Eleven Tips for Beginning Piano
For people who do not know how to play the piano, the thought of learning is scary. They think they can’t or that it is hard. But learning is not as hard as people think. With proper materials and a patient teacher, playing piano can be an enjoyable experience.
These are eleven simple tips to remember while you are learning to play the piano.
Tip One: Play every day. Even if it’s just a scale or “Mary Had a Little Lamb” – playing a few notes every day will improve your playing more quickly than an hour’s worth of practice once a week.
Tip Two: Flex your fingers before you start to play to loosen your joints and make your fingers suppler for the exercises.
Tip Three: Warm your hands as if they were cold. This, too, helps to loosen joints and makes your fingers and hands more comfortable for playing.
Tip Four: Make time for you to play alone. Having someone listen while you are learning can be distractive and make you self-conscious. So having “me” time to practice is important.
Tip Five: Start everything slowly. Even if it is a fast-tempo piece, play it slowly so you can understand the melody and the fingering of the keys before you kick it up to a faster speed.
Tip Six: Attempt to learn something new each week – even if it’s just a chorus. But don’t get discouraged if you don’t get it right the first time.
Tip Seven: Patience is a virtue – even in learning to play the piano. Make sure that you have the first piece down before moving on to the next one. They are in a particular order in a beginner’s book for a reason.
Tip Eight: If you hit a problem area, practice that part over and over – by itself – until you have it mastered, and then try the whole piece all the way through.
Tip Nine: When you play, keep your eyes on the music and not on your hands or keyboard. Trying to watch your hands is a bad habit to get into.
Tip Ten: Keep an eye on habits so that you can correct bad habits before they become permanent.
Tip Eleven: Relax by playing something you know and are familiar with first. Piano playing needs to be an enjoyable experience, so make sure that you have fun while practicing. |
