learning to play the piano

[gurana]

I just got a piano after wanting to learn how to play for the better part of 20 years... I've been into music since grade school. In high school I was in the band, took theory classes as well as voice lessons. I also spent 2.5 years of college as a music education major... so I've got a little bit of a musical base to start. What I'm interested in are suggested lesson books for someone that knows how to read sheet music, and knows the layout of a keyboard.

Any piano players out there that have suggestions for that type of lesson book?

 

[The Nid Hog]

What kind of music are you interested in learning?

 

[gurana]

What kind of music are you interested in learning?

I usually tell people that I'm "classically trained", if that really means anything I'm really into the classics as far as piano goes... I'd love to be able to play the moonlight sonata or debussy's claire de lune (guess I've got a thing for pieces named "moonlight".) As a reference, I'm familiar enough with the piano that I can read through these pieces and "play them", albiet quite slowly and with a lot of misses. What I do is play through them slowly and eventually I just have it memorized. I'd really like to be able to take a piece and just read it. Eventually, I want to get familiar enough with reading and playing to be able to follow a fake book and have it sound like something

 

[bluefoxicy]

I just got a piano after wanting to learn how to play for the better part of 20 years... I've been into music since grade school. In high school I was in the band, took theory classes as well as voice lessons. I also spent 2.5 years of college as a music education major... so I've got a little bit of a musical base to start. What I'm interested in are suggested lesson books for someone that knows how to read sheet music, and knows the layout of a keyboard.

Any piano players out there that have suggestions for that type of lesson book?

You can read?

I suggest you find someone to teach you chords on piano, or find a chord book. Aside from that... a piano book. I just bought this:

http://www.squaresound.com/final-fantasy-vi-original-sound-version-piano-sheet-music-p43.html

I'm going to take private lessons in college... my voice teacher wants me in her private piano class, and she knows I over-achieve (I memorized like 5 times as much stuff as a normal voice student and my performance in that class was ... yeah anyway).

I'm going to leverage prior performance to force her to incorporate some of this stuff into my piano lessons; it's all easy, though I want to do Dancing Mad.... Youtube that, there's a few people playing it on piano. It's a fun song. Looks amazingly complex but not really too bad; music has this thing where there's lots of really fast but simple things you can do easy, and lots of slow and easy sounding stuff that's impossibly hard.

 

[raisindot]

I usually tell people that I'm "classically trained", if that really means anything I'm really into the classics as far as piano goes... I'd love to be able to play the moonlight sonata or debussy's claire de lune (guess I've got a thing for pieces named "moonlight".) As a reference, I'm familiar enough with the piano that I can read through these pieces and "play them", albiet quite slowly and with a lot of misses. What I do is play through them slowly and eventually I just have it memorized. I'd really like to be able to take a piece and just read it. Eventually, I want to get familiar enough with reading and playing to be able to follow a fake book and have it sound like something

This probably isn't what you want to hear, but if you want to play classical you're really better off supplementing books with piano lessons from a good classic teacher for awhile. They are so many fingering techniques used in classical music playing that are not easily learnable with a "do it by yourself" approach. While you could potentially do it on your own, the amount of time you'd spend learning techniques from a book that a good teacher could help you learn in a half hour is worth the investment.

Jeff in Boston

 

[gurana]

This probably isn't what you want to hear, but if you want to play classical you're really better off supplementing books with piano lessons from a good classic teacher for awhile. They are so many fingering techniques used in classical music playing that are not easily learnable with a "do it by yourself" approach. While you could potentially do it on your own, the amount of time you'd spend learning techniques from a book that a good teacher could help you learn in a half hour is worth the investment.

Jeff in Boston

I totally agree. Might have something to do with the notion that at one time I too wanted to be a music teacher

Eventually I will get a tutor... perhaps I could hook up with a piano player that wants to learn a woodwind... But I definitely believe that some of this stuff you can't simply read about and hope to duplicate (well, most can't) While it's all well and good to read about certain techniques, you still need someone to point out what you're doing wrong and how to improve. It doesn't help to practice something "wrong" for hours on end. I'm just looking to get the ball rolling on my own.

 

[82R100]

Keyboard Musician by Frances Clark was recommended to me several years ago by our organist/choir director who also teaches piano at our local university.

I have found it a worthwhile structure to get started.

- Chris

 

[gurana]

Keyboard Musician by Frances Clark was recommended to me several years ago by our organist/choir director who also teaches piano at our local university.

I have found it a worthwhile structure to get started.

- Chris

Thanks! I'm off work a bit early today and will stop by the music store to see if they carry it.