Piano Tutorial
A few simple tips for playing the piano
Keyboard Layout
The
following graphic indicates which keys on the piano keyboard correspond
with the notes on a staff of music. There is no need to know the
names of the notes. Just press the key on the piano that corresponds
with the note on the written music, as shown on the following image.
The black image represents the piano keyboard while the red image
represents the notes on a sheet of music overlaid on the piano keyboard.
(The notes that correspond with the black keys are not displayed.)
If the written note has a 
in front of it, play the note immediately to the right on the keyboard. If the written note has a 
in front of it, play the note immediately to the left on the keyboard. For example:
Relaxation
Try
to touch the piano keys lightly and gently. If your fingers are rigid,
stiff, with the anxiety of trying to get the right notes at the right
time, it will be much more difficult to get it right. A relaxed hand
is much easier to get the the right place at the right time.
Enjoyment
Play
something you like and that you are familiar with. In time, you will be
able to look at any sheet of music and play something close to what
is written, but there is no sense adding the burden of playing
unfamiliar music on top of learning to press the right key. When we
learned to type, we learned by typing familiar words. We didn't learn to
type obscure chemical names or technical jargon. The same applies to
the piano. When starting out, play what is fun for you. Anything you
play will develop your skill.
If you are practicing to play by
ear, play what you are familiar with: advertising jingles, TV theme
music, popular folk songs, etc.
For improving Fluidity:
Do
you play by ear? I recommend you try it. I found that my fluidity went
up greatly when I started playing by ear. Or in other words, without
any music, sit down and play the melody to some songs that are very
familiar to you. Add some harmony as appropriate. This should be music
that you have not previously played from a printed page.
Since
I started learning to play by ear, the music I play from a printed
sheet sounds better. My fingers just seem to anticipate where the next
note is going to be, even if my eyes haven't quite caught up. You
don't have to become an expert at playing by ear, but if you practice
until you can do it a little bit, it will greatly improve your sight
reading capabilities!
For Improving Memory:
Another
idea that has more to do with biology than anything else, is to play
the piece you are learning immediately before going to bed. It should
be the last thing you do before laying your head on the pillow. During
the day, our brain stores many things in short term memory. These
memories are transferred to long term memory during sleep. If you are
doing anything after your practice, the memories of your practice
session will tend to get overwritten by the events you do later in the
day. Playing the song one time just before bed, will bring these
memories to the foreground. They will be transferred to long term
memory more efficiently.
Keeping the Rhythm
The
trick is to play what you play in the proper rhythm, even if you only
play a portion of the song. In other words, practice keeping the
rhythm going at the expense of everything else. Don't play the cords,
or play one or two notes in the cord rather than the whole thing.
Before long, you will be able to get more and more notes included in
the cords, or you will learn which notes are optional. In most cases
nobody but you will realize that there is a note missing.
Where to Put your fingers
For scales:
The
orthodox technique, for example if you are going up the scale with the
right hand, would be to play the first three notes starting with
your thumb, and then after playing the note under your middle finger
to play the next note with your thumb again. (The thumb crosses
under.) Going back down the scale, starting with the pinky on your
right hand, you would play five notes, and then your middle finger would
cross over the top of the thumb to play the next lower note.
Playing with the left hand is a mirror image of what the right hand does.
For regular music:
The
same sort of arrangement applies, but it is also common to just pick up
your hands and move them so that they span the next sequence of
notes you are expecting to play.
Playing with Both Hands
(Nearly always) play with both hands, don't try to separate them.
Don't
worry about skipping a note here or there in the harmony. If you don't
get there in time, just go on to the next one, or make up a harmony!
Few listeners will be able to tell. After a while your left hand will
develop a feel for where the notes might be expected to be. After a
while, your right hand will be able to pick out the melody essentially
by ear without having to pay so much attention to the notes on the
page, thus allowing you to pay more attention to the left hands
harmonies. These two trends will combine together to make playing
easier and easier. Doing a little bit of playing by ear, and a little
bit of sight reading new music, will help to strengthen these trends.
Children and the Piano
So
often, a parent will say, "Don't touch the piano", or "Quit making
such awful noise on the piano", then the parent wonders why the children
don't want to play the piano when formal lessons start. Children
learn best by doing. Let them goof with the keys while you play. (It's
less intrusive if you put them on the right side of you!) Or let them
make horrible sounds by themselves, and if they accidentally play
something that sounds good, be sure to acknowledge it, so it will be
more likely to occur in the future. My son by the age of 8 was playing
well both by reading music, and by ear, without ever having had a
lesson. He just tinkered around. Not saying that there aren't some
pretty unmusical things coming out of the piano, (even now), but overall
the joy of listening to him play compensates for any bit of patience
that was required.
Finding the Notes
To
make learning sheet music easier, take a staff of music, cut it up into
little pieces, and tape the pieces to the appropriate key on the
piano, right up next to the body so they won't be in the way. Here's
some notes if you want to try this at your place. You can tell where
they go by looking at the staff at the top of this page.
Finding Music
The library is a great place to find music. Especially if you are
learning to sight read. You can check out a book, play the songs in it
a few times, and then go on to another book. This way, you always
have a fresh challenge and don't get bored with the same old stuff.
Fake Books
Another fun book
to play from is called a fake book. They typically come with just the
melodies of the songs, and perhaps recommendations for what cords sound
good with a particular part of the melody. You make up your own
accompaniment as you feel best. To the uninitiated, it sounds like
full blown sheet music, but the pianist knows what's really going on.
Playing by Ear
The
grand mystery to playing by ear is deciding which note to start out on.
If you choose that note properly, the rest of the music is greatly
simplified. It also helps if you play the music in the key of C (no
sharps or flats). To choose the first note, hum the last note in the
song as a C. Then hum the first note in the song, and match it to the
piano. This is simplified, because the starting note will typically be
one of the notes in the base cord of the last note. (see drawing
below)
Chords
The
cords illustrated below, on the bottom staff, are the most typical
cords in the key of C, which is the simplest key to play in. The notes
on the top staff are typical of what notes you might be playing at
the same time as playing the cord.
I
usually go about it the other way around. If I'm playing a C note in
the melody, I will typically form a C cord with the left. If I'm
playing a D with the right hand, I'll typically form a G cord with the
left. There's no hard and fast rules, play what sounds good. (The
small grids above the staff are for guitarists.)
