Ultimate Beginners Pop Piano Lesson
Let’s Get Started With Pop Piano
Introduction to piano guide
Now that you have decided to learn how to play pop piano, this course may be beneficial for you. Through the course, it will be made sure that this lesson will not be time-consuming, uninteresting and confusing.
This beginner’s pop piano lesson is an excellent source to learn how to play pop piano in simple English that can be understood by everyone. Each of the processes is very attention grabbing and exciting for beginners. Even when you search the internet to find interesting beginner’s pop piano lessons, you will not find anything like this. There may be a few that can be a little fun and interesting but not as interesting as this beginners pop piano lesson.
No matter what method you use for learning how to play piano the important thing is that you must be able to use the learned information anywhere. Also, it is paramount for a learner to understand the topic to learn about it fully.
Alright let’s start your pop piano learning now!
Choose the method you want to learn to play your piano
Feel proud because you have managed to give meaning to your thoughts and managed to search on how to play the pop piano.
Learning abilities may vary from person to person. One learning method may work for one person, and it may not work for another person. Here are a few ways to learn pop piano.
A. Traditionally Method to Learn Pop Piano
traditional way to learn pop piano
The traditional method starts by giving the students elementary info and then moving towards the most complex info about pop piano learning. Using this method, the student gains better awareness of the music theory, keyboard, etc. when playing the pop piano is talked about, after some time you will be able to play your desired music flawlessly.
Although one disadvantage of this theory is that it takes a lot of patience and requires a time commitment.
B. By ear Method to Learn Pop Piano
learning by ear
This method utilizes ear for learning. If I ask you, do you think you can change the listened music into notes? If the answer is yes, then you are gifted with this miraculous learning process. Learning through ear also prevents one from learning how to read music.
But one thing that is still needed to be learned in this process is the placement of fingers in patterns, names of notes, etc.
1. Is learning by ear method better than the notation method?
Ever since the pop piano was invented, learning it through ear was a controversial topic. Those who are for this theory claim that this process is easier and enhances essential listening skills were like those who are against this approach only say that this method is unable to teach people who they can play the pop piano. It only tells them to replicate what they hear rather than creating their own.
In the midst of this, we must know that there are advantages and disadvantages of both the approaches. For the same purpose, we use both approaches with more universally accepted methods.
2. What is playing by ear?
When it comes to violin music, this method is also known as Suzuki method, in this method the person playing the pop piano tries to imitate the pop piano tune by listening to it and attempts to reproduce it in the same way. This procedure is repeated several times until the person playing the pop piano can reproduce the tone A to Z.
In this method, the person playing the pop piano is said to have relative pitch if he can reproduce the tone by listening to it, they do not have to reproduce the whole key. If the pianist can reproduce the key as well, then he is said to have a relative pitch or absolute pitch.
3. Common complaints by both approaches
Traditionally speaking, the pianist can only play pop piano by either looking at the sheet music or by notation, and they are unable to play the music if any of above mentioned are not available. On the other hand, those who can only play after listening say that they cannot play the music by reading the sheet. To eliminate this, we need a balanced plan to train pianist that comprises of both of these approaches so that they can play under any situations.
4. Can’t we use both approaches?
A pianist who learn by ear and those who learn by reading sheet music both will say that their method of learning is better but in fact both the methods can be used for learning pop piano. In only depends on the personal preference and in what way you are comfortable for example for some people it will be easier to sit down and replicate the music written on the sheet, but for others, it will be simpler to replicate what they hear. With the perfect balance of both, anyone can learn to play music using both of the methods.
5. Importance of listening
The most important skill is listening when it comes to playing by ear approach. This pianist who is used to of using this approach has trained themselves to pick specific things from the tone. These specific things include chords as well. By giving attention to chords, they know how to replicate the start of the tone and the ending as well.
For example, if the tune playing contains major chords, the pianist will automatically come to know about the placement of those chords on the keyboard. He will also know how to use different keys in the specific range. This can also be done by listening to the music very attentively and then trying to replicate it with the keys that you already know about.
As soon as you start to identify the patterns and key, you will be able to replicate the rest of the song all by yourself and the whole tone will come together naturally. The most important thing is that the more you listen carefully, the better you will play it.
C. Chord
piano chords
If you want to start to play pop piano as so as you can, then this chord method is just for you. Different chords can give different and enough audible information for you to sing along it. There may be complex musical notes used in the reference song but using chords will get you started, and you will start to have fun. The best thing about this method is that it will take less time for you to get the hang of it, legends say that this method has a lot of ties that simplify the music too much then that is needed. Although you will not be able to represent the original complexity of the song while using chord method!
D. Patten-based method
This method is all about shortcuts to replicate the song. Many people say that this method disregards the originality of the song that causes us to differentiate it from others. Nevertheless, this method is the method that is used if you want to learn pop piano extra quick because in this method you only need to use a few keys to mimic the song. No doubt, this method is a little harder than the chord method, but the sound played using this method will sound more original and professional than the one played through chord method. The chances are that a trained person sitting in the audience can easily guess that the song is played using pattern method.
E. Actions:
After reading the methods, you can get presumption that you must take your time to learn to play pop piano or you can simply end up running around in chaos. Start by thinking what kind of player you want to become then choose your method or learning then proceed to the nest steps.
F. further resources:
Following are a few more resources that can help you in deciding which method of learning you should opt for.
II. The Instrument
A. Acoustic pop piano
Brief history
An acoustic pop piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori (Padua, Italy). He was a contractor who worked for a very rich and powerful family. The original name of the pop piano was pop pianoforte in the year 1700. Fun fact, the first pop piano built by Bartolomeo Cristofori in the year 1720 is still in the perfect condition.
After the invention, many masters of pop piano came and went, but the first four composers are still considered as the fathers of pop piano. Their names are Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn; they lived between the years of the 1700s and 1800s.
Present instrument
In the modern era, two types of the pop piano can be found in the market. One is upright pop piano, and another one is the grand style of pop piano. Due to the price tag and small size, upright pop piano is the most common and is kept by people in their home.
part of piano
Grand style of pop piano is quite expensive; they can be referred as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of the musical instruments.
Grand style of the pop piano has its strings placed horizontally. This horizontal setup gives ‘the grand’ its large size.
Different sizes of grand pop piano (measurement is length)
Professional: 6’6” to 8’0.”
Parlour: 4’5” to 5’5.”
Medium: 5’6” to 6’5.”
As mentioned earlier, uprights are mostly found at homes. Uprights are also called vertical pop pianos because their strings are stretched vertically from both directions of the keyboard.
Different sizes of the upright pop piano:
Console: 40” to 44.”
Full size: 48” to 52.”
Spinet: 35” to 39.”
B. Electronic keyboards
For a lot of logical reasons, digital pop pianos are the new thing among people. If you do not know about them or you have not seen them, check them out, and you will be surprised.
The difference between electronic keyboards and traditional keyboards is that electronic keyboards contain a new technology that can stimulate different sounds and these sounds can be stored on the memory chips as well.
digital piano
Usually, people on bands use electronic pop pianos due to their versatility when it comes to producing unique sounds and also strong them. They can also mimic the sounds played by other instruments like organs, flutes, etc. the latest technology among electronic pop pianos is that they can record full-length performances that can be played any other time as well.
Advantages
Electronic pop pianos may look like a toy for kids to the person who is seeing it for the first time but for those who are playing using electronic keyboards for years will refuse to look at its disadvantages.
One of the main advantages is that they are perfect for technology obsessed youngsters. On top of that its keyboard never requires tuning, they are easy to carry, portable and they include different unique sounds that an ordinary pop piano does not have.
Tactility:
You may think that when it comes to touching classical pop piano and electronic pop piano, there may be no difference but in reality, there is a significant difference upon touching both of these pop pianos. In classical pop piano, the pop piano keys feel heavy when you touch them; that is due to the hammer that hits the notes inside.
In earlier days, electronic pop pianos felt cheap as compared to classical pop pianos but eventually the makers of electronic keyboards have discovered new ways to make it appealing and eye catching for the busy so that it can attract more buyers. Today, electronic keyboards are of perfect weight to be carried around, and they also contain the graded hammer effect just like you would find in string pop piano. If you started to learn to play pop piano on standard keyboards, but now you want to switch to electronic keyboard, the transition will be very smooth, and you will not feel any difficulty.
Sounds:
Digital pop pianos nowadays can mimic more sounds that a classic pop piano doesn’t. The voices in the electronic pop piano are so realistic that you can hardly tell any difference between the original and the one played by the pop piano. Electronic pop pianos can also produce the effect of a small ensemble because they can play sounds of different instruments all at once as well.
You may be wondering how the manufacturers did this.
The answer is that the manufacturers pre-recorded the sounds directly from the instruments and then added them to the chips of the digital pop pianos.
Brands
If you think that you love digital pop pianos, then you may be very interested in knowing about the different brands of the high-quality pop pianos. The top brands include Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Suzuki, etc.
Utility
The time required to learn how to play the electronic pop piano is less than learning classic one. The reason is that the electronic keyboard has the interface of software combined with traditional looking keyboard for the perfect balance.
It must be noted that not every function of the electronic pop piano will be based on software. Some functions can be controlled using sliders while others are adjusted using software.
Which one to buy
Now that you have read about the background of different types of pop pianos and the leading brands, it is the right time to talk about the strategies you must use when it comes to buying one keyboard for yourself. One way to get started is to go to your local music shop, talk to the technician about the keyboards and then buy one.
The technician will tell you everything you need to know about the points of the keyboards. If your local shop doesn’t have a technician, then go somewhere else to ask for the best keyboard specs from any technician.
It is a form of investment: the higher the cost of the keyboard the better will be its quality. Consider buying an expensive pop piano an investment because you will keep it with you for about two years before you decide to buy a new one.
At this point, you do not need to buy the best pop piano available in the market, but you also need to make sure that you do not buy the cheapest pop piano. The best part about electronic keyboards is that they don’t always require maintenance unless they are abused or dropped. When buying acoustic pop pianos, take it as a car, you will have to maintain it on a regular basis for better performance.
How to sit and the perfect hand positions
You may be very excited to sit in front of your pop piano and play it for the first time. But at the same time, it is paramount that you know about the proper position of sitting and hand posture to prevent injuries.
Proper position of sitting and hand posture to prevent injuries
Be very careful when it comes to sitting, sit in a proper posture. It is very important to adjust your seat before you start to play the pop piano.
Avoid hunching your shoulders. Keep your arms relaxed and loose. Before practicing swing your arms side to side and also up and down.
Make sure to keep your arms parallel to the keyboard. If your arms are not places properly, they will ache after a few practices.
Notice how concert pianist play pop pianos and practice their technique (lift on – lift off) everyday whenever you play the pop piano. This technique will also give you mobility and freedom to press whatever key you want to press.
To perfect the position of the hand, imagine that you are holding an egg whenever you play the pop piano.
D. Actions
Now it is time to buy the pop piano. You can shop for it online according to your budget or you can visit your local music store to see what options you have got. Also, don’t forget to buy a bench for sitting with your pop piano.
Now that you have chosen your instrument and you have everything in set position. Adjust your position properly and remember that position for the next times as well.
III. A to Z about your pop piano keyboard
You should know that a standard pop piano will always have 88 keys. In those 88 keys, 52 white keys and 36 black keys. There are exceptions as well. If you are a beginner and if you have just started to learn pop piano, then start everything on a pop piano with 88 keys on it.
At this point, you may be wondering, how will I remember the sound of each and every key? Well, it is not difficult at all to remember the keys in your mind. By the end of this chapter you will be able to learn everything about keys and about the patterns.
Piano keys
If you play both black and white keys starting from left toward right, then you will notice that the sound produced will be higher every time you move towards the right side. The left part of the keyboard is noted as ‘low or bottom ‘and the right part is noted as ‘high or top’.
The left part of the keyboard is noted as ‘low or bottom ‘and the right part is noted as ‘high or top’
If you take a look at the selected key section in the picture given above, you will see a group consisting of 1 set of two blacks and one set of three blacks along with seven whit keys. C will always be found right in the left side of the two black keys.
Every section like this one will start from C and then proceeds towards D, E, F, G, A, B and then goes back at C
Every section like this one will start from C
Take a closer look at your pop piano and play all of the C keys present on it. The space between one C key and another C key is called as ‘an octave’. The c key present on the middle part is called as Middle C.
middle part is called as Middle C
In this picture, you will notice a pattern of the keys. This same pattern repeats throughout the keyboard with 88 keys.
Not let’s talk about the black keys. You will notice that there are two types of black keys: keys grouped in 2 and keys grouped in 3.
In a full-size keyboard, there is a total of 7 groups comprising of 2 black keys.
Hope everything is clear about the black keys groups. In groups, you may be able to hear the difference in the pitch of the sound produced. However, the sound may be a little similar.
B. Actions
IV. Definitions that will help you learn music and read music
Music can be a whole new language if you want to learn it. Just like any other language music has its grammar, syntax, letters, etc. no matter what method of playing you use, you will always have a paper in front of you with a musical notation written on it.
Let’s get started on learning how to read music from its symbols and notations
Musical notes
Let’s talk about some terms which you should know about
A. The staff:
Staff – staff is the five lines that have most of the symbols on it and depicts patchiness of the notes.
When the staff is combined with Bass Clef, a new thing is formed, and it is called Grand Staff.
Grand Staff
Treble clef – treble clef is the classic music symbol that will appear on the upper staff. The main purpose of treble clef is to signify the side from where the notes will be played.
Treble clef
Bass clef – treble clef is the classic music symbol that will appear on the lower staff. The main purpose of treble clef is also to signify the side from where the notes will be played.
Bass clef
Bar line
Bar line: bar line is a horizontal line that groups notes together and separates them.
Thin double bar line: To marks a section of the paper of notes, double bar line, is used. It may be used to marks the beginning of a new pitch.
Double bar line: it is used to signify the end of the music on the paper.
The music for keyboard instruments, where the music is divided into two staves the upper will indicate that the notes are played from the right side whereas the lower will indicate that the notes are played from the left side.
Measure – usually, 3 to 4 beats long is the distance that is kept between two bar lines.
If you notice, you will see that sometimes there is a thick black bar right on the end of the staff. This is known repeat sign. It tells the pianist to repeat a particular section from the music. It indicates that the piece should be played from the beginning to the end again.
Section repeat
B. The pitch or tone:
Pitch: the pitch is indicated by the number of the line on which the note is present.
On treble staff:
The right hand is used when it comes to playing notes on the treble staff.
On bass staff:
On bass staff, we use left-hand side to play the notes.
Each placement of the key depicts a particular key on the keyboard.
If you think that you will not be able to remember all of these notes and staff, then we have made a phrase for you to help you memorize it. For example:
For the notes present on the lines of treble clef:
Every good boy does fine
For the notes present in the space of treble clef
F – a – c – e
For the notes present on the lines of bass clef:
Good boys always do fine
For the notes present in the space of bass clef
All cows eat grass
C. Hand posture and pop piano finger postures:
Take a closer look at the sample present below. Do you notice the presence of number above and below a few notes?
These numbers show the recommended hand posture using which the whole song must be played. These numbers will also tell about the hand side.
The numbers that are present on the upper part of the treble staff means that the music must be played from the right hand whereas the number of the bass staff means the music must be played with the left hand.
D. The rhythm:
In the process of learning how to ready music from paper, you will also come to know about the rhythm of the music, upon which the whole song is played. There are three representations of the sheet music:
Notes
Rest
Time signatures
1. Notes and rests
Whole note – it looks something like a circle present on the staff.
Whole rest – this is the solid half block that will hang from the second line
Half note – it is a hollow stem and circle that will get two numbers of sounds.
Half rest – it is a black symbol that is present on the third line and shows the two counts of the silence. If you want to differentiate between half rest and whole rest, then think of half rest as ‘hat.’
Quarter note – it is the solid circle and stem that will get one count of silence.
Quarter rest – it looks a lot like the sideways W., and it will also get only one count of silence.
Eight note – it is the note that ha solid stem, flag, and circle.
Eight rest – this symbol looks a lot like the number 7.
2. Beam
If you want to connect the series of various notes, then you will use music beams. They are more visible, especially to the beginners. You should not be worried about beams; their presence will make the piece even easier for you to play and read.
Most of the time groups of eighth notes, smaller note value is beamed. Just take a look at the eight on the chart present above; now imagine it with four flags rather than just one.
Beams also connect sixteenth and eighth notes
3. Note equivalents
4. Dotted notes
These are the notes that are the exact reverse of flagged notes. Small dot allows the note to increase its duration by half, whereas small flag allows the note to decrease its duration by half. This is the reason why the quarter dotted note becomes three eight notes and so on. It may be a little difficult to see if the dot is present on the line because they are placed within the spaces of the staff.
Dotted notes do vary regarding music if compared with the flagged notes. Dotted notes spice up the music and prevent it from becoming boring if there are longer durations. Flagged notes and dotted notes are not the only two things that are used by the pianist to spice up the music, but they also use staccato notes.
5. Staccato notes:
To indicate staccato notes dots are positioned right on the top or on the bottom. You will have to play the music with crisp and short emphasize if you want to use staccato notes. Scatto notes may sound like as if they are continuous as they are played with short and silent intervals. Staccato notes will brighten up the song and will also fill the audience with mystery.
They also incorporate variety if they are played along with the section that ends up at the legato section. For connection, we play legato notes. The whole music will fall just right if the staccato notes and legato notes are played before and after each other.
6. Meter – segments in music?
Meter in songs is also called song’s rhythm; it depicts the number of beats ad also tells the musicians that how many notes combine to be counted as one beat. They may look like small fragments of music when written, but in reality, the only thing that you need to do is to count the notes.
There are two things in song’s rhythm, “Top number and bottom number.” Top number show the musician how many notes there are in a beat whereas the bottom notes show what kind of notes are counted as a beat. This following presented illustration will help you understand better the concept of bottom number.
In this example, the meter says ¾ (three beats per measure). In other words, it tells us that for one beat there will be quarter notes. So, for full measure, there need to be three-quarter notes. If you have experience, then you will notice all of the unique ways to cut down your beats. Understanding the meter – common types
Time signatures do get a little complex as the music gets longer and longer. The most common examples are 2/4 (common in the country, polkas, marches), ¾ (common in waltzes, minutes, etc.). Note that 4/4 can also be dented as the alphabet C.
Masters of the diple time indicate that the more complicated your piano music gets, the more complex the meter gets as well.
Unique and creative meters
If you are thinking about switching a meter in the middle of the note that it will make the things complicated but your played song will end up fascinating and unique in its way. Most of the time songs remain the same from start to the end, but it is totally okay if you switch up a small part of the song. Maybe from meter 4/4 to meter 3/5 and then go to the same routine.
If you want to find the meter of the song, look for right after the song’s clef or key signature. For your information, the audience will identify the songs rhythm from the first beat from the series of the beat.
E. how to connect the music
Ties and slurs are the two important things that help you connect two or more than two notes with each other. If the test is used to connect notes, it will form a longer note of the same pitch, but slurs are sued when you have to connect two notes of different pitch, it will connect them smoothly, so that the song can be played very easily. Take a look at the picture below
F. key signatures
The points that determine the quantity and quality of the notes of the song
When you are listening to a professional pianist playing a piece of piano you may refer to its keys as A or C., these letters depict the key or the signature of which the song is played in. Key signatures determine the quantity as well as the quality of the song. If you have been practicing everything, you must know what we are talking about.
For example, if you have been asked to play G flat or C sharp then you then you need to play a group of notes to execute this demand. In this example, the key signature will be G flat or C sharp.
Flats and sharps
The names of black notes come from the white keys next to them. In the following picture, you can see the section is starting from the key C. the white key present immediately after the key C is said to be flat whereas the black key next to the key C is said to be sharp. As you can see that every black key in the piano keyboard will have the white key on either side of it that is why it will have two names but will produce same notes when played.
The sign (#) written on the top of the key shows the pianist to raise the pitch by one-half step (the distance between two consecutive keys). The sign (b) shows to lower the pitch by half step. This will result in the sharpness of the note for the entire measure. If you wish to return your music back to the natural tone, then a flat sign is positioned on the staff this will return the lower or higher pitch back to its original form. These are a few key signatures used by the music writers to indicate the sharpness or the flatness in the notes.
These flat, sharp and natural signatures are also known as accidentals which effect on the notes present within the same octave. They have no effect on the notes of another octave unless they are categorized as accidentals. This is where the natural comes in handy as it can help you if you want to repeat the same original tune again, free of any variation.
2. Most of the signatures contain sharps and flats
All the keys other than the major key C, provide flats and sharps in them. You may not be able to see sharps and flats in the printed music sheet, and they can make the sheet confusing and difficult to read for the pianist. Instead, the music writers use key signatures to show where sharp is needed and where the flat is needed.
3. Circle of fifths – more easy way to remember the number of sharps and keys
The phenomenon of the circle of fifths was introduced in 1728 by Johann David Heinichen. Just by looking at its name the reader may think as if it is something very complicated; whereas it is very easy to grasp the concept of the circle of fifths. And you will be able to use these after a little practice.
Flats and sharps
Think of the circle of fifths as a clock, where the hour represents the key. Take a look here:
Perfect fifths
If you take a deeper look at the above picture, you will notice that each key is separated by perfect fifth (an interval that is made up of one-half step and three whole steps). As an example, a complete fifth from the list mentioned above E is B. Take another look at the following list as well.
Both of these patterns will prove to be very helpful if you want to determine upcoming sharps and flats because they are always a perfect fifth.
Related keys
For example, major C and minor A have something in common, and that is they both lack flats and sharps. According to the circle of fifths, we can relate different major keys with minor keys. You may not be able see a pattern, but after looking at this next visual picture, everything will fall perfectly together.
The Enharmonic notes
If you look at the picture given above, the notes present at the 7:00, 6:00 and 5:00 hours will be very helpful for identifying similar or equal notes.
5:00 can be G# minor or even B Major, or it can also be Cb Major or Ab Minor with seven flats.
6:00 can be either F# Major with six straps or D# Minor.
In the end, 7:00 can be A# Minor or even C# Major.
G. Dynamic signs
Dynamic signs refer to the loudness and the softness with which the notes should be played. For the dynamic level, marks are used that can either set them or even change the effective level. The effective level completely depends on the mood of the music writer. In most of the cases, dynamic marks are at the start of the music or they maybe even located between bass staffs and treble. Note that once it is set, it will continue to affect the whole music piece or until another inhibiting symbol is displayed.
Following are a few most common dynamic symbols;
H. how to determine the speed of the piece
In most of the cases, the music writer will decide the speed of the piece with which it will be played. At the beginning of the piece, the notation is right above the treble. For example, Poco Moto
In other words, speed can be the way of the composer to convey the level at which the music must be played.
It is a fact that playing the piano is also a way to express one’s feelings and emotions. A lot of times the composers uses his emotional state in making music. For example, if your piece is played faster than you know that it is played with excitement. But for sadness, the music played will be slower than normal. Remember, that music can express your emotions.
Given below are some words that are often used to denote tempo of the music:
These above-mentioned terms will also help you to become more familiar with the symbols. If you know the definitions then looking at the piece of paper and understanding it will become easier, and you will be able to read whatever you want to.
Take a moment and congrats yourself, and you know everything to play any piece of sheet music.
I. Actions
At the beginning of this section, you promised you that by the end of the chapter you would be educated enough to play Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fur Elise. Now challenge yourself and see if you can play it yourself.
J. More resources
If you are interested to read music faster than any other method than try clicking on the following free software that will help you to learn piano keys and will ensure quick key recognition. Here is the link: http://www.piano-lessons-central.com/how-to-read-music-game
V. essential building blocks of the music – piano scales.
You need to invest a great deal of time and effort to learn how to play these essential blocks.
Earlier, I have discussed with you the overview, major scales, and essential beginners pop piano guide.
Students complain a lot about the piano scales because they are not the most exciting part of playing piano they can be quite annoying.
But one thing is for sure; that piano scales will improve with the increase in your experience and practice. But the deal breaker is that you will always need to play them, think of them as a great warm up exercise for your fingers.
If you are a kind of a person who has never touched a pop piano keyboard or never had piano classes, then at least you must know little something about the theory behind playing the piano. And trust me it will not be complicated at all.
Here are a few of the most asked questions answered below
What is a scale?
Scales is pattern or routine of notes, tones that are in connection with the first notes of the series. It can also be defined as the distance between the consecutive notes in the series. Take a look at the picture below, and you will get a better idea. Here half step is the area from its key to the next black key or in other words from E to F. For another example, it is also the distance from B to C.
Diatonic scales are more used in western music
The diatonic scales are scales with seven notes. That include five whole tone, and two semi-tone. Just like explained in the section 3, its pattern repeats in an octave.
In fact, the keyboard of the pop piano is diatonic as well that includes black keys that are grouped in threes and twos.
The major scale is also included under the umbrella of diatonic. Following are the steps included in major scale:
Other than this, natural minor scales are also used. Here are its steps:
There are two very important scales that a beginner must know about and must master at it: melodic minor and harmonic minor.
You will know about these melodies more when you will play yourself. Not only listening is important when playing piano, but playing and using your fingers is equally important.
A. Actions
Now, you need to use the above-given formula and name all 12 major keys and notes below.
Now, use the above-given formula and name all 12 minor keys and notes below.
VI. Fingers needed for 12 major scales
Here we will tell you everything about the fingers you will need for all 12 major scales and also in order to sixth. Below numbers will be used, look at the picture below to know the numbers used to the specific finger.
Generally speaking, the numbers on the treble staff, are for eight hands whereas the numbers on the bass staff are for the left hand.
Note that the numbers from the right hands behind from the thumb and the first key will be white so that the next key will be black. The same pattern can be followed on your hands, your thumb is shorts and can reach the first key easily whereas the black keys are placed at more distance that’s why other fingers are perfect for black keys.
If you want to play the worth note, your thumb will be saved to pass through the third finger in order to reach the white key. But if the fourth note is black key, then it will be played by the finger closest to it.
A. Action
Playing scales is a great exercise itself. Not only physically but also musically it is an exercise. Many professionals, practice to play scales and mimic the fingering techniques. Try to practice playing piano as fast as you can be using the right fingers and your speed must be 30 seconds per scale. This must be done for both lefts as well as right hand.
VII. intervals
The intervals of piano differ in their pitch. For the case of C major scale, the intervals are between its lowest note and the highest note. The smallest note will be the minor 2nd, and the highest note will be the eighth. From left to right there is total of 88 intervals. If all of them are played one after another, it will be called as a melodic interval. But whenever we play the notes together they are played in the harmonic interval.
A. Types of intervals
The playing will become very easy when you learn how to identify the pattern of the intervals. For example, if the third major interval is the distance between three following note of C major scale. If you are going to play E and C key together from the trio of C, D, and E. or if you were to play one C and the next V from the octave, things are pretty simple but as soon as you add sharps and flats things will start to get messy and complicated.
B. Why learning intervals is important?
Learning intervals makes the movement of your fingers around the keyboard very easy. It will also make the piano playing easy too. Most of the time, many famous songs are played only on the chord and to learn about chords and intervals helps us to enjoy and play the song better. At the end of the day, you must know that chord is made from the intervals.
Here is a short list of songs that you may have heard. Try to think about the intervals on your own and figure out which interval they may have used and then try them on your own as well:
C. Actions
Here are the names of the intervals:
VIII. Piano Chords – it is not only a group of notes.
In order to form a piano chord, two or more notes are playing conservatively. This combo will determine the mood of the song, either it will be soothing, sad, powerful, soulful, etc.
If we look at the past, we will come to know that most of the major hard provoke positive emotions, whereas the minor chords provoke negative emotions.
There are various types of chords, and you must know about each and every one of them. Each of the chords is different and creates a different effect on the audience.
Legends say that chords add colours to the music and brightens it up no matter what genre it is from. From country to rock, to hard rocks; they are all made up of chords and different combos of chords. Many chords are also differentiated on the basis of the quality that they deliver.
As you look deeper, chords are further divided. Two of the example are dominant chords and tonic chords.
The key of the fight notes on the scale is known as dominant chord whereas the tonic chord is the first key of the first scale that is currently being played.
Another very important thing about chords is an inversion. The formula for a total number of inversions is a number of the notes in a chord minus one. In some cases, like triad, there are two inversions; this is also called as root.
All that we just discussed above are the fundamentals of chords that play an imperative role. If you already know a little about how to play the pop piano, then your cord may vary from another person.
A. Actions
Now you need to do is to lay inversions for C chord, then play for f chord. This may seem pretty easy, and it is as well. Let’s step up the game. Play the inversion for Bd chord. Can you still do it? Repeat the same for A, C#, and F#. can you still do it? If yes, then you need to congratulate yourself and if not then you need to practice more.
IX. how do the chords progress?
Just like everything in life has a pattern, the same case is with music. Rather, the pattern of music is chords progressions.
Did you ever notice, that how easily we can learn a song just by hearing it a couple of times on the radio? And then you start singing it all by yourself. This is due to the melody. The same is the case with the chord progression. The simplest chord progression is the most famous one, and that is 1-4-5 progression and 1-5-4 progression.
Since there are some possibilities with notes and chord, it may become tough for you to figure out which chord is what but professionals and beginners may need to use a progression chart. Progression chart is a reference for a guide that tells about every chord in the scale.
Imagine that you are on the stage playing for the first time and the lead guitarist tells you to play 1-4-5 progression, and you don’t know about it at all. With the help of progression chart, you can easily take a look at it and figure out what stands for what.
A. Actions
In the key of G, play 1-4-5 progression and in the key of D, play 1-5-4 progression.
X. jazz piano – how it should be played?
man playing jazz piano
If it was your dream to learn who to play jazz piano, then your dream is about to come true. No doubt, jazz is a complex genre as compared to others but it is not impossible to overcome jazz piano. It will take no time for you to develop the skills needed to play jazz piano and even compose your music.
The origin of jazz piano is from the south. The reason we are sharing the roots is that its awareness is very important if you want to play the tone by heart.
Jazz music is incomparable and recognizable even by a beginner or a rookie. You can always add a little of your taste to it to make sound even more interesting. Depending on the way one person plays, on jazz song may be played differently by one person than another. It all comes down to your creativeness.
In order to understand how to play jazz perfectly, you need to know that the chords used while playing jazz music. In the following chapters, you will learn about everything about the chords.
We will start from the sixth chord. This chord may be represented as C6. In order to play C6, you will start from the thumb of your right hand and play the notes starting from C-E-G and then A. in the C6 chord all you need to do is to replace the G chord with A chord. Try to play the music with both of them and the notice the difference all by yourself.
Now the next chord is the seventh chord. For playing the seventh chord that is C7, you will have a play with three notes C-E-G. Since, the seventh note is B, and it will be added with a flat.
Once you have practiced playing different types of chord, you need to put them together in a progression. In jazz music, the most common progression is 1-4-2-5. The numbers are the first notes of the chords.
It also happens that sometimes you may end up playing one chord more than the other one. You may play D chard as D minor. This is exactly why jazz is the best thing; it is purely based on experiments. So, work around and expand your imagination.
This was all about chords, now let’s talk about bass. There are a lot of ways to incorporate bass into your music. One of those is called as walking bass. For this, you only need to play one note per beat, and each note will be one best from your chord. For the walking theory, you will walk upwards for the first chord and then walk downwards for the rest of the chords. For example, if you have chosen the chord C7, the bass will be C-E-G-B whereas on the second chord F, the bass will be A-F-C-a. It does not matter if you are play every note from the same scale.
Now that you know all the basic about playing jazz piano. Know your skills and practice more for perfection and to improve what you have learned earlier. If you want to take your skills further, you can listen to other lessons as well or go through the same lesson once again.
