24 September 2014 How To Become A Better Piano Player

How To Become A Better Piano Player

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As an adult, we have different reasons for doing things. When kids play the piano, for the most part its because mom and dad sign them up for lessons. It becomes a part of the routine; one they may grumble about but do anyway because it’s a part of the schedule.

Yet for adults, when we take on new projects, its because of a long desire we have to improve ourselves, or to try a new talent we wish we would have had before.How To Become A Better Piano Player

Playing the piano isn’t solely about sitting down at the keyboard and banging on notes. Instead, its about developing a stronger connection to music, both appreciating it and creating it.

Becoming a better piano player isn’t just about playing music, its also about understanding music as well. And there are several approaches you can take that will help you become a better piano player overall.

1. Start With Music Theory

Playing the piano isn’t just about putting a few notes together. Instead, there’s an artform to understanding how music is performed. Music theory helps you connect chords that sound good together, and helps you understand the direction a song should take next. It helps you see patterns in the way music progresses; understand and recognize key signatures, intervals and progressions. It changes your piano playing from just tinkering with the notes, to creating sound because it works together.

2. Take Lessons

It seems like an obvious thing to say, but lessons are one of the key ways to help you improve. By hiring a piano instructor, you will learn not just how to play a song, but the theory behind playing the piano. You will learn correct hand placement, correct posture, and how to set goals and deadlines to stay on track. If you’re really serious about playing the piano, its really the only way to improve.

3. Practice, Practice, Practice

With every new task you choose to put into your life, the only way to get better at it is to practice. But don’t just practice for practices sake; spend the time to improve what you’re playing as well. Don’t just go through a song quickly to say you’ve played it. Concentrate on the notes. Slow the song down to make sure you are playing all of the nuances located in the song. Make sure you understand how its supposed to be played, and what you may be missing along the way. Find a tempo where you can really hear yourself play, and become comfortable with what you are playing. Focus in on doing it right, not just for the sake of doing it.

Many of the great masters play the same songs over and over again. They improve it, get better at it, change things along the way. They know there is always room for improvement; always a way to make something better. Plus the more you know a song, the more you can have fun with it. You can add things because you understand how they will sound when you do it. You can have fun for the sake of being better at what you do … playing the piano!

Playing the piano is above all fun. As long as you are having fun at what you do, there will always be ways to bring more enjoyment out of life. Stick with it, and learn to become the best piano player you can be. It’s a gift that will last a lifetime.

Filed Under: Piano Music, Piano Playing Tagged With: ,
8 January 2014 The Benefits Of Piano Playing For Your Child’s Intelligence

The Benefits Of Piano Playing For Your Child’s Intelligence

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We all want our children to be well rounded, well educated members of society.  For this reason we rush between cheerleading practices, football games, girl scouts, and the like.  All in the quest for an experienced and excellent child.  As you race around choosing extra curricular activities for your child, you might want to consider piano lessons.  After all, piano can do a great deal for your child’s intelligence.

The Benefits Of Piano Playing For Your Child’s IntelligencePiano playing can improve focus.  We have all heard the phrase: “Practice makes perfect.”  That much practice requires focus and commitment.  If your child is going to excel at playing the piano, they will also become much better at channeling their attention, they will learn to build their focus.

Piano playing has been proven to impact the analytical areas of the brain.  Much of the foundation of music is numbers.  Notes and rests are divided and combined in a unique way to create rhythm.  This focus on counting appeals to (and strengthens) the analytical portion of your child’s brain.  Studies have even shown children demonstrating marked improvement in mathematics and science, the academical areas most impacted by analytical thinking.

Piano playing improves your child’s ability to understand and express emotion.  Aside from the Baroque era, most music requires some form of emotional expression for a full, rich, and musical experience.  Playing the piano can aid your child’s emotional development as they explore the wide variety of emotions expressed by composers throughout the ages.  In turn, this will help your child have a better grasp intellectually and experientially of their own emotions as well as the emotional variances of those around them.

If you are seeking a well rounded child, consider giving them piano lessons.  Among the varied benefits and pleasures you and your child will experience, you can look forward to a furthering of your child’s intellectual abilities as a result of tickling the ivories.

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18 December 2013 A Basic Guide To Piano Music

A Basic Guide To Piano Music

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Go into any music store, and the one thing you’ll find in abundance is piano music. From contemporary, to pop, to classical and beyond, there are options for just about everyone wanting a chance to play their favorites on the piano. But where did it start from?

A Basic Guide To Piano MusicPiano music has been around in some form or another for quite a few centuries now.

Piano music publishing was well established in the United States by the early 19th century. Piano music was extremely popular since before the 1800s, but the industry was eventually replaced by the record industry. There were several difficulties in translating the new technology of printing to music.

14th and 15th centuries

Prior to the 15th century, western music was written by and preserved in the form of manuscripts. These were bound in large volumes. An example of these manuscripts is medieval manuscripts of monophonic chant.

The first music that was machine-printed came out in the 1470s, and in 1501, Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A was published. It included 96 pieces of printed music.

The printing process for music was a long and tedious process that required two phases. Even after the advent of music printing, much music continued to exist solely in manuscripts well into the 18th century.

1800s

In the 1820s, there was a good amount of piano music published using the lithographic process. By the 19th century, the music industry became dominated by publishers of sheet music.

Parlor music became extremely popular in the 1860s. Music publishers soon realized the commercial value of printing ads on the blank pages of music. Companies even issued series of sheet music to help advertise their products, notably the Emerson Drug Company’s promotion of Bromo-Seltzer.

1900s and beyond

By the early 20th century, the phonograph along with recorded music began to gain popularity. Radio also became popular during the 1920s, and this eventually made piano music publishers less important.

Printed music had a huge effect on musicians, especially amateur ones. Composers could write more, and professional players now had a bigger selection of music for them to choose from and use.

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13 December 2013 The History Of Sheet Music

The History Of Sheet Music

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Modern technology has brought us so much when it comes to music. We can search for any song we want on the Internet, we can carry huge quantities of music on a very small device, and we can listen to it on just about any technological device. While these advances are fairly obvious, have you ever considered the benefits we derive from technological advances in sheet music?

Sheet music is simply a techniThe History Of Sheet Musiccal term for the written form of music. Books, scores, individual pieces are all considered sheet music. Written forms of music have historically been difficult for composers and printers alike.

Before the 15th century, all music was written by hand…all of it. Staves, notes, words, everything was created by hand and bound together in manuscripts for preservation. The majority of music preserved from this time is the motet and monophonic chant.

Even after the creation of the printing press, sheet music lagged behind the times. Music provides a unique challenge to any printer because of the complex and variety of the elements. It is crucial for notes and words to line up, and notes not properly placed in relation to the staff would create serious musical issues.

Since sheet music was so complex, much of the earliest music printed required the notes to be added by hand. The first machine created sheet music appeared in 1457, approximately 100 years after Gutenberg created his printing press. Unfortunately, this first music printing required three passes through the press to get the final product. It wasn’t until 50 years later that single impression sheet music was created.

Modern sheet music has followed the trends of the time…online. Much of the sheet music available today can be viewed or purchased online. Improvements in printing have allowed anyone to print music from their home computer. Technological advances throughout history have brought music from the elite to everyone.

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7 December 2013 Tips For Composing Piano Music

Tips For Composing Piano Music

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Its fun playing popular songs on the piano. You know the tune and can easily hear the melody as you begin to play. It makes sense because you’ve heard the music so many times before.

But once you are comfortable playing other people’s music on the piano, you may decide that the next step is to create music of your own. Where do you begin? How do the most popular entertainers in the industry do it?

Tips For Composing Piano MusicStart With A Melody

Some of the greatest, most popular music of our time was created by the putting the melody into play first. The melody is the catchy music; the focal point of your piece. It’s the part you may play multiple times throughout the song, giving it its hook. When you have that idea in place, it becomes your centerpiece for the rest of your composition. It determines the speed, the sound, the stamina and the feeling you are trying to convey.

What Is Your Song’s Story?

Every song ever created tells a story. It may be about love, faith, determination, hope or recovery. Whatever your message, keep it in mind as you develop your composition. See it in you mind as you put phrases and direction together. It may also help to name your composition early to help you identify its overall goal.

Link Your Melody

When you listen to a song, the intro helps move you forward to the melody. If its too long, you’ll likely wind up losing listeners interest because of lack of connection. People hum melodies, not intros. So be careful to continually connect to your melody over and over again throughout your piece.

Repeat With Style

Once you have firmly established your melody in your listeners minds, embellish it and change it slightly to add interest. Add another lyric or change the way the notes are played. Make it recognizable as the melody, yet add to it to give it depth.

Build Something

What is the ultimate purpose of your song? Remember every song tells a story and you can hear that throughout the piece. Every story has a beginning, middle and end; likewise your music should accomplish the same things. Build throughout. Don’t let people get bored. Yes, it may only be 3 minutes, but in order to want to listen to it again, there has to be a point.

Structure Is Necessary

Every song has structure; sit down and write down how your favorites are written. You may see things like:

  • Melody
  • Chorus
  • Melody
  • Chorus
  • Change Up
  • Chorus
  • Melody to end

Simple structures can help you develop your composition and make it easier to fill in missing pieces to your half developed songs.

Keep It Simple

Yes, in some cases you will find eight, even ten minute songs. But do they become popular? People like music that fulfills a need and moves on. Something catchy they can relate to quickly before moving in another direction. Especially if you are first starting to compose piano music, keep things simple. The more you learn, the more you’ll grow.

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13 September 2013 How To Improve Your Piano Playing Skills

How To Improve Your Piano Playing Skills

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Adults are now the highest group of participants learning how to play the piano. If you’ve always had the desire to make beautiful music, but are frustrated with your current piano playing skills, there is hope. Just like any challenge you’ve faced over your life, piano takes time.

How To Improve Your Piano Playing SkillsPeople typically approach piano playing in one of three ways. They either try and play by ear, use books, DVDs or software for self-help instruction, or rely on using a professional piano teacher to move forward. No matter which method you prefer, take a look at these tips to see if you are doing all you can to improve your piano playing skills.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Remember when your mom made you take swimming lessons and you had to hit the pool week after week at the same time? There is a reason for that. We learn better through repetition. By doing something at the same time, it gives us a sense of commitment. Take out your planner and schedule practice time every week. Then stick with it as much as possible.

Plan and Track Your Practice

As you progress with your training, this will come naturally. But at first, use a journal to plan out exactly what you hope to accomplish each session. It may be to practice scales or to learn and incorporate a new note into a song. By seeing your progression on paper, it will help you stick with your practice.

Improve Your Musical Reading Skills

No matter which way you prefer to learn, in order to progress to more difficult music, you will eventually have to learn music. Spend time on the physical aspects of playing the piano, but don’t forget about the notation side of things. Understand notes, tempo, key, time signatures, clefs, etc. All of it will help you develop a greater appreciation of the art of piano playing.

Improve Your Finger Placement and Speed

A runner doesn’t jump out of bed and take off on a 10 mile run. He stretches, flexes, and makes sure he’s warmed up before he begins. A great piano player approaches his craft in much the same way. Do some finger stretching exercises. Focus in on finger placement and make sure the right fingers connect with the correct keys. Add some scales to your warm up routines. By focusing in on this at the beginning, you’ll be a much better player when you advance into more difficult music.

Memorize The Basics

Once you memorize your addition, subtraction, and multiplication tables as a child, they come naturally. The same applies to musical scales and chords. The more you practice them, the more you learn them, the more natural they become. Each of these will help you as you dig into more complex music choices down the road.

Improve Your Musical Ear

To get a better understanding and appreciation of how a piano adds to overall music composition, do things to listen and learn. Attend your local symphony. Listen to music from some of our greatest piano players. Key in to each individual instrument and how it applies to the overall sound.

Filed Under: Piano Lessons, Piano Music Tagged With: ,
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