Piano for Beginners 6th ED - 2016 UK

Reference

Reading music

I’m a complete musical novice who has just picked

up a cheap keyboard. Is there any way I can get by

playing the piano without learning to read music?

Yes , you can learn to play by ear – in fact there

are highly accomplished pianists who can’t read a

note, but by not being able to read music you will

perhaps be doing yourself and your instrument a

disservice. It doesn’t actually take very long to be

able to read music and modern technology can

help you out a great deal by providing various

tuition apps as well as flashcards that you can use to

ram the knowledge home. By learning to read music

you will be able to enjoy playing centuries of great

and popular songs, which in turn will heighten your

understanding of your instrument and what it is

capable of and improve your playing no end.

Music jargon

I’m struggling with some music terminology –

what are chords, scales and arpeggios?

Well , let’s start off with chords. Piano chords – like

chords on a guitar – are groups of notes, usually

three or four, that are played together to create one,

true sound. For example, if you play the C, E and G

keys together on your piano then you will have just

played a C major chord (shortened to the C chord).

Arpeggios are notes that form a chord played

individually in sequence either going up or going

down the scale. Successfully playing an arpeggio

requires the player to play the sounds of a chord

individually to differentiate the notes. An arpeggio

in the key of C major going up two octaves would

be played as C, E, G, C, E, G. Scales are groups of

notes that act as a foundation for a part or full piece

of music. Scales give the composer a structure

from which to build melodies and harmonies and

it actually helps musicians to improvise a piece of

music. The most popular scale is the major scale

(which you may know as ‘Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti’).

Nail it

I like to grow my fingernails quite long – will this

be an issue when playing piano?

Possibly. The optimum length of the fingernails

when playing the piano is a contentious issue that

may depend a great deal on how you are playing –

for example the way your fingers rest on the keys.

You will want your fingers to slide across the keys as

effortlessly as possible and so obviously overtly long

nails may affect this.

Likewise, you don’t want your fingers to sit too flat

on the keys as this may lead to discomfort over time.

You may also find that long nails create an annoying

clicking sound as they hit the keys as you play, so

our advice would be that if you are serious about

learning how to play the piano, you should definitely

consider cutting them so that they lie in line with

the tips of your fingers.

Now that you know your instrument and the basics of playing, it’s time

to get more technical and start exploring the meaning of music...

Playing the piano

“By learning to read music you’ll be able to

enjoy playing popular songs, which will heighten

your understanding of your instrument”

Learning to read music is

a worthwhile challenge

Location courtesy of Music Is Life, Bournemouth