Playing the piano is one of the best things I have learned to do so far. As a music lover, the main reason I learned to play the piano was so I could play while singing. I also loved for others to play and wanted to be able to do it too.
Playing the piano is fun, but nothing good comes easy and learning the instrument is not exactly child’s play. It requires a lot of time, dedication and concentration.
With that being said, I have decided to share with you my piano practice routine. This routine is what I used to develop my piano skills (as a partially self-taught pianist) and is very effective for beginners as well.
PS : In this article there will be some musical terms. In case you are not familiar with any of them, I will do my best to explain them and also add images where necessary.
BASIC FINGERING AND COORDINATION
Playing the piano requires the utility of all ten fingers. It also requires a lot of muscle memory, especially when playing two parts of a song (melody and chords), so mastering basic fingering and coordination is important.
There are various piano exercises for beginners to develop hand dexterity and independence on YouTube. My favorite so far is the pianote and the Mangold project that I’ll have linked below.
SCALES
A scale is a series of notes used to create melodies. The piano scale consists of twelve notes: seven are white keys (Do, Re, Fa, Sol, Si ) and five are black keys (Do, Re, Fa, Sol, Si ). Black keys can also be written as flats. White keys are also known as natural keys , while black keys represent sharps and flats .
Each of the twelve keys has its own scales, which are made up of seven other keys that make up an octave (an interval of 12 semitones or 8 whole tones ). Scales are categorized into major and minor , but as a beginner, it’s best to stick to major scales for now.
After warming up my fingers, I dive straight into practicing the scales for each of the twelve piano keys. If you are a beginner, I suggest you learn the easiest scale first, which is the C major scale . This is because it is made up of only white notes, so you just need to press each key up until you reach C major by an octave . When you feel comfortable with the C major scale, you can move on to the giphy.com other letters, which are more complicated. It will seem a bit daunting at first, but the more you practice this, the more you will memorize which keys belong to which scale.
CHORDS
A chord is a combination of three or more pitches played together. It can be classified into several types such as: major, minor , augmented and diminished , but to simplify this article I will only talk about the two main ones, which are major and minor chords.
To build a major chord, simply place the first/index finger of your left hand on the root note (the name of the chord you’re trying to make, for example, in a C major chord, the root note is a C). Next, place your middle finger on the note that is three semitones from the root (a third ) and then place your last finger (the thumb) on the note that is seven semitones from the root (a fifth ). Minor chords are very similar to major chords, with the only difference being the position of the middle finger, which will be two semitones from the root note instead of three.
Chords are what I like to practice the most. They are the backbone of any song, so it is very important to learn them when you are starting to play the piano. As always, start with the easiest chord, which is C major, and then work your way up. Once you have learned the chords, you will have already covered more than half of what you need to play any song.
ARPEGGIOS
The next thing I practice are the arpeggios. Arpeggios are simply broken chords; that is, instead of playing three or more keys at the same time as you would in a https://www.mixcloud.com/dorsonnfgu/ classical chord, you play the three notes one at a time in a certain sequence. For example, an arpeggio of a C major chord (C E G ) will be played in the C E G C sequence . There are also other forms of arpeggios/sequences in which these notes can be played.
Arpeggios are a great way to liven up chords and make them more interesting.
CHORD INVESTMENTS
This is on a more advanced level because it takes time to learn, but it’s worth it. An inversion is simply playing a chord in a different order. For example, a C major chord is played by placing the index finger of the left hand on the key of C, followed by the key of E, then the key of G. In an inversion, the index finger will be placed on either E or G. Sol, depending on zippyshare.com whether it is a first or second inversion, and the rest of the keys will line up accordingly. This is the aspect of an investment.
BUILD CHORD PROGRESSIONS.
After mastering the scales, you should move on to building chords for each key of a given scale. Here is an example;
In a C major scale, we have the C major chord, the D minor chord, the E minor chord, the F major chord, the G major chord, the A minor chord, and the B diminished chord.
Similarly, the D major scale contains a D major chord, an E minor chord, an F minor chord, a G major chord, an A major chord, a B minor chord, and a C chord. diminished.
Don’t worry if this seems overwhelming to you. It will be difficult at first, but as you progress it will get easier. There’s also a pattern I boredpanda.com like to apply to this which is “M mm M m D” (where ‘M’ means major, ‘m’ means minor, and ‘ D’ means diminished.
As an intermediate musician, I have learned all the chords in the C, D and E major scales. As time goes by, I will learn even more, which is why I like to include it in my essays.
PLAY A SONG
What’s piano practice without a song? In fact, all of the steps above in my practice routine bring me closer to my favorite part, which is playing songs on the piano. I play at least five songs every time I sit down to rehearse.
LEARN A SONG
I suppose you are wondering why I have left this for last; Wouldn’t you be too exhausted to learn a new song after rehearsing everything on the list above? The truth is that sometimes I end up skipping this part, but what good pianist would I be if I didn’t constantly learn new songs and increase my music library? Has no sense. Also, sometimes I jump right into learning new pieces depending on how excited I am, so that eliminates any excuses.
Lately, I have become more fond of classical music and at the time of writing this article, I have learned a total of seven classical pieces. Every week, I try to brush up on my old pieces and learn new ones by watching tutorials on YouTube.
BONUS: SHEET MUSIC READING
This is a bonus simply because I don’t do it very often (in fact I just started learning how to read sheet music and I rarely do it during rehearsals), but I felt like it’s something I should include especially if you’re really interested in learning music online. general.
To start learning, read the music without the piano. Master the positions on the lines and spaces, and then when you feel comfortable, you can try practicing on a piano.
