Learn Piano Notes: A Beginner's Guide

[ConcealedDreamer]

Anyone know any sites that I can learn to read piano notes and play it from scratch?

 

[moose]

If you truly want to learn to play piano you have to get a real live person to teach you. Sure you can learn the notes and all but that's really easy. If you listen to different people playing different difficult songs, they all play the right notes but only some of them actually play it fantastically well.

 

[Bladibla]

learning the notes on the piano, as said before, is quite easy. The piano is really technical, although musicality is required as well.

 

[Monique]

This site might be a good resource to you: download the scorch http://www.mfiles.co.uk/Scores/Fur-Elise.htm. It allows you to look at the notes and follow the music at the same time, it is good for getting the feeling of a song (sheet music can be too abstract).

The first part of Fur Elise is easy to learn, there are many other pieces availabe too.

 

[Artman]

I'm a pretty impatient person when it comes to learning things. I taught myself to play piano so that I could write music. I agree that if you want to do it right, get lessons, but if all you want to do is play the piano, there are short cuts.

Learn some basic chord forms (this is really very simple with a little music knowledge you can learn the major, minor, diminished, augmented, 7th's and major 7ths just by memorizing a few interval spacings and moving them up and down the keyboard). Add to this a few of the treble cleff notes and you can play piano from any fake book in a manner of a few weeks.

 

[Bladibla]

This site might be a good resource to you: download the scorch http://www.mfiles.co.uk/Scores/Fur-Elise.htm. It allows you to look at the notes and follow the music at the same time, it is good for getting the feeling of a song (sheet music can be too abstract).

The first part of Fur Elise is easy to learn, there are many other pieces availabe too.

Fur Elise..? That cursed score...

*burns, sissors, smashes Fur elise*



The tune is nice, but ITS BEEN PLAYED TOO DANG MUCH.

 

[Bladibla]

I'm a pretty impatient person when it comes to learning things. I taught myself to play piano so that I could write music. I agree that if you want to do it right, get lessons, but if all you want to do is play the piano, there are short cuts.

Learn some basic chord forms (this is really very simple with a little music knowledge you can learn the major, minor, diminished, augmented, 7th's and major 7ths just by memorizing a few interval spacings and moving them up and down the keyboard). Add to this a few of the treble cleff notes and you can play piano from any fake book in a manner of a few weeks.

Of course, yo ucan do with easy pieces. But if you REALLY want to play majestic, romantic, sensitive music, you'll need to play pieces of Rachamninoff And Chopin to name a few. And can you really say yo ucan sight read those in a mattter of weeks?

Take nocturne Op 9 no 2 for example of chopin. Do you know how much chords there are on there?

 

[Monique]

Take nocturne Op 9 no 2 for example of chopin. Do you know how much chords there are on there?

no?

I learned how to play piano, but I never was learned a single chord.. so I have to thoroughly analyze a piece before I understand it.. others listen to a song and they can imitate it right away

 

[Bladibla]

no?

I learned how to play piano, but I never was learned a single chord.. so I have to thoroughly analyze a piece before I understand it.. others listen to a song and they can imitate it right away

http://www.free-scores.com/free-sheet-music.php?instru=&compositeur=Chopin&start=20

2nd down from top. Check it out :shy:

 

[Monique]

I actually got the nocturnes by chopin for my birthday, but they looked too difficult to play

 

[ConcealedDreamer]

I just want to play easy songs with shortcuts and stuff. Stuff like Final Fantasy music and stuff to it's minimum. Anyone know how I can do that?

 

[so-crates]

http://www.musictheory.net/ has some good trainers and resources. Free sheet music for classical pieces can be had at http://www.mutopiaproject.org. For more recent pieces, you will probably have to buy scores or get them from someone else(or learn by ear, which is really hard for beginners) as they under copywrite protection.

I am a self-taught piano player. I can play a few pieces such as the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 8th sonata(1st and 3rd movements are a bit too difficult for me at this stage, though). Also have the Andante from Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat down pretty well (little rought on the ending though) I am like Monique in some respects. I can sight read, but not on the fly (that boggles my mind). I usually need to hear the music first to play it correctly. I have figured out a few pieces by ear alone - though not completely. ( Most notable, the first few chords the 2nd movement of one Mozart's best known piano concertos, his 21st )

Here's what my suggestins are.

1. As with most education, find someone who is good who is wiling to teach you. You will learn a lot faster this way, and avoid making mistakes and having to relearn to do a lot of things.
2. Practice
3. Failing finding a good teacher, learn to read music - not necssarily on the fly, but learn what all the notes and symbols mean
4. Practice more
5 Find pieces which you like to play, and aren't exceedingly difficult, and that you have a good recording of
6. Practice some more

You might have noticed that 3 of my 6 suggestins are 'practice'. Its not an overstatement. There was this famous pianist(Rubinstein, I think) who once said "If I don't practice for a day, my critics notice. If I don't practice for two days, my audience notices. If I don't practice for three days, I notice." You really have to build up confidence and awareness in your fingers/wrists, and your basic musicianship. I don't know of any shortcuts. There's a reason why every single performing classical pianist has been studying since (at maximum) the age of 8 or so. It's no picnic. But when you are actually able to play pieces with some proficiency, it can be very rewarding.

 

[Bladibla]

http://www.musictheory.net/ has some good trainers and resources. Free sheet music for classical pieces can be had at http://www.mutopiaproject.org. For more recent pieces, you will probably have to buy scores or get them from someone else(or learn by ear, which is really hard for beginners) as they under copywrite protection.

I am a self-taught piano player. I can play a few pieces such as the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 8th sonata(1st and 3rd movements are a bit too difficult for me at this stage, though). Also have the Andante from Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat down pretty well (little rought on the ending though) I am like Monique in some respects. I can sight read, but not on the fly (that boggles my mind). I usually need to hear the music first to play it correctly. I have figured out a few pieces by ear alone - though not completely. ( Most notable, the first few chords the 2nd movement of one Mozart's best known piano concertos, his 21st )

Here's what my suggestins are.

1. As with most education, find someone who is good who is wiling to teach you. You will learn a lot faster this way, and avoid making mistakes and having to relearn to do a lot of things.
2. Practice
3. Failing finding a good teacher, learn to read music - not necssarily on the fly, but learn what all the notes and symbols mean
4. Practice more
5 Find pieces which you like to play, and aren't exceedingly difficult, and that you have a good recording of
6. Practice some more

You might have noticed that 3 of my 6 suggestins are 'practice'. Its not an overstatement. There was this famous pianist(Rubinstein, I think) who once said "If I don't practice for a day, my critics notice. If I don't practice for two days, my audience notices. If I don't practice for three days, I notice." You really have to build up confidence and awareness in your fingers/wrists, and your basic musicianship. I don't know of any shortcuts. There's a reason why every single performing classical pianist has been studying since (at maximum) the age of 8 or so. It's no picnic. But when you are actually able to play pieces with some proficiency, it can be very rewarding.

Agreed there.

I personally find the concept of playing to get grades abhorrent, and that's why i don't do it for my flute or (albeit crapper skilled) piano.

If you want to play on your own, with any instrument, you still have to have a goal for somewhat target. For me, when i play flute, i usually listen to works of James Galway, the Irish flautist. The challenges of mastering the vibrato and getting those high notes (4th octave C screeches!) are vast, but after you master it, it is very, very satisfying.

Anyway, for somewhat easy/decent piano pieces, I recommend The irish pianist/composer, John field's work.
an example:http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/nocturnes/nocturneno5inbf.html

I'm trying to master the major part of it with the flute. But it isn't necessarily so hard.

@Monique: Nothing is really too difficult, if you put your mind to it. Let me quote chopin..

'It seems to me that you don't dare to express yourself as you feel. Be bolder, let yourself go more. Imagine you're at the conservatoire, listening to the most beautiful performance in the world. Make yourself want to hear it, and then you'll hear yourself playing it right here. Have full confidence in yourself ; make yourself want to sing like Rubini, and you'll succeed in doing so. Forget you're being listened to, and always listen to yourself. I see that timidity and lack of self-confidence form a kind of armour around you, but through this armour I perceive something else that you don't always dare to express, and so you deprive us all. When you're at the piano, I give you full authority to do whatever you want; follow freely the ideal you've set for yourself and which you must feel within you; be bold and confident in your own powers and strength, and whatever you say will always be good. It would give me so much pleasure to hear you play with complete abandon that I'd find the shameless confidence of the vulgaires unbearable by comparison' "

albeit long, but even if playing for fun, keep that in mind.

 

[Artman]

Of course, yo ucan do with easy pieces. But if you REALLY want to play majestic, romantic, sensitive music, you'll need to play pieces of Rachamninoff And Chopin to name a few. And can you really say yo ucan sight read those in a mattter of weeks?

Take nocturne Op 9 no 2 for example of chopin. Do you know how much chords there are on there?

That kind of playing takes years of practice to become proficient. I used to play a Chopin piece because I love the mood it creates. Several people I know have taken years of piano lessons and I can play better than them. I looked at Nocturn, Opus 9. There aren't a lot of chords, they are just arpeggios (walking up and down the chord form) the problem wih that piece is that the key would be a bear to play (5 flats) :yuck:

 

[Bladibla]

That kind of playing takes years of practice to become proficient. I used to play a Chopin piece because I love the mood it creates. Several people I know have taken years of piano lessons and I can play better than them. I looked at Nocturn, Opus 9. There aren't a lot of chords, they are just arpeggios (walking up and down the chord form) the problem wih that piece is that the key would be a bear to play (5 flats) :yuck:

Indeed years of lesson don't prove a monkey's exterior. However, would you say you know the theory as well as them? But then again.. your not palying for learning theory..no? :uhh:

5 flats?? 3 Flats if I am not mistaken. However, i do apologize if i had made a mistake..

 

[Gale]

That kind of playing takes years of practice to become proficient. I used to play a Chopin piece because I love the mood it creates. Several people I know have taken years of piano lessons and I can play better than them. I looked at Nocturn, Opus 9. There aren't a lot of chords, they are just arpeggios (walking up and down the chord form) the problem wih that piece is that the key would be a bear to play (5 flats) :yuck:

Playing in different keys gets easy as long as you practice your scales frequently enough. You fingers just naturally hit the flats when you know what key you're in and you're used to playing it. When i started, i had more difficulty playing chords. I still mostly prefer stuff written for the harpsiochord with lots of arpeggios, its just easier for me to play, and especially sight read.

And like so-crates said, its LOADS of practice. Hopefully you have an ear for music, then it shouldn't be so hard to play little melodies. Before i ever learned to read music, i would just sit and learn popular melodies by ear. The other really easy way to add a little more character to simple melodies is just to play the I, IV, and V chords whenever it fits. That works for most classic melodies.

 

[The Bob]

Piano. A funny instrument.

Learning to play it is really a case of getting someone to teach you. Theory lessons are almost a must as well. Not many people can handle theory and really understand what is going on.

Music..... hum... You see the problem is that pieces already mentioned (like Mozart's 21st Piano Concerto and Beethoven Sonatas) is that you might be able to play then but they need musicality. You need to feel the music and I mean really feel it. Playing notes is fine but unless you can hear it before it is played or from the notes or from what you can play then problems in musicality arise. The way over it is to listen to a lot of music. Get a feel for it and learn how intervals sound in your mind. It takes practise but it helps.

The Bob (2004 ©)

 

[Monique]

@Monique: Nothing is really too difficult, if you put your mind to it. Let me quote chopin..

I'll get to it once I get some time on my hands (reports, reports, reports) first I want to perfect Comptine d'Un Autre Été.

 

[Padford]

Fur Elise..? That cursed score...

*burns, sissors, smashes Fur elise*



The tune is nice, but ITS BEEN PLAYED TOO DANG MUCH.

Amen to that; burn it with fire

 

[Padford]

the chopin nocturn's arn't too bad; but i agree, i;ve been playing piano for about 7 years, going grade 8 now (grades are useful as they can earn you UCAS points!). BUT i suggest you take up the fantastic instrument that is the piano; some of my freinds are Jazz pienists and they've been playing a hellova lot less than i have; and they sound really good.
I guess, also if you really want to learn something you'll do it! But don't think you'll be able to play everything in even 5 years!

But, get a teacher; sometimes there are student teachers (like me!) who are really cheap!

Have Fun

-Padford

 

[Pre-AlgebraDude]

Make one more reference to Fur Elise and I shall come and slit your throat while you sleep...this has been said once, it is a good score, but it is played way too much.

Well, I learned to play the piano about two years ago. Figgering all the notes and stuff is easy, but to really make progress get a teacher. They make it so much easier...unless they are in their 60s and they use old folks metaphors and call you sweetie and sugar and honey...like my teacher...she's nice but...you don't know the half of it...

I at first taught myself. I then decided to get a teacher. My preacher taught himself and he can just tear a piano to pieces. One of my very intelligent relatives said "Music can be a good friend throughout your life", and my neighbor said "The only way to get good is to practice, practice, practice!". Once you get to the level where you can REALLY play, it is very rewarding. Every instrument you play also raises your I.Q. by 4 points! Learn as much as you can, but don't bite off more than you can chew at one time. Go slow, and practice your hands off! And don't try to play with cold hands either; I try it and I can't get certain techniques in when I do; hold them under warm water for awhile. The room where my piano is gets very cold, and I have to turn on the gasoline logs to warm up my hands.

A good sign that tells you when you are starting to get good:

When you play a difficult piece and your hands feel like they are moving on their own and just take off, you are getting very good. My dad told me this; he played the guitar for well over 40 years (I think he started at age 15, he is now 56). This happened to me. I was playing the popular piece "Classical Gas", by Mason Williams, and I was in the middle of it when it starts climbing up and then comes to the main part (the "refrain", if you will") and my hands just took off. I didn't even feel like I was controlling them. Now I can play the piece entirely from memory.

Chopin...good composer...I first pronounced it sort of like "chopping" without the "g" and my band teacher just about killed me and screamed "YOU DON'T KNOW WHO CHOPIN IS?!"

P.S. I recommend starting out in the key of C (no flats/sharps)and work your way up. I started out with flats. I occasionally play in G and D, but not often. Start out with something with some arpeggios (sp?) like...Fur...Elise (CURSE THE NAME!) or Moonlight Sonata, one of my personal favorites. If you want some help telling how many flats and sharps are in the keys, I'll PM you. I also have some good info in one of my starter books I can PM to you.

 

[The Bob]

Once you get to the level where you can REALLY play, it is very rewarding. Every instrument you play also raises your I.Q. by 4 points! Learn as much as you can, but don't bite off more than you can chew at one time.

Oh good. So that is 32 or 36 I.Q. points I have increased by.

As a side point. C major should be used more as a reference key. Use it to get your head around chord progressions and alike but don't transpose everything into it. Learn the same relationships in different keys. The number of people I know that have to relate to C major or they are stuck (even some of the best performers in my college).

The Bob (2004 ©)

 

[Pre-AlgebraDude]

Well, C is what I started out on, and helped me a lot, but everybody's different.

My preacher actually sight read something, say it's in G or something, and play it in A or possibly B! He plays by ear, and dare I say, he has come close to mastering it.

 

[The Bob]

Well, C is what I started out on, and helped me a lot, but everybody's different.

Everyone starts in C, don't get me wrong, but you have to move to other keys and not relate them to C. If I get a chord progression in G (say) I analysis it in G, I do not relate it to C.

My preacher actually sight read something, say it's in G or something, and play it in A or possibly B! He plays by ear, and dare I say, he has come close to mastering it.

By ear? With the music? I would have said he was transposing but by ear is cool. You have to get used to the way things sound and progress and you start to find it easy. I am not saying I could get given a piece and I would just play it in any key but I could work it out.

The Bob (2004 ©)