Posts Tagged ‘Piano Music’

Have you ever seen someone playing piano without sheet music and wonder “how are they doing that?”

It’s like magic to the uninitiated. They think this person must have years and years of piano lessons under their belt. And while some pianists do have years of classical training it doesn’t mean a thing!

That’s right. In fact, taking classical piano lessons can actually hinder your ability to just sit down and freely improvise. No, what most improvising pianists know is how to use chords. Chords and knowledge of the scale the chords came from is all that is needed to make music at the piano.

Now, most of you have heard of triads. These are 3 note chords that sound something Mozart or Beethoven might have played for their children to get them interested in piano. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with learning triads – except for one thing… they’re boring!

Listen to this…

What if you could learn a chord position that would give you a modern sound right away AND allow you to use both of your hands. And what if this chord structure could provide you with rich, lush sounding chords? You’d probably want to learn this kind of chord type over triad’s right?

Yet thousands upon thousands of piano students begin their studies with the age-old chord structure known as the triad. Now, thankfully, you don’t have to start this way.

Here’s the point. This is the year 2006. We have Jazz and contemporary styles that go beyond the triad and begin with something called seventh chords.

But how exactly do we play these? By using something called the Open Position Chord structure. Here we use both hands to finger a modern sounding seventh chord. And we use over 2 octaves of the keyboard as well. With this kind of chord, we can instantly begin creating our own music.

How easy is this? If I were to tell you that you could begin creating your own music within 1 hour would you believe me? Probably not. But if I were to show you exactly how to do it… well, then, that’s another matter altogether. Don’t take my word for it. Just take my free lesson below and see for yourself!

Beginning piano students can become focused on reading the notes and finding the right keys on the piano and miss the point of playing – to bring their personal sensitivity to bear on the music. Hearing each note in the mind before it is played and thinking about how to touch each key is important to playing thoughtfully and creatively. Music is a language and as such it always tells a story or paints a picture.

Painting is a great analogy for children in piano as it is something that can easily relate to. In children’s music the first place kids can look to get an idea of what this picture will look like is the title of the piece. The title could be for example about the “Morning,” “Moonlight,” a “Triumphant March,” or a “Dance.”

Young students with limited experience learn by imitation and need to hear the pieces played. Parents sometimes think their child isn’t learning to read the notes if the teacher has to play the music for their child. And often children who are able to read music well will not attempt to play new pieces of music at home if they don’t know how it is supposed to sound. Over time, as students gain experience and begin to recognize melody in the music notes, they feel more confident interpreting the music on their own.

Listening to many examples over time allows children to develop their musical ear and artistic abilities. Putting too much emphasis on note reading, or not enough, creates an imbalance between note reading and artistic interpretation. For the beginning piano student these need to go hand-in-hand over time to develop the whole musician.

When it comes to reading piano sheet music, the first place to start is with the individual elements of the composition itself. Before you can tackle an entire piece, you must be familiar with that particular composition’s language.

The following are steps to consider in reading piano sheet music. These will help you grasp the intent and nuances of the piece quickly.

* Look over the entire composition to get a feel for its length and structure. This first run through is just to have a quick overview of the composer’s work.

* Go through the piece a second time. This second run through is more deliberate. You want to locate any unfamiliar things: notes, chords, articulations and tempo indications. Highlight any of these that you know will require research. Use a music dictionary or other resource to understand these elements.

* Next, consider the time signature of the piece. Are you familiar with it? If not, read up on the specific time signature, as it is a primary characteristic of the song.

* Consider the key signature of the composition. Are you familiar with this key or is it new? If it’s new to you, learn the key’s scale with its attendant sharps or flats to better understand the piece.

* Look for key changes within the song. Does the song remain in the same key throughout? If not, how many times does the key change and what are those new keys? Knowing the changes ahead of time makes playing the piece easier.

* Look for tempo changes in the song and highlight them. Again, familiarizing yourself with tempo changes ahead of time allows you to glide from one section to the next easier.

* Look for common passages. Does a phrase or motif repeat itself further along in the piece? Is there a variation of a basic motif somewhere else in the composition? When you familiarize yourself with the basic one, the variations will be that much easier to understand.

* Next, break the composition up into sections. Highlight difficult passages that will require more practice time.

* Write your own notes at specific places on the sheet music. Write these notes using your own unique markings. The only rule to abide by is “whatever makes the piece easier for you to read.”

* Play through the piece once, as best you can, without stopping. Even if you have trouble at a certain point, finish the piece. This once over will give you a visual and aural snapshot of the composition.

* Play through the piece again. Stop as needed to make any additional markings in difficult areas.

* Concentrate on just the difficult passages. Look them over again a few times so their structure remains in your mind. Do this before playing them again. This sets the structure in your mind so you can concentrate on the eye-hand coordination. With your eyes familiar with the section, you can now work on your hand movements.

Playing a complete composition with piano sheet music need not be an arduous task. When you tackle its component parts one at a time, the process is much easier. When you learn the individual components and then put them all together, the result is a satisfying musical experience.

The piano is the most perfectly designed instrument for playing chords. It’s visually straightforward, easy-to-understand layout makes it simple for the beginning piano student to learn how to play chords. Unlike other instruments, such as the guitar, the player doesn’t need to learn how to contort her fingers in strange, unnatural ways just to play the most simple combinations of notes.

In contrast, the basic chords on the piano seem almost magically designed to be played by the human hand. When learning how to play the piano, the beginning pianist only needs to learn the structures of these basic chords, and a world of harmony opens itself up.

To start, although they are not technically chords, combinations of two notes — usually referred to as “intervals” or “dyads” — are often seen in piano music. Even if they aren’t technically chords, combinations of two notes are essentially the foundation of all music harmony. Thus, when learning how to play chords, it’s also a good idea for students to first learn intervals.

The smallest interval on the Western music scale is the minor second, which is made up of two notes that are only a half-step apart — for instance, E and the next F, or B and the next C. Although there are various ways of referring to the intervals, they are most often named as follows, in order of increasing size:

1. Minor second
2. Major second
3. Minor third
4. Major third
5. Perfect fourth
6. Augmented fourth (or diminished fifth)
7. Perfect fifth
8. Minor sixth (or augmented fifth)
9. Major sixth
10. Minor seventh
11. Major seventh
12. Perfect octave

You don’t have to learn all of them at once, but most piano players must learn them eventually. Plus, there are similar names for intervals larger than an octave, but they don’t come up quite as often.

When learning how to play chords, many students start out with triads, which are the most basic form of three-note chords. Basically, while intervals are the foundation of all musical harmony, triads are the starting point to more complex harmonies. Also, they are refreshingly simple and easy to play. For example, if you set the fingers of your right hand on the first five notes of the C major scale — C, D, E, F, and G — then your thumb, middle finger, and pinky are already in position to play the C major triad.

Your knowledge of intervals comes in handy when learning triads, of which there are four main types:

1. Major triad: A major third plus a minor third (e.g., C E G).
2. Minor triad: A minor third plus a major third (e.g., A C E).
3. Diminished triad: A minor third plus a minor third (e.g., B D F).
4. Augmented triad: A major third plus a major third (e.g., C E G).

Diminished and augmented triads occur far less frequently than major and minor triads, especially in the types of music usually played by beginning pianists. This will make more sense when you practice playing triads; major and minor triads will sound familiar and comfortable to the ear, while diminished and augmented triads will sound stranger and more dissonant.

Meanwhile, it’s important to understand the naming of triads. In short, all triads are named after their root note — the note which begins the scale the chord is based on. For example, the minor triad of A C E is referred to as “A minor,” because it is based on the A minor scale; the major triad of F A C is referred to as “F major,” because it is based on the F major scale: the diminished triad of Bb D F is referred to as “Bb major,” and so on.

Beyond intervals and triads, the range and terminology of piano chords only becomes more layered and complex. The number of things you will have to learn may seem daunting at first, but it’s always important to remember that learning how to play chords is a series of baby steps. For example, soon after learning about triads, you might want to learn about chord inversion, or how to turn triads into seventh chords. Both of these techniques, though becoming more advanced, are relatively simple on their own. So, when learning, stick with one thing at a time, and soon you will not be so confused by all of those bizarre chord notations you see everywhere.

We all want a good deal. There’s no denying that. Yet many would be piano players are missing out on some amazing deals online. Specifically, I’m talking about computer piano lessons.

The technology has finally enabled many offline teachers to put their materials online via video and audio. In fact, thanks to sites like YouTube and Google Video, students can actually watch instructors perform the lessons.

And the best part about these computer piano lessons is that many of them are free and are available right now. Just visit YouTube and type in the phrase “piano lessons” and the number of results that pop up will amaze you.

In fact, if you’re interested in learning jazz piano, there are a few jazz videos available. Like New Age piano music? The author’s own videos are available teaching this style of playing.

And let’s not forget about price.

The average cost these days for quality piano instruction runs anywhere from $30 to $60 an hour or more! There’s absolutely nothing wrong per se with “live” instruction. You can get instant feedback and have your progress monitored. But, you can now have the same scenario online without having to pay an arm and a leg for it.

Last I looked, most computer piano lessons were no more than $30 to $50 for a full month! And that’s the high end of the spectrum.

The way it works for most online piano lesson sites is that you pay to get access to a library of lessons. The benefits here are very real. For example, you can work at your own pace and review the lessons over and over again – something you can’t do with a live instructor. Most piano courses also have a message board so you can also “talk” with the instructor if problems or questions arise.

All in all, taking computer piano lessons is a good deal and one that should be investigated.