How to Learn to Play The Piano

It seems like everyone's parents tried to get them to take piano lessons at some point. You may have stopped at age six, but now you see the old piano in your family's house and wonder if you could have learned to play it. Well, it's never too late to learn the basic steps of playing the piano.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Getting Ready

1. Study the sheet music. Learn to read the basic notes, A through G, as well as the sharps and flats.

2. Find the right bench or chair to sit on and position it correctly. You want to sit so your arms are at a ninety degree angle when playing.

3. Use the piano's foot pedals to make yourself the most comfortable. You want no stress on your foot or leg muscles. Most players rest at least their right foot on a pedal.

Playing

4. Find the C keys first. They're the white keys just to the left of the sets of two black keys. C is regarded as the most basic note.

5. Locate the remaining basic notes. They're placed in alphabetical order on the keyboard. So A and B are to the left of C, and D-G are to the right.

6. Learn the accidentals, also known as sharps and flats. These are mainly used with the black keys. A black key is the sharp of the key to its left and the flat of the key to its right.

7. Learn to count beats. They will be consistent in a musical number whether fast or slow. Tapping your foot may be best for counting.

8. Learn to count for halves and quarters. If a whole note has four beats, a half note has two and a quarter has one.

9. Learn time signatures and rests. Time signatures tell how many beats are in a note and rests are beats where you don't play notes.

Tips & Warnings

• There are a few white keys that can be sharps and flats, though they are rarely called so. B is C flat and C is B sharp. E is F flat and F is E sharp.