The new year is coming and I was thinking what kind of New Year's Resolution I should make. Among one of the top ones that I have thought of is to learn how to play the piano, as I've always had a deep admiration for musically gifted people, and I think it's never too late to start!
Unfortunately, I have no idea where to start. I have no history or experience in relation to any musical instrument. I was thinking of getting a keyboard, but I don't know the price range of bad to good ones, etc.
Seeing as TL community is totally kickass and undoubtedly will have some musically talented people, I was wondering if I could get some suggestions on what are the things I will need, if there any helpful resources I can be pointed towards, and how to improve.
Figured I'd tag my question along with this blog, since they're along the same lines.
I'm interested in learning the piano ones. Target/Walmart have these 61 keyboard things that would fit well into a small apartment/ dorm room. Is that large enough for beginner piano learners?
61 keys is good for sure. Learning instruments is very rewarding, some are really easy some are very hard. I've been playing percussion for 10 years and it came naturally to me. Saxophone was easy to learn too. Piano and french horn were hard for me. I would suggest taking lessons. If you are enrolled in a college you could sign up for Piano Elective, class piano or whatever piano classes you have. Teaching yourself is cool but you will eventually hit a point where you don't know what to do next. However if you really don't have the sheckles for private lessons then just buy a book that goes over basics. If you really want to get good learn common chord progressions like I-IV-I-V-I, your scales ESPECIALLY MAJOR SCALES. You guys can do it. I have faith in you.
If you have a keyboard that can plug into your computer, then this http://synthesiagame.com/ Really nifty little game that helps you learn your favourite songs and whatnot.
There's a crapton of song from easy ones like this xD + Show Spoiler +
To start with, identify songs that you would like to play. Piano, like all things, requires practice, patience and motivation. So set yourself goals with songs. Learning scales, chord progressions etc. is great in the long run, but not very fun. Constantly working on that song you really want to play, and finally being able to play it is the real reward of an instrument. You should post a youtube vid of a piano piece that you'd like to be able to play, and realistically how long you think it will take till you get to the level required. That way we can make a judgement on what your expectations are.
The advice im going to give is making the assumption that you will want to move up to a real piano, or an electric piano at some point in the future.
When it comes to selecting your first keyboard, make sure the keys are the same size as a real piano's keys. Don't go for some mini-keyboard, becuase when you switch to a full sized instrument, you'll not be able to play anything. Obviously the more keys the better, but 61 is fine for a beginner, you wont need those other keys just yet.
When it comes to selecting, go for sound quality over everything else. Whatever has the nicest sounding piano sound. While having a library of 8 million synth instruments is fun to mess around with, its not worth the tradeoff for a nicer sounding keyboard, or a cheaper price. A lot of keyboards will advertise pressure sensitive keys, but this is a load of fluff. Pressure sensitive keys are absoultely nothing like real weighted keys and will not help you become better at the piano.
When it comes to price, spend however much you would be willing to spend if you were going to throw the piano in the bin next year. Ideally, in about a years time, you'll have played enough and want to move up to something with weighted keys and a quality piano sound, or you'll have given up. Your first keyboard's price should be a reflection of this fact and you should consider this when you purchase.
As for learning, a piano teacher is obviously the best way to learn, but will of course cost a bit of cash. Id start off by self teaching. Assess whether or not you enjoy learning the instrument before spending a whole bunch of money on lessons.
Youtube has a tonne of learning videos where people will go through all the basics of learning how to play piano, from learning the names of the notes, to reading sheet music etc. This is a good place to start.
Basically its guitar hero for the piano. If your keyboard comes with a usb port or midi out/in ports, you can hook it up to your computer or laptop, and its a great learning tool.
My best advice is to learn how to read sheet music, find sheet music for things you like to listen to, and start playing. I actually don't like Synesthesia, because ideally you should be using sheet music to guide yourself through the song, or playing from memory. Synesthesia (as far as I know) also does not tell you anything about dynamics, and dynamics are very important; playing piano is about more than just hitting the right notes.
If you don't have a keyboard or piano, then I would stick with a small one for now, so it's not too much of an investment if you decide you don't like the instrument. If you decide to be serious about continuing, you should at least get a full-size one with weighted keys, like a Casio Privia.
Print out your favorite piece and learn to read it, because once you know how to read sheet music, you'll be able to sight read the majority of the pieces out there. Then it comes to practice and time in order to play your piece fluently.
61 key keyboard is fine, you won't be using the rest of the keys anytime soon.
As for the technical aspects of playing piano, I feel doing finger exercises like scales, arpeggios, trills with your 3/4/5 fingers etc. will help you immensely, especially since you're a beginner. Use resources like Wiki to help you with the music phrases found on sheet music.
i bought it on sale from my local guitar center on the 4th of july for like $600. it is a full weighted 88 key keyboard that sounds great. i almost prefer the sound of the keyboard over most real pianos i try, only because most pianos are every so slightly out of tune.
but yeah i would start with learning sheet music and know what note each key play on the piano
On December 27 2011 03:52 Fen2 wrote: To start with, identify songs that you would like to play. Piano, like all things, requires practice, patience and motivation. So set yourself goals with songs. Learning scales, chord progressions etc. is great in the long run, but not very fun. Constantly working on that song you really want to play, and finally being able to play it is the real reward of an instrument. You should post a youtube vid of a piano piece that you'd like to be able to play, and realistically how long you think it will take till you get to the level required. That way we can make a judgement on what your expectations are.
The advice im going to give is making the assumption that you will want to move up to a real piano, or an electric piano at some point in the future.
When it comes to selecting your first keyboard, make sure the keys are the same size as a real piano's keys. Don't go for some mini-keyboard, becuase when you switch to a full sized instrument, you'll not be able to play anything. Obviously the more keys the better, but 61 is fine for a beginner, you wont need those other keys just yet.
When it comes to selecting, go for sound quality over everything else. Whatever has the nicest sounding piano sound. While having a library of 8 million synth instruments is fun to mess around with, its not worth the tradeoff for a nicer sounding keyboard, or a cheaper price. A lot of keyboards will advertise pressure sensitive keys, but this is a load of fluff. Pressure sensitive keys are absoultely nothing like real weighted keys and will not help you become better at the piano.
When it comes to price, spend however much you would be willing to spend if you were going to throw the piano in the bin next year. Ideally, in about a years time, you'll have played enough and want to move up to something with weighted keys and a quality piano sound, or you'll have given up. Your first keyboard's price should be a reflection of this fact and you should consider this when you purchase.
As for learning, a piano teacher is obviously the best way to learn, but will of course cost a bit of cash. Id start off by self teaching. Assess whether or not you enjoy learning the instrument before spending a whole bunch of money on lessons.
Youtube has a tonne of learning videos where people will go through all the basics of learning how to play piano, from learning the names of the notes, to reading sheet music etc. This is a good place to start.
Basically its guitar hero for the piano. If your keyboard comes with a usb port or midi out/in ports, you can hook it up to your computer or laptop, and its a great learning tool.
On December 27 2011 03:52 Fen2 wrote: To start with, identify songs that you would like to play. Piano, like all things, requires practice, patience and motivation. So set yourself goals with songs. Learning scales, chord progressions etc. is great in the long run, but not very fun. Constantly working on that song you really want to play, and finally being able to play it is the real reward of an instrument. You should post a youtube vid of a piano piece that you'd like to be able to play, and realistically how long you think it will take till you get to the level required. That way we can make a judgement on what your expectations are.
The advice im going to give is making the assumption that you will want to move up to a real piano, or an electric piano at some point in the future.
When it comes to selecting your first keyboard, make sure the keys are the same size as a real piano's keys. Don't go for some mini-keyboard, becuase when you switch to a full sized instrument, you'll not be able to play anything. Obviously the more keys the better, but 61 is fine for a beginner, you wont need those other keys just yet.
When it comes to selecting, go for sound quality over everything else. Whatever has the nicest sounding piano sound. While having a library of 8 million synth instruments is fun to mess around with, its not worth the tradeoff for a nicer sounding keyboard, or a cheaper price. A lot of keyboards will advertise pressure sensitive keys, but this is a load of fluff. Pressure sensitive keys are absoultely nothing like real weighted keys and will not help you become better at the piano.
When it comes to price, spend however much you would be willing to spend if you were going to throw the piano in the bin next year. Ideally, in about a years time, you'll have played enough and want to move up to something with weighted keys and a quality piano sound, or you'll have given up. Your first keyboard's price should be a reflection of this fact and you should consider this when you purchase.
As for learning, a piano teacher is obviously the best way to learn, but will of course cost a bit of cash. Id start off by self teaching. Assess whether or not you enjoy learning the instrument before spending a whole bunch of money on lessons.
Youtube has a tonne of learning videos where people will go through all the basics of learning how to play piano, from learning the names of the notes, to reading sheet music etc. This is a good place to start.
Basically its guitar hero for the piano. If your keyboard comes with a usb port or midi out/in ports, you can hook it up to your computer or laptop, and its a great learning tool.
synthesiagame looks pretty good, I checked out the website. Do you actually have experience with using this site's functions?
Yeah I do, been using it for years and its a great learning tool. I do agree however with the other guy that synthesia can end up hampering your learning as you're following falling notes rather than sheet music and you kinda get dependent on them after a while. Learning to read sheet music is very important regardless if you are going to use synthesia or not. Synthesia does have a function that allows you to follow with the sheet music also.
The learning functions work great and really help you learn the song faster. Things like the song not progressing until you hit the correct notes, and sound only playing when you hit the correct notes, the ability to slow down songs and set up loops to learn tricky sections etc. When I learn songs, I learn them by heart so I'm not burdened by the requirements of sheets etc. so synthesia really speeds up me learning the notes and getting the feel of the song down.
Its well worth the money for the learning pack, but try the free version out first when you get a keyboard.
Go with weighted 88 keys; I'd personally invest in a realistic keyboard now so you don't have to spend more money down the line looking for something else. Plus, 88 keys will give you the freedom to play around with higher/lower notes if you get bored of practicing normally.
I want to get into piano too. So I hope you don't mind if I ask here... Is that ^ of any good to a beginner for that money (can't go much higher with the price)? And apparently I need to buy some pedals to go along with.. Which one? And anything else? Is that even the right product to go for if you want to learn to play the piano? I guess I should do some more research before thinking of buying anything lol
On December 27 2011 03:52 Fen2 wrote: To start with, identify songs that you would like to play. Piano, like all things, requires practice, patience and motivation. So set yourself goals with songs. Learning scales, chord progressions etc. is great in the long run, but not very fun. Constantly working on that song you really want to play, and finally being able to play it is the real reward of an instrument. You should post a youtube vid of a piano piece that you'd like to be able to play, and realistically how long you think it will take till you get to the level required. That way we can make a judgement on what your expectations are.
The advice im going to give is making the assumption that you will want to move up to a real piano, or an electric piano at some point in the future.
When it comes to selecting your first keyboard, make sure the keys are the same size as a real piano's keys. Don't go for some mini-keyboard, becuase when you switch to a full sized instrument, you'll not be able to play anything. Obviously the more keys the better, but 61 is fine for a beginner, you wont need those other keys just yet.
When it comes to selecting, go for sound quality over everything else. Whatever has the nicest sounding piano sound. While having a library of 8 million synth instruments is fun to mess around with, its not worth the tradeoff for a nicer sounding keyboard, or a cheaper price. A lot of keyboards will advertise pressure sensitive keys, but this is a load of fluff. Pressure sensitive keys are absoultely nothing like real weighted keys and will not help you become better at the piano.
When it comes to price, spend however much you would be willing to spend if you were going to throw the piano in the bin next year. Ideally, in about a years time, you'll have played enough and want to move up to something with weighted keys and a quality piano sound, or you'll have given up. Your first keyboard's price should be a reflection of this fact and you should consider this when you purchase.
As for learning, a piano teacher is obviously the best way to learn, but will of course cost a bit of cash. Id start off by self teaching. Assess whether or not you enjoy learning the instrument before spending a whole bunch of money on lessons.
Youtube has a tonne of learning videos where people will go through all the basics of learning how to play piano, from learning the names of the notes, to reading sheet music etc. This is a good place to start.
Basically its guitar hero for the piano. If your keyboard comes with a usb port or midi out/in ports, you can hook it up to your computer or laptop, and its a great learning tool.
synthesiagame looks pretty good, I checked out the website. Do you actually have experience with using this site's functions?
Yeah I do, been using it for years and its a great learning tool. I do agree however with the other guy that synthesia can end up hampering your learning as you're following falling notes rather than sheet music and you kinda get dependent on them after a while. Learning to read sheet music is very important regardless if you are going to use synthesia or not. Synthesia does have a function that allows you to follow with the sheet music also.
The learning functions work great and really help you learn the song faster. Things like the song not progressing until you hit the correct notes, and sound only playing when you hit the correct notes, the ability to slow down songs and set up loops to learn tricky sections etc. When I learn songs, I learn them by heart so I'm not burdened by the requirements of sheets etc. so synthesia really speeds up me learning the notes and getting the feel of the song down.
Its well worth the money for the learning pack, but try the free version out first when you get a keyboard.
Learning piano sounds like a fantastic new years resolution. A couple of things:
1. As someone said above, I think it is important to identify what kind of music you are interested in playing. This could affect the type of piano you would consider buying. If you're into classical, its going to be extremely important to have a piano with as realistic a feel as possible, whereas if you're going for pop rock/modern styles of music this may not be as important, but having a keyboard that also has electric piano/organ/synth sounds would be important so that you can play the songs that you like and aren't just stuck with piano ballads lols.
2. Re Keyboard choices. You can get a lot of keyboard for $1000. You can get still quite a lot of keyboard for $500. Its worth familiarising yourself with brands such as Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Kurzweil, Kawai, Casio, Clavia (they do the bright red Nord series of keyboards!). Without knowing the answer to point (1), I would at this point be recommending an 88 key stage piano with hammer action keys, or at least fully weighted, from one of the above brands. If you look at some of their previous models, from 10-15 years ago, you'll find that these boards which were worth $2000-$4000 new are now available for pretty cheap, from around $500. Some of the boards have better piano sounds than others, a lot of them have features that you don't need, so you need to decide what you want, and don't get distracted. Granted, there are probably cheaper boards available in stores, but the advantage of buying second-hand is that you're buying a better quality instrument that in one year time you'll probably still be able to sell it for as much as you bought it.
3. My final point. Stage pianos are not as good as the real thing. I've played the top keyboards made by all of the above brands, but I wouldn't willingly choose to play any of them over my own acoustic upright. Why is this you ask? It has a lot to do with amplification and feel. The sound you hear out of the keyboard, regardless of the quality of the grand piano the manufacturer has sampled, is only going to be as good as the speakers or headphones you're playing it through. Good speakers are expensive. Headphones just aren't the same. And even putting aside these sound issues, fact of the matter is that acoustic piano's have a feel, a sound, a feeling, a romanticism about them that is inspiring, and that you just won't get out of a digital keyboard.
4. Lol my actual final point? If you can, buy an acoustic piano! So much cooler. People give away old pianos, and sometimes you can get lucky. If you're willing to spend a few hundred dollars or more you would probably have a higher probability of securing a piano that is actually in tune.
Shits hard. Been learning for about 4 months and its like learning SC2. Dont give up, learn from your mistakes, take advice from pros and see how certain things change your performance (For example, I enjoy listening to music, mostly rap while playing). Experiment and have fun!
Yeah, I'd like to play some type of instrument, and I love piano, too bad I've been musically retarded all my life, but it's never too late to start learning
Been playing the piano for 13 years now (19 years old now; I started really young). The "best" way to learn the piano is definitely through classical songs (Chopin, Tschaikovsky, Bach, Beethoven, etc). You get the best feel for expressing the music, and certain patterns in music best this way. However, this can be time consuming. If you have time, I'd progress through the Royal Conservatory of Music books; that's a great way to get your way up there. If you don't have that kind of time, then play whatever you love to play. You can find all kinds of sheet music on google if you look hard enough. Remember, playing the piano is meant to be enjoyed (:
If I were to start again I would have learned jazz piano instead of classical piano. Jazz piano will give you a more robust technique as it is based around improvisation whereas classical piano focuses on the execution of specific set pieces. Both will take work but at a low-mid level, you can achieve more in less time with jazz piano. And when you go to play songs for your friends, you will have fun stuff to play for them, instead of Bach or Mozart.
On December 27 2011 03:44 Peanutbuttah wrote: If you have a keyboard that can plug into your computer, then this http://synthesiagame.com/ Really nifty little game that helps you learn your favourite songs and whatnot.
Don't. Seriously. It's like trying to learn tap harmonics while playing Guitar Hero. Just...no.
Probably standard classical training is best. Etudes/Scales into basic concertos and repertoire into OMFG I SEE YOU RICHTER AND I RAISE YOU A RACH B-FLAT MAJOR PRELUDE. Obviously if you want a bit more jazz/popular music variant you should get more music theory training than anything else...modes/scales/cadences are pretty good I heard.
Others have given some good advice. I learned on my own for a large portion of my life, so I know some things to avoid though.
DON'T BUY A CHEAP 61 KEY KEYBOARD.
Let me repeat that for you.
DON'T BUY A CHEAP 61 KEY KEYBOARD.
If you spend a large portion of your time practicing on a cheap 61 key non-weighted keyboard, you will be completely worthless when it comes to showtime on an actual nice piano, not to mention you can get an actually decent piano for very little more. Spend just a little more money, and get a decent 88 key weighted keys piano. Get an old upright if you can, unless you plan on doing absolutely nothing but rock/pop stuff.
If you do want a keyboard for portability/space/etc try one of these out at a music store.
Very decent beginner pianos/keyboards with weighted keys, and other random sounds to screw around with.
One last thing. TAKE FARKING LESSONS. Yes, you can learn on your own. You can even get very good on your own. But you'll get good in literally half the time if you take lessons, as well as having a rock solid base(unlike me). I taught myself piano from about age 10(? off and on) to 20. I got to a decent level, for example, I could play Mozarts "Rondo Alla Turca" decently. But within six months of taking lessons with a very good concert pianist, and actually learning scales and such, I was playing through the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique, and pretty well. I would suggest finding someone who goes to a local college, and find a high level(junior/senior) pianist, and taking lessons from them to start with. They will be at a pretty high level, but will also be cheaper than an actual professional. Also, be sure and tell them what you want to learn. If you want to just play by ear for the most part, then they will be able to help you with progressions/chords/scales/etc, which is different than if you just wanted to play classical/sheet music types only. I would try to do both, but really, tbh, I've found it pretty difficult to get good at both at the same time.
I taught myself piano for the most part, but decided to go a different route with the cello, I got lessons right off the bat. As a result, 1.5 years later, I'm about as good on the cello as I am the piano, despite only playing for about a 10th of the time. Maybe that will motivate you to get a teacher, lol.
On December 27 2011 10:39 harve wrote: Learning piano sounds like a fantastic new years resolution. A couple of things:
1. I think it is important to identify what kind of music you are interested in playing.
4. Lol my actual final point? If you can, buy an acoustic piano! So much cooler.
Great points, although I'll point out with a real piano there's also maintenance/tuning costs, as well as potential noise complaints if you live in an apartment. If your goals/living situation align, though, it's a great way to go. Please at least get a full weighted keyboard with damper pedal, though -- I die a little every time I have to play on anything less.
Although I had classical training myself, I don't necessarily think that it's the only way to go. What is important is that just like SC2, you have to establish good technique before you can really get expressive/creative with your music, and consistent practice is the way to get there (even if it's only half an hour a day). Classical music is great in that respect because the available level of difficulty is much higher in the classical repertoire, but when you start out, there's nothing wrong with playing popular music either.
Good luck learning, and don't hesitate to ask any more questions! As a former piano major, I naturally think it's the coolest instrument in the world :-)
On December 28 2011 01:14 Sm3agol wrote: Others have given some good advice. I learned on my own for a large portion of my life, so I know some things to avoid though.
DON'T BUY A CHEAP 61 KEY KEYBOARD.
Let me repeat that for you.
DON'T BUY A CHEAP 61 KEY KEYBOARD.
If you spend a large portion of your time practicing on a cheap 61 key non-weighted keyboard, you will be completely worthless when it comes to showtime on an actual nice piano, not to mention you can get an actually decent piano for very little more. Spend just a little more money, and get a decent 88 key weighted keys piano. Get an old upright if you can, unless you plan on doing absolutely nothing but rock/pop stuff.
If you do want a keyboard for portability/space/etc try one of these out at a music store.
Very decent beginner pianos/keyboards with weighted keys, and other random sounds to screw around with.
One last thing. TAKE FARKING LESSONS. Yes, you can learn on your own. You can even get very good on your own. But you'll get good in literally half the time if you take lessons, as well as having a rock solid base(unlike me). I taught myself piano from about age 10(? off and on) to 20. I got to a decent level, for example, I could play Mozarts "Rondo Alla Turca" decently. But within six months of taking lessons with a very good concert pianist, and actually learning scales and such, I was playing through the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique, and pretty well. I would suggest finding someone who goes to a local college, and find a high level(junior/senior) pianist, and taking lessons from them to start with. They will be at a pretty high level, but will also be cheaper than an actual professional. Also, be sure and tell them what you want to learn. If you want to just play by ear for the most part, then they will be able to help you with progressions/chords/scales/etc, which is different than if you just wanted to play classical/sheet music types only. I would try to do both, but really, tbh, I've found it pretty difficult to get good at both at the same time.
I taught myself piano for the most part, but decided to go a different route with the cello, I got lessons right off the bat. As a result, 1.5 years later, I'm about as good on the cello as I am the piano, despite only playing for about a 10th of the time. Maybe that will motivate you to get a teacher, lol.
Yep,, getting a teacher is 99% better than studying it on your own, as i have experienced with studying random stuff in general on my own. But i have never gotten myself a teacher except one during my 8, i didn't like piano that much, in fact i hated piano so i quit. Now, 8 years later, what am i doing now? trying to figure how to play one simple waltz song, but i don't have the time to have private teacher anymore SO.... i'm strongly recommend any of you who is interested in piano or anything in general, try get a teacher who can teach you if you have the TIME and MONEY,... oh wait and PASSION (which include SC2)
Ok so I am going to start learning piano at near the end of the year and would like a little advice. Would it be worth learning how to read sheet music in advance to aid in my playing or should I not bother? I mean I know I could learn by ear but I play other instruments and think it would be a useful skill that could be moved over in some regards. Its my understanding that sheet music is the same for all instruments except for percussion? May be wrong on that.
Alot of people have suggested lessons in earlier posts but being a cash strapped student at uni means that I cant really afford lessons. I mean I could spend the money I will use for my keyboard on lessons if the difference between self learning and taught is that significant.
EPT
