hey guys need help here

[spkenn5]

okay ive been wanting to play piano since i was a kid, and 3 years ago i bought myself a keyboard ( yamaha djx ) then till now, i cant find it useful for me. so last year i took up a guitar, i am selftaught, so i probably think piano can be self taught as well..  but i have no idea where to start..

any ideas guys?

thanks

[pianistimo]

teaching oneself can prove fatal.  others may disagree.  at least you can learn a little of the basics - but to learn quickly and learn correctly (according to whatever teacher you have) takes practicing certain techniques until they are mastered.  and, it takes someone who knows to tell you if you have gotten the technique down and when it it is time to move to the next item.  usually, each lesson gives you a week of a certain 'thing' to practice.

if i was your teacher,the first thing i would do is give you a handout of the basic parts of the piano and make sure you learned the names of all the parts and what they do.  then, also, i'd explain a little about the keyboard itself.  how it has 88 keys.  and ask how many black/white.  and, to go over the letters from bass to treble in tetrachord form.  start with your left hand on the very bass note and use your pinky (5 finger) on up 5432 (omitting the thumb).  you have now played A B C D .  for the second half of the 'scale' - you can use your right hand and play similarly 2 3 4 5 (omitting the thumb to start) on E F G A.  so, you can now play 8 notes fairly smoothly without any problems.  keep replacing your pinky where you left off and play all the way up the keyboard on each scale of A.

now, get yourself a huge piece of paper and draw the grand staff, two lines above the staff, and two lines below.  draw a whole note O (no stem) on the upper line of the ledger lines you added - and the lower line  (in the bass - below the bass clef stav).  draw in middle C between the staves.  and also, write in a whole note three spaces up in the treble and three spaces down.  inside these notes - write the letter C.  this is sort of a skeleton to learn the other notes by.  if you know where all these C's are - you can find the other notes by counting lines and spaces going up.

now, tape this right in front of you - or slightly up on the wall behind your piano.  every time you come to the piano this week.  play all the notes going up from the bass.  then, play with your lh pinky (5) the low low C, middle finger (3) low C.  rh thumb (1) middle C, middle finger (3) high C, and pinky (5) high high C.  point to the notes on the page as you play each one.  hold each one for four counts.

saying 'whole note hold it.'  a whole note = 4 beats - so after awhile when you see the note you already know how many beats to hold it. 

next week - start adding the notes that you do not know that are directly around middle C.  we'll make songs/exercises out of them. 

**go buy a bastien adult book or even a child's book (which may have more detail and larger easier to read notes).  take it one step at a time - but several pages each day.  usually kids are learning several pages per week.  but, you are an adult so you can handle more.  also, get yourself an exercise book entitled 'a dozen a day.'  the first book.

ps not sure if your keyboard has all 88 keys on it.  some are slightly smaller - so you'll need to determine the note at the bottom of the keyboard accordingly.

[spkenn5]

thanks for the lesson you've made for me!

i'll do so.. and also since i am a guitar player myself, i believe this method is the same as..

-------------------------------
E
D-------------------------------
C
B-------------------------------
A
G-------------------------------
F               
E------------------------------- 

correct me if im wrong so your suggestion for me to start is to know the piano parts and the 88 keys C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C and those sharps are the black ones right? and my keyboard have 61 keys.

thanks alot

[pianistimo]

if we just learn the white keys, it's much easier.  forget the black ones right now.  an 88 key keyboard starts on A.  what note does your keyboard begin with?  (left of two black notes is C)  the farther right you go - the higher the letters - so you may have to say the alphabet backwards to get to the lowest note.

tommorrow - after you have written out on paper something that looks like this:
____2 8va (2 octaves above mid- C) C
____
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________

middle C
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
___
___ 2 8va (2 octaves below mid-C) C

and have written in the treble clef and the bass clef and the C's that are three spaces up in the treble, and three spaces down in the bass clef - you can start working with the keys that you have available on your keyboard.  middle C should be somewhat centered on your keyboard as well - so work out from that.  every 8 notes is an octave.  a repeat of the same note 8 notes higher or lower. 

there used to be some flashcards on www.gardenofpraise.com/keybdles.htm   (scroll down until you se blue 'squares' to choose from) flashcards are usually a good way to give yourself five notes per week to learn.  memorized.  today we have five C's.  keep practicing them so you can read them in all the positions and with the correct hand and finger.  forgot to say that your left hand fingers from pinky to thumb are 54321.  and rh is 12345.  you probably figured that out a long time ago - but just thought i'd say it. 

now - after you make or print out the flashcards - just add five more each week.  but, keep repeating the learning process of the whole stack.  don't forget the ones you learned the previous week.  (which is easy to do at the beginning stages).  the spaces in the treble moving from bottom to top spell F-A-C-E.     susan

[pianistimo]

ps  if you have time - go and laminate the paper with staves once you have input all the notes from bottom to top (six weeks or so).  we're just starting with C - but after awhile they'll all be filled in. 

i got the gardenofpraise site to come up better.  once you click on whichever square you like (say 'stepping up') - then also print out the pdf music to go with it.  enlarge it first!  then, print.  then - really try to learn these stepping up notes and add them to the stack of flashcards  that you have.  so far, you know 5 C's and now (middle C D and E)  practice these until you can point to any of those three notes and know what note it is.  (don't play this just anywhere on the keyboard.  make sure it's middle C, ok.  that way you'll really learn where each note is accurately indicated).

also, if you scroll way to the bottom - you'll see some flashcards that you can print out for rhythm purposes.  i'm looking right now for note flashcards.

[maestoso]

nothing

[spkenn5]

"what note does your keyboard begin with?" My keyboard starts with a low C notes

should i just buy a music book? so i can just get them done there, i hate makign those lines  but i'll try to do it. thanks

this is what my keyboard look like but it isnt casio


i guess theres no flash card there but then ill just start writing the notes down and play them as i read them off the paper

thanks alot susan! you've helped me thru my first impression of piano.

i have a question, the treble clef start with C right? and the bass clef starts with F? that confuses me..

[spkenn5]

nothing

hehe ive read what you posted before and i think i know the playing posture because i have a friend whos also play classical piano.. so i guess your method is the one im going to use as well!

thanks for the input

[maestoso]

treble clef starts with c but it is know as the g clef. if you connect all the lines on the staves middle c would be where treble begins. bass clef is f. they are like that because where they curl  around is the note they are on. if you really want help with theory go to 8 notes.com or dolmetsch.com. they are very helpful.

[pianistimo]

it's confusing to say the treble clef starts with C because most beginners take that to mean that the first line is a C.  it is in between the staves of the treble and bass. 

yes!  it's called the C clef - but too much information all at once can be confusing.  usually just call it treble and bass to start out.  people use more specific clefs in instrumentation.  with piano - you don't have to worry about tuning it every time you play a piece or transposing it to your instrument. 

[pianistimo]

now, i'm confused.  which one of you has played the guitar 22 years?  i think you may all be asking me trick questions.  is this a case of the chicken or the egg.

ok.  technically, maestoso is correct about assigning the treble clef the name C clef.  but, nobody will know what you are talking about in elementary or middle school (and that's what i've mostly taught) if you say C clef - they'd probably start looking around thinking you said 'see the clef?' 

there are many things that teachers have to distinguish.  one is that middle C can be played with either hand. 

well - daughter must get to YMCA - bye for now.

[maestoso]

ha! i said it was the g clef. i've never heard it called the c clef. lol

[spkenn5]

Hey there, yesterday i've been doing some chords all major and some minors...

is there anything else i should start picking up from now? how do i suppose to practice reading the sheet from classical piece, theyre just too difficult to even attempt to read them.

Thanks

[pianistimo]

oops.  my mistake.  tired last night.  i meant G clef- but you know what i mean.  the C isn't the first line of the treble staff.

ok.  common thing is for students to want to just start sightreading music.  they get frustrated and stop piano.  just don't jump at the bit so much with what you want to play yet.  just go to the piano everyday and work out a few simpler tunes such as are in folk songs.  in fact, get a folk song book and copy out a few lines each day of several.  enlarge the notes so you can read them and put them (if you can) in tetrachord fashion.  that means - you take the lowest four notes of whatever key/scale you are in with the left hand, and the higher notes with the right hand.  don't attempt at this point to learn accompaniment (maybe in three weeks we could do that) and melody.  just melody alone.

that way you work the sightreading aspects a lot every day. 

see if you can get back to me - on finding a folk song book (with simple tunes/melodies) and transcribe only the melody and NOT the harmony.  it's good practice to copy notes onto staff paper and practice writing the treble and bass clef.  basically, copy what is in the book WITHOUT harmony.

and, if you want to get into theory a bit.  transpose the songs into a related key so you can modulate at the end into a new key.  some people do this by 1/2 step modulation.  some by thirds (depends on the ending of the piece) and some into related minor keys and some by fifths.  if i were you,i'd stay away from the minor keys at this point and just learn all the major ones.

take, for instance, a folk song in the key of G.  you know that writing a G only takes putting your pencil down once to write the letter.  it is one stroke.  therefore, remember it is ONE sharp.  practice writing the treble clef,  the sharp sign on the correct line, and the scale of G (from G to G) from below mid-C to the G two lines into the treble.  look at each note as you play it from lh 5 (G) 4 (A) 3 (B) 2 (C)  to rh 2 (D) 3 (E) 4 (F#) 5 (G).

if you write these scales on flashcards - you can pull one out (with no indications on the front of letters or key) and write the answers on the back to check yourself.  ie:  the scale of G  (one sharp= F#) 

play four or five folk songs that you can find ALREADY written in the key of G.  if some notes are too high - transpose them down to fit within the scale pattern.  play these folk songs for a week.

go to the next scale after 3-4 days or a week.  do this with each scale so that you become really familiar with each one and your sightreading becomes better!

[spkenn5]

Thanks i'll do so, do you have a website or any source of free folk songs to practice to? because i can't get them.

the only sheets i have on me is some beethoven, and Mandy Moore's Only Hope ( this is the song i really want to play in piano ) i've learned the intro.. ^_^ yay, even though it is not perfect but i did it by looking at other ppl play.

i kinda need a lesson like this

https://www.8notes.com/school/riffs/piano/mandy_moore_only_hope.asp

thanks