It is always extraordinary to admire a wonderful pianist at work, with his fingers appearing to fly across the keyboard and his face contracted in an effort of total concentration. This article may not be able to teach you black and white key tricks but, if nothing else, it will give you some ideas on how to start approaching this path.
Steps
Method 1 of 8: The story
Step 1. Familiarize yourself with your instrument
Whether you want to become a classical pianist or a band keyboardist, the basics are exactly the same.
Step 2. Learn the terminology
Each instrument has its own specific name, but there are often variations that completely change the timbre using the same interface. It is therefore worth taking a look, however limited, at the history of the keyboard.
- Harpsichord, otherwise called harpsichord or spinet. We're talking about one of the very first keyboards that seemed to make the sound more like a guitar rather than a modern piano. The only difference with the instrument we still play today was that the string was plucked by a mechanism moved by a keyboard. And it didn't matter if you played loud or light. The result was exactly the same and produced the same depth of sound.
- Floor. This instrument completely redefines the sound process born from a keyboard: the strings are struck by a hammer and not plucked; the hammer, activated by the keyboard and consequently also by the energy with which the pianist played on the keys, was able to create nuances and dynamics from extremely soft tones to other very aggressive ones.
- Electric piano. If the piano produces an incredible and rich amount of sound it is very difficult to use as a concert instrument. The plan is heavy, difficult to transport and, above all, with every change in climate, environment or during every transport, it runs the risk of being forgotten, requiring the intervention of a specialist to tune it. In the 1950s, with the advent of electric instruments, the musicians decided to entrust the so-called electric piano with the tone of the traditional grand piano. The need was to make the piano more or less portable like a battery. Hence the birth of the electric piano and, obviously, of the organ, the forerunner of current electronic keyboards.
Step 3. And now that you have these basics, it's time to practice
Method 2 of 8: Understanding The Keyboard
Step 1. Take a look at the keyboard
But before doing so, a warning: the images you are seeing are a contribution of our international network and come from English-speaking musicians. They, and since English is the most widespread language in the world, it is becoming dominant also as regards the musical aspects, have 'translated' our notes. The Italians invented their name but the British made it simpler, and spread all over the world. Therefore, what for us is the scale that starts from C, and that we all know by heart even without knowing the music (DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, A, SI, DO), for them it starts from A which they call A. The English notes follow a trivial alphabetical order starting from A. Nothing prevents you from continuing to call the notes with our good old Italian method but international scores and software, unfortunately, speak English. So it is better to be well aware that there are two languages. And that the Italian one, unfortunately, is only for us. But let's get back to the main topic. Whether you are playing for pleasure on your iPad perhaps modulating it like an old synthesizer, or on an extraordinary electronic workstation, or, why not, on a classic concert grand piano, what you will find is exactly the same thing. The keyboards are all the same and the only difference can be the number of keys. Here is a simple diagram: C = DOD = REE = MIF = FAG = SOLA = LAB = SI
Step 2. The first thing you notice is that there are two different types of keys:
the black ones and the white ones. This can be a little confusing at first glance, but ultimately, there are a couple of obvious differences that will clarify your ideas right away.
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There are only 12 notes: from the first 12 we move on to a further session of other 12 notes exactly the same, only higher and so on, until the end of your keyboard, from bottom to top in terms of sharpness of sound.
C3 section - Each white key is part of the C major scale
- Each black key can be called sharp (#) or flat (b).
Step 3. Look at the keyboard again
And start from the DO which is on the left side highlighted by the image. It is your point of reference: the second note, the D, has two black keys on the left and right respectively, while the next one, the E, has only one on the left.
Step 4. You will surely notice the succession of two white keys that actually stand between two black keys
Step 5. And you will also notice that the next group of notes is quite similar to the first with two black notes distributed evenly between the three white notes
The first note of this group is the F, followed by the G, the A and the B. From here the series is repeated for each of the groups of notes that your keyboard has available.
Step 6. Look at the keyboard and locate the so-called middle C:
in modern international teaching methods, those that really anyone can deal with even without having ever taken music lessons, defines it as C3. The other lower Cs will have a lower number, those with a higher sound will obviously have a higher number
Step 7. Try playing a song
No, it's not too difficult and it's not impossible either. Start from middle C and imagine walking normally, with each step you take listen and imagine the note that will follow and do it until the next C. Okay, we can't really talk about song but this is the basis from which everyone has to start learning for a certain period of time until they become familiar with the keyboard and sounds. This is what is called a scale, which is the basis of music.
Try playing again. Just like before, imagine walking and, with each step, play the next note you find on your keyboard but this time with each note read from left to right before playing your step. Maybe even try to pronounce, if not sing, the note you are about to play just before pressing the fateful key. DR, RE, MI, FA, SOL … Now you are reading the music and, most importantly, you are memorizing the key of your keyboard
Method 3 of 8: How to Learn
Step 1. Learn for yourself
The systems with which you can learn to play the keyboard are not many. And everyone has to find their own.
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Learn to read music. You can learn this extraordinary quality for yourself, you can take lessons from a teacher or you can even combine the two methods. It is something exciting to learn and, more importantly, no instrument is excluded from reading music. Piano, guitar, bass, saxophone.
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Learn to play by ear. Playing by ear is not that difficult, many have succeeded with incredible results (Ray Charles…) you just need a couple of basics and let your ears and your hands do the rest. And, above all, you don't have to be forced to study boring things like solfeggio or learn how to read those black dots on the staff.
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Method 4 of 8: Learn to Read Music
Step 1. Get some sheet music
You will find them easily at the nearest music store: explain to the shopkeeper that you are trying to learn the keyboard, what kind of music you want to play by recommending him to recommend some material with a beginner's approach. Surely the shopkeeper will be able to show you the most suitable method for each level of learning.
- They might also recommend that you go to class with a piano teacher. If you have some cash to invest and if you really have the desire to learn well, that's still good advice.
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For the first time, when you place your hands on the keyboard, you will find numbers on the staff that will help you. These numbers are none other than your fingers: 1 thumb, 2 index, 3 middle finger, 4 ring finger, 5 little finger.
Piano finger numbers
Method 5 of 8: Learn to Play by Ear
Step 1. Train your ears
No teaching method is instant and even learning to play a keyboard by ear won't make you more proficient in less time. You have to remember the sound of a song that you know well and, little by little, try to play it by trial and error, with the keys that follow your memory and your ear. It takes some time to develop this ability. But the good news is that any good improviser in the world knows how to do it so it is a skill that will surely come in handy, and it is time that will undoubtedly not go to waste. Here's how you can get started.
Step 2. Learn the art of solfeggio:
a little while ago we called it a bit boring. Indeed it is. But for those who want to seriously learn to play music, especially on the piano, it is indispensable. The solfeggio teaches, both verbally and vocally (in the sense of singing) to recognize the notes and all the scales, very numerous and with an infinity of possible variations.
Step 3. Try it
On your keyboard you start from middle C as we have shown you above, and for each note you play try to sing the next note just like in the style of the solfeggio sung. Don't worry if your style is not exactly identical to that of those who participate in "Amici" or "X-Factor". The idea is always simpler than it seems: the key you play must match your tone of voice as precisely as possible. And what about the black notes?
If you also consider the black keys, following the Italian method, since we were the ones who invented how to write and interpret music, it will be simple: DO, DO #, RE, RE #, MI, FA, FA #, SOL, SOL #, LA, LA #, SI and DO again. This is if you read in an ascending tone; but if you go down the # (sharp) becomes b (flat), C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, LAb, A, Bb, B and C again. The scale you learned a little while ago, which is made up of tones only, will become a scale enriched by semitones as well. Usually the initial part is always very familiar, now it is necessary that all the notes have their name and, above all, their sound in your ears and in your head
Step 4. Training and breaks
Instead of singing and playing the notes continuously, try to pluck them like the voice alternating them with small rests. And create your own combination write them, you don't need the staff if you know what the notes are called by now. Then try playing them on the keyboard. Do not overdo the first series, which is something short and easily memorable. If you have succeeded and made no mistakes, you are already well under way
Step 5. When you start to feel comfortable try playing something you know
It can be a familiar song, something you listen to over and over on the radio, or something you have long since memorized. Anything that puts you at ease.
- When you have managed to play the whole song, as you know it, without errors, all you have to do is apply the basics of solfeggio to any other song. In practice, the solfeggio will become the key with which to translate whatever you listen to on the keyboard.
- It goes without saying that the more you train the faster you will improve.
Method 6 of 8: The Workstation Keyboard
Step 1. Here we need to make a qualitative leap and lay some premises
Think of the keyboard as a kind of brain. And each brain needs its own amount of memory.
Step 2. The first type of brain is called sound memory, or more easily tone:
there are very elementary tones because they come from instruments that already exist, the piano, the flute, the violin and so on. But there are countless others that, by varying the parameters of your keyboard, you can even invent yourself.
Step 3. The second type of brain is rhythm
Each keyboard has a section that is called rhythmic or style. Modern keyboards include drum kits, basses that summarize with a few touches what are the most common and modern rhythms and historical bases. Usually electronic keyboards control this kind of effects with the left hand while, with the right hand, you have to play the actual melody.
Step 4. The third type of brain is the one that allows your every creation to be recorded and stored
For example, if you played a bass part with your left hand, you can record and save it; later you can add a string accompaniment, record it and save it. Then, you can play the two parts that you have already recorded and saved together by adding new elements from time to time: it is a practically infinite process that is completed only when you have achieved complete satisfaction by getting exactly what you wanted to record. Now, with this kind of keyboard, nothing is impossible. Everything can be created or recreated.
Method 7 of 8: Make your choice
Step 1. Make a decision between an electronic keyboard and a traditional piano and consider the following factors
Step 2. A piano has 88 keys
It's big, heavy, bulky and you certainly can't listen to it with headphones if you decide to practice at 2am!
Step 3. Classical studies are obviously intended for those approaching the traditional piano, and not an electronic keyboard that can only simulate the piano for some characteristics
But also remember that switching from digital to traditional piano now involves only a modest loss of sound quality.
Step 4. The Digital Keyboard is easier to play
When you have a piano available, try playing a very low note and then a very high one. The low one will be heavy and severe and the high one will be light and easier.
Step 5. Now try to do the same thing with an electronic keyboard:
the effect will be the same but not the force that you will have to exert on the key which will give you exactly the same intensity of sound allowing you greater agility, less fatigue and maybe even the possibility of being able to practice for several hours without difficulty.
Step 6. Many keyboard players don't need all the variety of notes a piano offers
For instance. Middle C can be raised or lowered by one or more octaves at the touch of a key.
Step 7. The electronic keyboard is a very versatile tool
It is very practical if you decide to play in a band. Is the accompanying guitarist late for rehearsals? The keyboard player can add some guitar effects to his own set of sounds and take the place of the guitarist with a few chords without any difficulty by simulating the sound of the guitar on the keyboard.
Step 8. Lately, although keyboards have never completely abandoned the world of studies and classical music, in the world of pop music (but also jazz, rock as well as reggae or punk) the keyboard has become an established instrument use
Method 8 of 8: Ready to do better?
Step 1. Once you have mastered the basics, try taking it to the next level
Play in a real band!
Step 2. Find a couple of friends who can play bass, guitar and drums and learn to play a song you all love
Step 3. Try and try again until the song comes out exactly how you wanted it
And when you're done, start with another one and so on, until you create your own repertoire and maybe even some original material. To the point that Eros Ramazzotti and Laura Pausini will have to open your show
Advice
- Don't worry about mistakes. Even the best ones mess from time to time, especially at the beginning. Remember one rule: if you haven't made a mistake, it means you haven't tried hard enough.
- Do not be overwhelmed by difficulties: keep trying and you will succeed.
- If you make a mistake correct yourself now and move on.
- Believe in your self.
- You can also take piano lessons with the help of texts and methodologies but do it knowing that you are not a source of income for a teacher who perhaps wants to give you the impression that you only have to learn and therefore continue to need lessons.
- Practice, practice, practice.
- Listen and learn from people who already master the instrument.
- Accept constructive criticism as politely as you accept invitations.
- Learning to play the piano is based on the same principles by which you learn to play the keyboard.
