Type of Playing
|
The Instrument You Need
|
The Music You Need to Read
|
What it Might Look
Like |
How Long it Might
Take |
PLAYING CHORDS
& IMPROVISING Good for accompanying singers |
You will need a piano or an electronic
keyboard |
You will need to read chord symbols:
C Speaking words of G F wisdom, Let it be. (Chord symbols only) |
|
It will take a few weeks
|
PLAYING THE TUNE (RH) WITH LEFT HAND CHORDS
For solo performance |
You will need an electronic keyboard
with an accompaniment function |
You will need to read right hand notes &
left hand chord symbols |
|
It will only take a few weeks as the keyboard accompaniment function does the tricky left hand work for you
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Other questions that I am regularly asked include -
What is the difference between a piano, digital piano and a keyboard?
Why doesn't my playing seem to be getting any better?
What is the difference between playing solo piano and accompanying?
How do you work out the key signature of a piece of music?
What is an easy way to learn keyboard?
The easiest way to learn how to play keyboard is to learn how to use the instrument's accompaniment feature. The keyboard then does most of the tricky left hand work for you and this minimises hand coordination issues. The FREE course that teaches you how to do this is here.
What is the best way to practice piano/keyboard?
The structure and length of your keyboard practice sessions will vary depending on the skills that you are trying to develop. It is best to practice developing your skills for a shorter amount of time everyday rather than to do a few hours practice once a week.
A simple practice routine might look something like this:
music - or whatever skills you need to develop to reach your next musical goals.
A simple practice routine might look something like this:
- Develop your technical skills (finger strength and nimbleness)
- Develop new skills
music - or whatever skills you need to develop to reach your next musical goals.
- Revisit old skills & music
What is the difference between the grand staff (full notation) and lead sheets?
Grand Staff (full notation) shows the treble and bass clefs, and the notes that need to be payed with your right and left hands. Sometimes chord notation will be included above the treble staff. Grand staff notation is shown below:
Lead sheets contain the melody line (written on the treble staff, to be played with your right hand), chord symbols (written above the treble staff, to be played with your left hand), and lyrics. Lead sheet notation is shown below:
This is the all the information that a keyboardist needs to make an arrangement of a song. Large collections of lead sheets can be found in "Fake Books". There are a multitude of Fake Books currently available. Browse a selection here.
How do I transpose the chords in a song to a different key?
Download Major and Minor Chord Chart transposition conversion here
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How do I play all of the keys without stress?
The answer is by doing a lot of slow practice. Watch Robert Estrin's video explanation here.