3 Myths about Learning to Play the Piano

You have the perfect room in mind in your home for a piano. You’ve always dreamed of owning one.

Yet even though you can’t wait for the piano to make its entrance into your home, even more importantly is the thought of actually playing it. Sure, you took a few lessons as a kid. But those quit once you jumped into other extracurricular activities and the homework pile started to grow.

Now that your dream piano is making its entrance into your home, maybe now is also the perfect time to start up the lessons again so you can learn to play the piano. Yet can you do it as an adult?

Learning how to play the piano can be a challenge for some people. Whether you are a beginner or someone who hasn’t played piano in years, learning can be frustrating.

Sure you hear a lot of reasons why people can’t pick up the piano – the myths are hard to ignore. But do they hold any validity? Are they true?

Here are some of the top myths about learning to play the piano:

Myth #1: You have to learn how to read music first.

Truth: Some people think that they have to learn how to read sheet music before they can even begin playing the piano. The truth is that the best musicians learn without learning the actual keys or notes first. They learn by improvisation and listening. Learn the basic chords. When you know just a few chords and grab on to the rhythm by ear, you can learn to play simple music without ever having to read it.

Myth #2: You play piano with your fingers.

Truth: You actually use the weight of your arms to play the piano. Believe it or not, you can relax and let gravity do all of the work for you. When you use the weight of your arms, you are able to control the loudness and softness of the keys with ease and precision. While your fingers do a lot of the work, they can only strike one note at a time. The key is to play with your upper body, and you will be able to play groups of notes.

Myth #3: Practicing means learning a piece from beginning to end.

Truth: While this is certainly practicing, you are not really doing it in an efficient way. While practicing is all about repetition, playing is about flow. You can express yourself through the music, but this comes after practicing. So you don’t have to learn a song from beginning to end and play it perfectly. By practicing slowly and a little bit at a time, you can graduate to playing in no time.