Piano Month on September, 2024: I am looking into taking piano, any advice?

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Tickle your secrets for Piano Month! Celebrate a musical instrument that is still classical, contemporary and versatile simultaneously a musical instrument that led enormously to the introduction of music as you may know it, and is constantly on the play a vital role in modern music.

I just started piano about six months ago, and I'm 17. So my first piece of advice is that it's never to late to try something new, even when your surrounded by amazingly talented pianist friends who have been taking piano since they were 5 (like mine!)

For lessons, I don't know what they offer in your area, but I take one half hour lesson a week. Though that doesn't sound like a lot, it's actually pretty good. Especially since most work is done at home when you're practicing. If you choose to take theory as well, I think that's another half hour or hour a week. It helps a bit that your older when starting piano, because I got through lessons in five months that it would have taken me two years to learn if I was five.

I have a Kawai baby grande piano and I love it. But if space is the issue, then a keyboard would probably be best. However, I really don't like the sound that comes from keyboards as much and find them sort of a pain, so if you have the space, go for an upright piano. I can't really help with the brand though.

For a piano teacher, look for someone who is nice, obviously good at the piano (see if they have a degree in music), but who can keep you on track. You want someone who is firm enough to keep you practicing, but not so scary that you despise lessons. You also should be able to feel comfortable messing up, because that happens a lot. I was lucky because my piano teacher was my singing teacher first, so I knew her and her teaching style.

I don't know what your teacher will recommend for a book, but I used Alfred's All In One Adult Course, Level One. It was really helpful. It goes quite slow, has a lot of theory in it, and some really great songs as well.

Lastly, just remember the most important part of piano is practicing. Not that I'm one to preach, as I don't practice nearly as much as I should, but do at least 20 minutes of practice each day (30 if you're really serious!) Do five minutes of scales (if you keep your wrist up and keep your hand in proper position, scales really really help) and then fifteen minutes on your song(s). Break the songs down into sections and practice them hands separate then hands together. That helps so much to learn it faster.

So good luck! Hope everything works out! Though I don't always enjoy practicing, I love piano, and I think it's a really great choice you're making to take it =)

How can you play a song without a piano music sheet?

Good for you for studying piano! The way you do it is to listen carefully to what you're hearing. There are ways to analyze what you hear and know what it is. When you know what you are hearing, you're a step closer to creating that sound on the piano. Since I don't know how much you know right now, I may use words that you aren't familiar with, so take those to your teacher for clarification. I also don't want to insult your intelligence by telling you things you allready know, but I am going to make this as basic as I can.

Start with a single melody line and listen to it closely. You need to determine a few things: How many verses are there? How many phrases are there? What meter is the song in? Is it fast or slow? Hi or low? Now, take one phrase, and listen to the pitches in it. When do they go higher and lower? Now listen to the first 2 notes in the melody line, and match the first one to a note on your piano. After you find this starting pitch, decide what the relationship is between the first note and the second. Is the second note higher or lower? How much? Is it a third higher? A fourth? In music, intervals are the distance between one note and another and we refer to them as seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths and octaves. Your ear can, with practice, learn to recognize these intervals very quickly, and as you study the piano, you'll learn how to create these intervals on the piano. After you learn to hear and recreate melodies, you are ready to harmonize them.

Next step: harmonizing your melody. Work in the key of C for now. Ask your teacher to make sure the melody you're practicing on is in the key of C. Play a scale one octave long. C D E F G A B C. Assign a number to each of these so that C is 1, D is 2 etc. Now, create a triad on each of these "base notes" These are your harmonizing chords. The best news is that you won't need all 8 yet. You can harmonize most simple melodies in major keys with only the chords you make on 1, 4, and 5. These are called your primary chords. ( Or primary triads). By listening to the sound of each chord you can determine which one would sound best with your melody. To make your song more interesting, vary the order in which you play the notes of your chord. With variations, you can create different styles of music, like classical, western, folk, rock, etc.

Ask your teacher to drill you in learning the sounds of the intervals. Closing your eyes, or looking away, the teacher plays an interval and you listen closely and decide between two options. (For instance, seconds and thirds.) Gradually increase your options. Also, ask your teacher to explain ways to vary the notes of your chords to create an interesting and pleasant accompaniment to your melody. Music software can teach you and drill you in these things, and at a music store you can buy theory books at your level to give you practice with these concepts. Over time, they become second nature, and you won't have to think about it so much. It can become more like a reflex, and people will say to you, "How do you do that ?!" Best wishes!

how good were you at piano after four months of playing?

I actually played very well by the four month mark. I wanted to play piano myself, and I was genuinely interested, so I pushed myself to do well in order to satisfy my own desires. My piano teacher started me off with very elementary studies that were absolutely boring to me, so a lot of the times I just found music online and played whatever I wanted by myself. I was already able to read half the notes due to my prior experience with playing violin. I was able to play the Moonlight Sonata Mov. 2, along with Fur Elise, Minuet in G Major (Bach), parts of Mozart's K545 Sonata, and a bunch of other pieces from Animes, and Final Fantasy video games.