Piano & Keyboard
Music Mini Course: Learn The Basics Of Reading Music On A Keyboard Instrument
Welcome to the wonderful world of music. As you begin reading this Music Mini Course it is fun to realize that you are also participating in a very important cultural aspect from around the world which has been going on for centuries.
Piano Lessons and Perfectionism
Are you a perfectionist? Does every note have to sound right before it comes out of your piano? If so, you might be cheating yourself out of the joy of music making. Most of us learned how to be perfectionists as children, trying to please Mommy or Daddy.
The Case Against Traditional Piano Lessons
How would you like to spend 4 years in a University learning how to play other peoples music? If you think this is ridiculous, you're right! Because that's what thousands of piano music students do each day.They sit in front of their piano or keyboard with sheet music of a dead composer in front of them.
Learning the Piano and Playing the Piano
Many piano students spend much time learning how to play the piano. Years upon years of study time devoted to perfecting technique, tone, dynamics, etc.
Piano Lessons Can be Fun!
There are essentially two ways to learn piano - note reading or chords. For those who want to spend years learning how to play other peoples music, note reading is the way to go.
Trusting Your Inner Voice - Key to Success at the Piano
We all have so many critical voices in our heads.Telling us what's good, what's not, and what should be.
Piano Music - How to Begin and End a Piece
How do you begin a piece of music? That's a question I'm often asked. The answer I usually give is that you begin as soon as you start playing - that is, if you're trying to "compose" something, the piece begins the moment it has energy and is something you want to capture.
Learn Piano the Easy Way!
There are essentially two ways to learn piano - note reading or chords. For those who want to spend years learning how to play other peoples music, note reading is the way to go.
Piano Music, Perfectionism, and Self-Expression
Is your heart in the music? If so, it won't matter what you play so much as what is received through your playing. Do you still think you need to learn 43 chords to sound good or are you concerned with the joy of expressing yourself through this wonderful instrument called the piano? People who sound like they know what they are doing may indeed know what they are doing but does that mean you want to listen to the music?Let's look at pop music for example.
The Open Position Piano Chord
Chords. They're amazing.
Play The Piano Like A Pro
Meet the 12 Major Notes:1. C (do)2.
Adults Can Learn to Play the Piano Too
Are you well past puberty and have always had a hankering for tickling the ivories? Maybe you didn't have the money as a child. Or your family was always moving.
Learning to Play The Piano with Chords
Learning piano chords can help you in all your piano playing. For me chords are the easiest way to play and the simplest way to embellish my playing.
Learning to Play the Piano with Chords Part 2
Do you want to learn how to play chords on the piano? Can you already read sheet music or basic notes on the treble and or bass clef?Do you look at the notes on a piece of sheet music and are unable to name the chords?Or do you look at a piece of sheet music, see the letter "C" and are not sure which notes to play?If you answered yes to the first and second question this is easy to remedy. Knowing which chords are being represented by notes in sheet music comes with practice just like reading the basic notes does.
12 Reasons You Should Learn to Play the Piano
All right, folks, here you go: My 12 reasons why you should start learning how to play the piano. Immediately.
Piano on the Right-Side of the Brain
Some of you may remember a book titled "Drawing on the Right-Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards.In this book, Betty Edwards tried to teach you how to see differently.
How to Be in the Moment when Playing Piano
Your best music will always come when you are in the moment and just playing the piano. Why is this? Because you have forgotten about trying to make music.
Tips for Buying Digital Pianos and Keyboards
Buying a digital piano could be a very delicate attempt, especially if you have no idea about pianos in the first place. This article is written to help you out how to choose the best digital piano.
Open Position Piano Chords - Perfect for the New Age Style
The Open Position Chord (OPC) allows you to create a vented sound. A sound that is open, literally, as opposed to the closed triads taught in most course books.
How to Play Piano Using a Few Chords
How many chords do you need to create a piece of music? Would you believe that it doesn't really matter and that whole pieces of music have been created using just one chord? For example, if you play a D minor 7 chord, you could use the bass note D to create a drone effect and anchor the whole improvisation. It could last for a few seconds or many minutes.
Piano Teachers - Whats Wrong with Them?
Most of us like to use what we learn right away. So why is it that most piano teachers tell you you can't really play music until you learn 2 years of theory or more? What hogwash!If I had to wait that long before I could launch into my own creations I would go nuts.
Piano Lessons - Group or Private?
Piano lessons are a great activity for children. They encourage creative thinking, develop math and reading skills, and improve students' overall educational progress, as well as building a fun life-long skill.
The Piano Parent Trap!
"My 6 year old daughter really loves the piano and wants to learn to play, but when I try to help her she gets very upset with me. What should I do?"The parent who asked the above question has fallen into a hole that I call The Piano Parent Trap!If this is you, you don't have to feel bad.
How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children
Piano lessons provide a wide range of benefits to young children. Here are my "Top Five.
What is Piano GHD Syndrome?
Do you remember the movie, Groundhog Day? In this wonderful movie, TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) relives the same day - Groundhog Day, over and over and over again. No matter what he does, he wakes up the next morning and it is once again Groundhog Day.
Be An Organized Church Pianist
Playing in front of a congregation each Sunday is no easy feat. Make sure you are well prepared before giving your best for God and before others.
Learn to Play the Piano
Rocket Piano is a very professionally done piano lesson package. It includes a number of ebooks, audio tracks, and video tracks to support the instructional material.
They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano... but When I Started to Play...
Remember the old ad that used to run endlessly in magazines and newspapers:"They laughed when I sat down at the piano..
Killer Piano Playing Secrets of a Chord Addict!
I wish you could have seen me play the piano when I was just learning. I was the nearest thing to "hopeless" that you could imagine.
Piano Playing is Easier than You Think When You Understand Musical Form
Form is the key that unlocks the musical map of a song or a musical compostition. Like a house has rooms, so a song has rooms or sections.
Automatic Control of Chords
CORRECT PRACTICE IS INDISPENSABLE!Your success or failure at the keyboard may well hinge on how quickly and accurately you can memorize a new chord. To be really efficient at this you must use your eyes, your ears, and the muscles of your hands.
Play Piano As Fast As Possible!
One of the rules of practicing we all hear over and over is "Be sure to practice slowly." (I'm guilty of this too!) Often the result of this is a feeling of inhibition, which leads to tedium.
Learn To Play The Piano Better By Learning To Arrange Chords & Chord Progressions
Piano arranging is the process by which you take a written piece of music and rework it with chords, adding new bass accompaniment, fills, or even slightly altering the song's structure. And while it's a process that takes years to truly master, anyone with a basic education in piano and a working knowledge of a few key techniques can create an inventive, satisfying arrangement.
Playing The Piano Using Chord Symbols Instead of Being Tied To The Written Sheet Music
Piano improvising and arranging is an art but definitely not a science. It is all based on chords and chord progressions.
Piano Playing Your Way: How To Have More Fun Playing The Piano Than You Ever Have Before
Piano playing doesn't have to be boring. There's no law that says you have to play a song the same way everyone else plays it.
Piano Lessons For Adults: More Fun, Easier, & Faster Than Piano Lessons For Kids
Piano lessons for adults is generally LOTS more fun than it is for kids, primarily because the only adults that play piano are people who really want to, which is certainly not true of most kids that take piano lessons because their parents want them to.But that's not the only reason by a long shot.
Piano Playing For Adults: More Fun Than Sex And Not Nearly As Dangerous!
OK, so I lied about the fun part.Maybe piano playing is the just 2nd most fun thing adults can do.
What All Do I Have to Know to be a Really Good Piano Player?
Many students ask me a question that goes something like this:"What all do I have to know to be a really good piano player?"The trouble with a question like that is that it ignores individual differences such as talent, motivation, freedom to practice, and a hundred other variables.How much did Mozart have to know? How much did Erroll Garner know? Mozart could play far better than I can when he was 3.
How to be Creative at the Piano
So you want to be more creative when playing piano. Many students wish they could just sit down and improvise their own music but don't know how to begin.
Piano Playing and Performance Anxiety
I'll never forget the first time I played the piano for an audience.It was my first concert and it was fairly full up.
Visualization Techniques for the Pianist
Controlling the images of the mind through image projection has proven valuable not only for psychotherapy, but also as a learning aid. Visualization can have as much impact on the subconscious, memory, and entire body as a "real" experience.
How to Use the Entire Piano Keyboard
There are 88 keys on the piano keyboard. Most pianists use about 1/3 of this number most of the time.
Five Great Practice Ideas I Learned From My Piano Students!
Sometimes the teacher learns more from the student than the student does from the teacher. Hopefully, not too often, but today I would like to share with you some great practicing ideas that have come from my piano students over the years:1.
Why You Cant Play Piano
It's really not your fault. You see, you've been taught that in order to play piano you need to first learn how to read music, and second, play other peoples music.
10 Top Reasons You Should Learn to Play Chord Piano
There are roughly umpteen zillion reasons why you should learn enough chords to be able to "chord a song" at the piano. By "chord a song", I mean the ability to play 3 or 4 chords on the piano in some sort of rhythm while you or someone else sings the tune.
How To Play Piano Using Chord Symbols
Chord symbols (for example, Fm7, Cmaj7 or G6) are a type of notation used frequently in jazz and other areas of modern music to notate chord progressions and changes. This type of notation differs from that of classical music in that chord symbols don't show the function of a chord the way the Roman numeral notation does.
How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano
What in the world is "naked music?"You know it when you hear it, but the words that describe it sound strange, don't they? We've all heard of popular music and rock music and gospel music and jazz music, but naked music?Naked music is simply the notes on a piece of sheet music. It's "naked" - not dressed up or arranged at all.
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