Learning Piano Advice Wanted

SimonT

Member
Hi All!

To all piano players here. I have off and on tried to learn / tinkered around on the piano for years. I still can't play lol!

Well I can a bit but not really.

So when you're doing the scales, starting with the C major scale, how does this enable you to eventually play chords? Someone said just practice the songs you like and forget scales. What does scales teach you?

Also my hands feel really rigid and find doing some chords really difficult. Is this normal for a beginner? My hands aren't thar big really (8.5" handspan) but Elton John does ok. Don't know how big his hands are but he's only about 5'6-ish so they must be around my size I'm guessing. I'm 5'8.

So is it just perseverance? Will things just get easier? I keep practing my C scale for a couple of days and then giving up lol!

One last thing...how important is knowing where all the notes are off by heart. I know that the white key to left of all the 2 black keys is C and the one before it B but is it quite essential for remembering chords etc to know where the other 10 notes are without having to count up or down from C?

Thanks in advance.
 
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news but yes... practice chords and scales as much as you can. Also, you'll definitely need to know all the keys by heart without counting from C but that shouldn't be an issue. As you start to get different chords and scales down, it'll come pretty naturally. Learning how to play simple songs will make the learning process much more enjoyable and you'll be less likely to want to quit. It also gives you some nice practice switching between chords with your left hand and will make your hand movements start to seem less awkward and difficult.
 
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