Learn Piano Online

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Learn To Play The Piano Better By Learning To Arrange Chords & Chord Progressions

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

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Piano arranging is the process by which you take a written piece of music and rework it with chords, adding new bass accompaniment, fills, or even slightly altering the song's structure. And while it's a process that takes years to truly master, anyone with a basic education in piano and a working knowledge of a few key techniques can create an inventive, satisfying arrangement. It all boils down to one thing: chord recognition. And anyone who plays a little piano can learn piano chords to add excitement to their piano playing.

Most people learn to play the piano by playing just the written music. Playing by written music is exactly what the phrase says it is; playing the exact notation on a piece of sheet music. But playing by chord symbol is a little different. Instead of following the harmony note by note, you follow the chord symbols (i.e. C7 or F) written above the harmonies, filling in the gaps with whatever you want as long as it sticks to those chords. Of course, you'll still read the melody (it is, after all, often what makes the song recognizable) but even that is completely open to interpretation. Playing by chord symbol allows you a freedom that playing by written music simply doesn't. The freedom to create. The freedom to invent. The freedom to arrange chord patterns in the way you want.

Does that mean playing by written music is less important than playing by chord symbol? Absolutely not! The ability to play by written music is an extremely valuable skill, one that even some of the most famous musicians don't possess. And while you don't necessarily need to know the skill backwards and forwards to create great arrangements, it's a tremendous help.

Think about it this way. Some of the most revered modern artists create paintings that look very simple, very rudimentary. But the majority of those artists went to art school for years before they began creating that sort of work. They learned the fundamentals of drawing and painting, of color composition and light; they learned to draw or paint something exactly as it actually looks. Only after they mastered those skills did they move on to create the simple, yet often innovative, work that hangs in galleries and museums; work that still abides by several basic principles. They learned the craft before bringing their imagination into it; after all, you have to understand the rules in order to break them.

So after you have learned the basics of reading piano sheet music, consider learning chords and chord symbols (such as G7, Fm, etc.) and chord progressions. There are many places online where you can learn all about chords; just type in "piano chords" or "chord piano" into your search browser, and you will find several to choose from. When you can both read the written sheet music and then add chords and chord progressions to your piano playing, you have the very best of all musical worlds.

Duane Shinn is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions- Intelligent Piano Lessons For Adults Only! " with over 84,400 current subscribers.

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Tuesday, December 4, 2007

How To Learn Piano

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

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Friday, November 30, 2007

Play Piano - Preparing to Practice

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 


When the practicing "blahs" strike, you just need an attitude adjustment. You don't have to sweat blood to practice well. You don't even have to think of it as work, or duty, or even something that you ought to do.

Stop a minute and think about it. You like music, and you want to play some special piece that really means something to you. You want it to sound through you - right through your fingertips.

Okay? Well, you practice it to fulfill that desire, not to frustrate it.

Pause here and ask yourself some questions:

What if you could look at a piece of music for the first time, and play it correctly straight off, just as fine as you please?

How would you feel about practicing then?

Or, what if you were practicing for the Olympic swim meet next year, and felt deep down that you had a chance? How would you feel then about the training? Would you plunge into it each morning?

What if you were interrupted at a good point in yesterday's practicing? What if you had just about broken through a tough spot when you had to stop? Would you want to get back to it today as soon as possible?

You answer those questions, honestly, for yourself. There are ways to say "YES!" every day.

But, first, you've got to stop blaming yourself. You don't have to be perfect every time. You don't have to be the best player, today. And you don't have to listen to what other people say about your playing - people who are only half listening, and don't care the way you do.

Put all that out of your mind. What matters is your desire to play as well as possible.

Just start with playing - one note after another, and keep going. As the Chinese say, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first, step." And, if the very first step leads to the first slip, be glad for it. You can't, repeat, cannot learn without mistakes!

Now, start to think more personally about your instrument.

The piano, like the guitar, is a "touchy" instrument. Touch it, and you both produce and color its tones, like a potter molding clay. Think of the keys, all gleaming white, as the "skin" of the piano; you can either please them or hurt them. Stroke them, and the sound will come out mellow and purring. Poke them, and the sound will either "bark" sharply or woodenly "thud."

Stop thinking of yourself as playing "on" or "at" the piano. Rather, think of the instrument as an extension of your own body. When an artificial leg is fitted to an amputee, he is then taught to walk with it. Gradually, it feels more natural - more like his own leg walking. The French call the keys "les touches," or "touch-points" - as if the keys, not you, were doing the feeling.

Every musician wants to personalize this instrument. Take a look at the vocalist who hugs his guitar, or without a guitar, woos his microphone, or, without a microphone, simply woos the audience?

Every musician seeks to make his instrument an extension of his own body, the tool he or she needs to put across the strong feelings he as for the music.

Nadia Boulanger, one of the greatest teachers, put it best: "Don't speak to me of talent; speak to me of desire."

Go to the piano or keyboard not to reproduce a piece, but to experiment with your best way to bring out what is there. There is no one right way to play a piece - no matter how loudly some people protest that there is.

Artists in fact, vary greatly, and audiences return again and again to hear the same piece, as played by pianist X or pianist Y. You simply cannot play a piece twice the same way. Try it!

Here's how to practice an exercise or a song:

Six quietly, upright and relaxed Hear the music in your head: hear it better than life. Sense its movement and pulse rolling through you, turning and adjusting your own pulse, you are the prime "instrument" of this music - sitting there alert, tuned by silence, vibrating to is rhythm, lending it your own life entirely.

As you feel the music filling you, heart and soul, you will know that it is getting ready to be born.

When it has stirred you, lift your hands to the keyboard. This is the reason you wanted to play in the first place: to bring alive what has already moved you. And, suddenly, by centering your focus, you've turned practicing from a duty into an attraction.

Ron Worthy is a Music Educator, Pianist and Songwriter. He offers online instruction that focuses on Rock, Pop, Blues, Cocktail, R&B and "Smooth Jazz" piano styles. To Download Your FREE Piano Lesson Video, go to: http://www.playpianotonight.com/VC.html

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Monday, November 12, 2007

Adult Piano Lessons... It's Never Too Late!

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 

 

As a piano teacher, I talk a lot about what I do. And I'm always amazed when adults tell me they've dreamed of playing piano, but believe it's too late for them to learn. I wish I knew where this belief came from -- it's simply not true!

Adult piano lessons can be a rewarding process for both the student and the teacher. And playing piano is certainly a wonderful stress-reliever for busy lives.

If you're an adult who is ready to play piano, here are some helpful tips as you find a teacher and become a student once again.

 1 -- Find a great teacher.
Find a teacher who is passionate about and experienced with teaching adults, and who has adult students in her studio. If a piano teacher's experience and specialty is starting young children, and her studio is full of 5-15 year-olds, she may not be the best choice.

Why? As a teacher, all her preparation, repertoire, and teaching tools are geared towards children. That's not to say she couldn't teach adults -- but her studio is geared for a younger age group.

 2 -- Choose your method.
Are you really wanting to play classical? Or is jazz more what you're looking for? Maybe you're not even interested in learning to read music -- you just want to be able to improvise on chords and read lead sheets. Why not take lessons that are giving you exactly what you want?

There are so many ways to go about learning to play piano. Talk to prospective teachers about the methods they teach, and find one that will teach you in a way that makes you excited to play every day.

 3 -- Make the time.
Adult piano lessons are a commitment of time and resources in a busy life. It helps to make a conscious decision to devote the part of your everyday routine to piano practice. If piano is low on your to-do list, you'll end up practicing only on weekends -- which will lead to a disappointing experience for you. Really.

So carve out just 10 or 15 minutes a day to totally devote to piano. It will work wonders!

 4 -- Be a student.
Ask yourself: are you truly willing to be a student, and be taught?

One of the most difficult things for my adult students is releasing control of the learning process. I understand -- as adults, we need to make decisions, solve problems, and decide the best way to do things. But piano lessons are different.

You're a beginner. Accept that, enjoy it, and allow your teacher to guide you in the learning process -- even if you don't understand why she might be asking you to practice a certain way, or you're just sure you can do it faster or better. After all, who is the expert? If you knew the answers, you'd already be playing piano!

 5 -- Patience!
Lastly, patience is a virtue. Learning to express yourself fluently at the piano is like learning a new language: it takes time. Be patient! Play each and every piece, from the first one you learn, with intention and beauty.

Don't ignore the journey by focusing on the destination. You'll miss out on enjoying all the simple pieces if you believe anything less than Chopin isn't really playing the piano. From the moment your fingers touch the keys, you're playing. Enjoy it!

Your piano lessons, and the time you spend every day at the piano, can bring you happiness from the moment you start.

It's never too late to learn to play piano!

Kimberly Luker is a studio owner, piano and flute teacher, and webmaster of You Can Play Piano! - a friendly, informative site full of resources to get you playing piano and loving it. She believes that everyone is deeply and naturally musical -- including you!

For more tips on adult piano lessons, visit Adult Piano Lessons at You Can Play Piano! And while you're there, sign up for our free newsletter, PianoForte!

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Monday, October 22, 2007

Private Piano Lessons - Are They a Waste of Time?

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 

Let me say from the start that I have nothing against private piano lessons. I think there are good teachers out there who can help you reach your goals. Having said that, I do have some things to say about them from personal experience.

My goal was to find a private piano teacher who could help me create my own music in the style I enjoyed - New Age piano. I knew a few chords but what I really wanted was a mentor; someone who could already compose and improvise and help me do the same. And so I searched my city of San Diego for a teacher.

I found someone who I thought could help me (because of the brochure he mailed) and made an appointment. The first thing he did was assess what I already knew?which was what he was supposed to do. Fine. I showed him the chords I could play.

Then, for some bizarre reason, he started writing out chords on a piece of paper and that was the rest of the lesson! Talk about disappointing! And a waste of time and money.

I soon discovered, much to my dismay, that I probably wasn't going to find private piano lessons that would help me reach my goal. Now, if my goal was learning classical piano, there are literally thousands of teachers out there who could just whip out a folio and have me go through the book.

But I really wanted to be able to create my OWN music. Why was that so difficult?

My search finally took me to my local libraries where I discovered the books and materials to help me.

Look, I'm not saying that there aren't any good private piano lessons out there. I'm saying there are other ways to reach your music goals.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for 2 FREE piano lessons!

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Learn Piano Chording

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Monday, October 8, 2007

Piano Lessons For Your Kids

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 

Children can start taking piano lessons at the age of four when they already know ABCs and numbers. You don't have to wait untill your kids show interest in piano. You can always start introduce the instrument to them. When they can learn fast and enjoy the lesson, you know that it's in their blood to play piano.

When you planned to give your kids piano lessons, you better start planning to buy a piano if you don't have it already. Piano player, even the professional ones still need to practice on the daily basis.

Piano lessons need more than just understanding and memorizing, the fingers need to feels the lessons through practices. So it is very crucial to have a piano in your house.

You should not substitute piano with keyboard or digital piano. At this early stage of learning piano, the fingers are going to an important stage of forming the muscle. The kids also learn to coordinate their fingers with the sounds they make. Accoustic piano give an unlimited sounds that will influence the sensitivity of ears from the sounds it makes.

It doesn't have to be a good piano from an expensive brand, but an ordinary accoustic piano will do. A used ones will work nicely too. You can always try to rent them if you can't afford to buy one.

Last but not least. When choosing a piano teacher, you should examine if that person is really just a player or is a teacher. You will need to find a teacher. Not all piano player is a good teacher.

Dini Shanti is a working at home moms who own a site dedicated for moms including articles about piano. Please keep the links active when using this articles on your website.

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Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Memorizing your piano lessons

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

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People have been debating the pros and cons of the memory technique used in taking piano learning lessons. Some of the champions of this technique line up a long list of benefits those can be accrued from this technique. Their major claim for the suitability of this technique lies in the perception that the player doesn't need a book to turn to for taking the lessons or playing the piano. Once can simply memorize and start playing the instrument. Another advantage cited by these people is that the player doesn't need to divert his attention to book - one can concentrate solely on the fingers. This focused attention leads to better performance. Moreover, one need not spend time on turning the pages of the book. Add to that the benefit of ability of playing piano anywhere, even if the book is not available. The benefits can be stretched to an extent where the player can play the piano in dark and that it can also be done by closing eyes.

Those against the use of this technique for piano learning lessons assert that this technique is difficult for some people. People with limited memory retention are at a disadvantage to use this technique. Even if a student is good at it, he may forget some parts of the lessons while performing, and this may have detrimental effect on his overall capabilities of taking piano lessons and play at a pro level.

While you are taking piano lessons, it is important to know what to be memorized. In other words, which pieces must be memorized so that the performance is not at risk. One must be very good listener in order to have larger chunk of piece being memorized with ease. Further, you must try to memorize something which you have started practicing. It shouldn't be other way around - you first memorize and then memorize the same.

You or your tutor must be able to analyze the piece by splitting it into parts clearly identifying the rhythmic, melodic and harmonic units separately. This analysis must mandatorily precede memorizing. Experts also offer this piece of advice for those taking piano lessons - technique of verbal mediation. This technique employs simple procedure - student should speak out the lessons and practice it simultaneously. Memorizing process can be reinforced with the help of visual memory.

Dave is the owner of http://www.learn-piano.info and http://www.play-piano.info websites providing information on playing the piano.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Learn Piano Online In A Fast And Easy Manner

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 

If you want to learn piano online like me, then you know that this can be a not so easy task to accomplish. As a beginner, I knew absolutely nothing about pianos before trying to learn it. I simply bought a keyboard and decided that I wanted to learn to play it, instead of it collecting dust like my old guitar is. The best part to learn piano online is that you don?t have to sit on a little bench with your legs dangling off while your eighty year old neighbor sits their and corrects your posture.

Black Keys: If you want to learn piano online, the first things you must learn are the keys. Black keys come in groups of two and groups of three. This means something that will be described next. White Keys: The white key right before the first black key in the two group is the C note. From then on, a total of 7 notes are played, in a repeating pattern.

Hands: Your hands are your tools. Treat them well, because if you lose them, you no longer play. A good rule of thumb is that for the right side of the keyboard; only use your right hand. Left side uses only the left hand to play.

Now, you want to have fun. Try to just play a few random notes. Don?t worry how it sounds or the fact that you aren?t playing a song; just get yourself accustomed to the keyboard. Remember to also use the black keys in your practice session, as many people forget those keys completely. Also remember to keep the left hand on the left side and right on right.

Hand eye coordination is another huge factor in learning piano online. Your eyes might see the keys you want to hit, but your hands must hit them correctly. This may not happen all the time, so practice a simple song with just one hand until you have perfected it. Then, try a slightly harder song, and see if you can keep up your hand-eye coordination, using the same or different hands.

Pretty soon you will be learning how to play using both hands and maybe someday you will learn to read sheet music, but if that doesn?t happen don?t get discouraged. Some of the best pianists could not read sheet music, but were still considered some of the best of their time.

If you desire to learn piano online, then it is a must that you get the needed information and resources that you need to be just as good as Beethoven :) http://www.squidoo.com/learnpianoonline/

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Game Software Makes Learning Piano Fun

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 

You may have heard of ?Dance Dance Revolution,? the arcade game phenomenon that got all the teenagers dancing and exercising like crazy, or Guitar Hero, the PS2 hit that has kids cranking out their favorite songs on toy guitars. Dust off your keyboards, because the movement is being taken to the next level with Piano Wizard, software that makes learning to play piano into a fun game.

Piano lessons no longer equal tears and pouting with new piano software. This new piano game is so sleek, colorful, and fun, that kids think they are playing an online video game. We won?t tell them the truth, which is that they?re learning the finger positions and piano basics that lead them to read music and eventually play piano.

As old-fashioned piano lessons usually go, a teacher forces boring, tedious notation to memory before a child ever experiences the joy of actually creating recognizable sound with a piano. With this piano game?s many levels and custom options, however, any player can gain a feeling of immediate confidence by playing a favorite song on a real keyboard. This incredible piano software takes us from hitting colored keys corresponding to floating on-screen characters of our choice all the way to reading black and white musical scores.

The piano game is versatile: kid-friendly, with vibrant colors and animation plus a fun funkiness that adults love. It is extremely easy to navigate and manipulate to each player?s speed, sound, or level preferences. Using a real piano keyboard instead of a mouse sets this game apart from others, providing valuably applicable and translatable lessons for all learners. Any song available in a MIDI format, meaning thousands available for free download on the internet, is perfect for the program, giving us thousands of choices of almost any popular tune to tackle.

So, the software is fun and exciting, but does it work? Yes! Watching my child progress rapidly over the past two months is personal proof that this piano game gives the gift of piano basics to anyone who chooses to pursue it.

Finally, this new piano game has made a reality of what we should have thought of years ago-- learn to play piano using songs we actually like and desire to know, letting note memorization and finger placement come as a natural result. Be your own teacher; be your child?s teacher, just don?t be surprised when you order a second piano video game to avoid begging your children to play theirs.

Bethany is a mom of son Evan who writes as a hobby. She also likes to cook and take dance classes.

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Monday, September 24, 2007

Should I Learn To Play Piano, Keyboard Or Organ?

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

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The first thing to consider when choosing the instrument you want to learn is which one do you like the best. If you like them all, then we can move onto which one is the most practical for you.

The easiest and cheapest option is the keyboard. You can buy a keyboard for less then ?100.00 and you only need to learn to read music for the right hand. The left hand is made easy because you just learn left hand chords as you need them. Typically, you would start with C chord and G chord. With a keyboard, you should be playing a simple tune within a day, it?s that easy.

The piano is a more expensive option. If you buy a real piano (not electric) then you need the room, if you go for the electric option then you really should be looking at an 88 note keyboard especially if you intend taking exams. With piano sheet music, you will need to learn to read right hand (treble clef) and left hand (bass clef). You can expect to play a simple tune within a week, based on at least half an hour practice a day.

The electric organ can be a very expensive option if bought new, fortunately, there is a healthy second hand market and you can pick up a bargain. Like the piano, you need room for the organ because they are big and heavy. At the moment, there are no portable options available in the UK. However, you can import the Yamaha D-Deck organ or the Yamaha Electone Stagea organ, which are portable and very modern looking. The organ has two keyboards and a pedal board. The right hand plays the top keyboard the left hand plays the lower keyboard and your left foot plays the pedal board. It is initially more the most difficult to learn because you need to learn to play the bass pedals however when starting to learn the organ, like the keyboard you just need to learn to read music for the right hand and use chord symbols for the left hand and bass pedals.

I personally started on piano then moved to organ and I prefer the organ because of the vast amount of sounds. With a piano, you will only ever have a piano. If I had to answer the question for you then I would say start with a cheap keyboard. If you like it, move on to a bigger keyboard, a piano, or an organ, if not, it?s not cost you a lot of money to find out that this music lark is not for you.

Michael David Shaw (Mike to his friends) runs the websites http://www.mikesmusicroom.co.uk, http://www.keyboardsheetmusic.co.uk and http://www.guitarmusicbooks.co.uk

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Friday, September 21, 2007

Learning Piano by Ear - Good or Bad Idea?

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 

There are many websites which claim to teach you to play piano by ear. But, the real question is; does it work? Can you truly learn to play the piano strictly by ear? While I believe it is possible, I believe that this method has its limitations.

First of all, learning to play by ear generally means that you need to be able to hear pitch and gage the quality of chords with your ear. In other words you would need to be able to distinguish the difference between major and minor chords, dominant and diminished etc. The only problem is most people do not possess an ear capable of such distinctions.

I?ve been playing the piano for 36 years and I often cannot tell the difference between chords. How is someone with no experience supposed to do this? Does this mean that my ear isn?t any good? Quite the contrary, I have very good relative pitch and can often hear entire chord progressions but often miss the nuances of each specific chord. Therefore an approach which is solely geared to hearing the changes has its limitations.

The other problem with learning by ear is that you cannot gain a complete understanding of music just by listening. You see, music is like math. It has formative structure derived from centuries of musicians and teachers who have dedicated their lives to the understanding a betterment of each specific musical genre. To discount this process and work around it using just your ear is counter productive.

For example; let?s say you?re going to learn to play the blues. If you learn by ear that would mean you would have to hear not only the dominant seventh chords, then the melody which is derived from the blues scale, the rhythm which comes from structured meter and the re-harmonization of the chord structure all without understanding the words I just said. It would mean you would have to hear all of this without knowing what its called, how it works and how it all comes together. You would learn by watching someone else play the piano, copy it and repeat it until it sounds the same as what you just hear.

Not only is this a completely inefficient way of learning it is highly limited because you cannot gain an understanding of what it is you?re actually doing. Only until you are able to comprehend and dissect each specific aspect of the music can you fully appreciate and learn from it.

I believe that it?s highly productive to learn how music is formulated rather than just hearing it and trying to repeat it. Why? Because that way you can stretch the boundaries of learning and be able to move your playing to another level. Even if you were able to copy certain aspects of learning to play by ear that would severely limit you from moving beyond that point because you simply cannot understand what it is you?re doing.

It would be like trying to build a house with no foundation. Eventually if you wanted to add an extra floor of musical knowledge your paper thin layer of foundation and understanding couldn?t possibly support it.

So, what?s a better way to learn? Choose a teacher or online piano lessons that can help you build a strong foundation. In other words, pick a course that helps you with the basic understanding of how music works. Then you can use your ear to strengthen your understanding because the ear can converse with the mind and come to a consensus of how and why things sound the way they do.

Where do you start? Start with how chords and scales are made and use that information to formulate melody and structure. Your ear can support this process obviously but it?s the scales and chords that create the building blocks of true musical understanding.

It?s not enough to know how to play a simple F, G, C progression with melody. You need to know why and how this progression works and why it sounds the way it does. Then and only then can you begin to build on that foundation by learning richer chords, re-harmonization and more complicated melodies.

For example; F, G, C can sound so much better if you play it as Fmaj7, D-7, G7, Db7, Cmaj7. This is the same chord progression but re-harmonized to sound richer and more pleasing to the ear. How can you possibly do this if you use only your ear? For the vast majority of people who want to learn to play the piano it?s impossible. So, next time you?re thinking of learning just by ear, you might want to reconsider that plan. Why limit yourself?

Online piano lessons are becoming very popular and Paul Tobey, a professional concert pianist, offer a free piano lesson to and student wishing to participate. One piano lesson is all it takes to decide if he is the right teacher for you.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Learn Piano Rapidly With The Chord Based Approach

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 

Have you always wanted to play the piano for fun but can?t seem to get started?

Most people have the desire to be able to play piano but don?t know which approach to take. There are in general two approaches to learning the piano: the traditional method and the chord based approach. One approach may be a better fit for you, but if you want to start having fun right away, the chord based approach is the way to go. Here are some benefits of the chord based approach to learning the piano.

1. The chord based approach allows you to have fun from day one! The traditional method focuses heavily on sight reading. You?re required to practice scales and sight reading music of the masters such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. It takes some time before you can be able to sound half way decent. The chord based approach to piano learning is all about learning chords. Yes, you will still learn to read music, but it?s very minimal. After learning a few chords and some practice, you?ll be able to play songs right away. You?ll be able to play pop songs, gospel, show tunes, jazz, etc, basically anything except classical music.

2. It?s much inexpensive to learn the chord based approach. Compared to the classical method, the chord based approach is cheap. You might have to spend anywhere from $45-$65 for a one-hour lesson with the traditional approach. Depending on your motivation and how fast you learn, it might take weeks, months, or even years before you get good. With the chord based approach all it takes is learning some chords and you?re off to go. You can even teach yourself how to play piano the chord style approach for cheap. There are many self study courses available that you can find on the internet for a fraction of what you?d have to pay for with the traditional approach.

3. The chord based approach allows you to unravel the mystery of music. Classical pianists might be able to play Chopin Etudes at lightning speed, but they have no idea if what they?re playing is a Cm9 or FMaj13. Chord-based piano players, however, are always conscious of what they?re playing. Thus, they?re more proactive to music. With the chord based approach you learn a few rules on how chord construction and once you know the rules you can pretty much figure out on your own. Think of it as learning how to fish as opposed to having a fish caught for you. Big difference.

There?s nothing wrong with learning the classical method. If your goal is to become a classical pianist, by all means choose a great local teacher to learn from. However, if all you want is to have fun learning the piano in the shortest time possible, then the chord style approach might be a better choice for you. You can always go back and add classical music to your repertoire later on, if you wish.

Alex Nguyen is a ?Rapid Piano Expert? who has been playing the piano for over 20 years. Now he?s helping others learn to play the piano rapidly and enjoy it from day one. To get your FREE mini report ?The 7 Most Powerful Tips To Learning The Piano Rapidly,? and learn how you can get personal piano coaching from Alex for FREE for a very limited time, go to http://www.RapidPiano.com

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Monday, September 10, 2007

Piano improvisation: Learn To Improvise On Your Piano By Faking

Simple Step By Step Piano Lesson. If You Cant Learn Piano From These Lessons Then You Cant Learn Piano Anymore

           

         >>  Dont Even Think Of Trying Other Prodicts untill You Read This <<

 

Do you have a fake book? Just one of those songs could be the source of many meaningful exercises that will help you grow as a musicician and as a pianist.

What is a fake book?

A "fake book" contains songs written in a concise format that includes only the melody and chords, letting you interpret the song's performance according to your own taste.

The songs in a fake book have a single melody written out in notes with the lyrics written beneath the notes. Above the notes of the melody you'll find the names of the chords to play.

This format is very compact. You will often see fakebooks containing 500 or more songs. Here are some suggestions on how to use one of these songs for increasing your improvisational skills:

1. Chords. The suggested chords are often very rudimentary. Most jazz pianists spice up the songs with more elaborate chord progressions. Try to find more chords to use in the song. This exercise will increase your skills in chord theory.

2. Scales. When you have elaborated upon the chord progressions in the song you can choose scales that work with the chords you have chosen. If you find this hard to do you can buy scale books with scale suggestions for different chord progressions. This is an exercise in scale theory.

3. Practising piano chords. Start with the first chord in the song, play it in different positions on your piano and in different combinations.

4. Practicing chord progressions on the piano. Take a couple of bars of the song and practise to play the progressions over and over again varying the chord voicings.

5. Practicing scales on the piano. Begin with the first chord and the scale you have chosen with it and start by playing the scale up and down the keyboard with the right hand and the left hand.

6. Practice piano improvisation with scales. As soon as you master playing the scale up and down the piano it is time to create music with the scale by playing around with it, creating patterns and inventing melodies.

7. Practise piano improvisation. Take a couple of bars and play them over and over again with chord voicings in the left hand and improvising with the appropriate scales with the right hand.

It is also good to practice piano improvisation with your left hand and voicings with your right hand.

There are of course many more things you can do with a song in order to develop your skills in piano improvisation. Help yourself and don't forget to have fun and to also play the song in its entirety with the melody.

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free piano sheet music and learn to play piano resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com

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