Get to know your Music Sheets

One of the most important things in piano playing beside the piano itself is the piano sheet music.

The piano sheet music determines what kind of music or what a pianist will play in a piano.

Did you know that some pianists are not capable of piano sight reading? That’s true. They can play piano by ear. It’s a talent that not all pianists have. But what they commonly forgot to learn is to read piano sheet music. It is essential if you’re planning to become a known composer, accompanists or musician.

So let’s get to the basics of a piano sheet music and will tackle piano sight reading next time. So stay tuned.

The staff consists of five lines and five spaces. In here you will see sets of easy piano notes written all over. This allows you to read them correctly and easily.

Most of the times when you download free piano sheet music you can see two sets of staffs and at the beginning of each staff are symbols. These are called clefs. Clefs determine which hand should play the sets of easy piano notes.

The G clef or also called the treble clef is played by the right hand

and while the C Clef or known as the bass clef is played by the left hand.

Beside the clefs you’ll notice some numbers. In most cases you see them as 4/4 or 3/4 or maybe 6/8. These numbers are called time signatures. They indicate the beat or the music rhythm of a piano music. This is often neglected but if not properly understood can hinder your piano playing skills and piano practice.

Now next is a more confusing side of the piano sheet music, the piano accidentals. Piano accidentals are the sharps, flats and the neutrals on a piano sheet music. Sharps keys means a half step semitone higher while flat key means a half step semitone lower and neutral means it should return to the original key tone.

For now, this is what you should know about your piano sheet music. These are the essentials and will allow you to move forwards with other piano lessons.

Piano Lessons: Online or Offline

There are many ways to learn how to play the piano. You can either choose private piano lessons or self-learning through online piano lessons or piano dvds.

Both different methods of piano lessons have its pros and cons. In this entry, let’s try to differentiate them and see which piano lessons suit you.

Private Piano Lessons

Having private piano lessons are perfect for toddlers and kids. It teaches them the essential and basics of piano playing. Teaching piano students at home help both the teacher and the student to focus on the piano lessons. Also learning this way allows the student to ask questions regarding the lessons. Piano beginners can easily understand the lessons because it is real and on the spot.

Although that is said, there are a lot of disadvantages with private piano lessons. First are the distractions. Lessons done at home can be distracted even by just a simple phone call or a dog barking. Another thing, with private piano lessons you could either study at home (with more distractions such as television) or at your piano teacher’s home (less distraction, boring experience).

Another downside of private piano lesson is if you are already an adult. Of course no adult would want to be taught piano sheet music like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. Too childish. Also private piano lessons can be really expensive. It’s almost $100 per month. You can buy groceries with that already.

Self-Learning Piano Lessons

If you don’t have enough time to commit on private piano lessons or don’t have enough money for private piano lessons then there is always an alternative. You can always try self-learning piano lessons trough some modern methods. When you’re already a grown-up these adult piano lessons for beginners will be you solutions.

One of the best things you can try is online piano lessons. A lot of people and companies are now posting free online piano lessons everywhere on the internet. You can always try YouTube piano videos for starters. Or websites that offers free online piano lessons. No matter where you go online piano lessons are a sure hit. It’s free, easy to understand and you can control anytime you take the lessons.

Maybe you want something more reliable, then you can try buying or borrowing from libraries piano dvds. Piano dvds are available on Amazon or on websites that offers piano lessons. You’re just going to pay extra for lifelong piano lessons on your own home.

You can also try piano lesson books. It also has extensive explanations of the lesson without the visual aid which is in most cases very important.

Or you can try something you can always listen or watch wherever you are, PODCASTS. Yes, the great invention of ITunes can now be used as an easier way of learning free piano lessons. Piano podcasts can be played anywhere using your iPhone or iPod devices or even on your own computer.

Conclusion

So what’s the verdict? If you have the time and the money and a quiet place to learn, you can always try private piano lessons.

But if you are an adult already with no free time and enough money for private piano lesson, you can always go for self-learn piano lessons. Same results minus the expense, the pressure and the money.

Learn by yourself! It’s easier and cheaper. Online piano lessons are a great answer to adult piano lessons for beginners and toddlers’ first easy piano notes.

Easy Steps to Compose your Own Piano Music

Want to compose your own piano music but don’t know here to start? Then no more worries. By just following these simple steps I prepared for you can ensure a breezy and fun ways of composing your own piano music.

Even though you only have beginner piano lessons or still taking them, the basic knowledge of the piano chords and the music are the main keys on composing your own piano music.

Step 1
Piano lessons. I might have mentioned before about not much piano lessons but getting at least the basic piano chords and the music theory can be advantageous to anyone. Piano Chords are basically the building blocks of sounds in music. Everything that’s in C Chord will always be the same with other sometimes just in a higher note or octave.

Did you know that a lot of songs are made from the C Major Scale or the C Chord? It’s because that the C Major Scale is the easiest scale to work with.

Step 2
Your left hand does the piano chords or other piano chords progressions and runs while the right hand balances it with the main melody of the music. Remember that not all piano chords will sound good at some certain melodies.

Step 3
Where will you start? Some pianists and composers prefer to start off with the piano chords then add the melody after. To some pianists it works but in most cases, it causes more confusion. So if this is you first time composing your own piano music, then you can try using easy piano notes first then add the appropriate piano chords.

Step 4
Okay, so you’re going to use the C Major, I usually consist of the piano notes G and C as the melody. You can try doing some runs and chord progressions or broken chords to create the beat and the speed you want to create. Just experiment and try as many patterns as you can just make sure it still fits for the earlier melody you created.

Step 5
You can try different piano chords that still has the same mood that may eventually lead up to a whole song. You can start your music at the intro or the chorus or the verses.

Step 6
It’s alright to repeat some piano chords that you’ve already set just make sure that the next one will be a little different than the first pattern so you won’t bored your listeners.

Step 7
Transfer it! You can now try putting it in a piano sheet music. Although this step can be set aside for later if you’re music theory isn’t still broad enough or if you are piano beginner.

Easy right! If you’re still confused you can watch this video on how to compose piano music using piano chords and other more tips to help you compose you own music.

Become a Piano Accompanist

Are you joining a band to perform? Or are you planning on doing a duet like where you see a pianist playing the piano while a singer sings beautifully? Then you want to become a piano accompanist.

A Piano Accompanist is a piano player/a pianist that acts as a background musician for a singer or a band or an orchestra. Piano accompanists are very musically talented because they should be able to accompany and assist another musician or a singer. Although the soloist (singer or another musician) whose being accompanied is highlighted, the performance or the show would not be successful without a talented piano accompanist.

To become a piano accompanist you must be able to sight read music well. Most of the time when performing, some singers or soloist provides a piano sheet music of their own version or key to be played.

While in some occasions such as gatherings or parties, a piano accompanist must know how to play music with ear and piano chords improvisation. You may encounter performances requests from friends and guests. A piano accompanist must be able to know what key does the singer sings. This helps for a great show and performance. It also allows an accompanist showcase his or her talent even if the singer is off-key. It’s all about you, piano accompanist.

There are endless possibilities and careers when you choose to be a piano accompanist. You can play with bands, with a soloist or even with an orchestra. Just harness your piano playing skills and you’re good to go.

Simple tips for piano accompaniment:

• Practice your piano regularly.
• Make sure to practice the piece you're going to play.
• Run-through the piece several times with the singer you're going to accompany.
• Make certain adjustments to your playing to suit the singers' vocal style and technique.
• On the day of the performance be prompt and dress appropriately.

Quick Tips to Sight Read Music

Are you an adult piano beginner or a parent giving your kids easy piano lessons? Then probably you both are having some trouble with sight reading music.

It’s not that rare for people to have some problems with piano sight reading. Training your mind and fingers to read piano sheet music is difficult especially for a beginner.

I often see people asking for piano sheet music for beginners with letters. I guess by having that you can easily learn a new piano sheet music. But honestly by doing so you are actually learning less than you thought you’ll learn. You become very dependent to the letters instead of reading the notes.

So here is my advice. Learn the music theory and piano sight reading. Note values can be expressed by letters that’s why they’re musical notes. Piano sheet music for beginners with letters is very rare. Most of this piano sheet music may be self-published by a pianist or hand-written by a piano teacher then scanned and shared. So you probably only have a 5% chance of getting one online.

If you’re a total newbie, I suggest you take beginner piano lessons, and learn easy piano notes first. Learning them slowly will actually help you sight read music better. For more retention of the musical notes, you can try doing piano finger exercises and reading easy piano sheet music first. Even if you’re an adult piano beginner it’s pretty music the basics for a total newbie.

And lastly, practice. The more you practice the faster you learn and understand it. Learning how to play the piano is like learning a new language. You won’t learn or understand it overnight. Practice it and you’ll be playing like a pro.