Piano players out there?

Question

I'm learning how to play the piano.. I can hear music and pick songs out by ear, but I don't know all the techniques to fill in all the empty spots, if you know what I mean? What is a good way to learn chords and scales?

Answer 1

I suggest you get a book on music theory. It could be very helpful. Plus take lessons. They are a fun way to learn, plus the teacher can help with things you either don't know or miss. Good luck.

Answer 2

You have two problems right off the bat: first, figuring out which chord to play at which point in a song. The second is, how do you play that chord?

Try two things. First, get yourself a "Fake Book," that is a book where the melody is written out on a staff and the chords are listed in the appropriate spots. Pick a book that has a few of the songs you've picked out by ear.

From the Fake Book you'll see the chords that go with each point in a song. To know how to play those chords, go to http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/ (or Google piano chords to come up with alternate sites).

If the Fake Book says to play C - Fm(inor) - C7, for example, look up those chords in the website. You'll find that the notes to play are C-E-G-C' for the C chord, C-F-Aflat-C' for the Fm7 and C-E-G-Bflat for the C7 chord. Once you work your hands around those chords you'll start to figure out how to vary them. For example, you can play Fm7 instead of plain old Fm by changing the F to an Eflat. You'll also start to see patterns of notes that you can repeat or alter to your taste.

Yeah, its a little work at first but once you get a few songs under your belt you'll start seeing how the chords are structured, what sounds good when, what doesn't sound good and when, and so on.

Also, once you get a few songs from the Fake Book + website method, look for the sheet music for those songs. From the sheet music you'll see not only alternate chords that you might use (the Fake Book might specify Fm while the sheet music might have a more complicated progression, like C-Fm-Fm7), and you'll see how the arranger has written those chords out to form an accompanyment.

Good luck!

Answer 3

umm... techniques are learned after hours of practice the best thing you can do for yourself is to get a piano and/or composition/music theory teacher. after you are experianced enough you will be able to figure out wich chord variation sounds better where and so on, or you can just purchase some sheet music.

Answer 4

Get the Royal School Syllebus for the Grade 1

Answer 5

Get yourself a beginners book or video try ebay or www.sheetmusicplus.com