Now that you have a new piano, you’re probably looking forward to creating beautiful music.
According to Muzic Tribe, besides playing music in your piano learning journey, there’s more to look forward to. In fact, many studies have shown that learning something new can lead to numerous benefits.
So how do you learn to play the piano? This post shows some of the best ways to do so, so get ready.
Apply these tips and start your musical journey off on the best note.
Beginner Piano Tips
Tip #1: Start with the basics.
This may sound like an obvious tip, but some beginners can be more interested in skipping to the “good stuff” than they are in building a solid foundation. And this is a big mistake.
Instead of jumping straight in to try to see how far you can go, focus on building a strong foundation of the fundamentals. Start simple, so you don’t burn yourself out or lose interest from failure or injury too early.
First, focus on getting your posture right. Piano playing entails lots of repetitive motion, and good posture should limit the strain on your wrists and hands when you play.
After mastering the correct sitting position, proceed with learning the basic techniques. Focus on perfecting your form before you move on to learning the primary chords and rhythms that make up compositions.
Tip #2: Stick to a regular practice schedule.
Like brushing your teeth, practicing the piano should be made into a daily routine. After all, practice makes perfect.
You must invest the necessary hours in learning to play the piano. Many experts suggest following the 10,000-hour rule by Malcolm Gladwell to master a particular skill.
When you stick to a routine of practicing for the same amount of hours daily, you’re only going to get better.
Tip #3: Try to discover patterns.
A key to learning music effectively is to find patterns. Music has many patterns and progressions that you can learn to make learning by ear easier. Rather than focusing on each note, you can focus on the patterns to play more masterfully.
You also get a better understanding of melody construction when you learn patterns. Hence, you may become more interested in creating and playing your own music than other people’s.
Tip #4: Follow the 80/20 principle.
The 80/20 principle is a great principle to abide by when trying to develop a skill. It’s quite simple, too!
Basically, it suggests that 20% of the work you put into a skill accounts for 80% of your progress. So don’t try to learn every single piano skill at one time; focus on a few ones first. When you master those, it should make learning the rest easier.
This principle can also be applied to the songs you want to play. Chances are these songs only call for a subset of the various playing types out there. So just focus on what you need to learn to play that kind of music.
Tip #5: Take things slow.
You’re still a few years shy of becoming a master musician, don’t pressure yourself into playing fast.
Focus on accuracy before working on speed. You want to make sure you hit all the right notes and not mess things up because you were looking to impress the audience with your speed.
As you clock in more hours of practice, muscle memory will start to kick in. When this occurs, you should see your speed start to improve naturally.
Until that time comes, play slowly and aim for accuracy.
Tip #6: Don’t forget to warm up.
Piano playing doesn’t seem like it’s a lot of work, but it can actually take its toll on your hands and wrists. Make sure to warm these parts up before you dive in. If not, they may strain not long into your sessions, forcing you to cut practice short. Or worse, you could injure yourself and not be able to practice for a while.
Do some stretching before you start. This and some warm-up exercises should get the blood flowing to your hands, removing any stiffness.
As for mental warmups, try to get into the right frame of mind by practicing simple patterns and techniques before you start playing songs. A lot of experts recommend the Hanon set of exercises for this.
Piano Learning for Beginners: The Takeaway
There you have it — the six best ways to learn the piano. What are you waiting for? Start your journey today!
With these tips, you can begin your journey on a good note and make it easier for yourself to master the piano.
Work with a teacher if necessary. After all, their experience may be able to teach you things this list can’t.
Most importantly, put in the hours and the work so you may become someone worth listening to someday.
