A piano is made of up white and black keys. The white keys are natural notes (C-D-E-F-G-A-B and the octave C) and the black keys are sharp or flat notes. A traditional piano has 88 keys and a range of seven octaves and a third. Piano is one of the most versatile instruments, used in a variety of music genres. Pianos make ideal instruments for soloists. Learning to play the piano can be a fun and relaxing hobby or even a career. There are a few tips and playing instructions that will get you started.
1.
Getting Familiar with Your Keyboard
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Find middle C on your piano. It tends to be easier to manage the keyboard with middle C as your center. Middle C can be located on a standard size piano in the middle, hence the name. Usually there is a brand name for the piano, and the group of keys directly in front of it contains the middle C. All keyboards have a pattern. The notes repeat themselves. Starting on middle C, playing only the white keys, you would play C-D-E-F-G-A-B and the octave C, then you would continue up the keyboard in the same fashion. Including the black keys, you would play C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B and the octave C. Note there are no sharps or flats between E and F and B and C. That's because there is only a half step between these notes. All the others are a whole step.
Practicing Scales
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Major and minor scales are a good way to get you started learning the piano keyboard. They help you memorize the notes and get your fingers used to moving over the keys. You can purchase a major and minor scale chart in a music store or find one free online. The major and minor scale patterns are easy to play once you memorize the patterns for them. They always remain the same. Only the notes played will change. The name of the scale you play is the name of the note on which you start playing a major or minor pattern.
Playing Chords
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Begin playing simple three-finger chords right away. Chords are the foundation of playing piano accompaniment. You can purchase a piano chord dictionary at any music store or find one online free of charge. Start with simple chords made up of the first, third, and fifth notes of the major key or scale you're practicing. These three-finger chords are easy to play, and like scales, they are movable. This means you can keep the same three-finger position and move up and down the keyboard to change the chord you are playing. The finger position stays the same, but the name of the chord changes, depending upon your starting note. When you learn chords, try learning them by shape rather than name, because all of the chords you study in the beginning will work this way.
Play Simple Songs
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It's essential to your musical advancement that you put what you learn into practice. There isn't a better way to learn than to play music. You can purchase music or find plenty of it online for free. Pick a few songs that use the chord shapes you're working on and try forming the chords and singing along. You can try adding more rhythm to the chords as you become familiar with them, but in the beginning, take it slow and have fun.
Read more: Music Keyboard Tutorial | eHow.com [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
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