Learning to play one's favourite songs on a Piano is a long term goal. If you would like to learn this skill but have never really ventured to pursue it, the trick is to just get started. This page covers the method I am currently following to achieve this goal.
Having a Piano Teacher
I don't have a teacher for Piano training. I have tried this approach but was disappointed as it was expensive, time consuming and has a training methodology that does not always keep the student (like me) motivated for long. The method usually revolves around classical pieces and sight reading from sheet music with complexity of the sheet getting higher as you get more 'advanced'. Since playing music by Beethoven or Chopin or Bach is not the objective for me to pick up learning to play Piano, I soon stopped the method. Probably, I may come back to this method some time again, but only when I am sure this is the skill I would like to have (looks unlikely though)
My Current Objective
My objective is very simple: Play my favourie songs on a Piano using both right and left hands, such that they sound sophisticated, fun and enjoyable to listeners. I find that there are few books (and online resources) that does just that. I will be following the method of following instructions from these resources and will be using this blog to discuss each technique and my progress on a regular basis.
Would You Like to Get Started Too?
If you also would like to test the water, but is a rank beginner (even if you are not), I would recommend you to invest in the following (just to start with, we will be adding more resources when we 'advance'):
- A 61(or 88) keys Piano/Keyboard with Sustain Pedal.
- Book: How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons by Norman Monath
- Book: How to Play Piano Despite Years of Lessons by Ward Cannel
The Concept
The concept is to 'fake' playing using fake books. Don't be misguided b the name 'fake'. This is a misnomer and is a valid piano playing technique used by most sophisticated musicians. The name came from many musicians improvising from the fake sheets/lead sheets (collection of which is called fake books). Unlike complete sheet music, fake sheets have very minimal information as below (for The Tennessee Waltz):
Fake sheets have only melody notes, lyrics, time signature and chord symbols. Hence, it is up to the pianist to improvise. Sheet musics on the contrary are very rigid and two pianists playing from the same sheet music sounds exactly the same (of course, this is assuming both are accomplished pianists). However, no two musicians play the same lead sheet in the exact same way. The pianist is given complete freedom on how he can make the skeleton to sound in a sophisticated manner. Because of which, learning to play from fake book is not a simple task and takes months (if not years) of practice to learn this skill.
If you are a rank beginner, don't worry. Start with the Monath book (How to play popular piano in 10 easy lessons). This book assumes that you have absolutely zero prior knowledge of making music and then lets you learn how to play from a fake book. Even if you are not a beginner, I strongly encourage you to start from this book (You will breeze through it anyways and is totally worth it). This book also lets you be sophosticated in your playing from fake book, such that they will start sounding good.
Cannels' book on the other hand expects some familiarity with sheet music. Hence, be familiar with Monath's book before you start with Cannel's book. Cannel's book has more sophosticated way of making music and also it covers the music theory in an enlightening ways (which is rare). This book overlaps with Monath's book to some extent but go towards more advanced topics as well.
Once you are comfortable with the techniques of these books, we will venture into other resources as well. I have provided the list of all resources, I recommend in the sidebar.
Before leaving I would also like to comment on an important aspect of learning Piano: Practice
How To Practice
We all know that no amount of reading will make us a better Piano player. It takes practice. It is precisely this reason that a lot of people decide against taking the jump to learn Piano. Everyone is busy and dedicating one hour per day for Piano just don't cut it. However, I take a totally different approach: Practice very little at a stretch but make it more frequent!.
- Practice maximum 10-15 minutes at a stretch. Dont break this rule, never go beyond this time for a stretch
- Practice more frequent. Atleast once a day
It is not the amount of practice that itself that develop your skill at Piano, but it is the frequency. Have a resolution to atleast press any random keys of the Piano on a daily basis even if it is for 2 minutes. Make it more frequent. You got the point.
I will be touching on how to practice different techniques in the respective sections.
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