There is no age to learn something that you have always wanted, especially music. Although every instrument has its own charm, the piano is considered to be one of the best instruments to learn music. You dearly want to learn how to play a piano but don’t wish to take classes.
What’s The Best Way To Learn The Piano On Your Own?
Since the internet has made things easy and accessible at home. We will tell you how you could go about learning the basics of playing a piano all by yourself.
Skills to Develop Before You Begin to Play a Piano
To begin with, there are some things that must be known to you before you start learning how to play the piano.
- Gaining Basic Knowledge About a Piano
You must learn about the keys of a piano before you can begin playing them. A piano has 88 keys – the black keys make a sharp sound, which is why they are referred to as naturals. The white keys are known as naturals because the sound made by them is natural.
In a keyboard, there are 7 naturals, set of 8 white keys known as octaves and 5 accidentals for each octave. Octaves are important as they give the bass sound. You must also learn the names of stave or staff on the right and left hands.
- Instructional Videos or Books
There are hundreds of good instructional books that teach basic piano to individuals, available in the market. However, you can always go for a video tutorial on the internet. Videos and books help you to read the music, play basic music on piano and progress slowly to playing a song.
- Learn the Notes
Every note on a piano sounds different and is written differently on the stave/staff. You must learn to identify these notes to be able to play by seeing them from the staff. Since you are learning the piano all by yourself, you can buy stickers or draw the notes on a piece of paper and stick it on the keys to be able to identify them quickly.
At this point, you must also learn about the chords. They may be a bit difficult to memorize, but then you would be limited to playing specific types of music only. Chords give you the freedom of playing any type of music. Chord is actually a group of three notes from the same scale that gives a specific effect when played together.
- Learn How to Place Fingers on the Piano
You need to place your fingers in a certain manner to play certain keys. The pressure of the right finger on the key produces the right sound. If you have your notes right but not the fingers then you wouldn’t be able to play the piano right. This is especially when you have to play up and down scales. Take the help of video tutorials articles or books to understand the finger placement on the piano.
- Practice Playing Scales
You must learn the sound of the notes. Practicing the scales will later help you to play any music that you hear without having learned it earlier. Learning the scales will help you understand how the notes look on the stave/staff and where they are placed on the piano. Begin with playing one hand at a time and then play both together.
- Learn Easy Songs
It is said that the basic learners should begin with C major and then proceed to the minor keys so they can get familiar with them. Practicing small songs will help you learn the notes and also better your sight-reading ability.
- Practice will Make You Perfect
Practice makes a man perfect! This is true, especially when it comes to learning a piano. From learning the notes to sight-reading everything needs a lot of practice. Don’t skip a lesson and jump to the other unless you have mastered it.
You have the guide to learning a piano at home. So, if you have been holding on to that desire to learn a piano yourself then now is the time, go through these tips and you will soon be playing some melodies on your piano.