Piano And Keyboard For Beginners

Piano and Keyboard for Beginners How to Play Famous Piano Songs and Read Music. Theory, and Techniques for Absolute Beginners Written by

Dylan Green

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Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1: Why Should I Learn to Play the Piano? Chapter 2: The Terminology That You Need to Know Chapter 3: Easy Finger Exercises for Playing the Piano Chapter 4: The Basics of Keys and Scales Chapter 5: More Basics of the Piano You Need to Know Chapter 6: What is the Tempo of the Music? Chapter 7: Reading the Music Chapter 8: Putting It All Together with Some Songs to Practice Other songs for practice Conclusion Other Books

Introduction Congratulations on downloading Piano and Keyboard for Beginners: A Complete Guide for Absolute Beginners — Learn How to Play Famous Piano Songs and Read Music, Theory, and Techniques. Here, you will find a how-to guide for playing the piano, covering topics such as the history of the piano, piano techniques and basics, scales, chords, and reading music. This book was written for those learning to play the piano, though many of the concepts gone over here can be applied to musicians of all types. The piano has been around for many years. Some of the most well-known music throughout the world has been created by musical masterminds that were able to turn the piano and the music they created into a work of art. While we can’t promise that you will be able to do this by the time you are done with this guidebook, we do promise that with some practice and hard work, you will be able to play some basic songs. You can then take those skills and keep working hard to become a professional in no time. The piano is one of the best instruments to learn how to use. With all the keys, tones, and chords that you can play, there are already hundreds of thousands of songs that you can play. And as you progress and gain more experience, you will be able to create some of your own songs as well! The piano is arguably the most difficult instrument in the world, and it is known for having great utility for composers and music theorists—thus allowing these experts to visualize harmonic and melodic concepts better that could otherwise not be grasped. The piano’s importance goes beyond this, though, as it serves as the centerpiece of much of the Western musical tradition. Thank you again for purchasing this book! Let’s hope it is filled with as much useful information to you as possible.

Chapter 1: Why Should I Learn to Play the Piano? Many people would agree that learning how to play the piano can be one of the most beautiful and sophisticated talents that you can work with. There are a ton of great names out there that may inspire you to play the piano such as Dennis DeYoung, Elton John, Jim Brickman, Paul McCartney, Carole King, and more. It is pretty common for people to start out with some piano lessons on a casual basis, and then find that it is such a wonderful instrument to learn to work with, that they fall in love with classical piano music. As you progress with your skills, you may find that you are willing to try out new melodies, and mastering them can be a delight. From Brahms to Schubert to Bach, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn, you are sure to find that some of the greats are the reason that you start with, and fall in love with, this instrument. Playing the piano can bring a lot of benefits to your life. First, the therapeutic effects that come with the music can really help to relax you and chase the stress away. Every time that you start to feel a bit upset or frustrated in life, sit down and play some nice calming music, and see the difference. In fact, many of those who play the piano on a regular basis will claim that it helps them to remain calm and collected and experience less anxiety. If you start out with the piano, you may find that it will help you cultivate a certain sense of discipline in your life. Anyone who is struggling right now with focus and concentration should consider learning even the most basic chords that come with the piano to help them. This focus is going to translate over to some of the other areas of your life, and can really help you to see some great results. Unlike what you see with vocal music, piano learning is easier in terms of melodies, tones, and pitch. You are able to play the piano, without having to worry about losing your own tune. All that you need is a good knowledge of the different parts of the song, and a well-maintained piano to help you out. As someone who may be new to the world of piano, looking at the big keyboard can seem confusing. There are so many notes that you need to worry about that it seems like an impossible task. But with the help of this guidebook, and a

positive thought process before you even decide to begin, you will find that working with the piano can be fun, easy, and well worth your time. Just think of all the people you will be able to impress when you can sit down and play some great songs on the piano! Tips to Give You a Head Start When Learning the Piano Before you try to jump into learning how to play the piano, it is important to make sure that you are prepared with a few tips. These include: 1. Start your practices with some true conviction. If you aren’t passionate about playing these songs, then you are going to run into trouble. You have to have a good amount of interest in the piano, and your heart should feel some love for the piano. Otherwise, you will decide to stop after the basics. 2. Find some music that you like: One of the best ways to ensure that you get good at the piano is to practice music that you actually like. If you are always playing the music that others want to hear or music that you have no interest in, then you will get bored with this process quickly. 3. Don’t wait to get started: There is never a right time to start on the piano. Start right now and see the difference it makes after a few months. 4. Pick out a good piano. You can technically learn how to play the piano on a keyboard if you would like. But if you want to get the best playing experience, then you need to have an upgrade to that piano. 5. Have a good place to practice. Find a place where you will be able to spend some time practicing the piano, without a lot of interruptions. If you can find a room with some good acoustics so you can really hear the beautiful music, this is even better. Learning how to play the piano is not too difficult. In fact, the hardest part is learning how to read the music so you know which keys to push, and when to do it. This guidebook is going to take some time to explore exactly how you can do that. We will look at how to read music, how to do scales and chords, and more, so that by the end, as long as you have everything else set up right and can use the tools and tricks that we talked about above, you will be able to play some of

your first songs! With these tips in mind, let’s jump right in and start learning more about how to play the piano.

Chapter 2: The Terminology That You Need to Know There are actually a lot of different terms that you need to know in order to help you do well with your piano playing experience. Some of these may be completely new to you if you have never taken the time to work with music or learn a musical instrument in the past. Some of the terminologies that you need to know before starting on the piano includes: Adagio: This means that you should play the notes slowly. Accelerando: This means that you need to increase the pace of the music, but do so as a kind of progression. Andante: This one means that you should play the music moderately slow. Allegro: This tempo is going to be kind of fast, but has a cheerful appeal to it. A tempo: This is when you need to go back to the original tempo after a little change. Chord: This is when you will play at least three notes, but sometimes more, at the same time. Beat: This is going to be a unit of time that is expressed in the music. For example, if you are doing a tap of 1, 2, 3, 4, then this can be known as beats as well. Crescendo: This is when you move through one of the passages, and as you go through it, you start to get louder. Coda: This is where you have an end that seems to be different from the ending that you saw in the other verses of that same musical piece. Semitone: This is one you move one-half step from one key to the adjacent one. Genre: This is going to be a musical category or any category from creative work that you use. Glissando: This is when you will use your thumb to slide over the keys and you do this at a rapid pace. Forte: This is when the presentation of the music is loud and forceful. Fortissimo: This is when you will press down on the keys in a way that makes the music really loud. Ensemble: This is going to be any type of group that is musical. It can be

a classical music group or a band. Diminuendo: This is when you start to slowly get softer during the piece. Dolce: This is when you should play very sweetly. Melody: This is going to be the tune, or the theme, that you would use with the music when singing. There are often going to be a sequence of single tones that will be used during this time. Harmony: This is when a few tones are going to be played together below the melody to add in some more beauty and interest to that musical piece. This harmony is responsible for the mood of the song. Rhythm: This is going to be the length or the duration of the tone in a piece. This is going to help determine the flow of the piece as you play. Dynamics: This is going to be the volume that you use to play that musical section. The Layout of the Piano When you take a look at the keyboard of a piano, it may seem a bit confusing at first. There are white keys and black keys, but how do you know how each one works, and which one goes to each note. The notes are going to correspond to the different keys, so you need to learn how to label these properly before you can play. When you look at the keyboard, it may be confusing, but consider the chart below.

This helps you to see what each key is meant to be in terms of letters, as well as how they each will look on a score of music. The middle C is where you will place your thumb on the right hand to help you with the orientation of the fingers. From here, you just need to remember the first note so that you can find the rest. Finding that first C is the best way to go because you can just go up the alphabet from there to G to get to the right spot. Even though each piano could come with a different number of keys, the series of notes will stay the same, going from A to G and then restarting again as it shows in the diagram above. From there, we know what the white keys are all about, it is time to move on to the meaning of the black keys. These are going to denote the sharps and the flats of the keyboard. We will explore that in a moment, but here is a general idea of which notes are on the black keys:

To start here, the sharp key is going to be the one that goes adjacent right side of the white key. So if you want an “A” sharp (which is denoted with the # sign), you would go to the right side of the A and then push that black key. Then the flat key is going to be opposite and will be found right next to the white key on the left side. So if you wanted an A flat (which is denoted by the b), you would go to the left. The reason that the sharp key goes by that name is that it is able to offer a semitone that is higher than what the previous white key. This is why it is known as a semitone or a half step higher. But the flat key is going to be a bit lower, one semitone to be exact. This means that the black keys can be sharp or flat, depending on which note they are being played for.

If you go through and experiment a bit, and look over the different sounds of the sharp and flat tones of a key, the chart above will make a little bit more sense to use. What are the Enharmonic Equivalents With the charts that we looked at above, you have seen keys that had two names with them. These keys are going to have two notes and they are meant to work together as the enharmonic equivalents of each other. This means that the Bd and the C# will be the enharmonic equivalents of each other. This is true with all of the black keys. This basically means that they are going to make the same sound. The black key for C# and Db will sound the same, no matter which one you decide to call it. Often, it will depend on what works the best in the song and what the composer is trying to do with their work.

Chapter 3: Easy Finger Exercises for Playing the Piano Playing the piano is going to require some strong fingers. You will need to push a lot of keys to get the notes to play the way that you would like, and this can exhaust them quickly. Whether you are playing fast or slow, you will need to make sure that you have fingers that are limber and ready to go. This chapter is going to explore some of the finger exercises that you can do to help loosen up the fingers and ensure that you are ready to play some amazing musical pieces on the piano. Fist flexes These are like the big brother when it comes to stretching out the fingers. For this one, you will want to form your hands into some loose fists. The fingers need to be wrapped around the thumb at this time. Hold this for 30 seconds, and then you can stretch the fingers out so they are straight and stretched out. Repeat this ten times on each hand. Squeeze a stress ball This is one of the best-known finger exercises that you can do to get yourself ready for playing. This one can also release some of the tension that may have built up in your hands throughout the day so that they can flow freely over the piano. If you don’t have your own stress ball, then work with another small ball, such as a tennis ball. When you are ready to get started with this exercise, you can take the ball and squeeze it as tight as you can. Hold this for about 30 seconds. This is going to seem more tiring than it sounds, but after the 30 seconds, release the ball and let your fingers rest for 15 seconds. Repeat this ten times before playing. Give the fingers a lift For this one, you will need to place the hand with the palms down on a table, or some other flat surface. When you are ready, you can start out with the index

finger, and lift each one as high as it will go. Hold each finger up for about five seconds before putting it back down. The trick to remember here is that the palm, as well as all of the other fingers, needs to lie down on the table flat during this time. You can move on to each finger, giving each one its own turn, and then move on to the next hand. When you have gone through all of the fingers on both hands, that is one repetition. You can repeat this exercise, reversing the order that you used the fingers, doing it for ten repetitions. Thumb Touch For this one, you will need to bend the thumb and the forefinger until you can get the tips to come together and create a nice O shape, and make the Ok sign here. You can hold this together for 30 seconds and then repeat this with each of your fingers. Continue this until each of the fingers, on both of your hands, has been able to do this at least five times. The Thumb Curve Here is another one that you are able to work with if you want to get your thumb all nice and limber. You can hold the hand with the palm up. Stretch your fingers out and then bend in the thumb so that it is able to meet up with the base of the pinkie finger. Then, you need to press in as hard as you can. Release this and then repeat. Touch the bottom of each finger in turn. The first few times that you do this, you may find that this exercise can cause some kind of cramping. So, to start, you need to make sure you take it slowly. If there is ever any pain that comes with this, you should release the pressure a bit. As you do this more and more, you will notice that there are more strength and flexibility, which will help you to do better with playing the piano. Tap and Push This is another one if your hands need some more strength and flexibility. You can start this one with your hand together, letting the fingertips touch and have the palms together. Think about how it looks when you pray, and put your hands up like that.

When you are ready, tap the tips of the thumbs together two times. Then push the right thumb forward to the right, using the left thumb and then vice versa. Do the same with all of your fingers, and then repeat this at least six times to finish up. The Fingertip Press Another version that you can work with from the one above is the fingertip press. You can start off with the same praying position as you did before. When you are ready, you can move your palms so they are apart, bend the fingers, and then imagine that there is an invisible ball between them. Then move the fingertips upward to press them together. Increase this pressure until the fingers start to straighten out. Once you have been able to do a few of these exercises, it is time to sit down at the piano and get started playing. This will help you to get the results that you want quickly and can make it easier to really work well with the songs that you want to play. You can even take the time to play a few scales to help limber the fingers up a bit more if needed.

Chapter 4: The Basics of Keys and Scales The whole experience that comes with a musical piece is going to depend on the keys and scales that you choose to use and each of these can either be minor or major. Understanding how these keys and scales work will really make a big difference in the kind of music that you are going to create. The first thing that you will need to understand when you get started as a beginner is your scales and your arpeggios. The way that you should begin with all of your practices is to explore some of the different scales that are available. This helps your fingers to become more agile and ready to go. You can also add in some chords to this, which will improve your playing technique and make your fingers stronger. Scales are going to be the building blocks that can create the foundation of keys, harmony, and the creation of good music. Before we go into the keys and scales, we need to have a look at some of the terms that are important to know here. These include: 1. Key: This is going to be the relationship that is present between more than one tone. The name that you will give a key will depend on the central tone. The harmony section will operate around this key. 2. Major and minor: These are known as the two modes of your collection of tones, keys, and scales. The major is going to be more light, positive, and happy. When you are playing in minor tones, they are going to seem sad and serious, as well as dark. 3. Scale: The scale is going to be a collection of various tones. They are playable going up from the bottom or down from the top. You will have somewhere between eight to twelve notes in a scale. 4. Half step or semitone/whole step or whole tone: This is going to be the distance that you will find between the two keys on the piano or the tones that you are playing. A half step is going to mean that you will move from one key on the keyboard up to the next one. But a whole step means that you will need to take two of those half steps. You will skip over the key and reach for the one that is after that. 5. Octave: This is going to be a term that you see in scales often. It is going to involve the same two tones at a distance of eight whole steps. When

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you are working on an octave, the tones have the same name. But the sound of one is going to be higher than where you started. If you take the time to play both of these two tones together, it means that you are doing what is known as an octave sound. This term can be used to help define the scales that you are doing, such as one octave or two octaves. Scale degree: When you are working on a scale, the tones are going to be divided up into numbers that go from one to seven. Then the eighth tone is the octave, which is going to be kept out of this numbering process. Tonic: When you hear about tonic on the piano, this is going to be the first tone that shows up in a sale. It is going to be expressed as the number one as its scale degree. This can be called the keynote in some instances of the scale. The tonic is going to be the part that defines the scale that you are working with. So, if you are working with a C major scale, this means that the tonic is C. If you are working with a G minor scale, your tonic will be G. Dominant: When we are looking for the dominant note, this is going to be the fifth note that shows up on the scale. It is going to give the scale a degree of five. This note also holds some importance to the scale. Major scale: Any scale is going to include a set of patterns that have whole and half steps. If this scale does include all of the major keynotes, then it is going to be called a major scale. You are able to play these scales going from top to bottom, and then bottom to top. There are actually twelve major scales that beginners can learn how to use. Minor scales: A minor scale is going to include any of the key tones that are minor. These are the same as the major in that you can go up and down both directions. You will have twelve notes that can come in one of these minor scales including variations like the natural minor, the harmonic minor, and the melodic minor. Chord: When there are three or more tones that get played together at the same time, this is going to be known as a chord. Chromatic scale: If the scale that you are working with only has half steps in it, then this is something known as a chromatic scale. Triad: This is often the chord type that is used the most in piano playing. A chord that has three notes is known as a triad. These will include an arrangement that has whole steps and half steps. Chord progression. When you play some chords in a series, then you are playing what is known as a chord progression.

Many of the songs that we talk about as we go through this guidebook will

include scales, and it is important to know how to make this work. If you can play a few basic scales (we have the C scale in a later chapter that you can practice), it can help to loosen up your fingers to get ready for playing and gets you more familiar with the keyboard.

Chapter 5: More Basics of the Piano You Need to Know Without a working knowledge of piano technique, we are bound to pick up faulty practice methods. It is only with some rounded concept of what we need to do at the piano that we can establish better practicing. Inherent finger dexterity is not what separates virtuoso pianists from the crowd—it is only the establishment and maintenance of proper technique that does this. The technique is more a product of neurological development than of any finger strength. A technique is important in the sense that it serves as the basis of a skill that can enable the player to play any number of things. It is the one skill to which all others are subordinate. In order to develop better technique, two basic components are needed: the discovering of how the hands, arms, and fingers are to be moved and the conditioning of the nerves, brain, and muscles to meet these needs with ease and control. Learning the piano is not just a matter of finger calisthenics. It is a means of improving the brain instead. Developing this skill improves your memory in the long run, leads to greater success in school, and a greater ability to cope with everyday problems. These memory benefits are the main reason why it is so important to include memorization within the scope of the technical exercise. The only way to practice is to practice musically. Without doing so, a player becomes much more likely to make mistakes when others are watching him or her — mistakes which did not present themselves beforehand. All too many students let the music written down take control of the performance and end up giving lackluster interpretations as a result. In order to truly make music, the student needs to put his or her mind in the driver’s seat and not let the piece fall flat—expecting it to do everything by itself. It is through softer notes that musical phrases usually begin then culminate. Not only this, but a piece of music typically begins and ends on the same chord, observing a rule of common chord progressions. For this reason, it is necessary to know the rules of chord progressions for developing the proper technique. In order to interpret a piece of music well, it is necessary to know all of its

constituent components. As we all know, exposure to classical music is more beneficial earlier in life than later. It is classical music that is best for listening in children because classical contains the most musical content (the most complexity and variety) of all musical genres. Most other genres detract from musical development as a result of the simplicity and narrowness of their musical structures. Is it important to work with chords? When we are looking at music, we will see chords. These are going to be a series that has at least two harmonic pitches that sound together at the same time. You may find that these chords are going to be found in music that is Oceanic, West African, and the Western world, but it is often excluded from other forms of music, so it kind of depends on what you decide to play if you will see a lot of these chords or not. When you are listening to music that is considered Western, a triad is going to be one of the simplest classifications of these chords. This name is given to the chords because it is going to consist of three notes and these are usually the tonic, and then the intervals that come in at third and fifth. Of course, this is not the only chord that you will find. You may find things like the extended chord, tone clusters, and tone chords, which are sounds that you may find in jazz and modern classical music. A chord progression is an ordered series of chords, which usually starts and ends on the tonic chord. The key feature of most Western chord progressions, and especially of those within the classical and Baroque periods, is the relationship between the tonic and dominant chords. This relationship is the starting-off point for much of the Western musical tradition. The most commonly used method of expressing and analyzing chords within a progression is to label each respective chord using a Roman numeral. This allows the chords to be analyzed without being confounded with intervals within a scale. Chords can be found in what is known as inversions in addition to their original root positions. Any chord within a scale can be inverted to begin on their third or fifth intervals, or even on any added pitches beyond these. When the lowest note within a chord is also its tonic, the chord is said to be in root position, and all of

the other scale degrees within the chord are placed above the root of the chord. This chord receives no special symbol when rendered in an analysis—only it’s the Roman numeral indicating its relative position to the tonic of the scale. For instance, a G chord within a C major scale would be expressed by a V in Roman numerals, with no special characters circumjacent to the V. There are a few options that you will encounter when working with these inversion chords. The first inversion chords are the ones that have the second note that falls into the root inversions at their base, and usually, this is the third one. If you see a Roman numeral that has a 6 right by it, this indicates that you are working with an interval that has a sixth that occurs between the third and this is what your chord is going to be based on. An example of this would be when you have a chord that is found in the F major key. To show this one, you would have it written out as the IV6 chord. Then you can move on and work with the chords that are the second inversion. This is when the chord will have a third note inside the root inversion as the base, and the base is going to be the fifth note in most cases. The Roman numeral that you can use to denote this will be listed out with 6/4 beside them, so with the example above, you may see something like Vi6/4. And to finish off, there can be chords that are known as the third inversion. These are a bit different because they are going to have the fourth notes inside the inversion as the base of them, and this is usually the seventh. These chords will be shown by having a kind of interval between the tones, and then the Roman numeral will be there as well. There are four basic classifications of chords that you are able to work with. These include the diminished chords, the augmented chords, the minor chords, and the major chords. In addition to these basic types of chord, there are also extended chords such as seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords. As for the seventh chords, there is what we refer to as the major sevenths, the minor sevenths, the dominant sevenths, and the altered sevenths, such as seventh chords with flat or sharp fifths and so on. These are most likely the most popular chords of all these types. J.S Bach was the composer who initially popularized these chords, not within his lifetime, but by proxy through the composers who followed in his footsteps.

Then there are ninth chords. These are merely seventh chords of each and every type with the ninth scale degree (natural, sharp, or flat) added to them. Between the options of alteration of the seventh and ninth scale degrees, lots of avenues of interesting harmonic exploration open themselves up. These chords served as the foundations of the idioms of many of the major composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, notably Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Richard Strauss. Eleventh chords are ninth chords with elevenths (again, natural, sharp, or flat) added to them. Even more interesting, harmonic possibilities present themselves when experimenting with eleventh chords, which many modern composers of the 20th century did, namely Bela Bartok and Arnold Schoenberg. Other things to consider when playing Now, we need to go over finger positions. Place your hands on a flat surface now, with your fingers relaxed outward and your wrists parallel to your knuckles. In here, your hand must be clenched in the way that a dome-shaped figure could be achieved. Every finger of yours must slightly exhibit a curl, and everyone except your thumbs must have their tips in direct contact with the surface. The thumbs should have only the sides of their tips on the surface. It is this curled position that will most often be used when playing the piano, though slight variations should be made when the music calls for them. This configuration of the thumbs keeps them mostly in line with the other fingers, and it also allows them flexibility for extensions in the cases of octaves and intervals beyond. Typically, the bench should be slightly lower than the keyboard. The fingers should be situated almost parallel with the keys, so the bench should be adjusted to meet this need. The elbows should be bent slightly below the fingers, almost parallel with the keyboard itself. Finally, the bench should be placed a good distance away from the piano. No part of the legs should be resting on the bench so that the student will have the flexibility needed for leaning side to side when seated at the piano. Now, at some point, you will come across passages that are harder to do than others. These passages may be at a faster speed. Or they may have a lot of

chords where you need to play three or four notes on each hand at a time. If you start to see a bunch of notes grouped together, then this is a sign that you need to slow down and practice them individually first, to ensure that you are set to go. As far as learning difficult passages are concerned, learning in smaller segments and repeatedly drilling the material is a very useful technique for curtailing mistakes in the future. This process of drilling consists of playing a certain passage over and over again until it has been committed to muscle memory. This requires a level of patience that most students simply never develop, so those who do so are put at a great advantage. Focusing only on short sections allows the student to master the sound of the section. Ignoring the multiplicity of other musical tasks within the work, he or she has time and energy to devote to the perfection of one passage. Using quick repetitions of the same motions allows the student to learn these hand exercises with much more efficiency. Playing difficult sections with more speed than you have is detrimental to the technique, but editing these sections into their smaller constituents allows the student to practice the material with much more speed than he or she could otherwise. Practicing with the hands separated is one of the most effective methods of learning passages of great difficulty. This allows your mind to focus much more in-depth on the happenings of one hand, rather than becoming overwhelmed trying to account for the directives given to both hands. After the passage has been learned in one hand, it is possible to combine both with more ease than they could have been played with at once. This method also allows for more clarity and precision than practice with hands together. With the added isolation of the parts, it becomes easier to take note of mistakes and misgivings in the execution of these parts. This attention paid to all of the parts of the whole is one of the main things that separates professional from amateur musicians. The continuity rule tells us that we should always attach the beginning of the following segment to the end of the segment that we are working on. With this rule, the student can more easily play two or more adjacent segments following one another. The overlapping group of notes between two sections within a piece of music is known as a conjunction, and often, these conjunctions are skimmed over by students, and the sections that they combine are never easily connected

as a result. Many students do not have any concept of what it is to play with no tension in the arms or fingers. Here, the gravity drop method proves to be useful. This method entails lifting the hands around 15 to 20 cm above the keyboard and simply letting them drop. Upon the keys, it is the arm weight only that should be depressing them. When there is tension in the arms, it affects the pressing down of these keys, so we need to make sure that no force is working on this body part other than that of gravity. When dropping the arm down to the keys, relax the wrists so that they absorb their natural proportion of the force of the fall. The arms and wrists should be limp, and the fingers should only maintain enough tension to support themselves under the weight of the fall.

Chapter 6: What is the Tempo of the Music? When you are playing any musical instrument, you need to learn how to keep the tempo. This will ensure that you are making each note last long or short enough that it makes sense in the song. Each song is going to have a different tempo, but for most beginner songs, the tempo is simply going to be 4/4 time. This means that if you tapped out your foot once for each second, you would put a note on each of those taps. This can be changed depending on the song and how fast it can go, and some of the notes will be modified so that a few of them fit into each beat. But before we get too far into how all of this works, let’s explore a bit more about what the tempo means, how you can follow it, and why it is so important. You must learn a bit about tempo in order to play almost any instrument, including the piano. Like heartbeats, the beats of music are going to be measured in beats per minute. There will be a certain number of beats that occur in music each minute. When a composer writes out a song and tells the player how many musical beats are meant to pour over a specific amount of time in the song, it is important to follow it. This allows you to play the song the right way and ensures that your music actually sounds good. The best way to start out with the tempo is to look at a watch or the clock. Then go ahead and tap your foot down once every second. If you are tapping beats, this means that the beats are one per second. This is a good pace for a beginner to get used to because it is what a lot of their songs and music will be based from, and even if the music goes faster, it may still follow this kind of tempo. Once you have gotten the hang of the beats per minute, let’s see how it is like to speed it up. Try to tap your foot two times in each second, going at a nice steady beat along the way. Now, try to slow this down and do a beat every two seconds. This is basically the tempo that you will use when you are playing the piano; you just need to learn how to read the music to know which tempo is needed! How fast or how slow you end up tapping is going to be the tempo. Composers

are going to work with a tempo indication, as well as a metronome marking, to let you know how fast or slow they want the beat to be with their song. The tempo indication, which is going to be shown above the treble staff when you first start the song, will be a word or two that will help describe the beat. It is usually something like moderately fast, slow, and fast. Some of the words that you can look for on the song to see how fast the music needs to go include: 1. Largo: this is very slow and broad 2. Adagio: this is slowly 3. Andante: this is moderate, like a nice walking pace. 4. Allegro: This is lively and fast 5. Vivace: This is lively and brisk. It is going to be faster than the allegro above. 6. Presto: This is basically as fast as you can go, or very fast. As a beginner, you may want to consider working with a metronome or metronome app. This can be set to be the beats that you want or the tempo, and you can adjust it based on the speed that the song needs to be. This can take some of the pressure off of trying to think about the pace while you are learning a new song. Time Signatures in Music Another thing that we need to look at in terms of the tempo is the time signature. This tells you the meter of the piece that you are playing. The composer, when they make the song, will need to decide how many beats go in a measure, and then they will show the player this information with the help of a time signature. There are going to be two numbers that show up in the time signature. These are going to tell you the number of beats that are in each measure of the music. A piece of time signature that goes on 4/4, which is one of the most common, is going to have four quarter notes in each beat. A measure that has ¾ will have three quarter note beats, and then each measure that is at 2/4 is going to be two quarter note beats. Remember though that a time signature that has 4/4 doesn’t always have just four quarter notes in it, though this is possible. This signature means that there are four beats present. There could be one whole note, two half notes, and even eight eighth notes. But when all of their values are put together, this means that

the beats need to equal four. The first-time signature that you are likely to see because it is the most common, is the 4/4 meter. This is called common time in many instances. In this kind of signature, it is going to tell you that all the measures in the song, unless there is another indicator somewhere, will be four quarter note beats. So, to count out this type of meter, you would tap for each second, and each of these taps would be for one-quarter note. Then there is the waltz time which is the ¾ meter. This one is going to focus on measuring out three of those quarter beats rather than four like above. This can be any kind of note, but they have to equal the three-quarter beats. With this kind of meter, the first beat is considered the downbeat and then the other two will be upbeats. However, sometimes, there are accents added to those final two beats to make them unique, like what you may find in some country songs. Now, there is also the march time, which is the 2/4 meter. This one is exactly half of the 4/4 time from above and you will only get two-quarter notes in each measure. This is the thing that you are likely to find with some of the most famous marches out there. The rhythm is going to be similar to the rhythm that you hear when you are marching along. Another type of meter or time signature that you will need to pay attention to is 6/8 time. This one is a bit different. This one is not going to be based on the quarter notes like the other options above. Instead, it is going to be a meter or a whole song, that is based on eighth notes instead. When you are doing this, it is going to be a grouping where there are six eighth notes in each measure. Similar to the waltz that we talked about above, these meters are going to be grouped together in threes, but then, there will be two groups. This pattern will have an added down upbeat patterns when you get to the first note that is in each group, so beats one and beats four. Figuring out the tempo or the time signature of the song you want to work with doesn’t have to be difficult. It is going to be right at the front of the music sheet, by the treble or bass sign. You will also find that, sometimes, in the middle of the song, the composer will decide to change the speed up a little bit. If it happens, then another time signature will show up later on. Maintain that new time signature until the composer changes it back, or until the end. An example of

how this time signature is going to look includes:

These are just a few of the different types of time signatures that you will see, which are meant to ensure that you understand how fast or slow, or the tempo, of a song and how you can make sure that you play the song going the right speed. Once you are able to figure out the tempo and get it all set up, it is much easier to play the songs that you want and to get them to sound great.

Chapter 7: Reading the Music Being able to read music is so important when you are ready to learn how to play the piano. There are many notes, chords, and more that you need to explore in order to see results, and this chapter is going to take some time to read through them all. The Staff

The first thing that we are going to take a look at is the staff. It looks like the diagram above and it is going to contain five lines with four spaces for the notes to go. Each of these lines and spaces will have a character that goes with it. This is basically going to be the notes that you work with. Accidentals are always going to be drawn on the space or the line that these notes that derived from. Notes A to G are going to be shown alphabetically and they will progress as they go up through the staff. There are also to kinds of clefs that you need to work with to make your music sore. The two main ones in piano are going to be the bass clef and the treble clef. This is the one that you will play using your right hand, and it is the first clef that you are going to be interested in learning as a beginner. An example of what the treble clef will look like is below:

From there, you can also work with the Bass clef. This one is set-up similarly, but these notes are the ones that you will play with your left hand. Many beginners start out on just the treble clef so that they can get familiar with the playing, and then, as time goes on, they are able to add in the left hand and play them together. The way that the Bass clef is going to look is like the following:

The notes are going to be the symbols that are placed on the clefs, and these will be used to help you know what needs to be played, and how long you need to play them for. There are three components that you are going to find with any note that you see. These include the note head, the flag, and the stem. When looking at the note head, it is either going to have a white enter, which means you hold the note for a bit longer, or black, which means that the note just gets one beat with it. And where the note head is placed in the music will tell you where you should play it. Then we move on to the note stem. This is going to be the line that will get connected to the note, and it goes perpendicular to the lines of the staff. Depending on which note it is, this stem can either go up or down from the note head. Typically, when the note is written on the third line or lower, then this stem will go up. But those that are above this line will go down.

From there, we need to look at the note flag, which will connect to the stem. This will help you to figure out how long the note should be held. The more flags that are on the stem, the less time that you will hold the note for. The way that the note is filled in is going to make a difference in how long you will hold onto that note. When the note is closed, it gets one beat. If it opens but with the stem, it will get two beats. And if it is just the note with no stem or flag, then it will get four beats. The diagram below will help to show how this will look on your music sheet.

There are other methods that you can use in order to extend out the length of your notes. These include the ties and the dots. If you place a dot beside your note, it will be on the right. It is going to add half the original value of the note. So, if you are using a quarter note with a dot, you will hold on for just a bit longer than the one beat. If it is a half note, then you would hold on for three beats, and so on. You can work with a tie as well. This will help you to hold onto the note until the tie ends. This is a good one to use if you are working on notes that are longer than four counts, and you don’t want the person to hit the key again.

Another option if you would like to shorten the length of the note and make the music go faster is to add in beams or flags. The more of these that are added onto the stem of your note, the shorter the duration of that note. The flags are used when you are working with a smaller number of notes that needs to go fast, and then the beam is when there are more notes of a certain value. Some examples of how this would look like in any sheet music that you are working with are the following:

The C Scale The final thing that we need to take a look at here is known as the C scale. This

is the one that you will follow the most often, so it is important to know how to use it in the proper way. It is also one of the easiest for you to learn because it will just include the white keys and can be done with one hand. Take a look at the scale and notice where the notes are, the 4/4 time (we talked about the tempo before) and that this is in the treble class. The charts below will show how the C scale will look on the piece of music that you play, and how it will look when you put your fingers on the keyboard.



Now that you have had a chance to see what some of the notes look like here and what the differences in sizes, the flags, whether they are filled or not, and more, you will be able to put all of this together and play some music. The next chapter will take some of the information and skills that we have learned in this guidebook, and will help you to put them to good use by playing some songs!

Chapter 8: Putting It All Together with Some Songs to Practice Now that we have spent some time looking at the basics of playing the piano, it is time to actually play a few songs! This is a great way to enhance the skills that you have and to ensure that you are able to have some fun and actually play some of the notes and keys on the piano. The first song that we are going to take a look at is Mary Had a Little Lamb! To start this one, go through and clap out the song, giving each note the number of beats that is written below. Once you have the tempo down, it is time to move on and play the notes, going with the same tempo that you just clapped out.



Start When you have the beat down, here is the sheet music to help you play Mary Had a Little Lamb.



The next song that we are going to take a look at is Frere Jacques. This is another great song that will add in some faster beats to the mix as well but still keeps you with just using the right hand for now. If you need, clap out the beat ahead of time to help you be comfortable with how this one works.

The next song is going to be Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This sheet music will have notes and chords that you can play with both hands if you choose. But if you are still practicing and not comfortable with using both right now, just play with the right hand to get the hang of it.



And finally, the third song that we are going to look at is the Happy Birthday song. This one will help you when any friends or family want you to show them what you have learned. And it is a hit at many parties since it is a tune that most people know well! The notes that you can play for this one include:

Other songs for practice

Jingle Bells

Petite Chanson

Conclusion Thank you for making it to the end of Piano and Keyboard for Beginners: A Complete Guide for Absolute Beginners — Learn How to Play Famous Piano Songs and Read Music, Theory, and Techniques. Let’s hope this book was as informative as possible. Above all, the purpose of this book is to teach piano techniques. Without a working knowledge of a piano technique, we are bound to pick up faulty practice methods. It is only with some rounded concept of what we need to do at the piano that we can establish better practicing. Inherent finger dexterity is not what separates virtuoso pianists from the crowd—it is only the establishment and maintenance of proper technique that does this. A technique is more a product of neurological development than of any finger strength. A technique is important in the sense that it serves as the basis of a skill that can enable the player to play any number of things. It is the one skill to which all others are subordinate. In order to develop better technique, two basic components are needed: discovering the way to move your body parts and conditioning your brain, muscles, and nerves to meet these needs with ease and control. Hopefully, this concept, as well as all the others within this book, was gone over thoroughly enough. Your next steps to take now would be to apply what you have learned here and to seek out other resources on this subject to further your understanding of the instrument. There is never a shortage of things to learn about this subject, so do continue to expand your musical horizons on it.

Other Books How to Play the Harmonica A Complete Guide for Beginners Chromatic and Diatonic Harmonica The harmonica is an easy to play instrument. It is life-long skill that has enjoyed acceptance by some of the most renowned musicians in the world. It also an instrument played at family gatherings, community events as well as in blues and jazz clubs. Research has shown that learning to play a musical instrument has tremendous benefits for a person’s mental, emotional and physical health. The harmonica is especially helpful in strengthening breathing. But, mostly, playing the harmonica is fun and rewarding. Whether you are a beginner or someone who is looking to learn something new, picking up a harmonica is a great way to broaden your musical knowledge. If you have been looking for a great way to break into the wonderful world of this instrument then How To Play The Harmonica: A Complete Guide for Beginners is the book you have been waiting for. Written in an easy to understand style, the book provides interesting facts about the harmonica, a list of important terms, the parts of the harmonica and other information. It also provides practice exercises, suggested tunes and instruction on many of the basic and advanced fundamentals. From this book, the reader will learn: The influence of the harmonica on all music genres A primer on harmonica jargon How to choose the harmonica The differences between a chromatic harmonica and diatonic harmonica The basic how-to needed to play a harmonica, including the proper hand position, mouth position and breathing techniques The location of music notes on the chromatic and diatonic harmonicas Advanced techniques to manipulate notes and improvise a musical selection

Creating riffs and licks Note tabulation to play a variety of popular tunes Tips and suggestions on how to make the most of a musical practice session And more…