Beginner Piano Lessons
Regardless of whether you’ve already begun or simply are just beginning, understanding how to play the piano might be a major challenge. Playing the piano is definitely like any other skill or talent worth enjoying, it rewards the pupils that apply good rules and it benefits them even more rapidly. I would like to talk about some elements you can apply that can assist you to master piano much faster and also appreciate it much more.
Some of you have tried at some point and some of you have contemplated it for a long time. If perhaps that’s your situation, I would like to provide a little advice. If it’s something that you want to do, do it. Take the time now to get a teacher or a lesson system and start doing something that you enjoy right away.
Set aside time for practice and playing. 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. If you’re not where you want to be just evaluate your efforts before doing the same thing all over again.
At least 90% of your time should be spent practicing. Practice with a goal. Focus on mastering dexterity, notes or a specific selection of music. It is while practicing with a specific end goal in mind that pianists become great. It’s inspiring to see great pianists perform and play incredible music but with every hour they spend playing or performing there’s at least another 10 spent behind the scenes practicing.
You don’t have to play full time or become a concert pianist. Relax, take a breath and just make sure that you play often. Spending one hour a day, 5 days a week is much better than spending 5 hours in 1 day, 1 day a week. If you develop consistency and focus in your practice you will develop consistency and focus in your playing.
Playing with a metronome will help you to get it right the first time. We all have seen or used them before and if you’re like me you might like playing without one much better but what good is it to play if you cannot get the rhythm and beat right? I have a tendency to speed up on the parts I know well and then slow down on the parts I don’t. 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.
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. You really know that you are playing well when it sounds good without the peddle. 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. You will develop a natural feeling for the song more quickly by doing so. Even if you play a song without any improvisation, it helps to intuitively avoid mistakes playing new songs and sound smoother.
Play songs that you enjoy. Inner drive is defined by and a product of passion. If you lose it or have none, you have no drive. We have a lot of other words to describe it like ambition or desire but each one has its root in what’s inside: 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 remembering it or dragging it along. If you want a good example of this it’s food. We don’t forget to eat for very long, most people don’t have to schedule it and we all love food. 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.
When I started playing I didn’t have much drive 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. I started playing all the time only after I started playing music that I loved. And you know what happened? 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 here. 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.
