For beginners, the piano is an instrument that looks quite challenging to play. Watching people that have been playing for years and years, or even professional musicians, doesn’t make it look much easier.
The fact is that the piano is actually one of the easier instruments to learn to play since all of the keys are right there in front of you. Of course, becoming a pro is a different story, but mastering the basics isn’t so hard.
Here are the 5 best musical instruments for kids.
Keep reading to learn more about how you can begin to learn the piano today and know your favorite songs in no time at all.
Learn Music
Before you can really begin to play the piano at any level, it really does help to learn to read music. You don’t have to be a sight-reading pro, but knowing how to slowly go through the music you want to play and identify what needs to be played will be of tremendous help to you down the road.
To learn to read music, one of the best things you can do is pick up a book for beginners. If you’re an adult, skip the books designed for kids and go for something advanced. Just make sure you choose level 1 books if you’re just starting out and don’t have a solid foundation for reading music or playing an instrument.
Know Your Scales
Scales are pretty boring when it comes to playing the piano, but having a solid understanding of them will help you greatly as a player. Without scales, you’ll also be playing via rote memorization, which isn’t a good way to progress once you reach the beginner or intermediate stage.
Start by playing the scales you find in a beginner’s book. Once you know them, you’ll still want to go back to your scales every time you practice to keep them fresh in your mind. Remember that even professional players work on scales from time to time to keep them in their heads.
Practice Daily
When you’re trying to teach yourself piano, the process can be pretty frustrating. While it’s okay to take a day off from time to time, it isn’t a habit you want to get into if you want to become a better player.
Ideally, you should be practicing about an hour each day. If you do that, you’ll progress before you know it.
I agree with the fact that learning to play the piano, like any other instrument requires a lot of practice. About 10 years ago I started to play piano, but I gave up after about 2 years because I didn’t have the time anymore. Now I barely know 2-3 songs to play and my music knowledge is not as good as it used to be. Hopefully I will start again someday!
I spent almost half of my life learning and studying the piano. I just stopped since college happened and I was away most of the time. I didn’t have a piano with me and I still had to pay whenever I’ll rent one in Manila. It was an expensive thing to do. Nevertheless, it’s tricky in learning it by yourself. (Well, the way I see it) Whenever I’m home in our province, I’d practice everyday for at least 2 hrs just to get my fingers back just the way they were. Practice is really vital!
So thoughtful of you to write a post on piano. In India , we have an equivalent to piano and is called a harmonium. This is a rectangular/ cuboidal shaped musical organ that can be slung on the neck if the player is walking around.
Else, you can play the instrument while seated.
Pianos were considered an important part of the decor of the houses of aristocrats till a few years back. Now you can occasionally see these musical devices in Hindi movies only.
Thank you for sharing these details on harmonium.Yes,in Hindi Movies we see such musical instruments..