How to Visually Teach Yourself Piano

Teaching yourself to play piano visually can be an effective place to start for many people. Learning the keyboard based on its visual patterns can be a simpler initial approach as opposed to trying to learn to read standard musical notation right from the start. Once you become familiar with the piano's form, you will be better prepared to learn various playing styles as well as musical notation.

Instructions

1. Look at the black keys on the piano. These keys, which occur in sets of two and three, are called sharps and flats. These keys can serve as aids in locating notes on the piano.

2. Notice the white keys that are between the second and third black keys in a set of three black keys. These keys are called A notes. They reoccur all across the piano's keyboard.

3. Play an A note (any A), followed by the next six keys. These keys are (in order starting with A): A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. These notes are the musical alphabet and occur repeatedly across the piano. The farther to the left, the lower the pitches will be, and the farther to the right, the higher the pitches will sound.

4. Locate middle C. This is a white key located just to the left of two black keys near the exact center of the piano.

5. Place the little finger of your left hand on C and the fingers and thumb of your left hand on the next four keys. Then place your right thumb on A (which will be right next to the thumb of your left hand) and your four right hand fingers on the next four keys.

6. Curve your wrists slightly so that only the pads of your fingers are touching the keys and play the notes located under your fingers in this position.

7. Try some simple songs in order to gain experience with melody, rhythm and the feel of the piano in general. An example of a simple song that you could play with your left hand in the aforementioned position is "Mary Had a Little Lamb":
   E, D, C, D, E, E, E--D, D, D--E, G, G,--E, D, C, D, E, E, E, E, D, D, E, D, C

   You could also play this song using higher notes in your right hand:
   B, A, G, A, B, B, B--A, A, A, --B, D, D,--B, A, G, A, B, B, B, B, A,A, B, A, G.

References

• UB Piano: Understanding Basic Piano