With a piano, you only have one type of instrument that you can play...the piano itself. Electronic keyboards allow you to mimic the sounds of dozens of different instruments. Some more expensive models can mimic the sounds of hundreds of instruments and allow your to lay tracks...right on the keyboard!
When you learn how to play the keyboard, you are learning all of those instruments without having to take additional lessons. Sounds can include:
Many types of pianos (grand piano, electronic, etc.) Percussion instruments Organs of all kinds (even harmonica!) Stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello, contrabass) Brass instruments (trumpet, tuba, trombone) All of the Woodwinds (clarinet, flute, saxophone) Sitar Banjo Bag Pipe
The piano sounds that come from a keyboard can include grand piano, electric piano, honky-tonk and many, many more! There may even be special effects available like bird noises, telephone rings and other novelty sounds.
When you learn how to play the keyboard, you'll also get to choose from a variety of background sounds that can accompany your main melody. You can normally choose from one of the following:
Pop Dance Rock Jazz Latin Hip-hop
More advanced keyboard models may have more choices.
Learning play the keyboard is perfect for beginning music students. There are keyboard models that will show you each note that needs to be played next. It is an easy method of learning that guides students into a better understanding of music.
Playing with a keyboard is also more portable than playing a piano. A keyboard, if it is small enough, can go anywhere with you. This makes it easy to practice in different environments. Keyboards are easy to find. While pianos can cost thousands of dollars, you can find a keyboard for as low as in the classified ads.
There are more complex keyboards that cost much, much more. But for a small investment you can decide if playing the keyboard is really right for you. In the future, you can upgrade your keyboard choice to a more featured model.
Learning play the keyboard is one of the easiest and most fun ways to get into music. There are plenty of songs available for the keyboard, and with practice there is no limit to what you can play! You can experiment a lot with the keyboard; and even create your own one-man band, complete with drums, piano, horns, string instruments and possibly even your own voice. Who knows? You may even produce a demo that you could send to a music executive. The possibilities can be endless!
Playing the keyboard is not as difficult as a lot of piano upstarts think. In fact, the piano is the perfect instrument for music beginners, as, unlike other instruments, its layout is straightforward and easy to understand. Plus, in contrast to instruments like the guitar, to play the keyboard doesn't require a lot of unnatural hand contortions -- at least until you get to more advanced pieces, but by then your fingers will be buff.
When learning how to play the keyboard, the basics are quite simple. Looking at the piano, there are two types of keys -- white keys and black keys. As you may already know, the musical scale consists of the letters A through G with some sharps/flats mixed in. The first important fact to learn is that the white keys represent the letters, while the black keys represent the sharps and flats.
Before going any further, you must find your piano's middle C. You will find it in the middle of the keyboard. Most pianos have the name of the company that made them printed above the keyboard. In many cases, the first letter of the name is directly above middle C. If you still can't find the middle C, consult a diagram.
When starting out, you might as well tell yourself that you're not going to touch the black keys for the first few lessons. For now, focus on the white keys, which make up the C major scale.
To play this scale, place your thumb on the middle C, with the rest of your fingers on the next four successive notes -- D, E, F, and G. Essentially, you're going to play eight notes, beginning with middle C, and ending with the C that is one octave higher.
When you play these eight notes in order, you'll notice that it sounds quite familiar. Even though you may not know it, the C major scale is something that you've probably heard hundreds of times in your life, from various sources. If you do it correctly, to play your first scale should feel pretty satisfying. This is partly because the major scale is designed to musically resolve itself in a nice way.
Piano teachers have specific ways that they recommend playing scales. My teacher, for instance, taught me the standard way of playing the C major scale upwards, which was to play the first three notes with my first three fingers, then cross my thumb under and play the rest of the scale with all five fingers. Whether or not you use this particular method is up to you; the important thing is that you find natural ways to play the scales. As your ways of playing will soon be internalized, you want to find the best ways to play the keyboard.
Once you become good at playing the C major scale with your right hand -- both up and down -- it's time to learn the same thing with your left hand. Essentially, the C major scale with your left hand is the mirror image of the one you've already learned; place your thumb on the middle C, and play all the white keys down to the next C, then go back up.
After you learn how to play the C major scale, it's time to learn chords. Soon after that, it will be time to learn some other scales. For now, though, practice the C major scale as many times as it takes to sound smooth and even. It may be boring, but once you get this down, everything else in the future will be a little easier.
Basically, when learning how to play the keyboard, mastering the piano's C major scale is the bridge toward bigger and more ambitious things. So, practice that scale until you can play it in your sleep.
Both Brian Shelton & Duane Shinn are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Brian Shelton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Personal Finance, Real Estate and Sell Home. Claim your free eBook! Get ready to add a new dimensionto your life. Everything you need to learn piano is right here. And new articles are added. Brian Shelton's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.
Duane Shinn has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cars, Music and Keyboard Synthesizer. Duane Shinn is the author of the popular DVD home study course on playing piano titled . Duane Shinn's top article generates over 201000 views. to your Favourites.