Learning to Play Piano?

[steve_christian]

Can anyone recommend a good set of DVD's to learn the basics of playing the piano? There seems to be so many out there that I'm confused as to which ones are better than others. Any info or insight would be appreciated!

[daverogers]

I second that I have read piano for dummies and a few others and still cant seem to get my head around cords...

[Molurus]

Have you tried the Talc Tolchin dvds?

[yofi]

I read a fantastic book recently called 'play piano in a flash'. It looks awful but it is genius.

 

now normally I'm pretty sceptical of those kind of claims but after a couple of weeks I'm banging out tunes with the best of them.

 

His premise is that piano teachers teach you to play to recreate classical music - correct fingering etc etc It's painful and takes years of dedication and practice

 

But to play rock n roll, pop whatever you just need to be able to play the chords - it's good enough for guitar players right?

 

Pretty much most written music for piano has the guitar chord written above the change why not use that.

 

The clincher for me is that he shows you how to work out any chord you see in notation really easily.

 

It's all just patterns - not complicated at all.

 

Pattern 1 major chords

 

R-4-3

 

pick any key on a piano (well call it the root or R) now, not including the first key count up four keys (including the black ones) then from that one cout up 3 again. Hold those three down eh viola you have a major chord.

R and 4 and 3 = major chord. Try it anywhere on a keyboard and you'll hear a lovely sound.

 

Pattern two - really easy drop the middle finger down 1 place and your major chord just turned into a minor chord.

 

Armed with those two bits of information you can play/work out every major and minor chord on a piano! Thats amazing.

 

R 4 3

and

R 3 4

 

He has lots of other cool stuff in the book to make you sound like your cool, so still worth buying to find out the patterns for 7ths augmented etc etc but playing the piano is not hard like you thought. As the man says It's just target practice - It's not hard to get a nice note out of a piano like it s guitars or woodwind and brass you just have to hit the right keys at the right time.

[euripyd]

Itis better to pay some prof teacher for couple of lessons, it is faster and better..

[yofi]

I agree if you want to play classical but if you just want enough theory to hack out some chords there's enough above to get you started

[DocBop]

After years of guitar and bass and studying theory I'm finally trying to learn to play keyboard to aid in composition and recording. I ended up buying two books. For scale fingering and such I'm using Piano Essentials by Ross Ramsay, Berklee Press and for chords and voicings The Jazz Piano by Mark Levine, Sher Publishing.

[camillo jr]

Boogie Hannon.

[Larry Mal]

I always tell people to take lessons for a month or so, then quit, absorb what you've been taught. Later take some lessons when you find you're running out of the ability to teach yourself.

 

If you really want to progress fast, take concurrent music theory lessons. You don't have to go anywhere but a teacher of piano and guitar and say you just want to be taught theory, if they know it themselves.

 

It'll open up options in your mind, which is as important as what your hands are doing. If you already know theory, forget I said it. But a lot of books show you how to play songs, be they classical or rock, without telling you why you're playing that, and that's only half of it. That's why I especially disrespect most guitar instructional things...

[john82]

i don't support much learning to play instruments from dvd's - video etc.

 

especially not a complex instrument like the piano - you really need to get the feeling for it- something that's hard to put through a dvd, but can be done in a frontal lesson with a teacher.

of course if getting lessons with a teacher isn't possible for some reason - i suppose it's better than nothing.

 

______

Johnny

guitars101

[dkgross]

yup..Can't go wrong with a book of Hanon Excercises..boring as they are

[Conno]

Obviously not a book or DVD but...

 

www.emusictheory.com

 

This site may help you with the theory side...

[David Nahmani]

Just so happens I'm trying to teach myself piano right now! Just found this site. It's very, very basic, starts slow, but if you're new to it, might just be what you need.

 

http://www.learnpianoonline.com/ (just read the free lessons to get started - I haven't tried the paid lessons)

 

Once you've got the very basics, watch that 10mn video on how to learn triad chords, inversions, and finally play the Beatles' "Let it be".

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3179823320495532973&ei=t8rjSLy4FJnWqAOLstzhBA

 

Ready to take it to the next step? Download some sheet music with fingering marked, and learn to fly solo. Here's a site. Erik Satie is usually my go-to composer for beautiful-yet-easy-to-play classical piano pieces.

 

http://www.easysheetmusic.com/popular_classics.asp

 

Or this guy has some free previews of popular tunes as video piano lessons (for an easy start, try "Clocks" by Coldplay):

 

http://www.webpianoteacher.com/wpt-main/Lessons.html

[SecondAttention]

if anyone lives in the UK, The Guardian has a free "Teach Yourself Piano" book with it this weekend

 

It's split into 2 parts, the other one is available next weekend

[workman]

I learnt classical piano as a child but want to be able to improvise in all contemporary styles. I did a lot of research for a good book and finally bought THE POP PIANO BOOK by Mark Harrison. I am about a third of the way through and have to say it is absolutely excellent. That is, if you are willing to THINK and to practice what you are learning. Read the great reviews at amazon.com (which also seems to have the best price on it.) The CD's with musical examples are not included, you have to buy them separately from Mark Harrison's website. I haven't bought them yet but seem to be doing OK without them.

 

Here's the amazon link, hope it helps someone: https://amzn.to/2GBPxrz

[yofi]

glad you found the post useful TonyMission - how you getting on after a couple of weeks?

[route-electrique]

I found this awesome site!. Dolmetsch Online. Lot's of good s#!+ there, made me print shitloads of stuff .

[jamescarter]

What are you trying to do? If classical, the best route is a private teacher. If you want to learn a chord-based approach, may I suggest

 

http://piano.about.com/

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=236C0A2821EDC03A&playnext=1&v=KR8YzpjTcP0

http://www.pianolessonsreviews.net/learningpiano/

 

 

These site got free lesson and videos that shows you how to improvise right away.

[sumgai]

For self-taught methods, I prefer:

 

1. Use the musictheory.net's note trainer, keyboard trainer, and guitar trainer to learn all notes on sheet music and learn them on the keyboard/fretboard.

 

2. Learn chord construction. It's easier than it seems to most noobs. Take R/3/5 and modify 3/5 positions to construct variants of each chord.

 

3. Learn chord progressions. Get a Chord Wheel (Amazon) and study C progressions first. Then E, D, and G.

 

4. Study your favorite song's chords, notes, and progressions. Figure out what key it's in, then construct its chord progressions for verses, bridge, and chorus. Study the entire song to see how it's arranged between verse and chorus.

 

5. Start writing your own verses/choruses. Try using standard chord progression formulas first, then jam and find a catchy phrase and build on that.

[David Nahmani]

For self-taught methods, I prefer:

 

1. Use the musictheory.net's note trainer, keyboard trainer, and guitar trainer to learn all notes on sheet music and learn them on the keyboard/fretboard.

 

2. Learn chord construction. It's easier than it seems to most noobs. Take R/3/5 and modify 3/5 positions to construct variants of each chord.

 

3. Learn chord progressions. Get a Chord Wheel (Amazon) and study C progressions first. Then E, D, and G.

 

4. Study your favorite song's chords, notes, and progressions. Figure out what key it's in, then construct its chord progressions for verses, bridge, and chorus. Study the entire song to see how it's arranged between verse and chorus.

 

5. Start writing your own verses/choruses. Try using standard chord progression formulas first, then jam and find a catchy phrase and build on that.

 

That sounds overly brainy. Most of us will probably give up on an instrument before we've started playing our first note!!

 

I recommend forgetting about all the theory and just learning to play your favorite songs, using your ears only. Who cares about the names of the notes, as long as you can hear them and reproduce them you're golden.

 

Reading and learning theory should only come afterwards IMO. Just like as a baby, you learned to understand people around you and to talk WAY before you started to learn reading, writing, and grammar. Music is no different.

[route-electrique]

 

I recommend forgetting about all the theory and just learning to play your favorite songs, using your ears only. Who cares about the names of the notes, as long as you can hear them and reproduce them you're golden.

 

Reading and learning theory should only come afterwards IMO. Just like as a baby, you learned to understand people around you and to talk WAY before (:you started to learn reading, writing, and grammar. Music is no different.

 

Nicely said (:.

[lohogan]

Get a piano teacher. Learn to play on a real piano, if you can. No, for real. Practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. You absolutely need to know proper hand position, and turning the thumb under. Must. Know. Otherwise, your kung fu will be weak.

Hanon will get your fingers working independently, so you can play melody lines.

I always draw a crowd with how my left hand plays bass lines independently. That comes from playing classical music. Hey, can't hurt, huh?

Now, learning how to play means your ear has to be working. Music is a sound, not something your hands do... To learn to play by ear, and to learn a lot of stuff you want to know, check out Jermaine Grigg's www.hearandplay.com website. He has enlisted some of the most awesome musicians to make DVDs and CDs where you can learn exactly how they make the sounds they get.

 

I'm old, I'm good at what I do, and I want to see you win. (My secret, which I'm going to tell you right here, is that about 30 years ago, I decided to look for melodies, and leave the chords to themselves, because they would come anyway. This is the road less travelled, and it has made all the difference.)

 

I would be totally rong if I didn't mention this: my playing started to truly blossom when I began to play for God. God alone deserves and owns the glory for what I can do.

[sumgai]

Get a piano teacher. Learn to play on a real piano, if you can. No, for real. Practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. You absolutely need to know proper hand position, and turning the thumb under. Must. Know.

 

Well said. I have to admit, I was completely taken by surprise when I read comments (by the moderator) to my previous post. It's amazing that someone involved with teaching people how to make music is telling people to ignore theory and technique. Definitely a sign of the times. Perhaps the state of popular music is a result of this lack of patience to learn fundamentals so that creativity can build itself upon it.

 

I stopped taking this forum seriously when I read those comments. You can't call yourself a professional if you refuse to learn the language of professionals.

 

Peace out.

[muses]

Get a piano teacher. Learn to play on a real piano, if you can. No, for real. Practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. You absolutely need to know proper hand position, and turning the thumb under. Must. Know.

 

Well said. I have to admit, I was completely taken by surprise when I read comments (by the moderator) to my previous post. It's amazing that someone involved with teaching people how to make music is telling people to ignore theory and technique. Definitely a sign of the times. Perhaps the state of popular music is a result of this lack of patience to learn fundamentals so that creativity can build itself upon it.

 

I stopped taking this forum seriously when I read those comments. You can't call yourself a professional if you refuse to learn the language of professionals.

 

Peace out.

 

He didn't say anything about ignoring theory and technique, just to put it aside until you're comfortable with making music. A lot less daunting...

 

And yes, it is a sign of the times... a sign of progression and movement towards a more approachable way of making music.

 

In the end musicians want to make music ... if they like theory, they'll find that road best, if they don't, then there's got to be another way. I know TONS of amazing musicians who have very little theory training.

[David Nahmani]

...and, Sumgai, honestly your post sounded like an advert for your site. I noticed you took the trouble to not attach your signature (which contains a link to your site) in the post that recommends using that very site.

 

Theory is very important, and I went to Music conservatories for YEARS to learn composition, theory, etc... - I just don't think that's how you should start to learn music. Just like I don't think you start learning to use Logic by studying the math behind 32 bit floating point audio engines!

[muses]

Just like I don't think you start learning to use Logic by studying the math behind 32 bit floating point audio engines!

 

Does this mean that soon there will be a We Are Mathematicians section to this forum?

 

I didn't think anyone took the whole "Logic" part of Logic seriously.... oh man, gotta dust off those old high-school math brain cells.

[tokmik]

You've got a good start. Thumb on C & pinkie on G is good. Try adding your middle finger on E.

 

Now play each chord chromatically, raising each finger a half step together. Eg. C-E-G, C#-F-G#, D-F#-A... Start out really slow and increase the tempo as you feel more comfortable.

 

As for the the chords with sharps and flats: They have the same spacing as the non-chromatic chords.

 

C - (4 half steps) - E - (3 half steps) - G

 

A half step is the distance between two consecutive notes, ex. C => C# is a half step.

 

So if you are on C and going to C#, all you have to do is bring each finger up a half step. The same is true going down. Look out for B-flat and B, because they feel different in your hand then any others, but the same rules still apply. Once your hand feel comfortable with this then try jumping from one chord to another. Ex. C chord, F chord, G chord. You can make up your own.

 

-----------------

 

Another thing you can do is change the root of the chord. Ex. Play a C chord, only start with E, then play G, then C. This is called an inversion. There is a particularly good progression that you can use that is common in many songs.

 

Play a regular C chord.

 

Bring your middle finger up a half step to F and your pinkie up a full step to A. (This is an inverted F chord)

 

Play a regular C chord again.

 

Bring your thumb down a half step to B, take away your middle finger and play F with your ring finger (This is an G7 chord - don't worry about the 7 for now).

 

Play a regular C chord again. Los Angeles Piano Teachers

[dizzynz]

or now thanks to apple i life 09

you can do it in garageband.....for freeeeeeeeeeeeee

[yofi]

I stopped taking this forum seriously when I read those comments. You can't call yourself a professional if you refuse to learn the language of professionals.

 

A little harsh I feel........

 

A. this is a forum about Logic - dismissing the forum as worthless because someone has a different opinion about how to do something is a little reactionary.

 

B. That professional language you mention is a very 'exclusive' domain and it does a very good job of excluding a lot of people from enjoying making music. Why would you begrudge someone having fun?

 

Personally I don't read a note and had a successful professional career and I help people regularly get enjoyment out of music without switching them off at the outset with theory.

 

I'm not saying theory isn't valid, of course it is but it is not the be all and end all. You can be a sh*& musician with great theory.

 

peace

[prjkt]

or now thanks to apple i life 09

you can do it in garageband.....for freeeeeeeeeeeeee

that's what i'm going to start with

 

though the hanon exercises look like they'll help aswell