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Archive for the ‘Piano Tips’ Category

9 Top Tips For Learning to Play Piano

September 4th, 2010

Learning to play the piano can be a daunting experience for most of us. Everybody adores the music coming from a piano. It can set the mood for relaxation and calmness. A lot of people sacrifice a lot in order to learn playing the piano but it can seem like this instrument is too hard to handle. If you want to learn more about playing the piano, you can do it through these 9 simple steps.

Playing the piano can be difficult especially for those who are not well accustomed to music and handling of instruments. The piano will bring out a lot of emotion and feelings. Learning the piano is not as hard as some make out, just stick to these tips:

1. Always secure access to a synthesizer or piano. Obviously, you can never learn how to play the piano without the actual instrument. Learning it hands on can help your hands and fingers to get used to the keys of the piano. This may sound obvious but you’d be surprised how many try to learn to play the piano without actually having access to any sort of keyboard!

2. Piano lessons are useful. You can opt for piano lessons that would be available in a lot of forms and approaches. You can combine various forms of learning the piano so you can learn it in a short amount of time. You can also use online lessons and even hire your own personal instructor.

3. Never ever hesitate to seek professional advice when learning the piano. These people can help you most in focusing and concentrating when learning the piano. You can ask for techniques these experts can provide and get inspiration on how they excel with their music.

4. A regular period of practicing the piano is a must. You need to prioritize and set aside a specific time to play the instrument. Spend around 15 to 30 minutes to practice every day. In this way you can improve and enhance your skills. Soon you will find out that you can play your favorite songs with much ease!

5. Start by playing songs which are meant for beginners. You do not want to be overwhelmed when learning the piano. You must use simple piano songs so that you can sustain your momentum throughout the course of your learning. Patience is really important because it can be a challenging instrument to deal with. One you have mastered playing a specific piece on your piano, you will be ready for another song or piano piece.

6. Cite and state the goals you have in learning the piano. You must keep in mind that your goals should be realistic enough so you can have a slow but steady pace when learning the piano. Plan out your routines for the day so you can have ample time for practicing your piano skills.

7. Improving your rhythm when you are learning piano. It is very important if you want to enjoy your favorite songs on your piano. You must learn how to sustain a rhythm otherwise you cannot even finish a song.

8. Always keep in mind the flow while learning to play the piano. You need to be persistent enough and never pay attention to your mistakes while you are playing on your piano. Never allow the obstacles to stop you from improving your piano skills.

9. If you are learning the piano, start by playing simple chords. Avoid using classical pieces in the beginning of learning the piano. Basic chords are the perfect foundation for a more advanced piano songs in the future.

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How to Look For Piano Books?

August 25th, 2010

There are a number of ways on how one can learn more about the piano. There are some who settled in getting piano lessons. They tend to enroll themselves in an online piano class, or through a local piano school. If you think enrolling to a piano school is easy and simple, you better think twice. It is like having home works as well, engaging to practical examinations, and buying academic script.

Well, the same logic applies for musical instrument classes. You have to do your homework about pianos and notes, you have to pass practical exams, and you have to buy piano books as well. It is not easy to find piano books and it is not a simple thing. This article will be dealing more about how to look for the piano books that you need with some considerations before purchasing one of your choices.

Know what book you need. Is it always advisable to ascertain what you are looking for in a musical instrument book. Are you into applications or purely theory related books? There are books which are into theories, there are book purely for application, and there are books that mix both. There are even interactive books as well. Know what you are looking for in a book.

You have to do a research about the prices of piano books. Some manuscript are not worth its tag price. There are expensive books that have poor quality. The price is not the sole determinant of the book’s quality. You can find discounted piano books with better quality than expensive ones. You go to the nearest bookstores or thrift shops for some discounted piano books.

If you cannot find any discounted item, settle for the regular-priced script instead but you have to make sure that it will conform your needs. it is useless to buy piano books that is irrelevant to what you need.

Look through the author’s name and check for other related musical instrument books under the same author. You mind find a better piano script than what you are looking for. Some piano books are user friendly and easier to understand than other piano books. You can check other related scripts to see if you can use it for future reference.

Another option for you to consider is purchasing the manuscript online. Of course you need to get the specs of the book before you purchase it. You have a lot of books to choose from but you can narrow down your options and get the book that you will need the most. It is wise to read anything and everything first before purchasing your book online so that you will not regret the decision and you will make sure that you are getting the things that you need with the book.

These are just some of the things you can try to look for piano manuscript. Whichever way you would want the musical instrument manuscript purchased as long as you know what you are looking for and you know where to find it, you should be good to go and purchase the one that will suit the needs and the demands of your piano classes.

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9 Top Tips For Learning to Play Piano

August 23rd, 2010

Learning to play the piano can be a daunting experience for most of us. Everybody adores the music coming from a piano. It can set the mood for relaxation and calmness. A lot of people sacrifice a lot in order to learn playing the piano but it can seem like this instrument is too hard to handle. If you want to learn more about playing the piano, you can do it through these 9 simple steps.

Playing the piano can be difficult especially for those who are not well accustomed to music and handling of instruments. The piano will bring out a lot of emotion and feelings. Learning the piano is not as hard as some make out, just stick to these tips:

1. Always secure access to a synthesizer or piano. Obviously, you can never learn how to play the piano without the actual instrument. Learning it hands on can help your hands and fingers to get used to the keys of the piano. This may sound obvious but you’d be surprised how many try to learn to play the piano without actually having access to any sort of keyboard!

2. Piano lessons are useful. You can opt for piano lessons that would be available in a lot of forms and approaches. You can combine various forms of learning the piano so you can learn it in a short amount of time. You can also use online lessons and even hire your own personal instructor.

3. Never ever hesitate to seek professional advice when learning the piano. These people can help you most in focusing and concentrating when learning the piano. You can ask for techniques these experts can provide and get inspiration on how they excel with their music.

4. A regular period of practicing the piano is a must. You need to prioritize and set aside a specific time to play the instrument. Spend around 15 to 30 minutes to practice every day. In this way you can improve and enhance your skills. Soon you will find out that you can play your favorite songs with much ease!

5. Start by playing songs which are meant for beginners. You do not want to be overwhelmed when learning the piano. You must use simple piano songs so that you can sustain your momentum throughout the course of your learning. Patience is really important because it can be a challenging instrument to deal with. One you have mastered playing a specific piece on your piano, you will be ready for another song or piano piece.

6. Cite and state the goals you have in learning the piano. You must keep in mind that your goals should be realistic enough so you can have a slow but steady pace when learning the piano. Plan out your routines for the day so you can have ample time for practicing your piano skills.

7. Improving your rhythm when you are learning piano. It is very important if you want to enjoy your favorite songs on your piano. You must learn how to sustain a rhythm otherwise you cannot even finish a song.

8. Always keep in mind the flow while learning to play the piano. You need to be persistent enough and never pay attention to your mistakes while you are playing on your piano. Never allow the obstacles to stop you from improving your piano skills.

9. If you are learning the piano, start by playing simple chords. Avoid using classical pieces in the beginning of learning the piano. Basic chords are the perfect foundation for a more advanced piano songs in the future.

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How to Improve Playing Piano - Self Hypnosis Help For Piano Playing

August 13th, 2010

How to Improve Playing Piano - Self Hypnosis Help For Piano Playing

When the time comes for help piano playing, you will find that there are many options available to you. Each option holds great promise. Just remember that not all options are created equally and that you may be much better served thinking a little outside the box depending on what your particular piano problems may be.

Harnessing the Power of the Mind to Improve Playing Piano

Your mind is the sharpest tool at your disposal for every task you tackle in life. Surely you understand the importance of the mind when seeking help piano playing? Music can be an excellent source of solace, a creative outlet, or simply a means of expression. It can also be a source of infinite frustration when you find yourself facing a brick wall where you seem unable to improve playing piano and yet are not ready to find your own personal plateau.

Can Self Hypnosis Help?

Most people do not think of hypnosis as a source for help when it comes to things like music and art. But when you do take the time to think about it, hypnosis is almost an ideal solution for many reasons. First of all, it’s the subconscious mind that handles creativity in music, words, and/or art. Hypnosis is the art of using the subconscious part of the brain to send messages to the conscious part of the brain (the short version at any rate).

What are Your Options to Help Piano Playing Progress?

There are many options that can aid you in your pursuit of piano playing perfection, or as near as you may be capable of getting to that perfection. So, what can you do to improve your piano playing abilities?

Endless hours of practice

You should be well aware that practice makes perfect. Why should anything else be true when it comes to getting help piano playing? Tack on an extra 30 minute practice drill each day of the week and you will find yourself playing better than ever before.

Learn New Techniques for Old Drills

Looking at the same old thing in a different light can have a huge impact on how effective it can ultimately be. Why wouldn’t this be the case when it comes to getting help piano playing? If you are having difficulty with the same old drills find a new way of incorporating the skills those drills teach into your piano playing routine.

Find a New Teacher

Sometimes students out pace the teacher. This happens in all sorts of things. Professional golfers outgrow the instructions of their coaches and need new coaching to breath new life into their game. The same can be the case for you if you need help piano playing and your current teacher isn’t giving you what you need.

How About Hypnosis?

Each of these is a valid tool for improving but will net marginal results and may lead to frustration and discontentment with the piano in general. Hypnosis reaches the part of the mind that is actually responsible for learning these drills, skills, and techniques in a way that instruction and practice may never be able to manage. Put the power of hypnosis to work for you today and find all the help piano playing you will ever need.

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4 Tips to Improving Your Piano Skills and Taking Them to the Next Level!

August 4th, 2010

Have you taken years of piano lessons? If you have, Ideally you would think that you are beyond an expert at playing the piano. Nothing can stop you! However, you might not feel that way. You might feel like you’ve hit a dead-end. You might feel like you don’t know how to improve your skills from here. So what should you do? Here are 4 tips!

1. When you listen to any song, you will notice that it follows a pattern. By this, I mean there is a certain structure of chord progressions and sections. Don’t believe me? Listen to an album by The Beatles and you will understand. One way of expanding your piano skills is to listen to some of your favorite songs and listen to the patterns that are in each song. This is a great way to help you to learn to pick up more songs.

2. Like the previous tip, put a focus on listening to music. Listen to every little note. Songs usually consist of many different instruments. All of them playing certain notes and it all comes together perfectly. Understanding songs more is a great way of advancing your piano skills, as mentioned in the previous tip. Also, do you know how to read Piano sheet music? If you don’t, learn how! Once you know how, you will be able to easily learn many new songs!

3. Spend some time with other musicians. It’s best to spend time with musicians that are really good, professionals, and even those around your skill level. You can hear the different skills and figure out just how you want to play the piano. You can also focus on just how they play the piano. How do they sit? How do their muscles move? There’s nothing wrong with copying a thing or two from the professionals. After all, you want to excel your own music skill! Sometimes you do this by learning from the professionals.

4. Make sure to spend time each day playing the piano! This is so important. You really need to get into a daily routine of playing the piano. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to play for hours and hours each and every day. But try and play for at least 15 minutes. Even if it’s in the morning after breakfast, after dinner, or even before bed. Playing the piano each day keeps your skills fresh and helps you to improve your skills. Remember, practice makes perfect!

Hopefully with these tips, you can finally get past the slump you are in and continue excelling your piano skills. Remember, don’t give up! You can do it!

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Raise the Level of Your Piano Playing Skills

July 26th, 2010

If you are truly interested in learning how to play the piano, then you must know that there is a formula to playing. This is a mathematical formula and has to do with the position of the keys, and once you are able to understand this formula you will be able to raise the level of your piano playing skills.

We were all told in school that we need to have a thorough understanding of math, and this is especially true in the art of playing piano. If you do not maintain your knowledge of the formula of the piano keyboard, you will never be able to increase the level of your piano playing skills.

Would you love to be able to be one of those people that can just sit down at a piano and play without any sheet music? You can accomplish this feat, but first you must bring yourself to that articulate piano playing skill level. It’s definitely not an unachievable task.

To begin with, go to your keyboard and listen to the different chords and keys that it produces and recognize how to reproduce each. There are keys that are very low progressing to the very high range, and there is no other instrument that has as high octaves as that of the piano so be sure to experiment with both the high octaves as well as the low ones. By learning these features on your piano, you will begin to increase your level of ability.

Learning to play the piano is not necessarily difficult. In fact, some say it is one of the easiest instruments to learn, all it takes is time. The level of skill with which you use to play the piano is up to you. Are you truly serious in your quest to play the piano? Are you willing to practice on a daily basis for an hour or more a day? If you have answered yes to these questions, you will be able to drastically increase your piano playing skills.

It may take you a little time. But how remarkable would it be to be able to sit down at the piano and play anything that comes to heart. Once you learn how to, you can do this whenever you have the desire. You can increase the level of your piano playing skills, and all it takes is a little practice. Be diligent, do not give up. The magic is at your fingertips and waiting to burst out of the keys.

To be able to raise your piano playing skills to that desired level, you must have the required determination and effort.

If you are not willing to do this, then your already-acquired-skills will diminish and you could possibly forget how to play the piano completely. Are you willing to risk losing the treasured music that once came from your fingers and flowed through your piano? Most decide that this would be too much to lose and are willing to do whatever it takes to bring their piano skills to that of even an expert. Remember, it is never too late to raise your skill level, and piano is no exception.

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Piano Practice Techniques

July 23rd, 2010

Learning the piano takes a lot of effort and time, but it is necessary if you want to become a good pianist.

Tips To Keep Your Practice Productive

The most important thing to remember is that you need to practice in order to get better. It doesn’t matter whether you already know the finger positions and notes or not, piano practice will still be needed to either maintain or improve your skills. It is recommended that you practice everyday, but if this is not feasible then at least three times a week.

If you are having trouble sticking to a routine here are some piano practice tips to keep in mind.

Tip #1

Set a daily practice schedule and make sure you stick to it. You need to get yourself into a piano practice routine. This will help you with your conditioning. At first it might seem boring and like it doesn’t serve a purpose, but after you master the essentials hearing yourself be able to okay will be fun and exciting.

Tip #2

You need to have your piano in a location that is comfortable for you and has plenty of space. Make sure that there are no distractions around to interfere with your piano practice. This includes keeping things like radios, televisions and other noisy items out of the room. Another thing to keep I mind is lighting. There needs to be ample lighting so you can see, but don’t put your computer in direct sunlight for this could cause damage to sensitive parts of the piano.

Tip #3

Warming up is an important part of piano lesson practice. Start out be flexing your fingers and playing simple notes. Once you have done this than move on to the harder notes. Exercising your fingers includes stretching your fingers to reach various notes on the piano. If you are unsure how to do this properly then ask someone for help. Doing this will help you play faster tempo music. Don’t start playing if your fingers feel stiff for this can cause injury and is uncomfortable.

Tip #4

Before you start a new lesson review all previous ones. If you did not finish the lesson from your previous session then start with that once you are finished with your warm-up.

Tip #5

Follow the directions of the instructional method you are using to help you learn. If you have an instructor ask him/her to play along with you so you can learn the rhythm and eventually be able to play it alone.

Tip #6

Set goals during your piano practice. This will help to keep you focused and on track with your lessons. A benefit of setting goals is you feel as though you are accomplishing something each time you reach your goal.

Tip #7

Make sure to keep a positive outlook on your piano playing. Staying up-beat will help you stay relaxed. If you start to get down or stressed, take a break. Don’t give up because in the end you will enjoy being able to play the piano.

Come up with piano practice techniques that you feel comfortable with. Make sure that your playing feels natural and fits your style.

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Developing the Flair of Playing Piano by Ear

July 21st, 2010

If you wish to be a master pianist someday, make sure you learn how to play the piano by ear. It is actually the fastest way by which any piano aficionado can master the art of playing the instrument. Remember that an excellent pianist can always play any kind of music piece for as long as he has his hands, fingers, ears and brain. Never mind looking for piano pieces when you have already mastered the art of playing piano by merely listening with your ears. In fact, you will see that you can right away play the piano by merely listening if you possess an inherent talent in music. The following are just a few of the other things you need to know regarding playing piano by the ear:

• Humming a tune or song can actually be helpful in playing the notes on your keyboard. Anytime you hear the tune going up, you can automatically search for the keys on your left, and should the tune go down, find the keys to your right. Although you do not need to be an expert in rhythm, you can play the tune using drumming of your fingers to the beat.

• To play piano by ear, there are three factors that you will also need to consider. First is the tonal memory which is the piano student’s ability to not forget the tune he has just heard, then playing it on the piano exactly how he heard it. Keep in mind though that it is very important that you accompany the melody using the various piano techniques such as melody contouring, chord progression and chord structure. You will have to train on improving your skills as well as knowledge of the basic music theories. Also, even if the ability to read the notes is not necessary when playing piano by ear, you will still have to master the skills since it is the very cornerstone of playing the piano. You will need it when learning chords, chord progression, as well as learning the art of how to play the piano exactly how you heard it.

• In any case that you cannot immediately grasp the lessons on how you can master playing the piano by simply listening to its tune when played, make sure to practice harder. Keep in mind that practice is a very indispensable element in learning hot to play the piano. Make your practice regular beginning at twice each week, then daily to keep playing smooth and easy for you.

• Really, mastering piano to perfection does not happen overnight that is why there are online piano lessons that will allow you limitless time to learn and practice. More importantly, you should realize the importance of finding the best online piano schools or tutorials that will help you learn the skills to play piano by ear. You should take particular attention to the pointers that your piano teacher or instructor will share with you so that you will have a better understanding of how playing the piano by listening rally works; not to mention, how it can actually help you progress into being the master pianist that you dream to be someday.

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Jazz Improvisation - How to Design Powerful Jazz Practice Routines

July 5th, 2010

So, how do you “KNOW” what to practice?

That’s by far the most common question asked by students of jazz. I mean, learning jazz is no small feat. There’s a ton that goes into it. There are thousands of books, articles, lessons, DVDs and websites dedicated to learning jazz. There’s just a mountain of information to go through. Let’s talk about a few ways to make your practice choices much, much easier.

There are several things you wanna consider when you’re putting together your jazz improvisation practice routine.

First of all, your present abilities will weigh heavily on these choices. As a general rule you want to make sure that whatever you are practicing is challenging but doable. In other words, success with the practice topic needs to be within the realm of possibility. If you are a relative newbie to jazz you don’t want to be working on ridiculously hard tunes like Coltrane’s Giant Steps or Count Down, or working on some wacky odd time signatures, or blazing up-tempo playing, etc.

On the flip side if you’re an advanced intermediate player you don’t want to be practicing the same stuff like etudes or exercises you’ve already got nailed. You want to be sure that the material is pushing you out of your comfort zone. But not by too much. Again, challenging but doable.

Another major consideration is your long-term goals with music. What kind of music do you want to play? What music do you like? What players do you dig? What styles do you want to master and take further? I’m all for being well rounded but the fact is you can’t master it all. In fact you can only master a few things.

Now, there are 6 fundamental areas that make up the core of your musical training. They are as follows:

1. Instrumental Technique- this is control of your axe. Topics to study would include, arpeggios, scales, scale patterns, accent patterns, range, articulation, dynamics, rudiments, coordination, etc.

2. Etudes- These are any classical or jazz pieces written for your instrument and designed to bring the instrumental techniques together into a musical setting relating to execution, technique, expression and interpretation.

3. Sight-reading- this is, of course, the ability to read new material at will. You can choose appropriate material each day to hone and practice your sight-reading skills. This material could include rhythmic sight reading, reading lines with no rhythms, chords, classical pieces, music written for an instrument other than your own, etc.

4. Repertoire- jazz is a language of music built on and around tunes. You should constantly seek to expand your repertoire by learning tunes from the whole library: standards, jazz tunes and modern tunes.

5. Ear-training- this is your ability to recognize musical elements by ear (pitch, harmony, rhythms, forms, articulation, dynamics etc) and respond on your instrument.

6. Improvisation- this is what it’s all about–creating art in real time. Topics for improvisation would include chord-scale soloing, rhythmic values, phrase lengths, pacing, motive development, etc. Again, I’m gonna plug Hal here. Check out his books, “How to Improvise” and “Ready, Aim, Improvise” for a comprehensive list of improvisational topics and exercises to master them.

Now let’s talk briefly about two of the most important areas. Technique and improvisation. Technique is most important in the beginning and intermediate stages of your development. There is just no way around it. You gotta have control of your instrument in order to become a player. Now many cats continue to practice technical exercises, even after they have already achieved technical mastery. But the closer to the beginning you are as a player, the more technique heavy your practice sessions will be.

Improvising on the other hand is more relevant as you become a more advanced player. In fact as you become an advanced player much or most of your practicing should deal with jazz improvisation. But that doesn’t mean you should neglect it in the beginning. There is always a way to incorporate improvising into your practicing.

Now when putting together your practice plan and practice routine a good rule of thumb is to choose just 3-4 of the 6 fundamental areas to work on for a three-month period. For instance you might choose technique, improvisation and ear training. Then you would choose exercises and topics for each that are appropriate to your current abilities and goals.

Once you decide on your plan it is important to stick to it. It is almost always detrimental to change topics on a whim. Follow your plan through. Be sure to move forward with your topics each and every day. It is equally important to practice the same topics each and everyday. Man, I can’t tell you how important that is. So many young cats get distracted by a fancy new book or some new concept they run across. Don’t fall into that trap. Stick to what you’re doing until you’re done, until you reach your goal.

As with all skills you will get better at designing practice routines over time. Just make some choices and stick with them. It’s really that simple. Then evaluate the results and use that information to make even better choices when putting together your next practice routine. Over time your practicing will become more and more fine tuned, you will get faster and faster results and you will be on your way to achieving your bigger musical goals.

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Piano Music For Beginners - Secrets to Improving Your Piano Skills Quicker

June 27th, 2010

The piano is one of the most popular musical instruments in the world. The piano will play notes in both the bass and treble clefs.

There are a lot of different genres of piano music ranging from classical to rock. In order for beginners to master piano music they need to take their time and master the piano itself. Take a look at some of the things you need to do to start playing music on your piano.

The first thing you need to do is find a good piano instructor. Some people cannot afford a piano instructor and think they can learn the instrument on their own.

However, if you have a good piano instructor by your side you will increase your level of playing faster. You can learn a lot from a good instructor in a relatively short time.

This is true because you are going to be learning from a person that has been where you are and they know how to take you where you want to be. When it comes to learning piano music for beginners is not to develop bad habits.

Bad habits are extremely difficult to break and they can hurt your learning curve. So you need to focus on learning the proper way and a good instructor will make sure of that.

The next thing you need to do is practice regularly. A lot of people make the mistake and don’t practice so they don’t make any progress because they don’t put in the necessary time.

You should put in a little time every day before your next lesson. If you can even go over what you are trying to learn a few times each day it is better than practicing for hours and hours.

You will get tired when you practice for too long and your mind will not work very well. You shouldn’t overlook the mental side of learning piano music, so in between your practice times you can run over what you are trying to learn in your head.

Another important thing to do is to set goals. This is crucial when it comes to learning to play piano music for beginners.

You must set goals for yourself even if your instructor has set some goals for you. You don’t have to learn a whole piece in one day, but you can break it up into several smaller sections a day or lines to memorize at a time.

Finally, the next thing you should do is work on sight reading. You should go through a little bit of sight reading each day to improve your skill level. With the right practice and effort you will be able to start playing piano music in no time.

Show Off Your Piano Skill!

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