I want to learn how to play piano. Assuming that i know nothing about a piano, How do i begin?

Question

I don't know anything about a piano-- not even the notes. What do you suggest i start out with? I'm definetly going to get a keyboard before i get a piano because of space constraints. I can't afford lessons right now, so i'm pretty much going to start out with some self-teaching books. Does anybody have any recommendations?

Answer 1

First you need to learn how to read music. Then learn to be farmilliar with which keys are which notes. You can take scotch tape and put it on the keys with the note names. Then when you know by muscle memory which notes are where pull out some music and it all comes naturally.

Answer 2

I bought a Casio light up keyboard for a little over $100. It's been great. It has earphones so I don't annoy anyone, and has almost a full range of keys (be sure to check as many keyboards only have 3 octaves, which isn't enough to play much). It has 3 modes of learning, and a voice will tell you which fingers to use. When you play correctly, the notes sound perfect. If you play to fast they sound a little "boingy" and it changes them if you play too slow also. This was great for me, because I have a tendancy to make up my own rhythm, based on how hard a section is, and the instant reinforcement was amazing. When I bought it, I would watch the demos of hard pieces like Maple Leaf Rag, and think "no way - I'll never be able to do that" but I've been able to learn some really complicated pieces, and I'm certain that it's easier than any other method. You see and hear right away what you're doing right or wrong, and it gives you this great cheering section at the end if you play things right, along with a ranking. It teaches you notes, too, but I was more interested in learning to play some songs, first, and it has an extensive starter database. I really thought it was a fast way to learn and it was worth every penny.

Answer 3

You can purchase beginners books at most good music stores that carry pianos and keyboards. I recommend Hanon-Schaum as being about the best; they have real beginners ones: they show pics of they keyboards and describe where the notes are and what they're called.

I'm curious tho, how did you escape grade school without rudimetnary knowledge of notes and keys? They forced it on my class - even the ones who didn't want to know!

Answer 4

If not lessons, youtube is a wealth of valuable information on self-teaching instruments simply because there's video involved. I'm a visual kind of guy, so hopefully you learn better that way too. Good luck, have fun.

Answer 5

learn the notes first, thats the most important. go slowly when your learning and then work up speed. even if you get frustraated and tired keep trying! when your hands get tired take a short break and come back. just take it slow and keep trying!