learn to play piano

Information, knowledge and communications are all part of the internet world and anyone can learn a new skill from the comfort of their own home. If you want to learn to play piano, it just got a whole lot easier, now you can order a piano software course for beginners, online, and get started within minutes.

Although there are lots of piano software courses available from the internet, there are only a handful that are respected and offer value for money, at the time of writing this I only recommend two piano software courses and I have chosen these on my experience as a piano and keyboard teacher.

Piano software courses and online piano lessons are the modern way to learn how to play the piano. Learning to play the piano is not exactly easy whether you use software or a teacher but using software is cheap, easy and you can do it anytime you want.

Here are three reasons you should start using piano software:

<b>Have piano lessons at a time that suits you</b>

Balancing your work time and free time has always been problematic for busy people, and going to a piano teacher is just out of question. If you use a piano software course to learn to play the piano, it certainly won’t help you with your time balancing act, but it will help you to learn the piano when it suits you, because it’s always available when you want it to be.

The brilliance of piano software is that you can take it anywhere in the world with you. If you have group piano lessons and you’re too busy to attend, then that’s not only going to set you back but could potentially set the rest of the class back. If you have to miss your piano lessons when using piano software, it doesn’t matter; it’s constantly available on your PC or laptop, ready to go when you are.

Everybody can find some quality free time at sometime in their busy lives and if learning piano is your thing then using piano software is the way to go.

<b>Inexpensive</b>

You are going to make a major saving if you use piano software rather than a piano teacher. You will easily pay up to twenty five pounds per hour for piano and keyboard lessons which for one lesson is more expensive than a complete piano software course. Many piano software sites give you the option to download complete piano courses to your computer as soon as your payment has been processed which is normally straight away. There are probably about a handful of what I consider really good piano software courses available from about twenty pounds.

<b>You are in charge</b>

There really is no excuse for not learning to play the piano when you use piano software because you make all the choices. Piano software courses are ideal for beginners, they are simple to use and very convenient. You can also come across some great deals on new and second hand pianos and keyboards whilst you download you piano software course.

I think we can be of the same opinion that piano software is a great development in piano tuition. It will help countless people at least have the chance of learning to play the piano, but the one thing that hasn’t changed since the piano was invented is that if you would like to play a piano you have to practice and practice and then practice some more.

Mike Shaw
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/piano-software-is-the-new-way-to-learn-how-to-play-the-piano-751263.html

In this piano lesson you will learn to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star without the use of sheet music. After this learn to play piano tutorial you will be able to play the melody with both hands!

As you know Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is a popular nursery rhyme. The melody is from France and the lyrics from an English poem by Jane Taylor.

The English lyrics are as follows:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are

In this piano lesson we will use a form of tablature instead of sheet music notation.

Tablature is a type of musical notation which will tell you where to place your fingers to play a melody on your piano. The first thing we will do is to locate the note C.

The middle C on a piano is the first white key that is to the left of two black keys. It is called middle C because on the piano keyboard it is right in the middle, near the keyhole.

In our piano tab notation the keys are numbered instead. This middle C in our type of piano tab is called 1.

This means that when you see the number 1 you are to play the middle C once. The white key to the right of C we call 2, the next 3 and so on.

Let’s play some piano tab notes:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Now you have played a scale with the actual notes C D E F G A B.

Now we will start to play the melody Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

1 1 5 5 6 6 5

Now you have played the notes C C G G A A G.

How can you use your left hand? Let’s make this piece a little bit more difficult and also more rewarding to play by using your left hand for bass notes.

The notes from C to the next C is called an octave. The keys are grouped this way on the whole keyboard.

You also have these notes to the left of the middle C. We can call these notes the left octave.

If you use the notes 1-7 in the left octave to play bass notes with your left hand we can notate the melody in the following way:

1/1 1 5/3 5 6/4 6 5/3

The note to the right of the slash is the bass note. 1/1 means that as you play the first 1 with your right hand you simultaneously play number 1 in the left octave with your left hand.

I guess you have noticed that you only play bass notes together with some of the melody notes.

Let’s continue this piano lesson with the next line:

How I wonder what you are

4/2 4 3/1 3 2/5 2 1/1

What fingers should you use as you play? You can and maybe you use your index fingers on both hands to play but it will be easier to find your notes if you cultivate the habit to use all your fingers.

On your right hand you can use your thumb to play number 1 and your index finger to play number 2 and so on.

The next piano tab looks like this:

Up above the world so high

5/3 5 4/2 4 3/1 3 2/5

If you want to use fingerings on your left hand you place your little finger above key number 1 and your thumb on number 5 and the other fingers accordingly.

On the next piano tab the melody is identical:

Like a diamond in the sky

5/3 5 4/2 4 3/1 3 2/5

Now you only have to play the beginning of the song again:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

1/1 1 5/3 5 6/4 6 5/3

How I wonder what you are

4/2 4 3/1 3 2/5 2 1/1

Congratulations! Now you can play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star as a piano solo with two hands!

This type of piano notation is probably best used as a help to find the notes until you know the melody by heart. I suggest that you memorize one line at a time until you know the whole song as this will enable you to play the song anywhere and anytime!

Peter Edvinsson
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/piano-lesson-learn-to-play-twinkle-twinkle-little-star-without-reading-sheet-music-26020.html

A jazz piano chord is much the same as any other piano chord. This means that when you learn the basics of piano chords and theory, you’ll be able to play any type of music, be it gospel or jazz. Many people enjoy the jazz style of music and will benefit from learning those chords that are most often used in jazz music. Once you learn these chords, you’ll be able to play a wide variety of music because you will understand the backbone of notes and scales that are the key to playing music on any instrument.

Any pianist who wants to learn how to play jazz needs to have charts they can reference frequently. You’ll first learn the basic intervals and how chords are built. You’ll also learn how these chords are used differently in each song you play. Once you have mastered the basic intervals of jazz chords, you’ll then be able to move on to advanced chords such as 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, drop voicings, and blues chords.

An online piano course will teach you all the functions of chords including clusters, polytonal clusters, and substitutions. You’ll be provided with numerous charts that you can use for help during practice or when you need to quickly reference a certain jazz piano chord. When you learn to play these jazz chords, you’ll also learn how to play with more harmony, variety, and passion.

Learning online is a great option when you’re starting out on the piano. You can learn at your own pace without having to plan around the schedule of a piano teacher. Online lessons also challenge you at your own playing level. This means that when it’s time to learn those jazz chords, you master one before moving on to the next.

The piano is a wonderful instrument full of history and culture. If you are interested in learning to play the piano, look into taking some lessons to help you learn the basics of all chords, including the most popular jazz chords. No matter where you decide to play the piano, you’ll be ready to play any song once you have the theory basics solidly behind you. You may find that family and friends are asking you to play more often!

At Hear and Play, located at http://www.hearandplay.com, we offer you the programs you need to learn how to play jazz music on the piano. Our online courses are designed to move you along at your own playing level so that you can easily learn and master each jazz piano chord. Contact us today for more details.

Iprwire Staff Writer
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/learn-popular-jazz-piano-chords-online-43628.html

You can start learning to play the piano right now, if you have an internet connection. Expensive pianos and ongoing piano lessons are no longer the norm. Anybody that has an interest in learning to play the piano can make a start thanks to the World Wide Web.

If you want to get some inspiration, then watch a good pianist at work or keyboard player, there are plenty of videos available on youtube to inspire you. When a pianist plays the piano well, the listener can be drawn in to a very different world created by the expressiveness of the performer. Learning skills in general can be improved when learning to play the piano and children can benefit from this at school. Piano lessons can also help to have a better understanding of science and mathematics.

<br>It doesn’t have to be expensive</b>

Piano lessons are now available to the masses not least because of the technological advancements of electric pianos and keyboards. Not too many years ago, if you wanted to learn how to play the piano your only option would be to buy an expensive piano. It’s easy to learn to play the piano online these days, and you can buy a used keyboard for next to nothing. You don’t have to spend a fortune when you are just starting to learn the piano or keyboard. An expensive piano is not going to make a lot of difference to a beginner.

<b>Improve your hand eye coordination</b>

When you read sheet music, eye to hand coordination comes in to play and this process will improve dramatically the more you practice. You may be surprised at how fast this improvement will be.

<b>Choose your own practice time</b>

When you take piano lessons with a teacher, you will normally attend once a week at the same time on the same day. If you learn to play the piano using a piano software course then you can choose your day and time of day when you have lessons. You can learn in the morning, afternoon or evening. You don’t have to wait for a particular day to have your piano lesson. Everybody has busy and quiet times so do more when you’re quite and take a break when you are busy. So if you don’t want to be tied to a teacher, online piano lessons is the way to go.

It’s already been mentioned that to learn to play the piano properly you need a piano and piano lessons. There is also a third crucial requirement when learning to play the piano and that is you. Even though the process is considerably easier than it was you still have to practice. A piano, piano lessons and practice equals a great piano player.

Mike Shaw
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/beginners-can-learn-to-play-the-piano-online-707474.html

Reading piano notes may seem daunting at first, but it really isn’t if you ground yourself in the basics. The first step is learning the names of the notes. The great thing is that you only have seven to memorize.

All music is the result of combinations of these seven. These notes, named after letters in the alphabet, are A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Specific keys on the piano, associated with these notes, comprise your piano playing toolkit.

These seven notes sit on lines and spaces, called a music staff. Piano music consists of two staffs or staves: the Treble Clef and the Bass Clef. The notes from the upper portion of the piano keyboard sit on the Treble Clef. The notes from the lower portion of the keyboard sit on the Bass Clef.

Usually, the right hand plays the notes in the Treble Clef, while the left hand plays notes in the Bass Clef. The key to reading piano notes is in knowing what key relates to what note on the sheet music.

The note A on a piano is a white key. The A on the music staff corresponds to where the A note is on the keyboard. The notes on a keyboard repeat themselves:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A

Each of these notes is a key on the piano. It’s that simple, all along the keyboard.

The first A sits on one point of the music staff. As you play along the keyboard, the second A you play sits further up the music staff. As your fingers run up to the upper portions of the keyboard, the higher the notes sit on the Treble Clef. The further down you play on the piano keyboard, the further down the notes sit on the music staff, running into the Bass Clef.

You can group notes together on a music staff vertically. These vertical grouping are chords. A chord is a group of three or more notes played simultaneously. If you play the C, E and G keys at the same time on the keyboard, you play a chord known as a triad. On a piece of sheet music, you will see these three notes as such:

G
E
C …piled on top of one another so-to-speak.

If the composer wants these notes played separately, he would write them out horizontally on the music staff as such:

C E G …moves along the music staff.

Of course, these letters do not appear on the music staff; instead oval notes replace the letters.
When you first begin to read piano sheet music, locate the reference point note of each staff. This allows you to determine the rest of the notes on the staff.

The Treble Clef has the G note as its reference point. This note is on the second line from the bottom of the five line Treble Clef staff. The Bass Clef has the F notes as its reference point. This note is on the second line from the top of the five line Bass Clef staff. Every other note on either staff is easily located from these points.

Reading piano notes will be easier when you study the fundamentals. Learn the Treble and Bass Clefs and where the seven notes sit on them, and your reading skills will improve.

Duane Shinn
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/how-to-read-piano-notes-527773.html