Washburn Piano

The most often question I get asked is actually related to age. So many people are worried that they are too old to start (or that they think they are 'tone-deaf'). The answer to this simple question is a resounding NO! It doesn't matter whether you're six or sixty years old. The oldest student I've had was a 64 year old retired lady and she was truly a wonderful student. In fact, age can be an advantage. Why? Because the best piano playing comes from your heart and the older you are, the more experienced you are emotionally. And that transmits through to the fingers believe it or not! And this leads me onto the major benefit of playing the piano (or indeed, any musical instrument you[..]

"I'm losing the left-hand," cried one piano student. "Every time I try to add in my right hand, the left stops" exclaims another. These are common complaints for students who wish to learn hand independence. And for most, this is a big problem. They want to play the piano with both hands playing different parts. But the main reason most piano students have problems with this is because they try to play too fast! Hand independence is one area that takes some time (not too much time) but some time to achieve. And this too depends on how complicated the hands tasks are. START OUT GOING SLOW! For example, in the lesson "Winter Scene" we have a left hand ostinato pattern going while the right[..]

1. Decide what you want and commit to it with the right attitude. Quite simply, you need find out what exactly you really want to achieve. Is it to play songs or pop tunes? Perform with others? Take exams and gain certificates for your own records? The commitment to this will come once you know what you want and it is a MUST for you. Getting your mindset right is probably the single most important thing you will ever do as a beginner. Practicing because you have to (not want to) and just going through the motions will not get you anywhere. This approach nearly always leads to boredom, frustration and eventually giving up. What a shame that would be. 2. Be realistic about what you[..]

If you are someone who wants to learn how to play the piano fast, there are some things you can consider. The internet offers many piano guides in which you will be able to learn how to play. When you can find the right one for you, you will have to practice and organize your time into making it work out nicely for you. Acquire a guide which can easily be followed and can help you every step of the way with its basic principles and concepts. It would not be advisable to skip to a more advanced course. You have to learn the simple basic ways first before the more complex ones and you will see that it would be much better as you would not quit rather easily. In order to learn faster, you[..]

It is not uncommon for professional, or serious, regular pianists to experience various hand injuries over the course of their piano playing days. This is particularly problematic for people who may have small hands, and who play complex works, such as the Rachmaninov Concerto Number 3, and so on. However, this problem is certainly not confined to only classical pianists, or even professionals. These various injuries can affect just about any pianist, casual or professional, from time to time. The most typical injuries include tendonitis, and wrist strain, mostly as a result of either not having sufficient strength built up in their fingers and hands, as well as other playing issues such[..]

How would you like to be able to play what you feel on the piano within 1-hour? Impossible? Not at all. It's all about chords. But not just any chord structure. The chord structure I'm talking about will have you playing the piano with both hands right away. And it won't take hours or days to do it. I'm talking about something called the open position chord, and with it, you'll be able to really create your own music! The trick to all this is how the chord is made. You see, most piano teachers begin their students with triads. And while there is nothing wrong with learning triads, they're a little antiquated. The open position chord is a modern sounding seventh chord that is used today[..]

Have you ever wanted to learn how to play the piano? If you have, then there are some things that you should definitely consider before you take on the ongoing task of learning the basics of the piano. Don't expect to be able to sit down at the piano and begin to play right away as there are a few basics that you must learn first before you can jam out on your favorite tune. You must first learn all of the different keys and chords available on the keyboard. It's simply ridiculous to think that you will know everything at the first sitting. When learning the basics of the piano, you must first decide whether this is truly something that you want to do. Do not make excuses; you will have[..]

You've spent good money on books. Workbooks, lesson books, other books on piano playing. But you still can't play the piano. Why not? Two reasons. One, you lack motivation. That's understandable. After all, most lesson books require you to learn how to read music first, then play other people's music. Pretty uncreative if you ask me. The second reason is you haven't learned how to use chords. Music, real music is created with chords as the foundation. In music there are 3 aspects; rhythm, melody, and harmony. Harmony is created with chords. Chords can give you melody and rhythm. Weird huh? But once you have chords under your eager fingers, you're not far off from making music. Now that[..]

When you are learning and instrument like the piano, there are times where you are just going to get stuck. You can practice what you have always done but will notice that you aren't really improving that much. There are things that you can do that will help you get better at the piano. Start playing new genres that you have never done before. This is important because you will be challenged in ways that you haven't been before with new combinations, chords, and fingering styles. Just play genres you haven't done and you will start to improve yourself. Get into the habit of learning music theory. While at times it can be overbearing and a bit disciplined, it does help. You will start to[..]

When you learn the piano you will have access to an entire paint palette. The sound of the piano keys range from dark purples to bright oranges and yellows. The sound you produce is only limited by your imagination. Sit at the centre of your piano and play a note in the middle. The sound is like the middle of the colour spectrum - like a mid blue. Press 3 adjacent notes down together. This gives a murky, muddy sound. Now play a white key, miss a key and then play the next white key. Play these 2 piano notes together. Notice that the sound is bright and clear. This harmony is like 2 compatible colours, complementing each other. This music interval or distance is called a 3rd. A 3rd can be[..]

Playing by ear is the ability to play a piece of music (or, eventually, learn an instrument) by simply listening to it repeatedly. The majority of self-taught musicians began their education this way; they picked up their instrument and began playing an easy melody from a well-known song, slowly picking out the notes as they went along. And even after these musicians master their instruments or a particular song, playing by ear still plays a large role. Many pop and rock bands don't play or write their songs based on sheet music, they figure the songs out by playing by ear. It's even common among non-musicians. Ever sit down a piano and mindlessly pick out the tune to "Mary Had a Little[..]

Perhaps you want to play so many songs using an instrument. The problem is you are having a hard time doing it since you are using some outdated methods. Why not learn to play a piano using the rocket piano course? You will surely find that you can have fun while learning and discover a great learning style that will help you play virtually any songs you like. Rocket Piano is an affordable and comprehensive learning course for beginners to advanced musicians. It comes with videos, audio files, books and other learning materials that are specially structured for all players. Whether you are just trying to learn how to play the instrument, or you are already an intermediate or advanced[..]

A piano is one of the most sought after musical instrument because of the quality of sound it produces. Not only that, it is also durable when taking properly cared of which you are sure that you are spending money for the right choice. If you are planning to have one, here are some guide and tips which can be of great help to you. Buying online can save effort going to various malls looking for the best one that would fit your musical taste. With a click away, you have in front of you numerous types for you choose from. Know what you wanted so that you will not have a hard time choosing. Consider your desire to learn and play a wonderful music. Playing with a grand piano can result to a[..]

Beginners, just like advanced students, need a routine to keep their piano promises to themselves. But young beginners don't have the perspective or the experience to appreciate this. Help your piano student at home by establishing a routine practice time. Over time this will make sitting down at the piano to practice feel more natural to your young child or your older beginner and make learning easier. To help parents do this with as little friction as possible I've developed a plan called WWW I. It's an acronym that stands for W - When W - Why W - What I - Institute When: When will the piano practice time be? This is a choice. A choice is very powerful motivator, so get your child's[..]

Piano lessons provide a wide range of benefits to young children. Here are my "Top Five." 1. Piano lessons help preserve and develop children's natural creative abilities. The best analogy of how children learn through music that I've found is from Donald Kroodsma's book "The Singing Life of Birds." Every songbird can be identified by the unique song it sings, but a baby bird has to be taught by its parents to sing the family song. Baby birds, like humans, just 'babble' at first. Mother birds sing the family song over and over to the baby birds as they try to repeat it back. At first, the baby birds are only able to sing back one or two notes, but they gradually learn to sing the whole[..]

> Stage Piano - Portable piano at an affordable cost! No matter how much you like an acoustic piano, the fact is that it still remains beyond the reach of a lot of people when it comes to the cost and the space needed to keep it. A stage piano can be a very good alternative in such a case. It has 88 keys, comes with a good piano action and comes at a reasonable cost. You will normally find two sets of people using a Stage Piano — Beginners — Since cost is a major factor, beginners normally go in for a stage piano as it is affordable, has 88 keys, has weighted keyboard action and has some good piano sounds. You need to look for a model which has a good weighted action[..]

The first thing to consider when choosing the instrument you want to learn is which one do you like the best. If you like them all, then we can move onto which one is the most practical for you. The easiest and cheapest option is the keyboard. You can buy a keyboard for less then 100 pounds and you only need to learn to read music for the right hand. The left hand is made easy because you just learn left hand chords as you need them. Typically, you would start with C chord and G chord. With a keyboard, you should be playing a simple tune within a day, it's that easy. The piano is a more expensive option. If you buy a real piano (not electric) then you need the room, if you go for the[..]

Easy Piano is one of the most popular games on Nintendo DSi. If you are going to order Easy Piano at your local game store or waiting to buy it online I urge you to forget about it because I am about to show you how and where you can download Easy Piano for less than $0.01. Download Unlimited DSi Games,Movies and More From Nintendo DSi Club! Nintendo DSi gamers are seeking for alternative way to get their hand on the newest and favorite DSi games. Since the over-price of DSi cartridge games, it is not very worthwhile to buy the game as a collection. Alternatively, Nintendo DSi Club is a legitimate DSi game download site which offers you the best DSi Download Service. Nintendo DSi Club[..]

Are you looking for a website where you can download EASY PIANO DS game for free? Do you want to save your money and get EASY PIANO for less than $0.01? Do you want to get access to more 300,000 Nintendo DSi downloads for whatever games you want for life-time? This article will show how and where you can download EASY PIANO. Download Unlimited Games,Movies and More From Nintendo DSi Center! Nintendo DSi Center is a membership based program as you may have already known. In addition, Nintendo DSi Center contains over 300,000 Downloads making it the Biggest Database for the DSi! Nintendo DSi Center is complete database where you can find the newest and your favorite DSi Games, Movies,[..]

Perhaps you're wondering what are the best easy piano songs to learn? Now that you've covered the basic piano instruction, you're probably ready to start playing familiar easy tunes. We have a few popular songs available such as: "Chopsticks", "The Entertainer", "Jingle Bells" and more. All these pieces are all ideal for beginning piano and keyboard players. Depending on your skill level it's not always easy to find the best easy piano songs to get started. Some pieces may be too hard, others too easy, or you may not like the choices available. Either way, it's better to start with any song as long as it is within your level. Remember that the more you develop your piano skills, the[..]

Whether it is for a shorter distance or longer never think of moving the instrument, piano, with your own devices. With the help of two or three members you will not be able to move your instrument moreover the job will not be carried on in an effective way. But with the help of professional piano movers your instrument will be shipped safely and in same manner as it was before the transit. Paying a moving company is going to be worthwhile for you as you will not end up in paying for its damages in bodies. At the time of moving make sure that they cover your instrument with the help of blanket or with any other covering so that your instrument will be protected against scratches during[..]

Lang Lang was born on June 14, 1982 in Shenyang, China. He reportedly became drawn to the piano while watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon where Tom, who is an animated cat, plays a tune by Liszt, which is a Hungarian Rhapsody. It is said that Lang Lang was so impressed by Tom's pounding of the keys, as well as the feline's speed in playing the piece, that he became motivated to learn the piano. His goal was to play the Hungarian Rhapsody as well and as fiercely as Tom. This "ah ha moment" occurred while Lang Lang was a child of a mere three years old. He has achieved that piano playing goal and more. At the age of three years old, he began to study the piano under the guidance of his[..]

If you have a special occasion coming up, you might need to look for a piano for rent. There are many reasons to rent a piano. For example, you might have a large party coming up and want to provide live music. You may need a piano for rent because you need a nice instrument that you cannot afford. You might be putting on a show and need a piano for rent. It is important to know that finding a piano for rent can be a huge hassle. You should make sure that you are prepared and do the research before attempting to find a piano for rent. The great thing about renting as opposed to buying is that you can get a high quality instrument for a short period of time. Nothing looks more elegant at[..]

Actually, he's much more than just the Piano Man! So I mean no disrespect to Billy Joel when I say he isn't the Piano Man, because he certainly is the original. I just wanted to draw attention to several aspects and talents of Billy Joel, besides just being known as The Piano Man. Of course it is due to Billy Joel's enormous piano talent and his signature song "Piano Man" the reason he is called the piano man. With a musical career spanning over five decades, Billy Joel has established himself among the great musicians and pianists in history. Billy Joel has enjoyed a semi-retirement since 1993, but to this day, he continues to tour and perform in front of sold out crowds full of fans of[..]

A fake book can be a source of many inspiring piano exercises. It contains a lot of melodies written in a concise format that includes only the melody and chord names. Let us take a look at how you can use these melodies to become a better pianist! First of all we will take a look at how melodies are notated in a fake book. Usually you will find the melody of a song in sheet music notation together with chord suggestions above the notes. This economical way of notating makes it possible to fill a fake book with a lot of melodies. The advantage of this way of notating melodies is that you can have a fake book as a reference book with a lot of melodies at your disposal. The drawback is[..]

If you are a beginning piano student, one of the first things you learn are the major scales. If you know your major scales, then you can easily play major piano chords. A major piano chord is formed by playing the first, third, and fifth notes of the scale. For example, a D major scale is D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D. D, F#, and A are the first third, and fifth notes of the D major scale, so a D major chord consists of D, F#, and A. An F major scale consists of F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F. Since F, A, and C are the first, third, and fifth notes, they make up an F major chord. For those who don't know the major scales, there is a simple formula that you can use: root + 4 half steps + 3 half steps. A[..]

The piano chord dictionary is arranged according to chord usage, not the alphabetical name of the chord. Thus, you will find the chords that are most used in popular sheet music at the front of the dictionary, with those that are least used at the back of the dictionary. In practice, certain chords are used more frequently in popular sheet music than other chords. Also, you will find that certain chords have more than one name: F sharp (F#) for example, may also be called G flat (Gb.) The Piano Chord Dictionary lists the chord name most used, with a reference to the alternative name. There are many different names of chords, with accompanying chord symbols: C Major is the chord name, but[..]

The secret to playing with confidence is to first of all learn piano chords. Starting with chords and playing songs in your own record collection gives you that feeling of satisfaction that YOU REALLY CAN DO THIS! There are some great well-known tunes and rhythms you can play just by mastering a few simple chords, plus the knowledge you gain at this early stage will be invaluable later on. As you probably know, middle C sits near the center of your keyboard. It is the white key immediately to the left of a group of two black keys. The two white keys to the left of middle C are A and B (from left to right). The next four white keys are D, E, F and G. The black keys are called sharps or[..]

So, you're thinking about (or are already) playing piano using the chord approach. But, you're lost in the sea of chord types. There are minor piano chords, major piano chords, and diminished piano chords. There are 9th chords flat 5 chords and other chords I can't even begin to describe to you. The good news is you don't need to learn piano chords this way. There's a much easier way to learn them and it all has to do with something called the open position chord. Those of you who have been reading my articles for some time know I'm a big fan of this chord structure. You also know that I like it because you use both hands right away to create a modern sounding seventh chord. Now why is[..]

The Open Position Chord (OPC) allows you to create a vented sound. A sound that is open, literally, as opposed to the closed triads taught in most course books. The OPC covers more than two octaves of the keyboard allowing you to create without moving the hands around too much. Perfect for the beginner and advanced player. New Age music in particular has an open quality that is created in a number of ways. The first way is by the chord choices used. Most of this music is in a Major Key. The sound is pleasant without any dissonant tones. The second way is how the chord is played or voiced. The OPC voicing gives you the ability to separate the chord into three different parts; low end or[..]

Investing in a piano is a great idea. They hold their value, add sophistication to a room and enrich the lives of you and your family through music. If you are thinking of buying this beautiful instrument, there are a few terms and phrases you should be familiar with. This is a big purchase, so educate yourself with these piano vocabulary basics: Vertical or Grand These are the two types of piano. A vertical, also known as an upright, is the model that sits flush with wall. The grand is the large curvaceous model that is associated with professional pianists. Both have their merits and either is a good choice provided you don't skimp on quality. Both styles come in different sizes to[..]