Step by Step Piano Lessons

Playing an instrument is one of the best ways to express yourself and let your creativity flow. In addition, studies have shown that playing an instrument can broaden your mind and give you an appreciation for all types of music. The piano is an ideal instrument to learn because of its versatility. When you know how to play the piano, you can impress friends, family and even strangers. You can play solo or with different groups, and you can even accompany singers or join a jazz band!

Instructions

1. Learn the basics. Familiarize yourself with the piano before you begin learning how to play it. Typical pianos have 88 keys--52 white keys and 36 black keys. There are three pedals at the bottom of the piano. The one on the far left is the soft pedal, which softens the sound of the keys. The middle pedal is the sostenuto pedal, which sustains notes that are played while the pedal is pressed down. The sustain pedal on the far right holds the notes down after they are played. This is the most commonly used pedal.

2. 

   Study the notes on the keyboard. The white keys on the piano spread across the keyboard and are in alphabetical order. The order of keys start from the very beginning at A, B, C, D, E, F, G and then repeats back to A, which means every eighth note goes back to A. The black keys are situated in groups of twos and threes and can be sharp or flat, depending on the key of the song. Starting with the very first black key, it can be an A sharp or B flat. The best way to determine the note that a given black key represents is to simply look at the two white keys on either side of it. If it is surrounded by C and D, for instance, then it’s either C sharp or D flat.

3. Learn basic theory and definitions. Before you begin playing, getting familiar with basic terminology and theory will help you understand the piano. You can find many beginning theory books at music stores or online that will guide you through the process. Understanding basic terminology will help you play music at the right tempo, softness and speed so it will sound the way it was meant to sound.

4. 

   Play the scales on the keyboard. Scales consist of a root note like C, and they go in ascending and descending order, such as C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. Regardless of what note you start on, scales will always go in order of whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. What this means is if you start on C, the next note would be D, which is a whole step away from C because there is a black key in the middle. If you were to go a half step from C, that would make it D flat because it is the adjacent black key between C and D. Learning scales is very important when playing the piano because they give you an understanding of note location, and they are also helpful exercises for training your fingers.

5. Practice the piano as much as possible. To get better at something, you need to practice. If you practice the piano for at least 30 minutes a day, you will not only get better but also learn a great deal of self-discipline.

Tips & Warnings

• To get even farther with the piano, find a piano teacher online or in the local newspaper.

• Learning how to play the piano takes time. Be patient and practice every chance you get. Beethoven didn’t get to where he was in one lesson, and neither will you.