can do some price matching and comparing.
Before you are ready to make your purchase, make sure you test it again. Testing an instrument a few times on different days is a good idea because you could have different impressions of it. And, if you decide to purchase it online, it is also a good idea to go to a store before you make the purchase.
When it comes time to buy the digital piano, you will know that you prepared for it as best as possible.
How much do you remember about piano recitals, if you went to any? What makes a recital enjoyable rather than an ordeal?
The piano is the most popular instrument in the world! There are so many reasons for this but here are the top 4 reasons for you to learn to play piano:
1) The Piano Has Its Own Unique Sound
One of top 4 reasons to learn to play piano is the unique sound it makes. No other instrument comes close to the type and quality of music generated by the piano, which consequently, is a good thing. High quality music requires that its instruments sound different from each other, yet synthesize in a pleasing way. That’s because when we take the opportunity to appreciate music, we’re really identifying the unique sounds of each instrument, and we’re enjoying (1) how each one of those sounds compliment other sounds, and (2) how each individual sound contributes to the entire song. If it weren’t for the unique sound of the piano, our music would literally change.
2) The Piano Has An Outstanding Dynamic Range
Another reason to learn to play piano is for its dynamic range. The piano is known for its large range of soft and loud tones. Played with a combination of delicate touches and pedal-work, this instrument can whisper soft passages and gently tickle your music bone. Later, it can play as loud as an entire band and give the impression that a one-man show is actually an ensemble of accomplished musicians! Such a large range gives this instrument a unique ability to instill dramatic interpretations and experiences.
3) The Piano Has A Large Pitch Range
A third reason to learn the piano is its pitch range. With over 80 unique pitches, the piano offers one the largest range of notes. This gives its musicians quite a palette to paint with! The pitch range of other string instruments, such as the violin or cello, are somewhat limited when compared to the range of the piano. An expanded pitch range with these types of instruments is _possible_, but it’s not as readily available or accessible as it is on the piano. Only violinists with years of experience for example, can emulate the pitch range of a piano. Beginning pianists however, can enjoy this full scale of notes immediately.
4) The Piano Plays All Three Elements of Music
One more reason (but certainly not the last) is its versatility. No other instrument can play the melody, rhythm, AND harmony of a song at once. Only the piano is capable of playing all three elements of music and although they aren’t easy to learn at first, practicing how to play them together will propel your status from beginner to advanced. This is largely due to the fact that playing the melody, rhythm, and harmony of a song simultaneously portrays the illusion of multiple instruments and musicians, when in actuality, there’s only one genius behind the madness. And that genius is you!
Proper piano instruction is an element extremely vital to learning the instrument well. Though it’s very possible to be a self-taught piano player, piano lessons can really increase the speed and efficiency with which one learns the instrument.
That’s not to say that great piano instruction makes great piano players overnight; even the most naturally talented pianists still play for years before they consider themselves advanced. But proper piano lesson instructions will maximize those years to the fullest and ensure that the student is learning the correct techniques.
Though teaching styles always vary from instructor to instructor, piano instruction generally covers the same basic areas: fingering, music reading, scales, technique, and sight reading. The early lessons will cover fingering and posture, making sure the student knows how to hold his or her hands and where to put them on the keys; series of scales practiced repeatedly will be the basis of this area. Piano instruction will then move on to notation essentials, starting with the basics of notes and key signatures and time signatures and then moving forward to more advanced concepts in rhythm, tempo and dynamics.
Many of these concepts are introduced into the piano instruction while the student is learning to read music, a practice that runs through the entire course of the piano instruction. Teachers will assign short, easy pieces to kick start the student’s music reading knowledge and eventually move forward to more advanced pieces. Sight reading, the ability to play a piece of music without ever having seen it, is sometimes placed sporadically throughout the piano instruction, after a student is fairly well-versed in reading music.
One crucial element of piano playing that is often left out of traditional piano lessons is the study and practice of chords and music theory. To learn to read music without understanding the theory behind the music and the chords and chord progressions that form the music is almost like teaching a surgeon to cut without understanding the human anatomy and it’s interrelated parts. The student will be able to play the piano from a piece of sheet music, but take that music away or have it blow off the piano and he or she is immediately in big trouble.
There is a famous anecdote about a lady who was a concert pianist and could impress people with her playing, yet when asked to play “Happy Birthday” at a party had to decline with great embarrassment because she didn’t have sheet music for the song handy. To be tied to the written music is a shame, when learning chords and music theory adds so much to the value of piano instruction.
Given a healthy dose of music theory and chord instruction mixed in, all of the other elements of piano instruction eventually begin to work hand in hand. Piano instruction then becomes an intricate web of gaining bits of detailed knowledge little by little and understanding the music that’s being played without fully realizing that it’s being gained.
Playing the piano then becomes more fun and a joyful event that can be shared with full understanding of the music theory and form and chord structure that lies behind each song.
I bought a piano as a gift and want to wait until Christmas to bring it into the house. I’m in a cold climate, always freezing this time of year, will that hurt the piano at all leaving it in an enclosed trailer; other than putting it out of tune?
I’ve used craiglist and piano_chat, and I’m turning up blanks. I’ve only found one teacher near me so far…the rest are out of my way. Anybody have any resources I can use? Thanks
Easy piano lessons to get you started on the piano! If you have just started learning the piano and that too on your own, you need to plan your lessons. It is always better to keep practicing regularly and choose your beginner piano lessons in such a way so that the complexity of the lessons increases gradually. Doing a full bang approach where in you try to learn all the aspects at one go is not a great idea, though you will be tempted to do so occasionally.
It is always better to plan your practice sessions else you will be tempted to play songs each time you sit to practice. You should ideally be starting with some finger exercises for a few minutes, then revise the lessons which you recently learnt and then move on to learn new lessons / songs. You should be able to manage all these in a 30 min slot, which is something you should be able to devote for a practice session.
Initially, you will need to plan your easy piano lessons so that you can grasp the important topics, some of which are listed below; each of these lessons build up on the earlier lessons.
Notes on piano – Getting started with the Basics
Staff, Clef, and Ledger lines – How the notes are written
Treble clef Notes
Bass clef Notes
Accidentals – Learn the Sharps and Flats
Learn about Arpeggios
Note Types / Rests – The duration of the various types
Whole Notes, Half Notes, Crotchet, Quaver, Semi-Quavers
Knowing the above topics and to be able to use them in your playing should be on your agenda for the first few months. These are the easy piano lessons which you should plan to learn at the earliest.
Suresh
http://www.piano-education.org/easy-piano-lessons.html
http://www.know-your-keyboard-piano.com/
Back before the internet dominated the way in which we find products and services we relied on more conventional means such as; the yellow pages, print advertising and word of mouth. While these are still effective ways to find information, the internet is certainly as effective and in many ways far more efficient.
The major difference between them is; the internet can display hundreds of thousands of search results for a single search. And, although a search engine like Google can give you many relevant results, it makes it hard sometimes to filter through it all and find what you’re looking for. The choices are often overwhelming.
For example, a Google search for piano lessons reveals a million and a half results. How would you even begin to sift through it all and find yourself a piano course that’s right for you? Try it yourself. Do a search and visit some of these websites, you’ll find thousands of online piano lessons and thousands of different piano methods.
Most of these sites do very well at pitching you why they’re the best method for you. Most focus on the beginning piano player. Why? Because, it’s an audience that know the least and it’s easy to appeal to their emotions. Bold selling statements like, “learn to play by ear” and “impress your friends by playing all your favorite music after only 1 hour” and “the secret piano method that makes the pros jealous!”
I admire these people for their ability to pitch. In fact the internet has made it possible for anyone with an idea and a few copy writing courses to sell just about anything. And, it works. But, what is the aftermath of learning one of these so-called shortcut piano methods. Do they really teach you how to play in and hour? Can you really learn to play by ear overnight? Well, not really.
Certainly, it’s possible to learn how to play by ear and to learn how to play all your favorite songs but for most beginning piano players these are just completely outrageous claims.
What should you look for instead, in order to avoid getting sucked into these “learn to play fast” schemes? First of all, if you’re even considering learning how to play from an online course I would recommend that you do a little research on who is actually giving the course. Are they professional musicians or just someone with a little knowledge? Do they have backgrounds in music? Do they have recordings that you can listen to? Or, are they offering only shortcuts to amazing playing?
Once you’ve done your research on the teacher then look for anyone else who has taken their courses. What are they saying? Do they give any testimonials as to the effectiveness of the courses? Do other students give any proof of their new piano playing abilities?
What I’m trying to point out is; if you dig deep enough you’ll avoid spending your hard earned money on bogus schemes that simply do not work. Learning to play the piano is a lengthy process and should not be taken lightly. It can be fun, but it still takes practice. Anyone who thinks otherwise simply does not understand or does not have enough experience to know any better.
So, let’s say you do find yourself a true professional; someone with a lot of experience, a great track record and plenty of proof to backup it up. What’s the number one reason why you should learn online from this person rather than find a local teacher?
For starters, your online teacher will likely have way more experience and credibility that your local teacher. But, the main reason to learn online is price. A local teacher of any credible stature will be charging at least $75 an hour. An hour online video lesson will run you an average of about $25.
There are other benefits such as; you can learn at your own pace, there are no travel expenses, it’s anonymous, it’s stress free and your lesson is always available for review at any time. But, for most people it’s a question of economics. It’s way cheaper to study online than in person.
So, the next time you do a search for “piano lessons” on Google, please use the above information above to help you choose the right piano lesson for you.