I often have people ask me about playing a piano “by ear”. What they are referring to of course is learning and being able to play songs just by listening to them.
When I was quite young and still learning to play the piano I remember watching someone listen to a song on the radio and then quickly walk over to the piano and play what was on the radio. It was very impressive. I remember thinking how amazing that was. The thing that I’ve learned since then is that if you spend time with music, listening to it, playing it, paying attention to it, that things start to stick out. By this I mean certain chords start to become familiar, certain melodies that then go along with those chords. Probably the most important aspect of this is that chord progressions that start to stick out. These are the fundamental parts to playing by ear.
One thing that happens quite often with piano is that when someone starts their piano education they are usually taught how to read music first, then to play off sheet music. So when it comes time to play something that isn’t written down they have great trouble. I know, this was how it was for me in the beginning.
To really learn to play music by ear you need to have at least some knowledge about chords and chord progressions. Once you know a little more about chords (major and minor and what they sound like) you can start learning to play by ear. The first thing to do is find a song you really like and would like to play. The second thing is to do is make sure it’s an easy song. (You will probably find out pretty quickly how difficult it is to play!) If there are a lot of chord changes then it might be a good idea to pick another song. The thing about learning by ear, when you first start out, is that it will take a while and you will need to be patient. When I first started it took me quite some time and I had to work through quite a lot of frustrating moments but it’s much more rewarding.
Some people will be able to pick up music by ear much easier than others. This is just a fact of life. Some people’s ears are just more tuned to music than others. Quite often though, these people are the ones who listen to the most music.
The key is to experiment with playing along with music and give yourself time to learn to play by ear. You will find that the more you that, the better at it you will become, and after a while it will come naturally and you will be able to play with whatever is on the radio.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Southam (The Piano Guy) is a pianist with years of experience behind him. Piano is his passion, and he is also the drive and inspiration behind Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit, and Rocket Piano Gospel Edition. If you want to take your piano playing skills to a new level, you need the Rocket Piano Kit. You get step by step instructions complete with audio and video lessons, and you can instant access by clicking the link now http://www.rocketpiano.com.
Showing posts with label ash ley southam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ash ley southam. Show all posts
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Piano Care – by Ash ley Southam, The Piano Guy
The first thing to do to look after you piano is make sure its stored in a suitable place. This means finding somewhere that isn’t too damp. Keep your piano away from heaters, air conditioners and fire places. Also try and keep your piano (if it’s an upright) away from an outside wall of the house. Keep the piano out of long periods of direct sunlight too, as this can damage the finish and also affect the tuning. This all sounds very particular but anything to do with heat and moisture will put your piano at risk of going out of tune and have other long term negative side effects. Ideally you want the piano somewhere that the humidity and heat levels are at a nice constant level. The contracting and expanding of the wooden parts will affect the quality of the piano.
You should have your piano tuned twice a year. Also, it helps to get it “re-conditioned” or “regulated”. This is when a trained professional piano technician will fix and adjust any wear and breakage. It’s a very good idea to keep a piano properly maintained and your piano will love you for it.
Try not to put drinks or vases on your piano either. It’s very easy to have an accident and very difficult to clean up the mess it will make inside your piano. Sometimes the damage can be irreversible. Also be careful of objects that may scratch or damage the finish on your piano.
When cleaning the piano use a feather duster first. The dust that accumulates can cause tiny scratches when you polish it. Then use a soft damp cloth. Don’t use polish, despite what the labels might say, because this can also sometimes damage the wood. Just get the excess moisture off with a dry cloth. This process can be used on the actual keys as well. However use separate cloths for the black and white keys.
If you really want to get more thorough with cleaning your piano there are some products that are designed specifically for pianos. Go down to your local piano shop and talk to the people. They will undoubtedly have the right products and advice for you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Southam (The Piano Guy) is a pianist with years of experience behind him. Piano is his passion, and he is also the drive and inspiration behind Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit, and Rocket Piano Gospel Edition. If you want to take your piano playing skills to a new level, you need the Rocket Piano Kit. You get step by step instructions complete with audio and video lessons, and you can instant access by clicking the link now http://www.rocketpiano.com.
You should have your piano tuned twice a year. Also, it helps to get it “re-conditioned” or “regulated”. This is when a trained professional piano technician will fix and adjust any wear and breakage. It’s a very good idea to keep a piano properly maintained and your piano will love you for it.
Try not to put drinks or vases on your piano either. It’s very easy to have an accident and very difficult to clean up the mess it will make inside your piano. Sometimes the damage can be irreversible. Also be careful of objects that may scratch or damage the finish on your piano.
When cleaning the piano use a feather duster first. The dust that accumulates can cause tiny scratches when you polish it. Then use a soft damp cloth. Don’t use polish, despite what the labels might say, because this can also sometimes damage the wood. Just get the excess moisture off with a dry cloth. This process can be used on the actual keys as well. However use separate cloths for the black and white keys.
If you really want to get more thorough with cleaning your piano there are some products that are designed specifically for pianos. Go down to your local piano shop and talk to the people. They will undoubtedly have the right products and advice for you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Southam (The Piano Guy) is a pianist with years of experience behind him. Piano is his passion, and he is also the drive and inspiration behind Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit, and Rocket Piano Gospel Edition. If you want to take your piano playing skills to a new level, you need the Rocket Piano Kit. You get step by step instructions complete with audio and video lessons, and you can instant access by clicking the link now http://www.rocketpiano.com.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Buying a keyboard – by Ash ley Southam, The Piano Guy
One of the highly informative articles on buying a keyboard.
There are many different questions when it comes to buying a keyboard. How much should I pay, how many keys it needs and so on. A lot of it really depends on the buyer and your own personal preference. The best way to tell if the keyboard is right for you is if it “feels” right. But, in saying that, there are a few simple guidelines that can help you out come purchase time.
One of the great things about having so many different keyboards to choose from is that you can find one at a suitable price. The first thing is you want to make sure the keyboard actually works. The problem with keyboards is that as they get older they tend to decay a bit. So be careful buying a keyboard before you’ve actually played it and checked the keys, all the buttons and so on.
The next step is looking at how many keys it has. I’m often asked “how many keys should I get?” The answer is really down to personal preference and what exactly you’re using your keyboard for. My advice is to get a keyboard with the full 88 keys. But 76 and even 61 will usually be enough. If you have the choice I think either 88 or 76 keys is best. If you were just using a small range of the keyboard and it’s more for recording interesting samples and so on, then fewer keys is fine. Most professionals will use 88 keys.
The next thing to look at is weighted keys or “synth” action. This means what the feel of the actual keys is like. This again really depends on personal taste. Weighted keys: this means that the keys on the keyboard have the same feel and weight as keys on a standard piano. A lot of trained pianists will go this route, myself included. I don’t like to use synth style keys but that’s entirely my personal taste. One of the benefits of playing on a keyboard with weighted keys is that if you never played an acoustic piano before you should easily be able to adjust quickly because your hands will be used to it. Synth style keys also have their advantages. Because they’re not weighted it’s a lot easier to play them faster.
Another important aspect is the velocity and after touch of the keyboard. Velocity refers to whether how hard you hit the keys affects how loud the sound that comes out, so that if you lightly touch the keyboard you will get a nice quite sound. Similarly if you hit down hard you will get a nice loud reaction. After touch refers to the sensitivity to the sound and touch after you hit the note and hold it down. If you play a note and you want it to ring the way an acoustic piano does, after touch is very important. Personally I believe that velocity and after touch is VERY important and any keyboard you have should really have these things catered for.
So there are a lot of things to consider when looking at keyboards. Ultimately I believe a lot of it comes down to personal taste and what your instincts tell you about the keyboard itself. Remember, you want it to be something that you can spend a lot of time on so make sure that you are completely happy with what you end up with.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Southam (The Piano Guy) is a pianist with years of experience behind him. iano is his passion, and he is also the drive and inspiration behind Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit, and Rocket Piano Gospel Edition. If you want to take your piano playing skills to a new level, you need the Rocket Piano Kit. You get step by step instructions complete with audio and video lessons, and you can instant access by clicking the link now http://www.rocketpiano.com.
There are many different questions when it comes to buying a keyboard. How much should I pay, how many keys it needs and so on. A lot of it really depends on the buyer and your own personal preference. The best way to tell if the keyboard is right for you is if it “feels” right. But, in saying that, there are a few simple guidelines that can help you out come purchase time.
One of the great things about having so many different keyboards to choose from is that you can find one at a suitable price. The first thing is you want to make sure the keyboard actually works. The problem with keyboards is that as they get older they tend to decay a bit. So be careful buying a keyboard before you’ve actually played it and checked the keys, all the buttons and so on.
The next step is looking at how many keys it has. I’m often asked “how many keys should I get?” The answer is really down to personal preference and what exactly you’re using your keyboard for. My advice is to get a keyboard with the full 88 keys. But 76 and even 61 will usually be enough. If you have the choice I think either 88 or 76 keys is best. If you were just using a small range of the keyboard and it’s more for recording interesting samples and so on, then fewer keys is fine. Most professionals will use 88 keys.
The next thing to look at is weighted keys or “synth” action. This means what the feel of the actual keys is like. This again really depends on personal taste. Weighted keys: this means that the keys on the keyboard have the same feel and weight as keys on a standard piano. A lot of trained pianists will go this route, myself included. I don’t like to use synth style keys but that’s entirely my personal taste. One of the benefits of playing on a keyboard with weighted keys is that if you never played an acoustic piano before you should easily be able to adjust quickly because your hands will be used to it. Synth style keys also have their advantages. Because they’re not weighted it’s a lot easier to play them faster.
Another important aspect is the velocity and after touch of the keyboard. Velocity refers to whether how hard you hit the keys affects how loud the sound that comes out, so that if you lightly touch the keyboard you will get a nice quite sound. Similarly if you hit down hard you will get a nice loud reaction. After touch refers to the sensitivity to the sound and touch after you hit the note and hold it down. If you play a note and you want it to ring the way an acoustic piano does, after touch is very important. Personally I believe that velocity and after touch is VERY important and any keyboard you have should really have these things catered for.
So there are a lot of things to consider when looking at keyboards. Ultimately I believe a lot of it comes down to personal taste and what your instincts tell you about the keyboard itself. Remember, you want it to be something that you can spend a lot of time on so make sure that you are completely happy with what you end up with.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Southam (The Piano Guy) is a pianist with years of experience behind him. iano is his passion, and he is also the drive and inspiration behind Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit, and Rocket Piano Gospel Edition. If you want to take your piano playing skills to a new level, you need the Rocket Piano Kit. You get step by step instructions complete with audio and video lessons, and you can instant access by clicking the link now http://www.rocketpiano.com.
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