Beginner Piano Lessons
Whether or not you have already begun or are just starting off, learning to play the piano or keyboard can be quite a large challenge. The same as anything that is worth experiencing, actively playing piano pays its students who employ correct principles. I would like to share a couple of elements that you can do that will help to learn piano much faster and appreciate it a lot more.
A few of you have considered this for some time and a few of you have made an effort before and then quit I’d like give a bit of guidance in the event that is the case. If it’s something that you want to do, do it. Take the time now to get a lesson system or a teacher and start right now to do something that you enjoy.
Set the time aside for playing and especially practice. When we’re stuck and not making progress, it’s amazing how many times in life we can look back in frustration and wonder why. Most of the time we don’t realize that the only reason we haven’t moved forward is because we simply haven’t spent the time to deserve it. It’s easy to be frustrated if you don’t know why something is wrong but it’s easy to set a course of action and get past it quickly when you do.
It’s inspiring to see great pianists perform and play incredible music. But you have to remember that with every hour they spend playing or performing there’s at least another 10 spent behind the scenes practicing. You should always practice with a goal in mind: at least 90% of your time should be spent practicing. Focus on mastering something specific. It could be a section of music, certain notes, a scale, or anything. Pianists become great during this time if they carefully and thoughtfully play with an end goal in mind.
Focus on playing frequently rather than for really long periods of time. You don’t have to become a concert pianist overnight or play full time. Spending one hour a day, 6 days a week is much better than spending 6 hours in 1 day, 1 day a week. You will develop consistency and focus in your playing if you develop consistency and focus in your practice.
Use a metronome. We have all seen or used them before and you might like playing without one much better if you’re like me. But what good is it to play if you cannot get the rhythm and beat right? Playing with a metronome will help you to get it right the first time. I have a tendency to slow down on the hard parts and then speed up on the parts I know well. Using a metronome helps you discover those parts and forces you to spend the time and practice to fix them and play them right rather than learning songs halfheartedly.
Don’t use the pedal. Wait until you have learned the song well before adding the pedal as a last touch. This way you learn coordination and placement of your hands and fingers are shaped to the music. When it sounds good without the peddle you can rest assured that you are playing well. Now that you are familiar you can add the pedal and play it with confidence.
Start trying to improvise. It can be a little frustrating at first but you can just try adding a couple notes here and there to begin with. As you continue to do so you will develop a natural feeling for a song more quickly. Even if you play a song without any improvisation, it helps to intuitively avoid mistakes playing new songs and sound smoother.
Enjoy what you are doing, pick songs that you love. Inner drive is defined by and a product of passion. You have no drive when you lose passion or have none. We have a lot of other words to describe passion like ambition or desire but each one has its root in what’s inside and that is passion. When you do something you love it moves you forward.You are automatically propelled forward when you do something you love. It doesn’t require dragging it along or even remembering it. If you want a good example of this it’s food. Most people don’t have to schedule it, we all love it and we never forget to eat for very long. Passion and drive do need to be developed and cultivated but they will move you forward much further than you could ever go without them. Live with passion.
I didn’t have much drive when I first started playing because I didn’t have much passion. I was the one that spent the 5 hours in one day rushing rather than playing with consistency. I just wasn’t playing songs that I really loved. It took me a few years, but once I started playing music I loved I played all the time. I played for love of music and you know what? I enjoyed it too! So take the time to practice and learn theory and all that good stuff but make sure you take the time to play what you want to play too.
The most important thing we can do is start taking action the moment we choose to do something. So if you’ve been waiting to start or get better just go for it. If you don’t have the money for a teacher, there’s a lot of really great programs out there. If you want a recommendation there’s a great program I’ve used that is very complete, comes with 12 months worth of material and a ton of songs and bonus material. It’s actually really cheap and I figure for the cost of a piano lesson it’s worth getting piano lessons for beginners. I have had some really great teachers and some not so great ones, same with books and programs. Unfortunately I can’t recommend any teachers that are likely to be within driving distance of you. Of all the programs I’ve used though, I have to say this was the closest thing to a real teacher and the best one especially for the money.