Q. I have very little experience in piano and want to start now. I have a lot of spare time so I could dedicate a few hours a day, 7 days a week. I need all the advice you can give me. Any good books or videos on youtube etc. How long before I can play waltz for debby? And what's the easiest jazz song to learn first?
A. Okay here's the deal.
I am a pianist in the loosest sense of the term. I have taken Royal Boards to Grade 8 and I have played classical, jazz, and even composed some of my own four part harmonies to play for some events.
One day, my aunt at her wedding asked me to play for everyone, so I got up, walked over to the piano, sat down, and shat myself at little. I couldn't improvise!!! At most, I would need five minutes to develop a melody, maybe figure out chord progressions in my head from what would sound "right," and then compose a robotic sounding but totally "correct," piece. But I couldn't leave the piano alone, I played a memorized piece and that was that.
I went home, pissed that after 12 years of piano, I could play, but I couldn't PLAY. How did these musicians create these beautiful works of art? Clair de lune! MY GOD! If I could improvise that I would be some godly panty dropper.
So I sat down, thought about theory a little bit, but more or less started simple, touching keys familiar to me and put them together, strung with a little bit of theory. It sounded 10x better than my robotic piece imitation even if it was just one chord up and down the piano. Why? Because it had soul. For the first time in my life I had a real genuine tremble go through my spine from a piece of music that I played!
Waltz for Debby. I played that during a recital along with a Fats Waller song that I cannot remember. Like any piece, as a classically trained pianist, it only took an hour to learn, but days to memorize and perfect. If you are totally new, but know what all of the signs on a sheet of music mean, you can easily learn it in a few days. And I mean LEARN it, like copy and play perfectly.
Unfortunately, I don't really advise doing this. Actually I advise against playing sheet music period. I can't believe I wasted all of my time doing all of that. I now play by chord and by ear. My improvisation still isn't where I want it to be but at least when people say, "Hey, play something for me," I'll be able to play something for them.
Here's some stuff to get you started.
Learn the keys, the name of the keys, all of them.
Then begin slowly, you will have to learn all of the scales. Major, minor, harmonic minor for example.
How you decide to learn them.. whether through Circle of Fifths .. memorization.. whatever, is totally up to you, but you should know the names of the keys (CDEFGAB, etc, and what sharps or flats are in them.)
There are just so many resources available nowadays that it makes it pointless to buy any books, really..
Again, I really advise against learning songs for the sake of playing them to others.. I was lost in that mindset for twelve years. TWELVE YEARS!! I only saw the light after that incident.
Regardless, here's a little taste of jazz.
Pick a major scale.. for example G major.
G major has one sharp, which is the first sharp, F#.
So this means to play G major, you can play any of these notes: G A B C D E F#, and it will sound good.
Go to your piano and play.. G A B C D E. That's G major.
Now play G A B C D# E. How did that sound to you? Pretty jazzy right? But D# isn't a part of the G major scale, why are you allowed to play that note, you ask?
Well, that's jazz for you. And if you'd like to learn more, BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY!
Any suggestions for good beginning piano books?
Q. I'm in my thirties and I play guitar. I just got a 61 key electronic keyboard for the holidays. I need suggestions for good beginning piano books appropriate for my age. The book stores and Amazon have nothing. I guess that I need to go to a community college bookstore or something.
A. What kind of music do you like? There are two routes you can take: Classical or Contemporary.
Classical although more complex and sophisticated is in my opinion easier to learn ( at first) becase it is more detailed and self explanatory. Once you learn how to read, sheet music. You can pick up a work by chopin and little by little start playing (poor technique though, but audible).
Contemporary styles are very very difficult to teach yourself (I speak from experience). You have to decipher chord symbols, study rhythms, harmonize melodies, memorize chord progressions, hand inversions, all instantaneously if you want it too sound good.
Honestly, a teacher is your best bet. Believe me you'll knock yrs off your quest.
But if your like me, who wants to be self taught: Let me recommend:
Piano for dummies (good introductory stuff)
Contemporary music theory (lv 1,2)
" " " " ear training
Pop piano book
all by mark harrison (awesome books!)
Jamie aebersold books (there are alot, but its play along, his methods have been proven, and you can start IMPROVISING the standards and classic jazz tunes.
For classical music:
I don't know any good books honestly, ther are so many methods out there. Personally once I learned how to read music (youd be surprise how quickly you can pick it up) all you have to do is get the sheet music for whatever it is you want to play (bach, beethoven, mozart, chopin, whatever)
let them be your teachers, everything is in the sheet music.
Anyway good luck!
BTW, you got a good headstart, since you already play the guitar. You have a good grasp of chords and progressions. This will aid you in piano. That 61 keyboard you got is good for the beginning but you should consider after awhile, if your still into it to at least getting a 76 keyboard one. That way you'll avoid frustrations when you see that there aren't enough keys to play a piece that you started (like moonlight sonata).
What are good techniques for practicing improve on piano?
Q. I am a classically trained pianist who hasn't really studied jazz since high school. I always dabbled around in the practice room but had problems applying my theory to the sound that i wanted to establish. Some you tube videos have been help full but i always run into the videos that are telling me something i already know. I'm looking for improve techs to ultimately get the feel that im missing in jazz and gospel.
A. Scales, Arpeggios, D7's, Chords
also Czerney is good composer who put a lot of technical stuff into their piano compositions :) try them
Hanon is really useful too
Powered by Yahoo! Answers