Learning the Piano...

Dannyboyo · 05-18-2004, 03:00 PM

Any tips? Seems pretty daunting at the minute, as I cant read music at all. I know a few basic chords, and I come from a guitar playing background. Anyone have any words of wisdom or exeprience (or encouragement!!)?

megomoo · 05-18-2004, 03:23 PM

for reading music:

on the lines (from bottom up) is: Every Good Boy Deserves Footbal

and between the lines it's: F A C E

and thats for treble cleff

sorry if that makes no senseEdited by: megomoo

Angela · 05-18-2004, 05:57 PM

I took piano lessons for two years and not being able to read music became stumbling block #1 at that point. I used to sing in a choir, so I can read that notation, but the piano asks for all ten fingers. [img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img]

So, I guess what I'm suggesting is to learn reading notes, but you can also get some beginners piano sheet music you can use for practicing for now that is fairly easy to read.

samuelle · 05-18-2004, 06:05 PM

maybe you should pick up one of those beginning methods books - they have diagrams of the keys to accompany the sheet music. a lot of them also have the note names written on the notes themselves. that's how i started.

my boyfriend has been trying to learn lately (unsuccessfully i might add) and he taped the letter names to the keys until he got them straight.

good luck. the piano is magnificent.

Dannyboyo · 05-19-2004, 07:17 AM

Thanx, keep 'em coming!

I've done the ol' taping of letters to the keys too! It does make it easier! Would you recommend learning 2 hands at once (so to speak), or right hand first, followed by left hand? Or Vice-Versa? (Please excuse my child-like questions..) I ask as, remembering my keyboard lessons from my school days, my Music teacher (who I think may actually of been Satan) wouldnt let us attempt 2 handed playing?!

Thanx again y'all.

Angela · 05-19-2004, 01:46 PM

Generally, I think, you learn to hands at once, but for one particular piece you study the left and right separately before you put it all together.

samuelle · 05-21-2004, 03:25 AM

i would say put both together as soon as possible. i played the piano for years and then dropped off and only played the violin. when it came time to picking up the piano again i couldn't read two lines of music at once anymore. i find that learning the two handstoo separately results one hand being more skilled than the other at a particular song and that ends in uneveness.

daol20 · 05-21-2004, 08:13 AM

I used to play the piano. My sister and I took it up years ago, and my mam bought a second hand piano. I kept at if for 3 years but never wanted to practice. I was always out wit my mates.My sister always praticed and kept with it, and ended up completing all the grade levelsin the College of Music, in Dublin. She's now a really good pianist, and (since i havent played in years) ISUCK! I want to start over and take it up again.

I know there has been some unbelievable talented pianists over the years but (and this may sound dumb) Chris Martin has made me want to pick it up again. Listening to Coldplay (especially live) has made me want to get back into it. And i intend to!Edited by: daol20

joe_folds_five · 05-24-2004, 10:25 PM

hey

i self-taught myself piano from a guitar playin background and have been playin 3 years now.

I started off learning all the various chords and playing octaves in the left hand. i.e:

C&nbsp ;C&nbs p;&nbs p; C E G
left&n bsp; hand&n bsp;right hand

But with a rhythm to it - so I would alternative left and right and both together.

The i would get tabs and stuff that were chorded and just learn the chords and then learn the songs. Then once i had mastered just playing like that, I learnt to play broken chords - where you play each note in the right hand seperately.

Then I started buying songbooks and learning pieces with moving melodys in both hands.

The good thing about this method was as soon as you can play a few chords with octaves underneath with a good enough rhythm you can not only play most things (albeit in a simple way) but it actually sounds good. I remember someone sayin "where did you learn to play like that" after like a month of practice - i couldn't believe it cos I was really sh*t.

-oli · 05-31-2004, 06:37 PM

ask loucha, she's excellant

melt me down · 06-17-2004, 09:50 AM

hey danny, i have been playing the piano for 12 years . but if your talking about writing songs on piano i did thast wiht no help form all the classical pieces i learnt or form all the grades i did. ill admit the technique was probablly helped but hey, my first few songs from the age of 10 were like 4 chords. start there. ! then just touch different notes, figure out a melody and go with it. play what sounds good to YOU, and remember its never too late to get lessons but the best teaching i got for songwriting came form inside and has been a natural progression. if u have a simple melody in your head just find the notes on the piano. thing is would you want to gig doing pianoia nd guitar?? or would you pick one? anyway let me know how it goes. and a piece of advice is get some old jazz books youll find tonnes of stunning chords. reading music simply comes with practice, buy begginner books etc, Good luck!!

mestonf · 06-17-2004, 05:22 PM

hey

learning piano is easy if you know how the structure of all the chords work on the keyboard, different inversions of the chords and diferent styles of playing them. Work out some melodys over the top and you are sorted! Making beautiful music!

Dannyboyo · 06-23-2004, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melt me down

hey danny, i have been playing the piano for 12 years . but if your talking about writing songs on piano i did thast wiht no help form all the classical pieces i learnt or form all the grades i did. ill admit the technique was probablly helped but hey, my first few songs from the age of 10 were like 4 chords. start there. ! then just touch different notes, figure out a melody and go with it. play what sounds good to YOU, and remember its never too late to get lessons but the best teaching i got for songwriting came form inside and has been a natural progression. if u have a simple melody in your head just find the notes on the piano. thing is would you want to gig doing pianoia nd guitar?? or would you pick one? anyway let me know how it goes. and a piece of advice is get some old jazz books youll find tonnes of stunning chords. reading music simply comes with practice, buy begginner books etc, Good luck!!

Cheers! What avery kindand helpful post! I will keep you updated

MelodyMakerMan · 06-23-2004, 02:06 PM

i just got myself a piano teacher and i'm at the same stage as you Danny Boy, i'll let you know how I progress.

mestonf · 06-23-2004, 02:06 PM

gd gd melody maker man!! keep it up!

MelodyMakerMan · 06-23-2004, 02:13 PM

my aims for the next couple of years are to learn piano, mandolin and drums...

lucyoliver · 08-08-2004, 05:04 AM

learn to play all the scales and get the independence first. then it should be easier.

lucy

jclapt38 · 08-11-2004, 07:58 PM

Dont just memorize the scales, the important thing is learning the composition of the scale. If you learn the patter of a scale, than you can learn how to build the scale in any key. After you learn how to do that than you can learn how to build any chord that you want, and you are home free.

philb2.0 · 09-09-2004, 11:36 AM

its all about control of your fingers. dont start going anywhere near songs untill you have the basic scales and arpegios perfect. keep working on them, because it builds up the strength in your fingers, which are used differently on piano than guitar. i play both(started on piano, and am now able to teach myself guitar.) the piano is the best instrument to learn, it is the basics of every instrument.

there is also a thing which i cant exlain without showing you it myself with my hands, but its moving the hands in between each other, if ya catch my drift, and moving the fingers betweenthe spaces between the fingers of the other hand, and moving the fingers so its bigger gaps in different places.

this helps you when you have to really stretch the gaps between the fingers.

Hannah650 · 09-09-2004, 03:55 PM

Play songs you like - if you dont like classical music then dont play it, simple advice but still...

Oh and dont give up - i did a few years ago and have regretted it ever since![img]smileys/smiley19.gif[/img]

Lazy Life · 09-28-2004, 05:42 PM

when i used to play recorder (brings back the years ahhhhh)

i had a beginners book, but i was what? 7, so i just plonked some letters my ginger headed git of a teacher grrr..... gave us and ummm pretended to play lol.... but then i wnet onto guitar and anyhoo, how do you do?

05-18-2004, 03:23 PM	#2
megomoo Eskimo Regular Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: somewhere over the rainbow Posts: 331	for reading music: on the lines (from bottom up) is: Every Good Boy Deserves Footbal and between the lines it's: F A C E and thats for treble cleff sorry if that makes no senseEdited by: megomoo __________________ You can relate to any cow because you are cow in the cow community essentially sharing the same experience

05-18-2004, 06:05 PM	#4
samuelle care bear stare! Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,087	maybe you should pick up one of those beginning methods books - they have diagrams of the keys to accompany the sheet music. a lot of them also have the note names written on the notes themselves. that's how i started. my boyfriend has been trying to learn lately (unsuccessfully i might add) and he taped the letter names to the keys until he got them straight. good luck. the piano is magnificent. __________________ "I can hope, see? Even if I don't believe."

05-19-2004, 07:17 AM	#5
Dannyboyo Eskimo Regular Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 105	Thanx, keep 'em coming! I've done the ol' taping of letters to the keys too! It does make it easier! Would you recommend learning 2 hands at once (so to speak), or right hand first, followed by left hand? Or Vice-Versa? (Please excuse my child-like questions..) I ask as, remembering my keyboard lessons from my school days, my Music teacher (who I think may actually of been Satan) wouldnt let us attempt 2 handed playing?! Thanx again y'all. __________________ Arse faced weasel or weasel faced arse?

05-21-2004, 03:25 AM	#7
samuelle care bear stare! Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,087	i would say put both together as soon as possible. i played the piano for years and then dropped off and only played the violin. when it came time to picking up the piano again i couldn't read two lines of music at once anymore. i find that learning the two handstoo separately results one hand being more skilled than the other at a particular song and that ends in uneveness. __________________ "I can hope, see? Even if I don't believe."

05-21-2004, 08:13 AM	#8
daol20 Eskimo irRegular Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Southern Yemen Posts: 2,091	I used to play the piano. My sister and I took it up years ago, and my mam bought a second hand piano. I kept at if for 3 years but never wanted to practice. I was always out wit my mates.My sister always praticed and kept with it, and ended up completing all the grade levelsin the College of Music, in Dublin. She's now a really good pianist, and (since i havent played in years) ISUCK! I want to start over and take it up again. I know there has been some unbelievable talented pianists over the years but (and this may sound dumb) Chris Martin has made me want to pick it up again. Listening to Coldplay (especially live) has made me want to get back into it. And i intend to!Edited by: daol20 __________________ You leave me here bereaving from the words so hard and plain Saying the love that we had was just selfish and sad To see you now with him is just making me mad Oh so kiss him again just to prove to me that you can an I will stand here and burn in my skin

05-18-2004, 03:00 PM	#1
Dannyboyo Eskimo Regular Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 105	Any tips? Seems pretty daunting at the minute, as I cant read music at all. I know a few basic chords, and I come from a guitar playing background. Anyone have any words of wisdom or exeprience (or encouragement!!)? __________________ Arse faced weasel or weasel faced arse?

05-18-2004, 05:57 PM	#3
Angela Eskimo Regular Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: cloud #9 Posts: 5,029	I took piano lessons for two years and not being able to read music became stumbling block #1 at that point. I used to sing in a choir, so I can read that notation, but the piano asks for all ten fingers. [img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img] So, I guess what I'm suggesting is to learn reading notes, but you can also get some beginners piano sheet music you can use for practicing for now that is fairly easy to read.

05-19-2004, 01:46 PM	#6
Angela Eskimo Regular Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: cloud #9 Posts: 5,029	Generally, I think, you learn to hands at once, but for one particular piece you study the left and right separately before you put it all together.

05-24-2004, 10:25 PM	#9
joe_folds_five Eskimo Friend Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 32	hey i self-taught myself piano from a guitar playin background and have been playin 3 years now. I started off learning all the various chords and playing octaves in the left hand. i.e: C&nbsp ;C&nbs p;&nbs p; C E G left&n bsp; hand&n bsp;right hand But with a rhythm to it - so I would alternative left and right and both together. The i would get tabs and stuff that were chorded and just learn the chords and then learn the songs. Then once i had mastered just playing like that, I learnt to play broken chords - where you play each note in the right hand seperately. Then I started buying songbooks and learning pieces with moving melodys in both hands. The good thing about this method was as soon as you can play a few chords with octaves underneath with a good enough rhythm you can not only play most things (albeit in a simple way) but it actually sounds good. I remember someone sayin "where did you learn to play like that" after like a month of practice - i couldn't believe it cos I was really sh*t.

05-31-2004, 06:37 PM	#10
-oli Band Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Leeds Posts: 860	ask loucha, she's excellant __________________ Goodbye is too good a word, babe, so I'll just say fare thee well.

06-17-2004, 09:50 AM	#11
melt me down Eskimo Baby Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 3	hey danny, i have been playing the piano for 12 years . but if your talking about writing songs on piano i did thast wiht no help form all the classical pieces i learnt or form all the grades i did. ill admit the technique was probablly helped but hey, my first few songs from the age of 10 were like 4 chords. start there. ! then just touch different notes, figure out a melody and go with it. play what sounds good to YOU, and remember its never too late to get lessons but the best teaching i got for songwriting came form inside and has been a natural progression. if u have a simple melody in your head just find the notes on the piano. thing is would you want to gig doing pianoia nd guitar?? or would you pick one? anyway let me know how it goes. and a piece of advice is get some old jazz books youll find tonnes of stunning chords. reading music simply comes with practice, buy begginner books etc, Good luck!! __________________ love taught me to cry, Elissa X

06-17-2004, 05:22 PM	#12
mestonf Eskimo Regular Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: England Posts: 4,164	hey learning piano is easy if you know how the structure of all the chords work on the keyboard, different inversions of the chords and diferent styles of playing them. Work out some melodys over the top and you are sorted! Making beautiful music!

06-23-2004, 02:06 PM	#14
MelodyMakerMan Eskimo Regular Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 150	i just got myself a piano teacher and i'm at the same stage as you Danny Boy, i'll let you know how I progress.

06-23-2004, 02:13 PM	#16
MelodyMakerMan Eskimo Regular Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 150	my aims for the next couple of years are to learn piano, mandolin and drums...

08-08-2004, 05:04 AM	#17
lucyoliver Eskimo Friend Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: United States Posts: 88	learn to play all the scales and get the independence first. then it should be easier. lucy

08-11-2004, 07:58 PM	#18
jclapt38 Eskimo Friend Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: United States Posts: 78	Dont just memorize the scales, the important thing is learning the composition of the scale. If you learn the patter of a scale, than you can learn how to build the scale in any key. After you learn how to do that than you can learn how to build any chord that you want, and you are home free. __________________ If he should slip He will surely die And his body will break and his soul will fly Into the night where the spirits scream He will leave this world and become a dream

09-09-2004, 11:36 AM	#19
philb2.0 Eskimo Regular Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Ireland Posts: 120	its all about control of your fingers. dont start going anywhere near songs untill you have the basic scales and arpegios perfect. keep working on them, because it builds up the strength in your fingers, which are used differently on piano than guitar. i play both(started on piano, and am now able to teach myself guitar.) the piano is the best instrument to learn, it is the basics of every instrument. there is also a thing which i cant exlain without showing you it myself with my hands, but its moving the hands in between each other, if ya catch my drift, and moving the fingers betweenthe spaces between the fingers of the other hand, and moving the fingers so its bigger gaps in different places. this helps you when you have to really stretch the gaps between the fingers. __________________ "what's he building in there? what the hell is he building in there? we have a right to know....."

09-09-2004, 03:55 PM	#20
Hannah650 Wee Wils Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Edinburgh, yay!!:) Posts: 1,584	Play songs you like - if you dont like classical music then dont play it, simple advice but still... Oh and dont give up - i did a few years ago and have regretted it ever since![img]smileys/smiley19.gif[/img] __________________ Friends are the people who bring out the beautiful things in you that no-one else looks hard enough to find

09-28-2004, 05:42 PM	#21
Lazy Life Working on a Dream Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 146	when i used to play recorder (brings back the years ahhhhh) i had a beginners book, but i was what? 7, so i just plonked some letters my ginger headed git of a teacher grrr..... gave us and ummm pretended to play lol.... but then i wnet onto guitar and anyhoo, how do you do? __________________ ...