Learn the notes on the piano: Free Lesson.

[tomjeffrey]

Hi All,

So this is a quick lesson I have written down! Aimed at beginners, and should be one of the first steps you take in your journey to learning the piano.

Learn the white keys:

There are essentially ten different white keys to remember, these range from C to E, and are arranged in the following way:

CDEFGABCDE

In order to find note C, locate a pair of black piano keys and press the white key directly left of the first black key (of the twin set), the following white key on the right will be a D, then a E and so forth.

How to remember the pattern:

You may have noticed that after B, the cycle repeats itself, thus you'll only need to remember seven notes (CDEFGAB)! Some beginners find associating words to each note helps them learn notes on the piano, particularly the pattern as a whole. Try the following: Cats, Don't, Eat, Flys, Gaining, Altitude, Baby! You'll notice the first letter of each word matches with the seven note pattern!

White key's are also called natural's, this is because they sound natural rather than sharp or flat.

Learn the black keys:

Now, the black keys are slightly different, these notes are called accidentals! And these are either "Sharp" or "Flat" notes, each relating to a white note. Find the C white note, and press the black key directly to its right. You should hear a note half a pitch higher (or semi-pitch!) This is a C sharp (#) key! Locate a white D note and press the black key to the D's left and you will here a flat (b) note, this time half a pitch lower than the D note.

Hope you learnt something!

If you would like to learn more check out: https://www.learn-the-piano.com

Tom

[birba]

huh?

[go12_3]

Wow, learning to play piano instantly!   
I think it takes more than reading the post by tomjeffrey...

[daniloperusina]

-

[peterjmathis]

I think it's difficult to learn the notes without seeing (or feeling) the keys.

[tomjeffrey]

Wow, learning to play piano instantly!   
I think it takes more than reading the post by tomjeffrey...

Absolutely go12_3, it takes much more than reading that post I made, I agree that you never stop learning the piano.

Looking at the advantages of the post, it's a reference for beginners looking to learn the notes on the piano, which should be their first step, you won't learn the chords until you can play notes 

Tom

[richard black]

What's the relevance of the apostrophe in 'key's'?

[perfect_pitch]

I must say - I still take offense to the statement that you're claiming that people don't need to spend money on piano teachers...

That cheapens the profession and makes it look like piano is not a serious profession. I mean... it's hard enough trying to encourage people to do music in Australia, since it's a HEAVILY sports orientated country.

[lostinidlewonder]

In order to find note C, locate a pair of black piano key's and press the white key directly left of the first black key (of the twin set), the following white key on the right will be a D, then a E and so forth.

Why not consider D as in between the 2 blacks, C on the left and E on the right. And doing the same for the three blacks? F on the left, B on the right, and the center left G, center right A. Everyone who plays piano should be able to picture this mentally in their head, early beginners struggle to do so.

You may have noticed that after B, the cycle repeats itself, thus you'll only need to remember seven notes (CDEFGAB)! Some beginners find associating words to each note helps them learn notes on the piano, particularly the pattern as a whole. Try the following: Cats, Don't, Eat, Fly's, Gaining, Altitude, Baby! You'll notice the first letter of each word matches with the seven note pattern!

I don't see the reason to give acronyms to the alphabet. I tend to teach children to be able to recite A-G forwards and backwards and be able to skip around intervals this small mental space then being able to translate this to the keyboard.

White key's are also called natural's, this is because they sound natural rather than sharp or flat.

I still say to students, If i get a sharp pin and stab you with it will you scream higher or lower?

[go12_3]

I must say - I still take offense to the statement that you're claiming that people don't need to spend money on piano teachers...

That cheapens the profession and makes it look like piano is not a serious profession. I mean... it's hard enough trying to encourage people to do music in Australia, since it's a HEAVILY sports orientated country.

I agree with perfect_pitch here....as piano teachers we have to deal with many factors that pulls our students away, and I feel the seriousness of my profession in teaching my students, but somehow the Internet is making it more available for people to learn piano on line rather than from a piano teacher.
Plus, this coming Spring, the sports will have have an inpact upon  students....

[perfect_pitch]

...but somehow the Internet is making it more available for people to learn piano on line rather than from a piano teacher.

The main thing being that no tutorials or easy-guide books on the internet, or these easy to learn crap-o-rama books will not teach ANYONE how to be a professional piano player... and still - even though there may be people who will never end up being Mozart or even want to be Mozart at the piano... they should be taught by someone who gives them one on one advice instead of some generic book peddling easy so-called answers.

No serious person goes to the internet when they have a rash... they see a doctor.
No serious person tries to get advice on the law from the internet, they get a lawyer.

No serious person should be trying to get advice on how to play the piano from the internet... that's why we have Piano teachers!!!

[ggpianogg]

I would say this thread was created just as a free advertisement for the webpage to sell a product I wouldn't take it too seriously.

[royandrew]

Most of the lessons on the internet are rubbish. These so called free lessons are not really free. You always have to buy their book/ebook to get decent lessons. Better to get a piano teacher.

[perfect_pitch]

I would say this thread was created just as a free advertisement for the webpage to sell a product I wouldn't take it too seriously.

I do know that... but considering how many truly crappy piano teachers there are butchering peoples like for the piano, or butchering their technique for years to come... The only thing worse than that is trying to fix a piano player who's been taking advice from a book instead of a professional teacher.

I currently have more than half a dozen kids who transferred to me, after having a piano teacher screw up their technique which I have to try and fix... I have to fix their problems and try and salvage their love of the piano.

Imagine what the ebooks will do to them if they seriously want to learn piano professionally.

[ggpianogg]

Hello Perfect_pitch,

Yes you are probably right I do believe, however, that there are tons of people who want to learn the piano and who are most likely not directly interested in becoming professionals. For people like that, I could imagine that simple and easy information like that which is described in the original post could be quite usefull and, relatively to their level, very enlightening (please don't take this as an "approval" of the original post nor the intentions of the original poster's intents, I'm neither with it nor against it).

I'm a complete super noob-beginner myself so please excuse my ignorance. I do believe though that in the case of total beginners, telling them to immediately go and spend money on a teacher, buy a real piano etc., can be actually discouraging and counter-productive (especially if these statements are described in a "if you don't do those things, you will never learn the piano" kind of way).

It's of course easy to understand why this might be the case, since this forum is mostly 'inhabited' by professional pianists or people striving to become ones, but I would imagine that there are tons of readers (as opposed to posters) of this forum who are just in it for the bit of fun once in a while, to be able to play "We wish you a merry christmas" or this one pop song that they love. And in their cases I believe a much better approach would be to say "get books, learn notes, you can do it all by yourself at first, _BUT_ if you ever decide to become better or get more serious about the piano, you will need to get a teacher". I believe it's much more encouraging and helpful to the actual and immediate needs of those people.

That said, I agree with your post completely -you need a teacher if you are serious

[rmbarbosa]

I dont like publicity in the forum and this post is pure publicity... and I do know that Music is much more than to put the hands on the keyboard and make sounds. Sometimes, I spend hours and hours with only a few bars, looking for the best sound, the best touch, the best pedalling, in order to achieve the best performance... Sorry, but this kind of internet lessons only make piano "hammerers", I think.

[point of grace]

I would say this thread was created just as a free advertisement for the webpage to sell a product I wouldn't take it too seriously.

Oh my God! of course we have to take this seriously!
I think there shouldnt be any advertisement in this forum...
 

Where are we gooooing!!

[perfect_pitch]

That said, I agree with your post completely -you need a teacher if you are serious

You didn't read what I said then... I said that piano lessons should not only be for those who take it seriously... piano lessons should be necessary for everybody who wants to learn the piano.

I'm sorry, but I think you cheapen the skill of music when you say - just read this book instead of getting guidance and advice from a piano teacher. If people believe that the casual art of playing piano in their own home is something you can just pick up and read, then you suggest that piano playing isn't hard and that it shouldn't be serious enough to consult with someone on a regular basis in developing their skills...

You don't go to an art class and read books - you get advice from an experienced art teacher... even people who do it as a hobby go for classes instead of reading books.

You can't say that the skill of playing piano is any different can you? So I do NOT agree that piano lessons should only be for serious piano players.

[Bob]

I haven't met anyone who needed help remembering the first seven letters of the alphabet.  It seems like extra work.  But if it helps someone, maybe.  I would think there's an easier saying that would cover all of the letters though.

[anna_crusis]

>>There are essentially ten different white key's to remember>>

Huhh? A,B,C,D,E,F,G... nope, I don't get that. 

>>Try the following: Cats, Don't, Eat, Fly's, Gaining, Altitude, Baby! >>

That is the dumbest acronym I have ever heard. 

>>White key's are also called natural's, this is because they sound natural rather than sharp or flat.>>

You are a funny guy. 

>>Now, the black key's are slightly different, these notes are called accidentals!>>

Oh for f... 

>>You should hear a note half a pitch higher>>

That would be a semi-pitch? 

>>Hope you learnt something!>>

Sure. Not to have lessons with you! 

[gyzzzmo]

I must say - I still take offense to the statement that you're claiming that people don't need to spend money on piano teachers...

Well, if you get people who need 'tricks' to learn the alphabet.... I suppose giving them teachers wouldnt be very useful for learning the piano

[pianisten1989]

I accually gets a bit pissed of at all the "You don't need a teacher! Piano is EASY!"-dudes.

A monkey can hit a c-natural, and then a c#, and probably learn the pattern. But none will ever tell them how to press down the keys. They will keep playing with no technique, and think they are really good, until they think "Ohwell, I guess I could see a teacher... He would probably only say Omg you are so good" But the teacher says "Oh, I am sorry, but you have totally wrong technique." This kid would be very upset, go home and make a website about how to playing the piano with the argument "I once had a teacher, he just messed things up! Now I play on my own! "

It might stop there OR he creates the "INCREDIBLE CRUCH SUPER PIANO TEACH SUPER EXTREME TOOL", which he tries to sell on TV-shop. And it will be wrong, cause the kid didn't know left from right. And it's all your fault. I hope you're happy! that poor kid :/

[brian_s]

Hi folks,

tomjeffrey seems to have stirred up a real hornets nest between two extremes of opinion. On the one hand are those who insist the only way to learn to play piano properly is through one-to-one lessons with a teacher. On the other hand are those who support the view that it's possible to teach yourself. I suppose it's predictable that the first category of people also happen to be those who most strongly criticise online piano lessons.

Actually I think you're all missing the point. Of course, serious minded people who want to learn to play piano professionally will continue to need the expertise of a teacher. But the internet is here to stay folks. More than that, the nature of technology is changing the way music is being taught. The best teachers are surely those who are incorporating multimedia into their lessons, e.g. through using digital pianos and other electronic instruments, and software programmes like Sibelius for writing and creating music.

However, lots of newbies, or their families, simply can't afford an open-ended commitment to paying for lessons and it's these for whom the internet might offer an alternative way to learn. We ought to be encouraging them to do so, since the alternative might be that they never play a musical instrument.

And it doesn't have to be one or the other. Different kinds of lessons might be suitable at different times in a persons musical journey. I think teachers and other experts could make a really positive contribution to the standard of teaching found in online packages that claim to teach people to play, by entering into a dialogue with those who are currently producing them and challenging them to give better value for money. Actually, I've been monitoring this sector for a while and it does seem that standards are already improving.

Dare I suggest that some of you might even think about producing your own online products? Now there's a thought!

brian_s   

[maestro1987]

All websites and books that belong to the category "Learn to play piano in 3 weeks 5 minutes per day" teach how to make (decent) sound, nothing more. It's one thing to discuss different aspects of piano playing or asking advice, another relying only on the internet.

If someone is interested playing written notes the you don't need to pay money, just go to the local library, borrow some music theory books and off you go!

[jcabraham]

First of all, the plural of "key" is "keys", sans apostrophe.

Second of all, this is an advertisement. Stuff like this should be banned. I'm not paying membership fees to this site to be deluged with this crap.

[go12_3]

First of all, the plural of "key" is "keys", sans apostrophe.

Second of all, this is an advertisement. Stuff like this should be banned. I'm not paying membership fees to this site to be deluged with this crap.

You can click on (in the lower right hand corner) "Do you find this post useful?"  a yes/no .  Or
you can "report to moderator" in which nils will check the posts in the thread to determine
what is useful. Or you can choose not to read the posts. 

[nyda]

No serious person goes to the internet when they have a rash... they see a doctor.
No serious person tries to get advice on the law from the internet, they get a lawyer.

No serious person should be trying to get advice on how to play the piano from the internet... that's why we have Piano teachers!!!

It makes me a little sad to read this. Like it's just something you have to do and not something you want to do... And why would I need to be serious if all I want is to play? You know, for my personal enjoyment?

You didn't read what I said then... I said that piano lessons should not only be for those who take it seriously... piano lessons should be necessary for everybody who wants to learn the piano.

You make that sound like there was some danger* attached to playing the piano, like driving a car, so that everyone should have to get a license, take a test and pay some money for it.
Given your employment it's easy to see your motive. What I don't see is an airtight argument as to why you think this should be a requirement for everyone.

*) Yes I kow, you could hurt your hands/fingers/back. All activities can be harmful but that doesn't mean there are teachers for everything.

You don't go to an art class and read books - you get advice from an experienced art teacher... even people who do it as a hobby go for classes instead of reading books.

You can't say that the skill of playing piano is any different can you? So I do NOT agree that piano lessons should only be for serious piano players.

So, how about doing all of that? It's not like "online" would mean there's nobody to ask or get advice from. It just means that person isn't sitting right next to you. (I does shift a lot of responsibility to the student though, so you could argue it's not the right method to teach kids and I'd agree.)

I'm learning from an online course (not the one linked above but I'm not going post a link in here) created by a piano teacher - a "real" one like you, who has given personal lessons for the last 20 years (and still does). From what I gather, her site was initially only meant as bonus material for her students. Apparently other people were interested too, and it became an online course.
Anyway, I'm quite glad I found that course, because I did have a real teacher when I was young and didn't learn a whole lot. Back then, I though I'd lack the skill to play and quit, but now that I'm halfway through that online course, I'm convinced he just lacked the skill to teach.
It's a little late (in years) to "get serious" for me, so I'll simply stick with my online lessons. It's not perfect, nothing is, but it's enough. It won't make me Mozart, but at this point, nothing would.

I'm sure there are lots of other people in a similar situation who just want to play a little for themselves or possibly the people they care about. For those and in my opinion, a good online course can be an alternative.

Just to be clear: I'm not saying the OPs course is good/bad/anything. I didn't visit that site. I'm happy with the one I have. I merely disagree with the notion that an online course can never be "good" and that a teach is required, no matter what motivation you have for wanting to learn.

[brian_s]

Hi folks,

Just posting a reply to the comments left by Nyda, with whom I wholeheartedly agree. I get the impression that some people out there view the internet as some kind of alien environment that is slowly contaminating all humankind. Actually I do have some sympathy with those who think like that. It's certainly true that there's all kinds of, how can I put it ... CRAP ... on the internet and that people have to be very careful in selecting the good stuff and filtering out the bad.

But the internet is just a medium for conveying information. It isn't inherently good or bad. And it seems to me there's a growing number of music teachers who see the potential for making the teaching of music much more interesting through the use of multimedia. For example, now that videos are so easy to make and upload, it's likely that more and more music lessons are going to be packaged and sold on the internet. Some will be appallingly bad, but a growing number will make learning to play a musical instrument great fun, as well as hugely effective in terms of teaching students the skills they need to learn to play to at least a basic level.

As I said before, these can be in addition to, or as an alternative to, orthodox lessons, although I would predict that the more open minded teachers are going to adopt multimedia to a far greater extent in their face-to-face lessons with students. The responsibility that teachers have in all of this is to make sure that students get the advice they need in order to make a choice that's best for them, given where they want to go with their playing. The internet is not the enemy, it's the means to a far more positive and enjoyable learning experience.

Nyda didn't leave a link to the online lessons she found and I can understand why. However, I'm going to leave a link to a really useful report that helped me to get these things in perspective. I think this report is just a genuine attempt to 'clear the fog' for those who are new to learning the piano, or are returning to the piano after a significant absence. If others find it useful, good luck to you. Here's the link: https://www.doyouneedpianolessons.com


brian_s

[arumih]

First off, it's funny how people who think the internet is some kind of 'alien environment' are participants on an internet forum. That statement is very asinine. Most of the people who have replied to you on this thread are very active members of this forum and I have read and received a lot of help from their posts over the years I've been visiting this website, even though they may not know it. In the same way as you're trying to help, they've been helping (and by virtue of their posts remaining here indefinitely) will continue to help those who seek knowledge about certain aspects of the piano.

Secondly, I read your original post, and the 2nd lesson on chords. They make little sense, as many members have pointed out. Why the need to memorise the 7 letters of the alphabet? Most of the people using an internet resource for piano will be teenagers and adults, or for the very least can read so no need for that.

Anyway...I started learning piano without a teacher, but that doesn't mean I didn't have help. I knew the basics of reading music which made life a hell of a lot easier and I had one or two friends who guided me every once in a while. I went at it very slowly and carefully, paying attention to what I was doing. Keyword=slowly. I thought I'd do it for fun, learn a thing or two, but eventually (about 3-4 months in) I realised I needed a teacher. I was making progress no doubt, but at a slow pace. Starting with a teacher was a revelation. It wasn't a matter of I'd been learning wrong technique on my own, but just that a teacher made progress infinitely faster and more importantly had the musical experience to help with interpretation and the other musical complexities the pianist faces. This is not a matter of being 'serious' or not...this is just how it is. I believe it makes life much MUCH easier when you have a guide in the beginning. I had lessons for 2.5 years, but right now I'm in between teachers, but I have enough experience to basically teach myself even though I'm still looking for a teacher.

A good teacher actually provides one with the tools needed to teach one's self. I'm not talking about only the technical aspects, but again the much more important musical aspects. I'm able to listen to my playing, compare with recording and make necessary adjustments, realise technical limitations and try to overcome them. These are things I couldn't do (and probably should not be doing) without a teacher.

Even in learning pop or jazz or what people consider as "non-serious" piano there are so many skills to develop that having a teacher makes life much easier. Also (finally) if you really want to learn to play piano using an online resource (and I have used online resources) I would not recommend your method at all!

[nanabush]

I'd assume that if someone is serious enough to learn piano 'professionally', then they have the brain to get a teacher.  Some of my friends never had a piano teacher, but they taught themselves a few pop songs, and a couple chords/scales.  I don't see anything wrong in that if they are getting what they want to get out of the instrument.

I look online for photoshop tutorials - I don't necessarily need to sign up for a course on the program, when there are only a few odds and ends that I want to know.  Fine, the manner that I use what I learn may not be the way a teacher would make me do it, but I am getting some personal satisfaction from being able to do what I spent some time learning for free online.  I find it much easier relating the piano to that than to getting a lawyer or seeing a doctor.