Questions for Pianists....

Y

yungRC

New member
Did you guys take lessons or did you guys pick the piano up in order to get into Producing?

I can't afford a teacher, so could you guys give me some starting advice and also what I can learn on the internet?

Also tell me proper hand positions?
 
I have never had a lesson. Some people can pick up an instrument and learn it without trouble, then some people can't. You don't necessarily need lessons, but I do encourage that you have someone show you proper technique. If you don't want to pay for lessons, thats cool. There are THOUSANDS of resources on the internet to learn how to play. Youtube alone has plenty of tutorials, and there are plenty of piano fanatics who host sites that will teach you EVERYTHING.
 
I've taken lessons for the past 16 years. Hand technique is very important, because playing with bad technique can lead to serious injury. You don't want your hands to be flat on the keyboard. Instead, have your fingers "curved" a little. Also, don't put stress on any part of the hand, including the wrist. You want the wrist to be loose and relaxed, but to be able have some power as well.

For finger strength, I'd check out finger excercises by Czerny (can't remember if that's how you spell his name) or Hannon. The excercises they wrote are considered standards for beginning pianists. I'd recommend you at least get someone who is an experienced pianist to show you proper hand position. I'd practice finger excercises for at least 15 minutes a day (I did that for about 6 or 7 years) to build up strength in your hands. Also, I'd HIGHLY recommend learning how to read music, if you can't already.
 
I took lessons myself from a young age, and it's good to know the theory if you're producing.
Your wrist should be comfortable enough to move your fingers and hands around, and not slumped over the keys, hold them above.
 
i took lessons when i was in second grade till fourth grade. Then i dropped piano in all until like 1 year ago, where i had to play a piano peice for my band. Now im basically learning how to play on my own again for producing since i am starting to produce. So you can look at it both ways, but i guess taking lessons back then still helped rather than having no lessons
 
I never took lessons, but I would always workout with other piano/keyboard/organ players. Hook up with people you know and pick their brians. Take their info and create your style and feel. Learn your scales. This is an excellent site to learn scales and chords looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/. Make sure you develope your ear, start off by playing with the radio or with cd's. This will help you find the key a song is written, you will be able to learn new chords, and chord progessions and you can pick up bass lines
 
Remember always,
a book wont observe you or correct your mistakes...
 
i aint take lessons. i picked that shyt up one day. Most of the time, i get zooted and molest the keyboard for a while till i get something i like. Not hated on the taught, but ill teach my damn self.
 
A good way to improve your playing skills after you learn the basics is to turn on the radio and go to random channels and play along with the songs. Country, Jazz, Rock, Hip Hop, whatever. It can be a good way to learn the vibe of a song. But it takes a certain level of skill before you do that.

A simpler thing to do is to try and play simple melodies that you know. Like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Jingle Bells" on the keyboard to help you learn the relationship between notes. A lot of it is trial and error.
Reading music theory will help you get better for sure. It's also fun to try and play along to songs on your favorite CD's. You can pause it and play then rewind and play along with it. etc.

"When you play piano, your fingers should be curved almost as if you are holding a tennis ball" That's what my first piano teacher told me. That is one kinds of tip to look for.

I hope something that I've said here is useful to you.
 
im 23 and began keyboard study at age 4. your body is like a machine, all your muscles and movements are affected by posture and mental state. theres so many factors. czerny's school of velocity is standard but i really dont like it, its no different than just playing scales. for pure technique i would check out hanon's virtuoso pianist. easy excercises that go up and down the keyboard and stretch and excercise different parts of your hand. all the tendons that control your hands movement go through the carpal tunnel. u strain that they get swollen and you cant move your hand. so if you follow my advice which is pretty straight up and will give good results:

sit at the piano with your back straight
you dont want to use the strength of your fingers, you want to use the leverage of your whole forearm, gravity is a keyboardists greatest tool.
practice slowly and attentively until u can go faster but no rush, repitiion is the key to sucess
hanon and just playing different scales will improve your hand dexterity in a week guaranteed. i hope this helps.
 
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