The piano is a beautiful instrument that creates a unique sound, making many people wish they could play it. Learning how to play the piano is a life long mission, it’s certainly not something that you can become an expert in over the course of a few weeks.
Familiarizing yourself with the Piano
The first thing that you need to do is sit in front of the piano and have a play with it. For some reason a piano can seem very intimidating at first. You will need to get yourself used to such a complex musical instrument. Just sit there and try pressing some of the keys. Each key has a different note and they are organized in a particular way. You’ll figure it out from the start.
Learning the Notes
The next step to take is learning exactly which key is which note. This can be confusing at first, because there are so many keys, but the sequence of notes remains the same in different pitches. Once you have mastered the location of the notes, the next thing you need to master is chords. A chord is a set of notes played together at the same time. These chords are harmonious and are what you will be using to play lots of parts of the music.
Reading Music
Most people who play the piano will be able to read music. At first you won’t need to learn how to do this, as most people will learn to play simple pieces off by heart. However, for more complex pieces it is a major advantage if you can read a music score. It’s not that difficult, but it does take some getting used to.
Suitable Beginner Pianos
Anyone starting out playing piano for the first time will probably want something quite small. It’s not really a good idea to get a Baby Grand piano in your front room, unless of course you want one for decoration as well. The small modern digital pianos are perfect for beginners because they are so easy to use.
Being digital these pianos don’t need tuning either, and can put up with a lot of abuse from training. There are a number of different digital pianos that you can get in different price ranges. That being said, try not to choose the most basic piano available. By buying the best one you can afford you will find it much more exciting. It will also last longer as you won’t need to replace it should you find your skills improving.
Some of the best beginner pianos and digital keyboards include the Yamaha P105. Just make sure that whichever digital piano you choose, it has touch sensitive keys.
Playing the piano is a great skill to master. It’s something you can do to unwind and de-stress, and you can also have a good old fashioned family sing-a-long. These singing sessions are great at Christmas in particular. If you are serious about learning how to play the piano, then you will need to prove some consistency and desire to succeed.
I thought you made a good point when you talked about how it might be a good idea to start small when learning how to play the piano. If you try to start with harder songs, you might get overwhelmed and discouraged. You definitely want to start small and work your way up when you are learning the piano.