new member help

[jazzyjeff]

i thought i would join up as i've been learning piano for a number of years now.
one of my biggest problems is i rely on looking at the keyboard too much, pretty much constantly looking.
so when i look away i get lost with my fingers quite a bit.
does anyone have any good tips to not rely on looking at the keyboard all the time.
i am trying to play with my eyes closed but my fingers seem to go to the wrong keys.
i am self taught and i am studying blues style at the moment. i also enjoy playing einaudi & linkin park.
any help would be great.
many thanks. jeff.

[augustpasimio]

I have the same problem as you.  I'm trying sight reading, and keeping my eyes on the music and feeling the keys.  It's kinda difficult, but I know it will be worth the effort.

[hfmadopter]

About all you can do is more of it, it will come in time. Go slowly, don't expect to read and not look at the keys at first while playing up to speed. As I said, in time it will start to come to you.

[kriatina]

Hello, jazzyjeff,

As a beginner myself I experienced the same problem
until I bought myself in a second-hand music store
some little books for beginners.
Unfortunately these books were written for little kids,
but that did not stop me to learn from them some basics.

These little books were very instructive by teaching me to place both hands
in a certain position and playing little tunes which kept all my fingers in the same place
and I was taught to use each finger (on the left or right hand) for certain simple little melodies
without the need to look at the keys and go from there.

Good luck from Kristina.

[slyfox2625]

sounds like good advice kriatina.........

[kujiraya]

One suggestion on how to orientate yourself around the keyboard, without looking at the keys, is to feel for the white keys without the black keys in between, and then feel whether one of these white keys is to the left or the right of a group of 2 black keys or a group of 3 black keys. In this way, you can tell whether the white key is a B, C, E or F. This is the basic way which blind pianists use to orientate their hands over the keyboard, and which organists use to orientate our feet around the pedals.

Another exercise is to practise lots of scales and arpeggios (and their inversions) in the different keys, as fast as you can, not allowing time for you to be able to see, plan and adjust your fingers to correctly hit each note that you are about to play, so that your fingers develop "muscle memory" and become familiar with the distances they have to reach for each of the intervals between each of the various notes.

[jazzyjeff]

thanks for the replies and advice.
i have just started practicing my scales.
is it good to learn all the major scales in every key ?