Custom Search

Friday, August 5, 2011

Learning The Piano

By Andy Penbram


Here is some information for any beginner piano player who would like to move onto more advanced piano lessons and truly master the piano or keyboards. This will be a trip from amateurs level passing through intermediate and advanced levels until ultimately arriving at true master piano player level. On this trail there are sadly too many students who never make it past the first most principal beginners level.

The first levels of piano or keyboard playing can be grouped into two separate kinds, folks who learn how to read music and those that learn how to play by ear without music. The beginner piano player who learns to read music will initially learn to find all the notes on the keyboard and associate them with the written notes on the musical staff. Straightforward melodies can then be performed by interpreting the music. The player who learns how to play by ear will also find out how to locate the notes on the keyboard and might even learn a few basic chords at this time also.

With each one of the notes learned the beginner can now go forward onto an intermediate phase. This will usually comprise learning how to play a couple more difficult pieces for the pianist who is learning to read music. This could comprise reading off 2 staves and playing with both hands at the same time. Essential chord progressions and rhythms using both hands at once is what awaits the student who is learning to play by ear.

At the more advanced levels of playing the music reader will have to learn some fairly hard pieces that may stretch their skills and physically fortify the fingers and the coordination. The coed who has chosen to play by ear will by now be playing melodies integrated into the chord progressions. It will be extraordinarily possible that at this level they're going to be able to play most tunes that they hear and to also discover the chords with little effort.

To advance on to master level the two different techniques of learning are usually combined. Playing by ear and reading music both come naturally to the true master. Each of the two techniques have their advantages and disadvantages. Countless players who've learned to read music will become technically especially skilled but might lack expression and emotion. The opposite can be assumed for the student who learns how to play only by ear, they would find it difficult to be more technical and will lack the discipline that makes the scholar who has learned how to read music. There should be no problem for the real master to be able to read music and play by ear in the same way.

There are plenty of home study programs available for download for beginner and intermediate scholars which will help you move onto the more advanced levels of playing. The good thing about these courses is they have audio and video files so that you can be taught as if you had a piano teacher right there in your house.

Most significant of all however is that almost all the best programs will teach you how to read music and the way to play by ear at the same time. Being taught like this you'll have the foundation to move ahead onto far higher levels and will have the advantages of the 2 techniques of learning direct from the start




About the Author: