Wednesday, February 15, 2012

5 Starter Resources For Learning Piano

Learning piano can really be a great hobby. No matter what age you are the rewards of studying piano can be plentiful. In this article we are going to discuss some of the basic material you will need to get started in your piano learning journey.

Your Own Keyboard Or Piano

In general, it's is preferred to practice and learn on a real acoustic piano. That being said, if you do decide to purchase just a keyboard initially there are some things you should take into consideration. It's best to always buy a keyboard that has weighted keys and an excellent reproduction of a piano sound. If you decide to play on a keyboard with unweighted keys there is a strong possibility that you could injure your hands. Additionally, it will be very difficult to transition from a unweighted keyboard to an acoustic piano. You may end up hitting many wrong notes. So, weighted keyboard is the way to go!

Piano Instructional Book

Once you purchase your piano you'll need music to start playing. A beginner's piano instructional book is a perfect solution. Not only does a book like this give you the opportunity to start playing music but it will also function as a guide for improving your overall skill level and knowledge of playing the piano.

Metronome

In order to improve your rhythmic coordination you'll want to practice with a time keeping device called a metronome. In order to sound authentic and clean when playing music you'll need to make sure your timing is very tight. A metronome is a great practice tool to help you achieve It's best to practice with a metronome almost all the time when practicing piano. You can make the tempo slower and faster on modern metronomes with just the turn of a dial. This is a nice strategy to implement to help you work through difficult passages of music. You can also use a metronome to help you gradually build your endurance and technical ability when playing a piece of music.

Manuscript Paper

If you end up taking piano lessons or writing any of your own music you'll need some blank paper with music staves on there. This type of paper is commonly called manuscript paper. Often times your piano teacher will ask you to take notes inside the lesson. You'll want to write the musical concepts down on the staff.

Fake Book

Another type of book that you may want to have for your piano studies is a fake book. These type of books usually feature popular music and are written with just chords symbols and treble clef melodies. You'll need to learn your chords very well to in order to play fake book style. It can be a lot of fun though and a great opportunity for you to build your own music arrangements.

William Darkos is an author, piano player, and clinician. He writes for http://www.freejazzlessons.com/ He is passionate about playing piano, jazz piano lessons and teaching jazz education.


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