How do you learn to play the keyboard or music in general?

Question

I'm a guy who makes freeware games with tools such as MultiMedia Fusion (www.clickteam.com). I am able to do both graphics and coding. However, I don't know how to make music. Usually, I'd try to find someone online who is good at this and ask them but a lot of times people will make music that doesn't really match the type of game I'm making. Therefore, I want to make my own music.

But, how do you learn to do this? Anytime I go anywhere near a keyboard I end up just making random noise. I have no sense of rhythm or anything. I once knew a guy online who was able to make music on anything. He'd send me music that he made on the SNES game Mario Paint. He was even able to make music on programs such as ModPlug tracker that requires you to input each note by hand. I tried to ask him how he learned to do this but he told me that he never took any music lessons or anything.

I want to have this sort of skill, or atleast be able to play music on a keyboard. How do I learn to do this?

Is there any sort of classes or lessons for this type of stuff? I'm mostly interested in digital music formats such as MIDI, not classical stuff.

Answer 1

You need a good understanding of music and theory. For your purposes, I suggest getting some piano lessons. Then you can program MIDI music with a small MIDI controller, which is like a small keyboard. There are programs you can use to compose songs, and you will be able to write for video games. You also might want to take a composition class if possible.

Answer 2

firstly, you are not too old. music has no limits and as much as people like to emphasise that one should start playing an instrument there are more advantages if u r an adult. because u know what u want, u know what u are capable of and u don't have to go through adolescence (which is a big issue for a lot of children who take music lessons btw). the only thing that sucks is that u don't have all the careless years of a child to practise but that can easily be overcome. the most important thing is your attitude. i play cello, and started playing it when i was 23. it's true it was my 5th instrument already but with it i've learnt not only how to play it but a lot about me and my life too. so, attitude! and don't listen to negative people' bullshit. it's about you, not them. keyboard will do for now. i'm a trained pianist so i know what i'm talking about. u need to learn the basics first. so that would be notes, then u can move on to scales and arpeggios. i take it ur hearing is pretty good so try using it cuz it's very helpful. now i don't know where u r from but probably somewhere in the uk? every bookshop has material available for beginners. musical stores have loads of it too. try the web search like piano for beginners so that u get a list of what is suitable for different levels. 3-4 hours... u really shouldn't be hard on yourself in advance. practice is not about quantity it's about quality. repeating one passage 3x a day instead of bothering with it for an hour in one session will do much better. u will find out soon what suits you best but don't exagerate. exagerating will make you discontent and can cause injuries too. the point of practice is to learn to get used to things. some people do it faster some slower. and again, that too has a lot to do with the attitude. if u have a chance, try to get a lesson a month with a teacher. it's good for motivation and support. hope this helps a bit and break a leg!

Answer 3

My school's band director writes songs with a certian program, but I have no clue what it's called.

As for playing piano/keyboard, just go by ear. I've learned how to play a couple songs on the piano just by listening to my mom play or fumbling around until I get something right.

I wish I could help you more.

Answer 4

there are some great programs out there that already have music on them, you just create your own song with them. say that you want something with strings. but plucky sounding. well, these programs have them in all kinda of variations, tones, speeds, keys, everything. they have all instruments from the classical ones to foreign ones from the middle east, to Africa to japan. if you're willing to spend a lot of money, one of the best programs I've ever used was called Acid. i used it in a digital media and video production class to create music and sound effects for a movie the class made. another great program that's not as expensive is called GarageBand. it's made by the Apple company. doesn't do sound effects, but has great instruments and you can create any type of music with it. and the best part of these two programs is (in my opinion) that they're all actual recordings of the instruments. midi isn't always the greatest sounding, and musicians like me absolutely hate it. these programs are super easy to use and they're both incredible. you can even adjust the sound level of the individual tracks when you make the songs. it's easy enough to use that anyone can make great music regardless of music talent or training. good luck!!

Answer 5

well most of the time, you'll just make random noise, and it'll just hit you. It doesn't take any special talent to be able to make music. If your trying to do a song with words, you'll probably just want to make random cadences, but other than that, let your imagination control the fingers and brain for this one. I bet you use your imagination to come up with games, so it's the same concept!

Answer 6

i play pretty much whatever i want... start with guitar & learn the chords, dont worry about rythym until you can chord by feel, then try rythym by tapping your foot & strumming along, when you get good at that try switching your strum to every other foot tap.. once you get the hang of guitar, try piano, learn the chords first then try different rythyms ..chords are always most important in any instrument

Answer 7

Practice, Practice, Practice!!!

Answer 8

Find a piano teacher and take lessons.

Answer 9

take lessons. or they have all sorts of books to teach yourself. but taking private lessons would prob'ly be ur best bet. go to ur local music store, usu. they know teachers and can hook you up. :)

Answer 10

i think you should get some software and start to play a bit, until you have ritmos, and if you like it, yu couls start to create bits, and try to tell something with it,