How to Play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on Piano

Learning to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is the rite of passage for all new pianists it is also a popular English nursery rhyme by 19th-century English poet Jane Taylor and was published in 1806 as “The Star.” but sometime later the poem was set to the melody of “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman.”  Here’s how to teach yourself to play it right now.

There are 52 white keys on a modern piano– 6 of those keys will produce the melody for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

6 keys doesn’t sound too difficult, right? It’s not!

We get it. You are learning how to play a beginner piano. You’re staring at 88 keys wondering how to make sense of what notes come from which keys and how to properly move your fingers from key to key.

Learning how to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the piano is a good place to start. It’s a melody you already know by heart. You can even tell your friends you’ve learned a variation of Mozart.

This particular piece of music also uses 6 of the 7 keys used to create a scale, making it a great first introduction to piano.

Some related nursery rhyme/children’s songs are baa baa black sheep, happy birthday, and London bridge which are great for young beginners and have free piano sheet music.

What is a Tab?

A tab on the piano lays out the groundwork for which white keys correlate with which note they play. For this piano lesson, we will only be discussing the C Major Scale.

Once you become more advanced you will learn more about the difference between major and minor scales.

While learning how to play Twinkle, Twinkle you will need to know this basic scale on your piano: C, D, E, F, G, A, B.

Looking down at your piano you will notice the black keys change from sets of 2 to sets of 3. The C key is the white key located directly to the left hand of the set of 2 black keys. From there it follows the scale above and repeats.

Twinkle, Twinkle uses Middle C. This is the C key located nearest to the center of your piano keyboard.

(A helpful tip for beginners is to label each key with a sticker to its corresponding note!)

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on Piano

Now that you know where your keys are– it’s time to learn how to turn those notes into a melody!

For the tune of this easy piano music, you will use keys C, D, E, F, G, and A.

For the very first verse of the song, we will be using Middle C, G, and A.

Remember, C is located to the left hand of the 2 black keys, G is located 4 keys to the right of C and A is the key directly to the right of G.

Using your right hand, place your fingers over these keys:

• C: Thumb
• G: Ring Finger
• A: Pinkie Finger

Perfect! You’re ready to start playing!

For the first line, you will play CC, GG, AA, G. Start slow and don’t be afraid to sing along if it helps you remember the melody!

How I Wonder What You Are

You’re doing great! Once you’re comfortable with the first line, let’s move on to the second.

For the second line, we will be using keys C, D, E, and F. Just like it looks, D, E, and F are the first, second and third keys to the right of the C key.

Using your right hand again, move your fingers over these keys:

• F: Ring Finger
• E: Middle Finger
• D: Index Finger
• C: Thumb

Our second line goes like this: FF, EE, DD, C.

Can you hear that? Now you’re playing!

Practice this line a few times before moving onto the next, if you’re comfortable try to play the first and second line together!

Up Above The World So High

You’ve already played 2 of 6 lines! Didn’t we tell you this was going to be a piece of cake?

The next two lines each use the same key progression.

For the third and fourth lines of the song, we use the D, E, F, and G keys.

Still using your right hand, place your fingers over:

• G: Pinkie Finger
• F: Ring Finger
• E: Middle Finger
• D: Index Finger

Playing two times in a row, the third and fourth line goes like this: GG, FF, EE, D.

Getting the hang of it? Try starting from the top and slowly play the first 4 lines of the song together.

Now Repeat

Got those lines down? Now we repeat! The fifth line of the song is identical to the first.

• C: Thumb
• G: Ring finger
• A: Pinkie finger

Follow the same pattern as the first line: CC, GG, AA, G.

For the last line you repeat the second line:

• F: Ring finger
• E: Middle finger
• D: Index finger
• C: Thumb

End the song with FF, EE, DD, C.

All Together Now

Can you believe how easy piano music that was? Let’s break it down into one fluid song.

Using your right hand and left hand with the same finger technique:

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

CC GG AA G

How I Wonder What You Are

FF EE DD C

Up Above The World So High

GG FF EE D

Like A Diamond In The Sky

GG FF EE D

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

CC GG AA G

How I Wonder What You Are

FF EE DD C

Try starting slow and work towards a faster pace.

Where Do I Go From Here?

You did it! You’re playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the piano! Not as difficult as you expected, was it?

But where do you go from here?

We know it takes a lot of work to go from little tykes piano songs to playing in a symphony. Work that has been shown to have more benefits than impressing your family at holiday dinners. Some of these benefits are hand-eye coordination, advanced language skills, and stress relief.

Once you’ve made the decision to start playing or have a child who is eager to learn, it all begins with the right instrument. A piano book that fits your style and needs.

If you want to learn more about choosing the right piano, the difference between a Grand and a Digital, or simply want to fine-tune your skills contact us here at Merriam Pianos.

The post How to Play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on Piano first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Learn How to Teach Yourself Piano at Home | Easy Guide for Beginners

When you’re ready to start learning piano, you may not be ready to start taking lessons right away. Here’s how you can start to teach yourself the basics at home. Eager to start learning piano? Start right at home! Learn how to teach yourself piano with these proven tips and tricks.

With 88 keys to memorize and about 45,000 pounds of tension to deal with, playing the piano is no doubt both physical and mental work. All that hard work is worth it though, once the pianist hits those notes and produces beautiful sounds.

That’s not all that makes piano amazing though. According to a study, learning piano can help boost children’s language skills. There’s also the fact that pianists’ brains have a different (and impressive) brain capacity.

So you want to learn how to teach yourself piano, but don’t know where to start.

Fortunately, you only really need 2 things: a piano, and a willingness to learn. You can worry about things like sheet music later.

The following guide will walk you through the learning process of acquiring, familiarizing, and practicing your piano.

How To Teach Yourself Piano in 10 Steps:

Remember that learning any instrument takes a commitment to practicing regularly. So if you’re ready to learn, and committed to practicing a lot, let’s get started!

1. Get A Piano/Find Yourself a Keyboard

The obvious first step is to acquire a piano for yourself. Set a budget, do your research on different types of pianos, and look online and in your community for deals.

Some things to consider:

Many music stores rent keyboards. If you want to rent before you’re sure the piano/keyboard is right for you, this might be a good place to start.

If any of your friends or family are involved in the music world, reach out. They may know someone dying to sell an old instrument that isn’t getting used for half what it would cost coming out of a box.

If you’re unable to find a piano, a keyboard is a great alternative. They’re affordable, never go out of tune and have lots of sounds and features that can enhance your music. Not to mention, they’re a lot easier to move around and don’t take up much space. A learning keyboard is a great tool for a beginner. These specialty instruments light up in a specific order to help you learn songs more quickly. Typically, they come with books and videos that will help you learn musical notation. You can always start out on a keyboard and then upgrade to a piano.

Keyboards generally cost less than pianos do. On the plus side, keyboards never go out of tune and take up much less space than a piano will. Wherein, acoustic pianos typically range in price from $2,000 to $10,000 or more for some high-quality concert grand pianos.

2. Get Familiar with Your Instrument

Now that you have your piano or keyboard, spend some time getting familiar with it.

To accomplish this task:

Listen to your new piano. Is it in tune? You might consider having someone tune it for you for the first time. If you went with a keyboard, you can skip this step.

Learn about the keys and their names. If your piano came with a book or you chose to buy one, the keys should be in the piano book. If not, this 5-minute tutorial will walk you through an easy way to learn the keys.

Make sure you understand what proper hand posture looks like. Really listen to each of them, and note how they are different from the others. Keep practicing until you can tell the difference between them. You want to form good habits from the beginning!

3. Train Your Arms and Hands with Proper Positioning

The first step on how to teach yourself to play the piano is to ensure your arms and hands maintain the right-hand position. That’s the “C Position,” which is the natural cupped-shape they form when left hanging to your side. You will also be able to read a selection of notes from both the bass and treble clefs, and you will be able to play some simple piano chords in the left hand.

It’s the same position you need to keep when you put your arms and hands on top of the keys. While doing this, ensure your wrist and forearms remain straight.

Play five-finger patterns all over the keyboard, and in many different keys. Use a lot of black keys! First without notes to learn the geography of the keyboard, and then with notes using “landmark notes” to find your way.

It’s crucial to follow the proper hand and finger positioning since it helps prevent repetitive stress injury. Also, we understand that you’d like to learn how to learn piano fast, but know your limits and don’t over-practice.

4. Know Your Notes

Learning piano means learning a new type of language – that of music. It’s much like how you first learned the alphabet, but in this case, it’s noted that you’ll memorize. With constant practice, you’ll have these committed to memory soon enough.

A good way to start is with the Do-Re-Mi tune (yes, the one from The Sound of Music). Each of these represents a note on the piano, starting with note C. It’ll help you get the notes’ pitch while also learning which keys to press on the piano.

• Do – Note C
• Re – Note D
• Mi – Note E
• Fa – Note F
• So – Note G
• La – Note A
• Ti – Note B

To locate C, look for a pair of black keys (accidentals). Right to their left is C. There are several Cs on the piano, and they’re always eight notes (octave) apart.

F is another keynote to know the placement of by heart at the beginning. It’s the key to the left of a trio of black keys.

Memorizing your Cs and Fs right away makes it easier to memorize the location of the rest of the notes.

5. Familiarize Yourself with Sharps and Flats

The black keys play either sharps (#) or flats (b). They come in either pairs or trios.

When you see a # on a piece, that means you have to play the next higher key. A b, on the other hand, means you need to play the next lower key.

To start, look at the center of the piano. Do you see that group of one pair of blacks and a group of three? That’s where you’ll find the middle C note.

As mentioned above, all Cs appear to the left of two blacks. F to the left of three blacks. So, these ones you find in the middle of your piano are the Middle C and Middle F.

When you press the black key right above and beside the Middle C note, it produces either a C sharp (C#) or a D flat (Db). The black key beside it plays the D# or Eb. As for the black key beside Middle F, it plays F# or Gb.

Do you see the pattern now? Always remember that black keys are always either sharps or flats, but white keys can also play sharps or flats.

6. Set A Practice Goal

Begin with your end goal in mind. You want to learn the piano, but what do you want to play? How long do you want it to take?

What material will you be focusing on? Is that material online or from a book you bought?

What keys or scales do you want to be able to play? What’s your favorite song that did you picture yourself playing when you first started thinking about learning how to teach yourself piano?

What will you be able to play on the piano in seven days? What about 14 or 30? You are just starting to learn how to teach yourself piano, so you probably don’t need goals beyond a month just yet. Focus on the first 30 days!

How long will you practice each day?

7. Start Practicing

The first three parts were leading to the most important step, which is this: Do you really want to learn how to teach yourself piano? Then practice, every day!

Some tips for your practice sessions:

Stick to your goal. If you need a break from the same few scales or chords, try some finger speed exercises.

Practice chords and scales. These will form the foundation of your piano playing, so be sure to do these each day. Start with the major and minor chords!

Learn the major keys. If you want to eventually play by ear and identify the sounds you make, this is important. Easy songs like “Mary Had A Little Lamb” are perfect for this!

As you start playing by ear, also begin noticing patterns. All songs are composed of musical patterns. You’ll want to start identifying and learning these patterns as you work towards your eventual goal of playing songs on the piano.

The internet can be your friend when you’re ready to learn songs. Many sites will allow you to download some of their sheet music for free!

8. Practice Your Fingers

Now that you’ve got your basics down, next is to apply them with your fingers. This way, you can train your fingers to know right away without fumbling. When you are first learning to play the piano, fingering is key. You must know where your fingers are supposed to go when you are starting to play the piano.

A good place to start is the pentascale approach. Pentascales are any scale that has five (Penta) notes. Since you already know by now where the Middle C is, you can begin your finger practice with the C Major pentascale.

To begin, put your thumb on the Middle C note, index on D, middle on E, ring on F, and a pinky on G. Those five notes make up this pentascale.

This is one of the easiest finger practicing techniques since it trains up all your fingers. Now, you want to start slowly, so apply the whole note approach (count four beats before pressing the next key). From here, you can move on to half notes and then quarter notes.

Once you feel more comfortable, you can move up the practice ladder to taking it two notes at a time. That means using two fingers since you’ll press two keys simultaneously. It’s a bit more complex, but it’ll help you prepare for more advanced pieces.

9. Get Your Timing Right

Every note has a count – the length of time you should keep it pressed. In music sheets, you’ll find three most often used, which include the following:

• Whole notes (with four beats)
• Half notes (with two beats)
• Quarter notes (with one beat)

The white circles you see on a music sheet are whole notes. When you see these, it means you have to keep the note for four full beats (as in one-and-two-and-three).

Half notes are also white circles, with a stem attached to them. You hold these notes for two beats (one-and-two).

Quarter notes look much like half notes, except they have shaded circles. They represent one beat.

10. Play With Other People

After some time, it’s a good idea to find other people to practice around or with.

Ask a more experienced piano player if they want to get together and practice, or if they have any resources that helped them learn.

Once you start making progress, do mini “performances” for people, even if it’s your family. They will be able to tell you what sounds great and what could use a little tweaking.

Last, consider taking piano lessons with a piano instructor. An instructor will give you hands-on coaching, accountability for learning the instrument, and teach you how to correct pacing. Plus, if you teach yourself the basics, a piano teacher will help expedite the process to you playing some simple songs you really want to learn!

One good set that many adult beginners have used is the Alfred Self-Teaching Adult Piano Beginner’s Kit.  While you might only want to learn how to play current popular music, a piano teacher might introduce you to other genres such as classical music or jazz music.

Wrap Up

In truth, playing the piano requires only two things: having the instrument readily available to you, and dedication to the practice.

How to teach yourself piano can be summed up like this:

Begin by setting a budget and find the instrument that is right for you. Then, get familiar with your new instrument.

After you read through and watch tutorials on things scales and chords and finger posture, decide what you’d like to learn, and how quickly. Set a goal for your piano playing!

Last, start practicing — every day if you can swing it. To accelerate your learning, set a goal of playing around people after a couple of weeks. Even if it’s family, it will give you feedback on what you’ve learned and motivate you to keep working.

There are also piano courses and google resources through youtube videos and online courses that can help you to learn how to play the piano.

Want more tips for learning how to play the piano? Whether they’re for adult beginner piano learning or for your little ones, you’ll find more useful posts in our blog!

If we can help you on your journey to learning the piano, from buying a new one to working with a piano teacher, don’t hesitate to contact us. Now, start practicing!

 

The post Learn How to Teach Yourself Piano at Home | Easy Guide for Beginners first appeared on Merriam Pianos

2359 Bristol Cir #200, Oakville, ON L6H 6P8

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The Best Piano Lesson Books for Students and Teachers

Whether you’re a student or a teacher of piano, books are your friends. These are basic piano library lessons books that are perfect no matter where you are on your piano journey.

Having a library of piano lesson books allows you to easy access to make sure you’re getting the most out of your practice sessions. Even the best piano players need to return to the basics to refine and refresh their piano skills. A professional pianist can spend hours a day practicing.

Another benefit of having numerous piano lesson books is being able to use them if you teach yourself. Also, books are easy to store and accessible when you’re ready for practice or performance.

Jump to our specific book recommendations using one of these links:

• Beginners
• Kids
• Intermediate/Advanced
• Adults
• Teachers
• Warm Ups
• Songbooks

Before buying piano lesson books, be sure to review the material in the book.

Is it for:

• Beginners
• Advanced/intermediate pianist
• Technique
• Warm-ups

With so many books out there, here’s a few bound to have permanent places in your piano bench. You can purchase sheet music and books directly from Merriam here.

Top 5 Best Beginner Piano Books to Get You Started

1. Basic Adult All-In-One Course: Lesson-Theory-Technic: Level 1

 

This book’s piano lessons are thoughtfully structured for the beginner student and pianist looking for a refresh alike.

Willard A. Palmer introduces a bit of music theory at the beginning of each lesson in order to set the stage for what’s to come. He then craftily chooses perfect pieces for the theory in the chapter. The pace is great for beginner piano players.

You won’t be disappointed or discouraged when working through this book. Instead, you will find yourself empowered and encouraged.

Palmer makes sure to design his lessons in Adult All-In-One Course: Lesson-Theory-Technic: Level 1 to lift up learners as they gain skill. Progressively, the music will get more difficult while also feeling possible.

There’s a variety of music inside, too. Blues, classical, popular, etc. You’ll never be bored as a student. And the lessons ease you in with variety while getting progressively harder. It’s well designed to increase your skill.

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2. New Classics to Moderns: Book 1

This made the list of best piano books because of its ability to expand your repertoire.

Inside there is a broad music selection of original work. Selected are the best of master composers over the last four centuries.

From Purcell to Mozart, this is one of the best books to learn piano for the eager student wanting to learn several styles.

Cover the last four hundred years of music in a few pages by grabbing this book. You’ll be taken from the classics that started piano to contemporary works shaping modern music.

What’s inside is enjoyable for both the player and the listener alike. It’s unique in its diversity making it a great grab at any time.

This is primarily sheet music. So if you’re looking to learn more theory, other books on the list will be better for you.

3. The Joy of First Year Piano

This is one book in a constantly expanding series of Joy Of… books. In this particular one, Denes Agay guides musicians through a series of piano work sure to increase skill.

The book also comes with audio. Each piece is accompanied by a track boasting a skilled pianist playing the piece.

This series has been chosen by musicians all over the world. They love it for their imaginative choice of material.

It’s also thought of as having consistent settings, a diverse range of music, and a large-format style.

All of these things make it accessible to beginners and advanced players alike.

And this series is constantly growing–making it sure to be a favorite that keeps on giving!

4. Adult Piano Adventures All-In-One Piano Coursebook 1

This piano adventures level is a book by Nancy Faber is terrific for beginners.

It breaks musical theory down into small, digestible chunks for the reader. Each lesson teaches enough theory to play a piece with plenty of time to learn before moving on.

This book is a great place to start learning the piano even if you’ve never read music before.

It made the list of best piano books because of this: By the end of this first book in a series, you’ll be proficient at playing some songs with both hands on the piano.

And understanding basic bass and treble staff theory at the very least as a takeaway.

The pacing is perfect for beginners. You won’t feel overwhelmed and you’ll feel competent in each lesson when it’s over.

From kids to seniors, this book gets raving reviews. You’ll definitely want it to be on your shelf.

Faber piano adventures book is perfect for you if you’re starting at square one when it comes to piano.

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5. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory

Don’t let the title embarrass you! Buy a book cover if you have to because this one is definitely worth the read.

This book by Michael Miller takes convoluted musical theories and breaks them down into easily digestible chunks for beginners.

It can be a great complimentary guide to put your piano lessons to good use.

It has key ingredients for success. It’s engaging, simple to follow, and full of content that can help any level of pianist improve their skill.

It’s an excellent choice for the beginner. Miller takes thorny concepts and breaks them down with amazing clarity.

The book is a good read for any musician. Which makes it a solid foundational read for the beginner pianist.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory isn’t for everyone starting to play the piano. If you’re looking to get your hands on the keyboard right away, this isn’t for you.

Pick this book up if you want to go in-depth with musical theory. You will have a deep understanding by the end of the pages.

Top 5 Piano Books for Kids Just Starting to Play

1. Music For Little Mozarts

 

If you’ve got kids aged between 3 and 4 years old, they can start to develop a love for piano even then. They might not be virtuosos but the ability to be able to remember and perform a simple tune on their own might be enough for them.

While you can’t always expect the same kind of attention and focus that you get from older kids, some smaller kids are simply drawn to the keyboard.

With the help of this book, all of the keys on the piano will be color-coded to show them how to navigate the keys. Rather than drawing numbers or letters on your keys, you’ll be able to teach them with the help of this book and its color-coded system.

In level one, they’ll learn about all the keys and basic notation. By level two, they’ll start being able to read sheet music.

There are four levels in total and through lessons and workbooks, they can get into the nitty-gritty of learning the piano. If you’re a parent who wants to teach fun songs to your kids, the Discovery books in this series can be a great help with that.

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2. Alfred’s Prep Course

If you’re dealing with kids who are just starting school, Alfred’s Prep Course is a great place to start. Focusing on kids from 4 to 6 years old, these books can go slowly for some kids but might be the perfect place for total beginners.

You’ll be able to give them the basics in a fun way that engages their imagination. With the help of the characters in the books and an interesting illustration style, they can dig into the story as they learn.

There are cool alien characters that most kids are a fan of.

This fairly universal series can underscore lessons learned in Music For Little Mozarts or be a supplement for kids that are getting a start around kindergarten to second grade.

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3. Alfred’s Basic Piano Library

Your next move should be to check out the following new release in Alfred’s series. This basic book can start getting students to understand the notation of music and what the concepts mean. Understanding how they fit together provides a useful context for kids who are serious about getting into music.

While they focus on simple and fun tunes like Jingle Bells and Old MacDonald, these books present a lot of information in a simple way. It’s almost deceptively simple how easily kids start to digest intervals, staff reading, flat notes, and sharps.

If you’re looking for a solid foundational book to either start with or to build from an earlier series, this can be a solid primer for what’s to come.

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4. Bastien Piano Basics Primer

Bastien has its own method of teaching kids to play the piano. While it might not be the exact method book you would use, they’ve had more than enough success to justify their approach.

If your kids are aging out of the previously mentioned books, it’s time to roll these out. Original piano music is studied under Bastian, with pop and classical getting the most attention.

All the books in this series fall in line with their lessons in music theory and playing technique. Performance is placed on an equal footing with technique and it’s all meant to come together in a logical sequence. With fully illustrated pages and colorful charts, there’s a lot to be attracted to one every page.

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5. Hal Leonard Piano Method

This first book in the Hal Leonard piano series starts with numbering the keys. If color-coding or teaching the grand staff isn’t working, then it might be time to try Hal Leonard’s method.

By learning about simple rhythmic patterns on both the white and the black keys, kids get practical experience as they learn. They’ll learn the difference between clefs and tonal ranges while also getting a quick primer level on intervals.

With fully illustrated, colorful pages, there’s no way for kids to get lost. They even include illustrations to demonstrate finger placement so that kids can build a strong playing method from day one.

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These are the Best Intermediate/Advanced Level Piano Books

1. The Giant Book of Music

 

Schirmer’s Library of Musical Classic is known to everyone that has various books for beginners, intermediate players, and masters, as well. Here is a book for intermediate players, “The Giant Book.”

The book is specially written, keeping the Classical composers in mind with 269 pieces, which is maximum among every other book listed here. The assortment of classical music is perfect, and everyone can play with the help of this book which makes this as the top seller in amazon.

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2. Classics to Moderns for Intermediate Players

This book has 115 original piano pieces written by most favorite artists that have been published by the most reputed print music publisher Hal Leonard LLC.

The book is well-tuned in for the sight of the readers to understand. Once you go through this book, you will surely enjoy playing because it has on point notes for classical music and has ample options to look for in it.

3. Easy Piano Classics

It is the world’s most beautiful classical music book ever with 97 pieces of art for every intermediate player. Even every best composer’s art piece is portrayed with utter ease that makes this the most successful book is also the best seller til’ date.

This book offers high-quality notes and instructions which have a rich selection of compositions and it is remarkably low priced and easy to understand that would guarantee to master you in paying Piano just like a boss.

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4. WunderKeys Intermediate

The book is a full package of deep and soothing music learning and it is jam-packed with a pop-infused piano study for intermediate players.

It is a visually engaging book due to its simple explanations and presentation of the work that works out on some specific keys of C Major, A Major, G Major, E Minor, F Major, and D Minor.

5. John Thompson’s Piano Course for Intermediate Players

The book complies with maturity and peace of mind so that you get a clear picture to learn that had the most reasonable book for every player to learn to play the Piano.

The best part about the book is that it is re-engraved and updated which makes this the right study material for intermediate students with a wonderful mix of classical arrangements.

These are the Best Piano Books For Adults

1. Alfred’s Basic Piano Course Lesson Series

 

The Alfred’s series is popular with students of all ages. In the basic series, the lessons progress in small steps that are easy to follow. The instructions are easy to replicate and follow.

You will learn the names of the piano keys–first white, and then black. This book is one of the most sought after for beginners and a great step toward your education!

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2. Alfred’s Basic Piano Course Theory Series

This book is created to be an accompaniment to the beginner series, but it can also stand on its own. This book is great if you want to learn more about musical theory, and the inner workings of your piano.

Theory books can be combined with practical ones to make for a more well-rounded education.

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3. Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course All-in-One

Each section of this book covers a piano lesson, musical theory topics, and technical information about music and the piano. This book is one of the most recommended books out there for adults.

You can see why the Alfred book series is so popular for beginners now, right? They’re the perfect addition to your piano learning collection.

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4. Hal Leonard Student Piano Library Book 1

This workbook is designed so that even the most inexperienced beginner can start creating music from the very start of their studies.

It’s chock-full of simple instructions, illustrations, and even a CD that you can follow along with. This book makes it easy for you to learn how to play right in the comfort of your home.

The book can teach you the basic practical stuff, and a piano teacher can fill in the blanks with musical theory.

5. John Thompson’s Easiest Piano Course

The name isn’t false advertisings. The lessons in this book are some of the easiest to follow that you will find. Each note in introduced to you one at a time and the lessons are reinforced with colorful illustrations and characters.

This book comes complete with writing and reading assignments for those who learn by doing. It’s a great accompaniment to have while learning from a piano instructor.

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6. Ultimate Beginner’s Series

Some of these other books on this list are great if you’re new to the piano and are dedicated to learning. They are not good, however, if you learn at a fast pace. You might become annoyed with how slowly these take you through the steps.

The Ultimate Beginner’s Series will save you from that slow pace. This book uses DVD’s and text as a team to get you right in the world of the piano. It can teach you about chords, arpeggios, playing with both hands, even playing by ear.

This book pretty much covers everything you need to know before and after you seek out the help of a piano instructor.

7. Bastien Piano for Adults

This book was made for your special needs in mind. It includes song samples from all different kinds of genres like jazz, blues, ragtime, and classical.

The lessons are more progressive than children’s books as far as music theory goes. In addition to the easy to read text, it also comes with a CD to help you follow along.

This book will also help you with your understanding of tempo and timing. It’s a great book for music theory and practical learning.

Buy Here

8. Faber Music Piano Aventures

This book takes a different approach to learn that you might find interesting. This Faber music book encourages you to experiment with the piano peddles in order to understand how they really function.

It’s fueled by lessons that focus on the middle “C” position. You will become more aware of the notes behind the keys thanks to skill exercises and information on musical theory.

Buy Here

9. The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Musical Theory

You might be embarrassed by being seen in public with this book, but there’s no shame in it at all. This book can actually really help you if you’re a beginner. If you think you have no talent for music, this book can help prove you wrong.

This book doesn’t just focus on piano, but a wide range of music theory from piano to vocals. A beginner can become overwhelmed by music theory as it can get a little confusing after all. The Complete Idiot’s Guide will clear up this confusion for you.

It’s one of the best piano lesson books for adults. Books can only go so far though, reading is no substitute for actual hands-on playing. Here are a couple of easy warm-ups that you can do before your lessons each day.

Best Piano-Teaching Books for the Teacher

1. Hanon: Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises

An older (over 100 years old!) but timeless and a best-selling piano book, Virtuoso Pianist is used by many teachers to perfect technique for their students. When a book sells over a million copies, it’s wise to consider using it for students!

Buy Here

2. Piano Adventure Series

Teaching theory can be dry, but Piano Adventures makes the transitions sensible and understandable. The music is upbeat and fun for kids, and something piano teachers can tolerate! Piano Adventures also carries repertoire music for practice.

Buy Here

3. RCM Celebration Series Piano Etudes

Filled with materials to teach your students theory and technique and music from the Baroque era, RCM Celebration Series piano book provides an engaging learning experience. There are 10 books in the series and each contains instructions to access recording online to enhance your experience.

Buy Here

4. The Music Tree Activities Book 1

This book provides a solid foundation to help younger students with sightreading.

5. Piano Adventures Sightreading Book Level 2A

Another Piano Adventures book focused on sightreading. Help your students study musical patterns and instill a greater understanding of the ins and outs of sightreading.

Buy Here

For Warming Up

 

1. Preparatory Practice

This book includes sixty warm-ups to prepare you for practice. This book was composed for the young pianist.

2. A Dozen a Day

Designed to be played before practice, A Dozen a Day is a piano book for any age. A very popular piano book on the market for warming up.

3. Bastien Piano Technic Book 1

Get flexible fingers with Bastien Piano Technic books. This book has elements of theory and performance to create a robust practice session.

Songbooks

 

Technique and theory are not the only important factors when practicing piano.

Performance is just as vital!

It’s nice to take a break from theory and technique and focus on creating beautiful music, and playing songs from songbooks can help you enhance your performance.

Songbooks will vary greatly from pianist to pianist depending on their taste in music.

Here are other few according to level:

Beginner

• Alfred’s Basic Piano Classic Themes Level 5
• Alfred’s Basic Piano Top Hits Christmas Complete Level 1 For The Late Beginner
• Accelerated Piano Adventures For The Older Beginner Popular Repertoire Book Level 2

Early Immediate/Immediate/Advanced

• Alfred’s Recital Book Level 3
• Jazz, Rags, and Blues Book 2
• FunTime Piano Favorites Level 3A-3B
• Current Hits for Students, Book 3

Where to Find Piano Lesson Books

With so many piano lesson books to choose from how do you know the best place to buy?

If you’re feeling impatient by the slow pace of some of these books, you might be interested in some of these helpful tips for learning the piano faster.

Merriam Music carries over 3000 lesson books from popular publishers, and their library keeps growing. Their music school, Merriam Music School, also is a highly-esteemed school, featuring instructors with advanced degrees, and pairing students with their ideal teacher. They know their stuff!

Buy Here

 

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Piano Notes: The Ultimate Guide to Learning to Read Sheet Music

There’s more to a piece of music than notes, rests, and repeats. Progress with your work. Read this advanced instruction to reading piano notes.

All cars eat gas. Every good boy does fine. These mnemonics are all well and good, but they’re not that useful when you’re playing a Schubert concerto at 135 bpm.

Between the treble and bass clefs, there are a lot of different musical notes on any given page of sheet music. Reading those piano notes is made even trickier with additional music symbols.

To help you sight read as easily as you can read a newspaper’s headlines, here’s our advanced guide to Piano Notes II!

Your Guide To Piano Notes

There have been a lot of fascinating studies on music and memory in the past few years. Research shows that music actually helps us remember things. Learning music can even help children with learning disabilities!

Why not turn that to your advantage?

The trick lies in getting the rational and intuitive side of your brain working together. We’re going to give you a bunch of knowledge to mull over in your rational brain to help you bridge that gap.

Practice

We’ll start by reiterating one of the most basic but essential components of how to read sheet music masterfully. Practice makes perfect, just like with any other skill.

Even if you’re not an absolute beginner, it’s helpful to label the spaces and ledger lines with their note names. Fill out some blank staff paper with ‘FACE’ for the spaces and EGBDF(Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge) or ACEGB(All Cows Eat Grass) for the spaces and GBDFA(Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always) for the lines.

Make sure to include the notes above and below the main grand staff, as well.

Spend some time with these notes. You’ll start to internalize the note names, automatically. You’ll be able to recall them just as easily once they’re ingrained in your muscle memory.

Understand the Parts of the Sheet

The first step that you need to undertake is to understand the parts of a music sheet. If this is the first time you have seen a music sheet, there might be some symbols you’re unfamiliar with.

One of the parts that you would notice first is the title of the piece and the author behind it. It’s usually centered along the bottom edge of the top margin with the first letter names of each word capitalized. At times, there may be a subtitle printed in a smaller font with the author names below it.

The next parts you’ll see are the ledger lines. They refer to these as the staff (which we will discuss later). These lines are where you find the notes. All indicating the sound played on the instrument.

For the piano keyboard, the position of the note will tell the pianist which key to press.

You’ll notice various symbols scattered all throughout the sheet. These symbols would denote the counting (time signature) or which set of notes to use (clef). Some of these will need further study to understand how they behave and how you will proceed with the piece.

Now, look at a music sheet. You’ll see that there are two sets or groups of five horizontal lines. These are what you call the “staffs”.

“Bar lines” refer to those vertical lines. The horizontal lines that separate them are the “measures”.

The staff on the top is the “Treble Clef”. The notes you’ll find in here are higher than Middle C. The bottom, called the Bass Clef, is where you’ll find notes lower than Middle C.

Memorize The Note Values

Sight-reading music isn’t limited to melodic content. You’ll need to know how long notes last, as well, when learning how to read piano music.

Learn the difference between whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes. Learn to differentiate between eight, sixteenth, and thirty-second notes, as well.

Just as a reminder, eighth notes are quarter notes with one flag. Sixteenth notes have two. Thirty-second notes have three.

If there are multiple sub-divided notes in a row, they’ll be connected by a bar. Eighth notes have one bar, with sixteenth notes having two and thirty-second notes having three. Just list their flags.

So, some easy shorthand for remembering the length of note values is to remember how many flags each sub-divided note gets. You’ll easily be able to translate that information for connected notes, as well.

Aside from the other symbols that you would see on the music sheet. The notes are the symbols that denote the specific sound that the instrument should produce. The positioning of each note on the staff will tell you the pitch needed.

But those are not the only things that it indicates. Notes have specific durations and timing that corresponds to the beat of the song. There are varying types of notes that you may encounter as you read through sheet music for piano.

Whole notes tend to have the equivalent of four beats. Half notes have two beats per note. Quarter notes have one note each. Eighth, and Sixteenth notes would denote half a beat and a quarter of a beat.

Not only that, but there are also measures of silence as well. These are Rests and they follow the same rules of duration as Notes. With the combination of each, you would know when to play a key or chord, and when you should leave it quiet.

Practice On Both Clefs

Learning piano requires being able to read both the treble and bass clef fluently. While it’s easy enough to learn one or the other, it can be a bit brain-splitting to do them both at the same time.

We’ve already talked about ‘FACE’ and ‘Every Good Boy Does Fine’. You should be pretty comfortable with the treble clef, at this point.

The bass clef simply shifts everything down two steps. The mnemonic ‘All Cars Eat Gas’ will help you remember the spaces of the bass clef. ‘Good Boys Do Fine Always’ will help you remember the lines.

Now that you’re aware of the note names, start off by practicing each clef independently. Develop a routine for memorizing and sight-reading treble clef note names with your right hand.

Then do the same thing with the left hand for the bass clef.

As we mentioned above, the notes that fall below the Middle C make up the Bass clef. To remain consistent with this learning to read music guide, let’s also start from the bottom.

Put Theory Into Practice

Translating the inky blots on the page through your fingertips into actual music is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to reading piano sheet music. Now that you’ve spent some time writing things out on the page, it’s time to start putting that into practice on your actual instrument.

Start with each clef independently, just like you did when you were first memorizing the piano notes. Stick to your regular practice routine, as well. Remember, practice doesn’t only make perfect, it also makes things permanent.

You’ll want to practice with a metronome if you aren’t already. You need to be as comfortable with rhythm and harmony as you are with melody. You should also stay in the habit of focusing on musicality, even when you’re practicing.

After seeing all the symbols and placement of notes. It is time to identify which note corresponds to the key on the piano. The white keys on the piano would correspond to the keys in the C Scale. Starting from C, followed by the keys D, E, F, G, A, B and ending again at a higher C. You would find them in the white keys on the piano.

The black keys are the ones between some of these white keys. Like the Eb being between D and E. Each of these keys has a place on the staff.

By knowing their positions, you will be able to play the notes in the sequence presented in the sheet music.

When practicing these sequences of notes, start slow until you feel the pace. From that point, that is when you start learning the song in its actual pace and tempo.

You can read more about the proper reading and interpreting of the sheet here.

Learn Your Sharps and Flats

On music sheets, you often find the symbols “#” and “b” beside notes. The pound sign indicates a sharp, while the one that looks like a lower-case letter b is for a flat(b flat).

When you see a #, that means you should play the next higher note. Say you see a C#. If this was for a Middle C note, that means you’ll hit the black key to the left of Middle C. If you see a Db on your music sheet, you’ll press the same black key.

There tends to have some confusion when it comes to sharps and flats, especially for a lot of beginner piano learners. Always keep in mind that black keys are always either a sharp or a flat. However, not all sharps and flats fall on these keys.

A white key can still be a flat or a sharp, as well as a major note. For instance, the Middle F (the third white key from Middle C) can also be an E sharp. The Middle B can be a C flat.

So, as a reminder, black keys are either sharps or flats. But white keys can also represent sharps and flats.

Learn The Dynamic Symbols

Now that you’ve spent some time mastering both clefs, you should be pretty familiar with the grammar of music. Now you’re ready to start spinning your vocabulary into actual works of art.

Like with language, music isn’t only about what you’re saying, but how you say it. Something whispered is very different from something shouted, even if the words are the same.

To master the dynamic symbols, start with the basics. P stands for ‘Piano’, which means ‘quiet’. Pp is ‘pianissimo’ which means ‘very soft’. Ppp means ‘pianississimo’, which means ‘more than very soft’.

Loudness follows the same formula. F means ‘Forte’, which means ‘loud’. Ff is ‘fortissimo’, meaning ‘very loud’. Fff means ‘fortississimo’, which means ‘more than very loud’.

Dynamics aren’t static on sheet music, either. There can be build-ups and breakdowns, as well. These are marked with crescendo and decrescendo symbols, which look like open-ended triangles on their side.

To truly master the dynamic symbols, find some sheet music for a song that you like. Read through the sheet music, paying special attention to the dynamics. Now go listen to that recording.

Listening to music with sheet music in front of you will help internalize what the different dynamics sound like. You’ll learn to differentiate between Forte and Fortissimo, which will help you reproduce them more faithfully in your own playing.

When you read sheet music, remember to study the basic symbols. While notes are among the ones that you will encounter.

One of the symbols that is the Clef. These are symbols based on the reference pitches. These are often found at the very beginning of every ledger or staff line.

For example, you have the Treble Clef that has the G Clef pitch as the reference. You also have the Bass Clef, which has an F Clef pitch.

You might also recognize key signatures, which have sharp or flat notations. (Represented as # and the lower case b in respective order). The placement of these notations can also tell you which key you will be playing in.

There are also other symbols you should be on a lookout for. Time signatures are the two numbers after the clef, one on top of the other.

The number on top mentions how many beats per measure. While the bottom one denotes the note that equals one beat. The most common time signature is the four-four time signature.

There are also tempo marks, notations that tell you how loud or soft the notes should be. Examples are p for Piano, pp for Pianissimo, f for Forte, mf for Mezzo Forte, and so on.

Spend some time with these exercises, and you’ll be fluent in reading piano sheet music before you know it.

Learning to read music is like learning any other language. At first, it’s a lot of work. Then it becomes a tremendous amount of fun, as you’re able to articulate your thoughts and feelings in new and interesting ways!

Don’t Forget Intervals

When learning the notes on a piano, you’ll also encounter what we call an “interval.” This refers to the distance between two notes.

To determine what this distance is, you only have to count step-by-step from the first note all the way to the next.

You call the interval between the C and the G note a “5th” because there are five notes from C to G. To be more precise, you call this particular interval is a Major 5th.

The interval between C and F is the “Perfect Fourth” or Major 4th. That’s because you have four notes from C to F.

Keep Practicing to Perfect Reading Piano Notes

These six steps are key to reading notes on a music piano sheet, so make sure you start from them. Keep practicing all these, and in time, you’ll master the piano notes as you read them. You may even learn your pieces by heart that you will no longer need to look at the piano keys!

The most important thing in learning the piano, or any other musical instrument for that matter, is motivation and consistent practice. With these, you’ll soon be on your way to playing even more advanced pieces.

Want More Piano Playing Guidance?

Good for you! Learning to play music is one of the most rewarding and satisfying things you can do. You become a better person while making the world a more beautiful and artful place.

We hope you enjoyed our music notes on reading ‘Piano Notes II’. Make sure to browse the rest of our piano articles for even more guidance!

 

The post Piano Notes: The Ultimate Guide to Learning to Read Sheet Music first appeared on Merriam Pianos

 

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12 Bar Blues Piano Tutorial – Basic Blues Progression, Left Hand & Blues Scale

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#12BarBlues #Improvisation #Piano

Hi everyone, and welcome to another piano video here at Merriam Pianos. Instead of a review video, today we’re going to go over some cool tips to help get people improvising on the piano for the first time.

We’re going to look at the basic 12 bar blues form, as this is a great starting point to get people playing without any sheet music for the first time.

If this is the first time to the Merriam Pianos channel, please subscribe, we’d really appreciate the support.

It can be really intimidating and daunting to try and figure out where to start when it comes to improvising. It’s easy to get discouraged, as it takes years to become highly proficient as an improviser. This is why starting with the 12 bar blues form is such an effective way to get into this stuff. For one, when you’re starting to improvise, your brain is overloaded with information so it’s important to focus on a simple structure that you won’t forget. It’s super easy to internalize the 12 bar blues form and make it feel instinctual, which frees you up to focus on building the necessary skills for improvising, with the 12 bar blues form as the vehicle.

Even if you have no interest in playing the blues, this form is highly malleable and applicable to all sorts of styles of music.

The 12 bar blues form consists of only 3 chords. If we’re in the key of C, the chords are C Major, F Major and G Major. Watch as Stu takes the viewer through the 12 bar structure, how to form the chords with the left and some ideas as to what to play with the right hand.

Thanks so much for watching! Please like, subscribe and leave us a comment!

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12 Great Jazz Piano Songs That Are Easy to Learn

Jazz piano songs are smooth and soulful pieces of music. But that’s no reason to be intimidated by the genre. Here are some easy and beautiful jazz songs you can learn on the piano.

Are you new to piano but are beyond the beginner stages?

You’re probably interested in learning advanced songs. If you’re a fan of jazz sheet music, you may think learning jazz piano songs is difficult. But there are great jazz piano songs for all piano players to learn.

There are certain jazz songs that are easy piano play and are remembered by everyone. You can easily jam them yourself and team up with other musicians to play them. And of course, these songs are extremely fun to play.

Whether you’re taking jazz piano lessons or are self-taught, here are the 12 jazz piano songs you should learn now. These songs will improve your piano playing skills while you learn your favorite jazz songs, watch a few of the piano tutorial videos to help you out a bit.

1. Snow White – “Someday My Prince Will Come”

You probably know this song from the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. But this song was reinvented in jazz form by many jazz musicians.

You can easily take the vocal leads and convert them to the piano, such as what Chick Corea did.

The striking feature of this song is the melody. But hearing the Disney version, you can tell the varying notes isn’t an easy song to sing. Therefore, it’s quite difficult to play on the piano.

The lead melodies captivate anyone who hears this song. But unlike the Disney song, the jazz piano version gives this song more complexity. This makes this song fun but challenging.

2. Ella Fitzgerald – “All the Things You Are”

If you’re unsure where to start with jazz piano, always start with the classics. “All the Things You Are” is a perfect starting piece. Dating back to 1939, this song was played by Jerome Kern.

This song is the epitome of classic jazz composition. Chord progressions and other dynamic changes make this song challenging. But everything flows so naturally, so it’s complex yet beautiful.

Most beginners find the intro difficult. But once you get past the challenging beginning, you get a better feel for the song. After you practice this song, the chord changes and other dynamics make more sense.

3. Herbie Hancock – “Dolphin Dance”

You can’t say “jazz piano legends” without mentioning Herbie Hancock. This is why his tune “Dolphin Dance” is on this list. Hancock is an influential pianist for his complex but individualistic writing style.

This song goes through a variety of chord changes but always manages to keep its melody. You’re completely hooked throughout the song because it’s unpredictable. There are also many intricate parts and parts that slow down.

Practicing this song not only enhances your piano playing skills but also improves your songwriting.

4. Bill Evans – “Waltz for Debbie”

“Waltz for Debbie” is one of the most beautiful jazz piano pieces in history.

Performed by Bill Evans, this song is a classic. This song is perfect for a beginner and is constantly revisited by expert pianists.

This song doesn’t do anything too complex but the song is enjoyable enough to play. The secret is the tune. The tune is so strong that it sticks with you. This makes this song easy to get stuck in your head so you’ll recognize each note.

Last but not least, this song is still fresh today. This is why Evans was such a notable pianist for his time. This song is an example of modern jazz.

5. Thelonious Monk – “Round Midnight”

Thelonious Monk is one of the most influential jazz pianists and composers.

“Round Midnight” is one of his most well-known songs. This song has been covered by just about every great jazz pianist. And it’s a perfect song to learn on piano.

“Round Midnight” isn’t as complex as other jazz piano songs. It has a strong melody that you can easily follow. This song is very calm but has enough complexities to challenge a beginner piano player.

From the beginning to the end of the song, “Round Midnight” follows a distinctive but infectious tune. After playing this song, you can understand how Monk has influenced many pianists.

6. Red Garland – “On a Clear Day”

This song is recommended for beginner jazz pianists because it isn’t your traditional jazz song. There’s a lot of swing influence that makes this song a lot of fun to play. The swing influence gives this classic tune a fun and upbeat vibe.

Legendary jazz pianist Red Garland performs this song and is a timeless tune.

The groove of the rhythm section and the fun piano melodies makes this song intoxicating.

This song is relatively simple to play but is fun enough for advanced jazz pianists.

This song is easy to learn for beginners but is challenging enough to improve their skill.

7. Ray Brown Trio – “Sweet Georgia Brown”

Back in 1925, Ray Brown Trio performed “Sweet Georgia Brown” with Gene Harris on piano. This song gives jazz its classic sound but makes the genre more fun.

Even with a dominating rhythm section, Harris’ piano melodies stand out. This song is completely upbeat but still relaxing. It’s an easy song to play but it’s easy to get sucked into the song as you play.

The piano parts are polished and you’ll feel great as you learn to play this song.

In this song, Harris uses piano styles from swing, gospel and blues to create a unique feeling. This makes “Sweet Georgia Brown” one of the most unique songs in jazz. If you want to excel as a jazz pianist, this song is a must.

8. Duke Ellington – “Take the “A” Train”

The famous jazz standard “Take the “A” Train” was written by Billy Strayhorn, and was performed by Duke Ellington, who regularly performed it with his orchestra.

This song was also recorded by countless other artists, including Ella Fitzgerald. The song is about the new subway in New York in the 1930s!

9. Dave Brubeck – “Take Five”

This song was composed by Paul Desmond for the Dave Brubeck Quartet during 1959, in which he uses saxophone. Two years later it became a surprise hit and the biggest-selling jazz single ever.

The quartet recorded the tune in two takes, and when it was done, Paul Desmond thought the song was a throwaway — so much so that he once joked about using his entire share of royalties from the song to buy a new electric shaver. The title “Take Five” was Brubeck’s idea which became the A side of a 45 record.

10. Erroll Garner – “Misty”

The pianist and composer who came to fame during what is often called the swing era of Jazz in the 1940s was Erroll Garner with his style of piano playing encapsulated the stride technique of earlier pianists but it was Garner’s abundant virtuosity and lyrical fluency that characterized his performances.

Misty is a jazz standard written in 1954 by pianist Erroll Garner. He composed it as an instrumental on the traditional 32-bar format and recorded it for the album Contrasts (1955).

11. Duke Ellington – “Satin Doll”

This song was also written by  Duke Ellington last 1953.  Its chord progression is well known for its unusual use of chords and opening with a ii-V-I turnaround.

Duke Ellington used “Satin Doll” as the closing number in most of his concerts. Wherein it makes as a modest hit, entering the pop charts in June and rising to number twenty-seven.

12. Joseph Kosma – “Autumn Leaves”

This is a 1945 popular song and jazz standard composed by Joseph Kosma with original lyrics by Jacques Prévert in French, and later by Johnny Mercer in English.

This song was listed as a number 1 best-seller in the US Billboard charts of 1955 by an instrumental version of the pianist Roger Williams.

Time to Learn These Jazz Piano Songs

If you want a unique challenge to your piano playing abilities, learning jazz piano is an enjoyable way to improve your piano skills. If you’re unsure which songs you should learn, these jazz songs are perfect for any piano player to learn. Jazz piano makes ample use of improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and swung note, as well as aspects of European harmony, American popular music, the brass band tradition, and African musical elements such as blue notes and ragtime.

These songs are all fun to play but offer unique challenges. They’re well-rounded and can help you improve on many areas of piano playing. From complex chord progressions to simple melodies, all of these songs are different but amazing.

Do you need piano lessons? Take a look at our piano lessons.

More Jazz Piano Songs

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The post Piano for Beginners: Keyboard or Digital Piano? first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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How to Master Piano Hand Position Fast and Easily

Being able to sit down at any piano and play starts with mastering proper piano hand position. Check out these tips to help you practice and perfect your hand positioning.

If you are a beginning baseball player, you need to learn baseball mechanics. To do so, you repeat fielding and hitting drills.

The same is true for the piano. We all want to play beautiful music full of emotion. To do so, however, you must master basic technical skills such as piano hand placement. Without it, you can’t play much of anything, let alone play something beautifully.

Are you a beginning piano player struggling with your piano hand positioning? Would you like to be able to play faster and with more agility?

If so, you’ve come to the right place! We’ll go over basic piano hand placement tips and then show you some exercises to help you improve yours! Read on for more information.

Learn all the scales with proper fingering. Scales are one of the basic building blocks of music, and if you practice scales with proper fingering, your fingers will automatically know where to go when you see parts of a scale in a piece of sheet music.

The Reasons for Working on Your Piano Hand Position

Why do we care about a good piano hand position? Does it really matter? The answer is yes. Below we’ll explore several reasons why.

First, using improper technique creates tension. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if you’re practicing and performing with constant tension, it won’t be long before you feel aches and pains. Of course, playing with pain will negatively affect your piano playing and could hurt you.

It’s best, then, to learn proper piano technique, including correct hand position, early on, and continue to use it while you play.

Second, piano teachers don’t want you to use proper hand techniques because they’re trying to annoy you. The truth is, it’s actually easier to play with good technique.

For example, take two pianists. One has worked hard at their hand positioning, and the other hasn’t. No doubt the first player will be able to play not only faster but also more expressively. That’s because they’re not struggling with technical issues like the second one surely is.

For all these reasons, then, it’s a good idea for you to know where to place your hands on the piano keys. In the next section, let’s go over how to place your hands on the piano keys.

Place your right-hand number with one finger (your right thumb) on Middle C. Now place your right number 2 finger (your index finger) on the white note directly to the right of Middle C position. Your left hands and right hands are mirror images of each other, even if they’re moving in different directions or playing different patterns.

Where to Put Your Hands on the Piano: A Small Guide

After all, this, then, how should you place your hands on the piano? The first thing to consider is: how far away are you from the instrument?

It’s common for beginning piano players or piano students to sit either:

• too close to the piano, or,
• at the wrong height

Avoid those situations by adjusting your piano bench. The height should allow you to place your arms at a piano level. It’s also okay for them to be a little bit higher than the instrument.

In addition, make sure your piano bench is far enough back. Your elbows need to be in front of you. And, your arms must also extend easily in front of you, with your fingers resting on the piano keys.

It’s important not to collapse your wrists. Instead, hold them steady in a relaxed and comfortable manner.

Finally, allow your fingers to curve slightly over the piano keys. This is one of the best ways to avoid tension. It also allows you to play more efficiently as you progress.

That is a lot to remember, isn’t it? But, there are exercises to help make piano hand position as natural as eating or sleeping. Let’s see what they are in the next section.

Some Basic Exercises to Improve Your Piano Hand Placement

All pianists practice their scales, chords, and arpeggios. Is there anything else you can do, though, to improve your hand positioning?

It turns out there are some standard exercises to help with curving your fingers. They are suitable for musicians of all levels and have the added benefit of being fun.

Play longer keys with your shorter fingers. If you look at the keyboard, you’ll see longer white keys and shorter black keys. Your shortest fingers are your thumb and your pinky(little finger), and typically they will only play white keys and if you’re playing music with sharps or flats, you’ll need to play the shorter black keys with your long fingers.

Play Catch!

In this first exercise, you’re going to use a ball to practice curving your fingers properly. It’s important, though, to use a ball that fits your hand. Either a golf ball or a tennis ball will work, depending on your hand size.

If you have a friend available, have them throw the ball to you. Otherwise, you can throw it up against a wall yourself.

As you catch the ball, curve your fingers only against the top part. Take note of their correct position. That’s how they should curve over the piano keys.

Shake Someone’s Hand Today

It’s possible to do this exercise alone, but it’s better with a partner. What you’re going to do is shake their hand (or, if you’re alone, pretend to shake their hand).

After a bit, let go of your partner’s hand, making sure you keep your hand in the same position. Then, turn your hand over so your palm faces down.

Take note, because this is the hand position you need to use for piano playing. All the basic elements are there:

• curved fingers
• firm knuckles (you don’t want them collapsing!), and
• a C-shape between the thumb and index finger position

After a while, these elements will become second-nature, and you won’t have to go around shaking everyone’s hand any longer.

Have a Drink

This exercise is similar to the preceding one, only you don’t need a partner.

Take a glass, and hold it in one hand. Again, the glass needs to be the right size for your hand. Otherwise, the exercise won’t work. If you need to, experiment with glasses of different sizes until you find one that feels comfortable.

Notice how your fingers curve around the glass. Then, put the glass down, but, again, keep your hand in the same position.

Flip your hand over so your palm faces down, and place it over the piano keys. The result should be a position of your hands that’s pretty close to the one you’d normally use for piano lessons.

Make sure your fingers are curved and take note of the distance between your thumb and index finger.

Conclusion: Piano Hand Placement

Give some of these fun exercises a try. They might be just what you need to improve your piano hand placement. And, you never know, maybe someday you’ll be performing a difficult work like Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Why not?

In the meantime, if you are interested in learning more about the piano, check out our blog! It’s filled with articles that are sure to help beginning and experienced pianists alike.

The post Piano for Beginners: Keyboard or Digital Piano? first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Learn How to Teach Yourself Piano at Home | Easy Guide for Beginners

When you’re ready to start learning piano, you may not be ready to start taking lessons right away. Here’s how you can start to teach yourself the basics at home. Eager to start learning piano? Start right at home! Learn how to teach yourself piano with these proven tips and tricks.

With 88 keys to memorize and about 45,000 pounds of tension to deal with, playing the piano is no doubt both physical and mental work. All that hard work is worth it though, once the pianist hits those notes and produces beautiful sounds.

That’s not all that makes piano amazing though. According to a study, learning piano can help boost children’s language skills. There’s also the fact that pianists’ brains have a different (and impressive) brain capacity.

So you want to learn how to teach yourself piano, but don’t know where to start.

Fortunately, you only really need 2 things: a piano, and a willingness to learn. You can worry about things like sheet music later.

The following guide will walk you through the learning process of acquiring, familiarizing, and practicing your piano.

How To Teach Yourself Piano in 10 Steps:

Remember that learning any instrument takes a commitment to practicing regularly. So if you’re ready to learn, and committed to practicing a lot, let’s get started!

1. Get A Piano/Find Yourself a Keyboard

The obvious first step is to acquire a piano for yourself. Set a budget, do your research on different types of pianos, and look online and in your community for deals.

Some things to consider:

Many music stores rent keyboards. If you want to rent before you’re sure the piano/keyboard is right for you, this might be a good place to start.

If any of your friends or family are involved in the music world, reach out. They may know someone dying to sell an old instrument that isn’t getting used for half what it would cost coming out of a box.

If you’re unable to find a piano, a keyboard is a great alternative. They’re affordable, never go out of tune and have lots of sounds and features that can enhance your music. Not to mention, they’re a lot easier to move around and don’t take up much space. A learning keyboard is a great tool for a beginner. These specialty instruments light up in a specific order to help you learn songs more quickly. Typically, they come with books and videos that will help you learn musical notation. You can always start out on a keyboard and then upgrade to a piano.

Keyboards generally cost less than pianos do. On the plus side, keyboards never go out of tune and take up much less space than a piano will. Wherein, acoustic pianos typically range in price from $2,000 to $10,000 or more for some high-quality concert grand pianos.

2. Get Familiar with Your Instrument

Now that you have your piano or keyboard, spend some time getting familiar with it.

To accomplish this task:

Listen to your new piano. Is it in tune? You might consider having someone tune it for you for the first time. If you went with a keyboard, you can skip this step.

Learn about the keys and their names. If your piano came with a book or you chose to buy one, the keys should be in the piano book. If not, this 5-minute tutorial will walk you through an easy way to learn the keys.

Make sure you understand what proper hand posture looks like. Really listen to each of them, and note how they are different from the others. Keep practicing until you can tell the difference between them. You want to form good habits from the beginning!

3. Train Your Arms and Hands with Proper Positioning

The first step on how to teach yourself to play the piano is to ensure your arms and hands maintain the right-hand position. That’s the “C Position,” which is the natural cupped-shape they form when left hanging to your side. You will also be able to read a selection of notes from both the bass and treble clefs, and you will be able to play some simple piano chords in the left hand.

It’s the same position you need to keep when you put your arms and hands on top of the keys. While doing this, ensure your wrist and forearms remain straight.

Play five-finger patterns all over the keyboard, and in many different keys. Use a lot of black keys! First without notes to learn the geography of the keyboard, and then with notes using “landmark notes” to find your way.

It’s crucial to follow the proper hand and finger positioning since it helps prevent repetitive stress injury. Also, we understand that you’d like to learn how to learn piano fast, but know your limits and don’t over-practice.

4. Know Your Notes

Learning piano means learning a new type of language – that of music. It’s much like how you first learned the alphabet, but in this case, it’s noted that you’ll memorize. With constant practice, you’ll have these committed to memory soon enough.

A good way to start is with the Do-Re-Mi tune (yes, the one from The Sound of Music). Each of these represents a note on the piano, starting with note C. It’ll help you get the notes’ pitch while also learning which keys to press on the piano.

• Do – Note C
• Re – Note D
• Mi – Note E
• Fa – Note F
• So – Note G
• La – Note A
• Ti – Note B

To locate C, look for a pair of black keys (accidentals). Right to their left is C. There are several Cs on the piano, and they’re always eight notes (octave) apart.

F is another keynote to know the placement of by heart at the beginning. It’s the key to the left of a trio of black keys.

Memorizing your Cs and Fs right away makes it easier to memorize the location of the rest of the notes.

5. Familiarize Yourself with Sharps and Flats

The black keys play either sharps (#) or flats (b). They come in either pairs or trios.

When you see a # on a piece, that means you have to play the next higher key. A b, on the other hand, means you need to play the next lower key.

To start, look at the center of the piano. Do you see that group of one pair of blacks and a group of three? That’s where you’ll find the middle C note.

As mentioned above, all Cs appear to the left of two blacks. F to the left of three blacks. So, these ones you find in the middle of your piano are the Middle C and Middle F.

When you press the black key right above and beside the Middle C note, it produces either a C sharp (C#) or a D flat (Db). The black key beside it plays the D# or Eb. As for the black key beside Middle F, it plays F# or Gb.

Do you see the pattern now? Always remember that black keys are always either sharps or flats, but white keys can also play sharps or flats.

6. Set A Practice Goal

Begin with your end goal in mind. You want to learn the piano, but what do you want to play? How long do you want it to take?

What material will you be focusing on? Is that material online or from a book you bought?

What keys or scales do you want to be able to play? What’s your favorite song that did you picture yourself playing when you first started thinking about learning how to teach yourself piano?

What will you be able to play on the piano in seven days? What about 14 or 30? You are just starting to learn how to teach yourself piano, so you probably don’t need goals beyond a month just yet. Focus on the first 30 days!

How long will you practice each day?

7. Start Practicing

The first three parts were leading to the most important step, which is this: Do you really want to learn how to teach yourself piano? Then practice, every day!

Some tips for your practice sessions:

Stick to your goal. If you need a break from the same few scales or chords, try some finger speed exercises.

Practice chords and scales. These will form the foundation of your piano playing, so be sure to do these each day. Start with the major and minor chords!

Learn the major keys. If you want to eventually play by ear and identify the sounds you make, this is important. Easy songs like “Mary Had A Little Lamb” are perfect for this!

As you start playing by ear, also begin noticing patterns. All songs are composed of musical patterns. You’ll want to start identifying and learning these patterns as you work towards your eventual goal of playing songs on the piano.

The internet can be your friend when you’re ready to learn songs. Many sites will allow you to download some of their sheet music for free!

8. Practice Your Fingers

Now that you’ve got your basics down, next is to apply them with your fingers. This way, you can train your fingers to know right away without fumbling. When you are first learning to play the piano, fingering is key. You must know where your fingers are supposed to go when you are starting to play the piano.

A good place to start is the pentascale approach. Pentascales are any scale that has five (Penta) notes. Since you already know by now where the Middle C is, you can begin your finger practice with the C Major pentascale.

To begin, put your thumb on the Middle C note, index on D, middle on E, ring on F, and a pinky on G. Those five notes make up this pentascale.

This is one of the easiest finger practicing techniques since it trains up all your fingers. Now, you want to start slowly, so apply the whole note approach (count four beats before pressing the next key). From here, you can move on to half notes and then quarter notes.

Once you feel more comfortable, you can move up the practice ladder to taking it two notes at a time. That means using two fingers since you’ll press two keys simultaneously. It’s a bit more complex, but it’ll help you prepare for more advanced pieces.

9. Get Your Timing Right

Every note has a count – the length of time you should keep it pressed. In music sheets, you’ll find three most often used, which include the following:

• Whole notes (with four beats)
• Half notes (with two beats)
• Quarter notes (with one beat)

The white circles you see on a music sheet are whole notes. When you see these, it means you have to keep the note for four full beats (as in one-and-two-and-three).

Half notes are also white circles, with a stem attached to them. You hold these notes for two beats (one-and-two).

Quarter notes look much like half notes, except they have shaded circles. They represent one beat.

10. Play With Other People

After some time, it’s a good idea to find other people to practice around or with.

Ask a more experienced piano player if they want to get together and practice, or if they have any resources that helped them learn.

Once you start making progress, do mini “performances” for people, even if it’s your family. They will be able to tell you what sounds great and what could use a little tweaking.

Last, consider taking piano lessons with a piano instructor. An instructor will give you hands-on coaching, accountability for learning the instrument, and teach you how to correct pacing. Plus, if you teach yourself the basics, a piano teacher will help expedite the process to you playing some simple songs you really want to learn!

One good set that many adult beginners have used is the Alfred Self-Teaching Adult Piano Beginner’s Kit.  While you might only want to learn how to play current popular music, a piano teacher might introduce you to other genres such as classical music or jazz music.

Wrap Up

In truth, playing the piano requires only two things: having the instrument readily available to you, and dedication to the practice.

How to teach yourself piano can be summed up like this:

Begin by setting a budget and find the instrument that is right for you. Then, get familiar with your new instrument.

After you read through and watch tutorials on things scales and chords and finger posture, decide what you’d like to learn, and how quickly. Set a goal for your piano playing!

Last, start practicing — every day if you can swing it. To accelerate your learning, set a goal of playing around people after a couple of weeks. Even if it’s family, it will give you feedback on what you’ve learned and motivate you to keep working.

There are also piano courses and google resources through youtube videos and online courses that can help you to learn how to play the piano.

Want more tips for learning how to play the piano? Whether they’re for adult beginner piano learning or for your little ones, you’ll find more useful posts in our blog!

If we can help you on your journey to learning the piano, from buying a new one to working with a piano teacher, don’t hesitate to contact us. Now, start practicing!

Piano for Beginners: Keyboard or Digital Piano?

Playing the keyboard and the digital piano for beginners might seem quite similar but are actually very different. Here’s what you need to know to decide which instrument is right for you.

While a keyboard and piano may seem similar, there are, in fact, many differences between the two instruments. While a keyboard is based on a piano, the instruments take different skills to practice and learn. If you’re a beginner, the learning curve for both instruments is steep, but mastering it is rewarding.

There are many benefits to learning both keyboard and piano, but most students choose to master one or the other. Before deciding which road to take, it’s important to understand what these two instruments are made of and what you can gain from learning to play them.

Read on to find out the key differences between both instruments, and to determine whether it is best to learn keyboard lessons or piano lessons for beginners.

What’s The Difference?

To understand the differences between keyboards and pianos, you must first understand their similarities. In truth, the keyboard was inspired by the piano and has a very similar design. The keys are played in order to create a certain musical sound. Both instruments have the same basic concept.

Their actual compositions, though, are very different. Keyboard keys are played in order to trigger a synthesizer, responding to the keys that are being played. While keyboards are a cost-effective option, they don’t have the same vibe as a piano. This is mainly because of the way a piano is composed.

The piano, while it may not seem like it, is a string instrument. Every time you press down on a key, a small hammer hits a string in the back of the piano to produce sound. This means that even the best piano player must understand how to place pressure on the keys.

The different makeup of these instruments makes it so that each responds differently to pressure. A piano gives a player much more control based on the pressure he gives, especially in terms of dynamics and musicality.

The Benefits of a Keyboard

While the piano is definitely the more notorious instrument-some people even refer to keyboards as the junior pianos-the the keyboard has many benefits in itself. The first of these benefits is the most notorious-price.

The prices of most acoustic pianos start at the low thousands. This in itself can be a huge turn-off for many aspiring pianists. On the other hand, most keyboards will start around $150 and go up to $1000, making the keyboard a better option if you’re not fully committed or don’t have the budget for a digital piano.

The other benefit of the keyboard is the keys. For many younger children learning to play, piano keys are very heavy and adding pressure may be difficult for them. The keyboard is the solution to this. Having a keyboard, with very sensitive keys, allows for anyone of any age to learn to play!

The keyboard synthesizer is also a great opportunity to add different types of sounds to your performance. Many keyboards come jam-packed with different sounds, even jokey tracks, for musicians looking to develop an alternative vibe. It comes with a digital piano music stand which is fairly sturdy, but I had to purchase the adjustable keyboard stand separately for a keyboard piano.

On top of all of this, many modern keyboards are now coming with pressure sensors, so that the simulation of piano playing is even more accurate. This makes the instrument more realistic and harder to learn, thus more rewarding to master.

There are many shortcomings when comparing a keyboard to a piano, though. Because the pressure controls aren’t fully developed, an artist can’t fully control the music he/she creates with a keyboard. On top of that, the keyboard is not held in the same esteem as a piano.

Either way, the keyboard is a great stepping stone for many young pianists on the way to learning the piano. The key difference is, though, that the keyboard is also a great instrument in itself, and is beginning to command the respect it deserves.

The Benefits of Digital Piano

The piano is a legendary and beautiful instrument, and many experts argue that its impact could not be matched by a keyboard. No electronic sound, they say, will ever match the beauty of that hammer striking down on piano strings and creating wonderful sheet music that has been enjoyed by many generations.  Which basically composes simple 3-note piano songs set around Middle C; one for the left hand, and one for the right hand, that also includes scales, rhythmic concepts as well as tips on good piano technique like fingering and legato. Okay, we’ve talked about notes and keys on your piano. But unless you want to just plunk out popular songs one note at a time (hint: nobody wants this), you need to learn more about piano chord progressions and what piano chords are. Three popular piano chords – the A minor chord, F major chord, and G major chord.

Three interactive exercises are part of this lesson so that you learn and practice the chord fingering for each one, concluding in playing a famous pop song. And most traditional piano teachers teach you to play them by looking at sheet music, figuring out the notes within each chord as they appear, and playing them in your left hand or right hand depending on whether they are in the treble clef or bass clef.

My approach is all about helping my students learn to build chords – groups of notes that sound good together and add depth to your playing.

Whether you agree with this statement or not, there are too many benefits of learning piano to count. The piano is a well-respected and famous instrument amongst any social circle, and mastering it can truly improve your standing amongst your peers.

The piano is not just a social tool, though. Learning to play piano also does much in sharpening intellect. In fact, understanding music and the control that the piano requires also aids in other areas. For example, regular piano practice at a young age helps to develop the spatial-temporal ability, which aids in math and logic problems.

On top of intellect, the piano is also a physically demanding instrument. Playing it is a workout in itself! With the weight of the keys as well as the proper posture that piano players must master, piano players, are strengthening their bodies while they sharpen their minds with the instrument.

Of course, playing the piano isn’t always easy. The biggest roadblock for aspiring pianists is often cost-pianos start at a high price and there’s no way around it. On top of that, one must dedicate a lot of time and energy to mastering the piano, and there is truly no way around that.

There is nothing wrong with choosing the beginner pianos. If you can dedicate the time, effort, and money to it, the benefits that come with the digital piano are seemingly endless!

Should You Choose Keyboard or Piano for Beginners?

While both instruments may seem similar, the keyboard and the piano are both amazing choices because of their differences. When choosing whether to play a piano keyboard or piano for beginners, there are many things you should consider.

For some, a keyboard is a great option in itself. For others, it is a stepping stone to the piano. Yet, others choose to dive straight into piano-playing and never look back. Regardless of which option you want to choose for a piano beginner in your life, be sure to contact us for any and all your music needs!

 

The post Piano for Beginners: Keyboard or Digital Piano? first appeared on Merriam Pianos

 

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10 Famous Piano Songs You Should Learn To Play On The Piano

Piano music has the unique capability of expressing a myriad of emotions, feelings, and songs: from loud and intense epics to soft and delicate melodies.

There are some songs that are instantly recognizable as famous piano songs. With just the first few notes, a listener will be able to identify the song. Obscure classics are great, but wouldn’t it be cool to be able to play something that everyone knows?

If that sounds good to you, keep reading to learn about 10 famous piano songs that you can learn to play.

1. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”

When we’re talking about famous piano songs, we have to talk about Beethoven. Often considered one of the best musical composers of all time, Beethoven’s music is known for its emotionally expressive nature.

Despite his deafness, he managed to compose some of the most well-known piano songs in history, including “Moonlight Sonata.”

This song is made up of three movements, the first of which the most recognizable and popular. It is played pianissimo, which means very quietly, with a smooth moving triplet rhythm.

Many describe this first movement as melancholy, ghostly, and indeed reminiscent of a moonlit landscape.

2. Beethoven’s “Fur Elise”

Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, more well known as Fur Elise, is another one of Beethoven’s most popular songs.

Interestingly, this song wasn’t published until decades after Beethoven’s death, and the “Elise” referenced still hasn’t been positively identified. It’s known for its smooth melody as well as for its popularity with beginner pianists.

The song begins with its iconic Poco moto, known as “little movement”, which gives a nice smooth flow.

3. Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A Minor”

Pianists describe this difficult piece as adventurous, troubled, grand, and triumphant. With a little bit of everything in this piece, it has become one of the most recognizable and famous piano songs in history.

It consists of three movements: Allegro molto moderato, Adagio, and Allegro moderato molto e marcato – Quasi presto – Andante maestoso.

The first movement is known primarily for the dramatic beginning timpani roll with a grand ending that is similar to the beginning. The third movement is interesting in that it switches from A minor to F major back to A minor and finally to A major.

This song is known to be challenging, but don’t let that get you down while you’re learning. A challenge is a great way to learn, especially when the outcome is knowing how to play a popular, well-known song.

4. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”

Not everyone knows or likes the classics, so it can’t hurt to learn a song that almost everyone has heard nowadays. Peaking at number 9 on the Billboard charts, this Journey song has been described as having one of the best keyboard riffs in all of rock music, according to Allmusic.com.

The song is played in E major with an 8 chord progression throughout. It is known for its instrumental parts, specifically the beginning riff. This is definitely one of those songs that only requires the first couple notes before people instantly recognize it.

5. The Beatles’ “Let It Be”

This is another insanely popular song by probably the most well-known band of all time, but it is also a great song for beginner pianists to learn to play. Paul McCartney wrote this song, saying that he thought of it after a dream he had about his mother who had passed away when he was a teenager.

The song is known for its introduction in which the right hand playing a series of chords while the left plays single notes.

6. Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee”

As the name suggests, this song attempts to mimic the flight and actions of bumblebees with music. It was actually written as part of an opera, and it wasn’t even a huge part of that opera. However, the song lives on as one of the most recognizable pieces of piano music in history.

Like Grieg’s Piano Concerto, this song is known to be quite difficult. It is very fast paced with complicated fingering. The best way to learn this song is to practice it very slowly at first before attempting to play it at the proper speed.

Another problem people run into while learning this song is that they can’t reach the proper keys because their hands are too small. This just takes a lot of practice, and some suggest just rolling the chords quickly.

7. Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody”

Let’s continue with another difficult song. This should probably be learned when you are very experienced with the piano, or else you would be in for a frustratingly difficult, almost impossible, task.

This song is technically difficult and demanding, but it is also physically so. You’ll be all over the place: you need stamina, a great understanding of keyboard geography, strength, the ability to play extremely quickly and nimbly, as well as an intense dedication to the song.

Even the best pianists struggle with this one; understand exactly what you are getting into with this iconic song, and prepare to practice for months!

8. Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”

Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” earns a spot on this list for its obviously recognizable name and for its simplicity that beginners will be thankful for after looking over Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody.” A song about being a piano player definitely has to make this list of famous piano songs: it’s too perfect!

The song is in C major. It is most famous for the piano intro that features the harmonica.

9. David Foster’s “Love Theme From St. Elmo’s Fire”

Sometimes, movie soundtracks become the most recognizable songs out there (think Star Wars or Indiana Jones Theme). This song comes from the film St. Elmo’s Fire, but the song itself became a stand-alone hit.

It is known for being somewhat jazzy and melancholy while giving off a feeling of longing and happiness. This is another recognizable song that isn’t too difficult to play, so it would be a great song to learn as a beginner/intermediate player.

10. Chariots of Fire Theme

Lastly, we have another song from a film that has the same name: Chariots of Fire. The movie itself is about two Olympic athletes from 1924.

This song actually appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying at the top of many country’s charts for months at a time. There was a controversy over plagiarism, but the courts ruled in favor of the composer saying that the disputed F-G-A-G sequence is common in many compositions, and thus doesn’t constitute as plagiarism.

This popular soundtrack song would be another great one to learn, especially if you are already familiar with it.

You Can Learn Famous Piano Songs

Famous piano songs range in difficulty, but they are well known and well liked so that your listeners will be happy and intrigued when you start to play them. While some may take longer to learn, they are rewarding and fun to play.

If you need any help or would like some guidance from a teacher, contact us. We can help you whether you’re just getting started or if you just need help on a particularly difficult song.

 The post 10 Famous Piano Pieces You Can Learn to Play appeared first on Merriam Music – Toronto’s Top Piano Store & Music School

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