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Archive for August, 2009

Play Songs on the Piano Using the Pentatonic Method

August 21st, 2009

Playing the piano is a multi-sensory experience. It involves three of the senses - tactile, visual and aural. To really create music, a pianist must engage each of those senses to be successful. And, to learn to play the piano, it is equally as important to engage all the senses from the first day of study.

Learning to play the piano using the pentatonic scale is a method of study that appeals especially to adult learners. Why? Because it is immediately gratifying and because success comes easily through a multi-sensory learning style approach.

Adults just coming to the piano for the first time, have preconceived notions of what they should be able to play. They have the sounds of great music in their ears, they know good piano playing, and because they are adults, they are convinced they can and will easily learn to play the piano. Unfortunately, traditional methods for learning the piano can quickly turn an excited beginner into a frustrated upset adult who will probably never touch the piano again.

The adult beginner can more easily grasp concepts and hear melodies than young people, however, the technical aspects of playing the piano can often lead to aggravation. The adult understands what is to be done with the fingers and how note reading works, but often the coordination of the visual to the tactile and eventually to the aural senses is hampered.

An adult just wants to make music now on the piano - they want to play songs today - not in two or three years. They feel they should be better faster than their children - they feel they should play now and the concepts will fall into place which will then allow them to play even greater pieces.

This is where the pentatonic method works best - with an adult who is ready to play, is ready to discover how to create songs and is ready to develop technique to play those songs quickly. The pentatonic method uses only five notes - in fact these keys are visually very easy to find as they are the five black keys on a piano. Tactilely, the hands easily cover all five of the keys in a relaxed natural position.

Best of all when simply creating music by just letting the fingers wander over the keys, everything sounds right. There are no clinkers - just beautiful sounds - pleasing especially to that person who is attuned to their aural sense.

The pentatonic method is the perfect method for the adult learner - for the learner who wants and needs to be successful quickly - who wants to make music now - and who wants to play songs on the piano today.

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Play Piano! Learn Quickly and Correctly

August 10th, 2009

Imagine being a proficient musician, not just able to play piano but able to play any piece of music you want to play. Sound like a pipe dream? If you have always had the itch to perform but don’t want to invest a lot of time into lessons, I have great news: you can learn to play songs on the piano in relatively no time at all.

Pop music, for example, can be played in a simple chord-based method. You could teach yourself to play some Top 40 hits in a matter of minutes once you understand the basics.

Now, some genres will take longer than others. Jazz and Classical piano music, for example, requires the greatest amount of discipline, talent, and commitment. These arrangements tend to be complex, note heavy, and expressive. Yes, you can learn to play classical piano, but be prepared to invest your time into learning to play it correctly.

That said, you will find how easy it is to accelerate the learning process and reach your goal as soon as possible. Depending on what kind of learner you are, and any prior background you have in music, piano is one of the easiest instruments to learn.

Why? Because hitting a piano key is a lot like pressing a button. If you can dial a phone, operate a vending machine, or type on a computer keyboard, you are using the basic skill required to play piano. All you have to do from there is learn a few rules about how to put together combinations of notes and you’re ready to break into song!

Here are my tips for you:

1) Think about how much time you can devote to practice and set up a schedule that you know you can stick to. You never want piano lessons to become a chore. As soon as you resent the time commitment, you will likely give up entirely.

2) Try to practice for some time…any time…every day. Even 10 minutes a day works better than one hour once a week.

3) Be patience with yourself. Allow yourself to make mistakes and stumble as you learn. Trust that you’ll amaze yourself - and your friends - soon enough.

4) HAVE FUN!

With your practice schedule worked out, a musical genre, and an instruction method, you’ve got all you need to move forward with your exciting, new talent. Can you learn to play piano? What’s stopping you?!

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