piano/keys

[xexaxex]

how, & what sort of stuff do you have to practice to get good at playing the keys?

[Grey Loki]

Scales on a full 88-key piano. Buy Jordan Rudess' 'Total Keyboard Wizardry', and subscribe to his Online Conservatory. That should see you clear for a bit.

After that (or during), try some Chopin Etudes.

[xexaxex]

why Chopin? opposed to shubert or beethoven? I havent listened to much Chopin...

[drumadima]

Scales on a full 88-key piano. Buy Jordan Rudess' 'Total Keyboard Wizardry', and subscribe to his Online Conservatory. That should see you clear for a bit.

After that (or during), try some Chopin Etudes.
u must be kidding...start playing piano from Chopin Etudes?!? comeon...try maybe from easy Cherni (sp?) , Clementi,Moshkovski (these are more musically and technically challenging) etudes..these guys wrote not the musically best etudes (like Chopin,Rahmaninoff etc ) but they should give you basic idea about different piano techniques..id recommend Cherni.
on the musical side of things,take maybe a Mozart's sonata and Bach's invention...
just my 2 cents

[ProggleRock]

My opinion: if you're serious about it, take lessons. There's no better way to learn, and learn right.

[drumadima]

My opinion: if you're serious about it, take lessons. There's no better way to learn, and learn right.
yes,i couldn't agree more

[Grey Loki]

That was more a joke than serious advice - I just happen to like the Chopin Etudes.

[Axe2Grind]

My opinion: if you're serious about it, take lessons. There's no better way to learn, and learn right.


Really, I'm self taught and same on guitar, not one single lesson. I think the best way to start off is to buy a good keyboard instruction book that first show's you how everything is laid out on a keyboard and then shows some basic major/minor scales and chords with efficient fingerings to play them. Once you can play some scales and chords on the keyboard & use a metronome or drum machine to keep time whilst you are playing making sure you play everything slow and even (which won't take long), then after this if keyboards is something you enjoy and want to progress then maybe taking some lessons then would be good, I don't see the point in being taught (and paying for) the basics when a cheap book can do that. Last thing you want is to pay for lessons and that teacher makes you disinterested because you're not being taught the right things or keeping your interest levels up.

[xexaxex]

im with axe2grind. I play guitar rather well, and have taught myself everything using just books, cds, & my ears. But I'll take any help I can get.
So far, I have applied major & minor scales/chords... bw & fw, thru the modes, etc... (dim & aug also a bunch) using the metronome/drum beats.
I still am indecisive about proper fingerings and stuff like that. But I can play most single melodies. But on a guitar, your right hand rhythm is usually damned close to your left hand rhythm. Where with keys, its a lot more polyrhythmic. I haven't quite figured out how to work through that problem on keys; how to play independantly from both hands simultaneously. The whole thing of carrying a rhythm & lead line at once is tricky!
I am a serious student, and want to get insanely good at the keys. I sometimes wonder if keys are more of my calling than guitar is. I'm just looking for some input aside from books i guess. What are worthy studies to spend time with?
I'll have to check out 'total key magiism' (heh) soon!

[drumadima]

That was more a joke than serious advice - I just happen to like the Chopin Etudes.
ah...good,that makes it clear then ;) btw,i like them too.wich ones are your favourites? ;)

[King_Ellesar]

how, & what sort of stuff do you have to practice to get good at playing the keys?

what everybody else has said so far is pretty good advice for the most part. i'm no expert, but i'm not sure about the trying all the basics out on your own and then looking for lessons. because i think if you learn something at first, and get very used to playing something a certain way when it's wrong, it may be very hard to "unlearn" it once someone tells you how to do it. for example, posture, or the way you level your hands, wrists, and arms. a not so good technique could lead to pain, and might be avoided if you find a teacher who knows the best way to do it. and something like that is something that if you get used to the wrong way early on, it might be harder to fix once you learn the right way. unless of course, you find a book that tells you even things like this off the bat. but i still think it's a good idea like the others said to start off experimenting, to see if you really like it...and then considering taking lessons. the online conservatory is such a help, no matter what level your at musically.

there is another thing i find very helpful when starting to learn the keys. you may have this down with the guitar, so apply it to keys as well. but try practicing playing by ear exercizes. for example, find a melody in a simple song that you like, and try to play it on the keys based on your memory and your ears. no music :) now, i'm not saying stay away from sheet music, learning songs, or technique practices with the books, but it's important to get away from the books sometimes, and just have whats in your mind. i actually started out with playing by ear. my cousin sang the tune to the godfather main themesong, and i played the notes along with him. stuff like that. and if that gets really simple, try familiarizing yourself with the chords maybe...i dunno, might be too difficult at the beginning. the OC has some cool ear excercizes. i think improvisation is just as important when learning piano as the techniques and everything else. so maybe once you feel familiar with the keys, and recognize the intervals of the pitches and where they are on the keyboard, mess around with ideas, songs, by ear. later on, you can even try and do your own version of some songs, making chords to go along with them, and experimenting with different rhythms.

although this isnt how i was taught the independance of the hands that you pointed out is different than on guitar, i have heard it a lot over here that when your having problems playing things with both hands, DONT do it hands separate. just slow down, and keep trying to play both hands at a time. i didnt do it that way when i was learning early on, and that might be why i'm not so good in the hand independance area right now.

hope this helps. welcome to keyboard world. have fun!

[Grey Loki]

ah...good,that makes it clear then ;) btw,i like them too.wich ones are your favourites? ;)

I'm rather fond of 1, 2 and 3 (Opus 10?). I'm actually trying to learn Etude 1 now, but it's slow going. My notation reading skills aren't really up to scratch. Which is actually why i'm learning the etudes - lots of notes ;)

[xexaxex]

i guess there is no substitute for long focused hours behind the keys. I just have a bunch of dues i need to pay I suppose. I actually surprise myself sometimes, and play some pretty cool stuff. heheh
Well, im not sure what this 'online conservatory' is all about, but, im gonna check it out right now. thansk for your input!

[drumadima]

I'm rather fond of 1, 2 and 3 (Opus 10?). I'm actually trying to learn Etude 1 now, but it's slow going. My notation reading skills aren't really up to scratch. Which is actually why i'm learning the etudes - lots of notes ;)
N1 is pretty darn complicated (if you manage to bring it to tempo)..
Actually N2 is also a very challenging one..good luck to you ;)
i've played Nn 1,3,4,5,12 :) my favourie would be....i dunno i love all of them.N23 is one of my favourites i believe ;)

[Grey Loki]

Well, I figure it's not so much complex as it is just fast. It's like...an entire piece full of DT-style runs. The actual melodic content isn't complex at all, unlike 3, for example.

Which would you say is the easiest Etude? I was listening to them last night, and it seems that No.1 is the least complex, aurally.

[drumadima]

?!?! N1 is considered to be one of the heaviest to play...the wideness of the passeges (i dont know how to say it in english...the right hand gets very streched out on these arpeggios)...id say N3 is the easiest,as its slow..the difficult part of it is to actually play it legato,real legato,not some fake.
my 0.2 ;)

[Grey Loki]

I said aurally least complex, not technically ;)

Back onto the topic, I'm just wondering about the Online Conservator. How much music theory pertaining to keyboards does it have?

You know - modes, keys, time sigs, etc.

[normthesamurai]

My fav etude is chopins in C minor "revolutionary" I've started learning that last night. So far I can only play the first three bars at about 60 percent speed.