How to Play the Piano

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The piano is one of the most popular instruments because it is versatile and easy to learn. It is either used as a solo instrument or as an accompaniment for other instruments or for singers. The tone is amazing, and the type of music you can use it to play is endless. The Piano is also an important foundation for all musicians, even if it is not their "main" instrument.

Steps

Playing the piano is a great skill to have in life and learning is great fun - although the first few weeks are quite an effort.
Pianos can be very expensive, so if you can't afford to buy one, keyboards are an excellent cheaper alternative. There are also some great crossovers such as digital grands from brands like Roland and Yamaha. If you can afford a piano, there are several criteria you should consider before buying yourself a piano. Before buying a piano, make certain you are willing to practice for thirty or more minutes each day. If you're not, then save yourself the expense of buying the piano and books or lessons. If you have the passion to learn you can often borrow a piano from someone or get an old piano that someone is getting rid of.
Arrange for music lessons with a teacher in your area. The classifieds or a referral from a friend is a good place to start. Many schools and colleges offer piano lessons at a subsidized cost. Ask other piano students for feedback about their books or teachers.
Make up your mind. If you do not want to take piano lessons you can learn by yourself. However, you do have your work cut out for you. Teaching yourself how to play the piano can be done.
Specific computer games can also help if you want to have a bit of fun while you learn. There are some free games on the Internet that can help you with both reading music and playing piano... One program being Jayde Musica.
Make certain your teacher or lesson book includes time spent learning all aspects of the piano, including chords and theory, as well as learning pieces by heart.
Practice daily for at least thirty minutes or more. Your fingers will "rust" if you do not play for even a week. But you may often find that if you have practiced diligently for a while a short break lets things sink in and you 'forget' some of your mistakes so holidays are OK. At first, practicing might be a pain and you might get very frustrated. As your skills grow, you will become better and playing piano will become pure enjoyment. It's best to warm up at the beginning of every practice session with some thing to get you relaxed. These will stretch your fingers and hands and help you play with your hands relaxed. (When you play, you should be able to see your finger bones move. Let your hand just hang and move only your fingers.
Remember that it's worth the effort and will make you a much better piano player when your teacher asks you to learn a hard piece. While there are many ways to practice, here's a good one for beginners. First try to sightread the piece without worrying if you make mistakes. Then practice each hand separately. Break the music into segments and learn the right hand part. Learn segment by segment, then connect them together. Keep practicing until you've mastered the right hand. Play through the entire piece. If you make a mistake, try to pick up from the beginning of that measure. Starting from the beginning each time you make a mistake will mean you learn the start of the song very well and perhaps never reach the end! Be patient, this process will enable you to get through the entire piece flawlessly. Once you've mastered the right hand, repeat the process with the left hand. Then, repeat the process again, this time for both hands.
Take a new piece apart by learning one or two measures at a time, and going over it again and again. The next day do the same thing with the next few measures, and then include the last measures and play them all together. By practicing this way, you can spend quality time listening to how they sound and making sure your fingers know where to go and when.
Try not to repeat your mistakes. When you are learning a new piece, break it down into simple parts that you can practice without making a lot of mistakes. And play slowly. For example, practice each hand separately. After you have determined the fingering you are going to follow, play both hands together in short sections. Eventually put the sections together. Do not try to play at normal speed until you are secure in your fingering and notes. Then increase the speed gradually. Play the piece over and over until you memorize it and you can play fluently.
Improvise and think notes. "Thinking notes" means that you know every single note that you're playing. While that sounds easy, it can be very hard. Play a piece that you have memorized and can play very well. Now, name every note that you played without looking at piano. Then, take a melody you've heard on TV or somewhere else and try to play it using your ear. Learn to know all the notes that you're playing. While playing by ear is good, it's a lot better if you know every note that you play.

Video

Tips

Play pieces that you enjoy playing or pieces that you know well!
Never give up. The fingering, speed, and chords in some pieces may be frustrating and difficult, but push through it. If you get frustrated, step away from the piano for a few minutes until you are ready to play again.
The more you practice, the better you will perform.
Don't give up! If you do have piano lessons; remember this: You are very lucky, many parents want their child to learn piano, but many can't afford it.
You may like to accompany a singer on piano and perhaps form a rhythm section with other instruments.
Learn to sight read music. This will allow you to play a large range of pieces without learning them from memory.
If you're at a recital and your hands shake wildly, sit on your hands for a few minutes before you go out to play. It calms them down.
Find the right teacher! Your relationship with your teacher can affect the way you feel about practicing, so arrange for a trial period of a few weeks to find out if there's a good fit. Parents, especially--pay attention!
If you are shy, practice playing in front of your family and friends. They will enjoy it and in time, so will you.
Learning music theory is fun and is the best way to become a great musician, whether you want to play classical, jazz or pop.
Always follow the fingering on the piece (although there are certain exceptions). While some of the finger positions may feel awkward at first, following them will help you play more smoothly because you won't have to adjust your hand position because you cannot reach the next note.
The exceptions on fingering are rare but important. Male and female hands have slightly different shapes with the length of the index and ring fingers being different. Also if your hands are small, some stretches simply aren't possible. However 95% of the time the printed fingering is right so persevere and it will make sense.
Practice sight reading; it's an important skill. It will help you master a piece faster and give you more time to work.
Hand and body posture are very important. Slouching gives a bad impression and having a bad hand posture will be counter-productive to your practice. Keep your wrists loose and your hands flexible. Keep your fingers at a natural curve, as if you were holding your hands at your side. This gives you more power in your finger strokes.
Listen to your notes and tune your ears to the keys' pitches. This is needed on some advanced piano tests and will allow you to impress your friends by playing blindfolded!
Do not keep your foot on the sustaining pedal; it blurs your chords together and makes them sound "muddy."
It is better to play too slowly than to play too fast when you are performing. Play evenly and with a great deal of care in your touch and you will sound professional.
Keep a regular, steady rhythm when you are playing. Just playing rhythmically makes a piece sound a lot better. Consider buying a metronome to help with this.
Play simple pieces by ear and make your own arrangements of them. This will help you to become less dependent on written music. When you are playing by ear, keep going! Do not start sections of the piece over again. If you miss a chord one time, you can practice so that you'll play it the next time. The main thing is to overcome repetition and hesitation and learn to play a piece through smoothly when you are performing it.
In addition to studying traditional chord relationships (harmony), take a class in composition and listen to as much music as you can. Community colleges offer excellent instruction in music theory, history, and composition. Playing with other people in ensembles is also an excellent idea.
Get used to the idea that some of the pianos you will be playing will not sound that good or be in perfect tune. This is one of the hazards of being a piano player--you can't carry your favorite instrument with you. Try to make the best of things when you are playing an inferior instrument. A good pianist can usually make a bad piano sound reasonably good--although some pianos are in such bad condition that you should feel free to say that you cannot play that piano.
If you want to correctly use the sustain pedal, play a chord, press the pedal down, and then a split second AFTER you play your next chord, carefully lift up the sustain pedal and put it back down. Whenever you change chords or play notes from a different chord, "reset" the sustain pedal. Do NOT "bump" the pedal by changing it too fast. Always listen to yourself when you pedal. Your ears will tell you if the sound is blurred or not.
For Medium/Advanced players, try playing through that new piece using the chords written above the grand staff. Use your left hand to play octaves and your right hand to play the chord. Start off using the first inversion of every chord, then for a challenge, limit yourself to using only one octave and trying out different inversions of chords.
Take shorts breaks every so often when practicing. This will allow your fingers to recover and your mind to become better focused.
Don't freak out when you can't play a measure (or two). Just take a short break. Give yourself some time to clam down before you attack the problem again.
For medium/advanced players, eventually, you will play faster pieces that are also long. If you keep pushing on the keys, you will tire out before you even finish the first page. To prevent this, lift your fingers up higher for louder notes and move your wrist so that it "follows the notes" (as the keys you press make higher and higher sounds, your wrist gets nearer and nearer to the right side of the piano when you're facing it. Do the opposite when the sounds made by the keys get lower and lower. However, if you overdo it, there'll be no point)
And curve your fingers for a stronger tone and a better quality of music. Resist the temptation of playing flat fingered.

Warnings

Don't slack off. Sometimes it may become tedious, but keep practicing.
Don't be nervous at recitals. Just play your piece. Don't worry about how you look. Pay attention to the thing that really counts -- how the music sounds!
Don't buy or let your parents buy a piano when you're not sure you want to start playing it at all!
Never play the same melody the same way. If the composer puts identical measures in the piece, make it interesting by using dynamics or ritardandos.
Don't settle to just play the notes on the page. Think about what the melody is trying to convey and play the song as though it was your own - from your heart.
Don't set yourself impossible targets. Don't just say 'Right, I'm going to learn how to play Turkish March in one week'. It's almost impossible.

Things You'll Need

A Piano: An acoustic piano is preferred, though digital pianos and electronic keyboards offer an wonderful alternative for the beginning pianist.
Music: SheetMusicPlus.com offers the most extensive catalog of piano books and sheet music on the web. Before purchasing your first book it is best to consult a piano teacher.
If you are excited to get started, though have not yet found the perfect teacher, you can begin by mastering the basics, including basic musical symbols, note naming, rhythmic values and intervals. The following websites offer a wonderful collection of resources for the beginning piano student.
MusicTheory.net is a well respected resource for online music theory tutorials and drill and practice exercises.
MakingMusicFun.net is a wonderful resource for free printable note naming worksheets, interval worksheets and music theory arcade games to drill basic skills.
Piano-Play-It.Com Contains a free collection of the most famous and popular pop songs for beginners.
The Rainbow Piano Technique helps young beginners to start playing from scores based on matching colored notes and keys. The website contains a video tutorial that explains the technique and its use.

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