Playing the piano calls for undivided attention. To play the piano, one must use both hands, read music, listen to the notes you’re playing, and work the pedals.
That’s a lot to do at once! Unlike other instruments, with time you’ll realize how easy it is to play and teach yourself the piano is easy to play.
Being able to play your favorite instrument has many advantages. Some use it as a pastime, others do this out of passion for music, and for some it’s kinda stress buster or meditation.
Below, we’ve listed a few key steps you can follow and use as a guide if you want to learn and teach yourself how to play the piano.
1. Choosing a piano to use: Grand Piano vs Digital Piano vs Electronic Keyboard
- Grand Piano
The Grand Piano is the largest and most expensive, and also the best when it comes to developing piano skills.
A quality acoustic instrument that produces sound from real strings and real wood offers a level of responsiveness and a range of dynamics and tone color than even the nicest digital piano cannot match.
- Digital Piano
Digital Pianos are smaller, less expensive, and do a decent job of mimicking the sound and feel of an acoustic instrument.
Digital pianos are designed to sound and feel as much like an acoustic piano as possible. Keys are weighted to provide the right resistance to touch, and are sensitive to speed and pressure to give a range of dynamics (loud and soft).
Read more: Top 10 best digital piano reviews
- Keyboard Piano
Electronic keyboards are the most affordable way to get started. It’s a great tool for a beginner and you can always start out on a keyboard and then upgrade to a piano.
2. Get to know and become familiar with your piano
Before you even start to understand how the piano works, you should familiarize with the piano keys. There are 88 keys on a standard piano.
The black keys are known as sharps and flats and they appear in groups of twos and threes. Look for the set of five black keys (1 group of 3 and one of 2) that are in the center of your piano. Middle C is the white key to the left of the two black keys in the middle of the piano.
As well as developing your concentration, becoming familiar with the piano will help in your memory and focus skills and also enhance your fine motor skills.
3. Number your fingers
Your fingers need to be numbered primarily to help identify which fingers should or could be used on a certain note, or set of notes.
Doing this gives a foundation for a development of good technique. You’ll be able to perform smooth transitions while naturally involving all fingers.
But don’t get hung up on playing the “right” finger. Whatever finger gets there first, wins!
4. Learn to play scales
Notes are the alphabet for musical language. When notes are organized according to sound, this means they all are in the same Musical Key, such as C Major.
Scales are a collection of tones that belong together, and they can also belong to a certain key.
Scales can be played in Major and Minor Key signatures and contain a total of 8 notes. A scale will start on one note and then succeed up note by note 8 steps up, until you land on the same note that you started out on, just an octave higher.
5. Learn the major and minor keys
It’s no secret that music plays on our emotions. The right song can make us feel elated, angry, or confused. Music can make us cry before our brain has even had time to ask why.
Music has a powerful pull on our emotions, and you don’t need to be a genius to confirm this as fact.
The two scales you use most frequently when you play the piano — and the most famous scales in Western music — are the major and the minor scales.
Every major scale is built the same way. The ascending step pattern used by all major scales on the planet is: Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half.
Minor scales are no less important or any smaller in size than major scales. Like major scales, minor scales have eight notes with the top and bottom (tonic) notes having the same name. But minor scales have their own, unique scale patterns.
6. Learn to play chords
Playing the piano enhances your listening skills and when you hear most songs they’ll most likely have a variation of chords.
if you play more than one note at a time you’ve got a chord. Most chords in modern-day Western music are either a major chord or a minor chord.
When learning to play piano, start with major then move to minor chords or triads. A triad is a type of chord that has only three notes: a root, a minor third and a perfect fifth.
7. Learn how to play chord progressions
The piano is a very calming and relaxing musical instrument to learn.
A chord progression simply refers to the order in which chords are played in a song/piece of music.
Some basic tips to follow when writing a chord progressions and make them work include:
- Choose a key to write in (if you are just starting out the C major, G major, A minor and E minor are good keys to start with)
- Work out the primary chords (I, IV, V). Start to build your progressions with these. Then move on to using secondary chords (II, III, VI) to develop your chord progressions further.
- Always start and end your chord progression on chord I
Conclusion
Learning how to play the piano increases our self-confidence tremendously. Music is incredibly powerful, and piano music, in particular, can bring out strong emotions in both the listener and player.
10+ online piano lessons for Beginners
If you need to play the piano with easy to follow step-by-step lessons that fit your level and track your progress, you can find qualified and affordable instructors on Udemy.
Benefits
- Great for beginners to learn faster than ever
- Avoid bad habits that can take a long time to unlearn
- Develop rhythmic sense and musical artistry by listening to real pro musicians.
- Practice whichever time and place you want
Check on Udemy: Piano Lessons for Beginners
Top 5 most popular piano VST Plugins to play the piano
1. EZkeys Grand Piano by Toontrack
EZkeys Grand Piano comes with a Steinway and Sons model D grand piano, sampled to perfection in a world-class recording studio using only the best of the best in vintage and modern recording gear.
The model D grand piano is the undisputed industry standard among performers and producers worldwide and has over the past century and half had an overwhelming amount of musical history and heritage created on it.
Check on Plugin Boutique: EZkeys Grand Piano by Toontrack
2. EZkeys Upright Piano by Toontrack
EZkeys is a revolutionary plugin and stand-alone instrument that combines a world-class piano player, songwriting partner, arranger and a meticulously sampled instrument – all in one package! Aside from breathtakingly rich tonal qualities, EZkeys allows the user unlimited creativity through its groundbreaking functionality.
Check on Plugin Boutique: EZkeys Upright Piano by Toontrack
3. Addictive Keys: Studio Grand by XLN Audio
The Studio Grand features a classic Steinway Model D concert grand piano. The first choice of many pianists, Steinways are famous for their character and unrivaled sound. The included ExploreMaps offer presets in a variety of styles ranging from open and natural to processed and strange. The variety of sounds makes Studio Grand perfect for both production and stage duties.
Check on Plugin Boutique: Addictive Keys: Studio Grand
4. EZKeys Vintage Upright by Toontrack
From the 1930s, please welcome a pristine Östlind & Almquist upright piano.
The Vintage Upright sound library features a carefully sampled Östlind & Almquist piano, a classic Swedish brand dating back to the late 1800s and widely known for its quality, craftsmanship and heritage. This instrument was built in the 1930s and captures the essence of the timbre in a well-built upright piano.
Check on Plugin Boutique: EZKeys Vintage Upright
5. Addictive Keys: Trio Bundle by XLN Audio
The Addictive Keys: Trio Bundle lets you pick any three of our Addictive Keys instruments and save over buying them individually. If you’ve had your eye on our award-winning Addictive Keys instruments (like Electric Grand, Modern Upright, or Mark One), this bundle lets you get all three for a great price.
Check on Plugin Boutique: Addictive Keys: Trio Bundle