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I've sort of learned to noodle around on a keyboard and I know how to do chords and the whole deal, but I feel I really need to get a lot better, and the only way to do that is to get a keyboard I can practice on at home. However, I live in a pretty cramped apartment, so I was thinking I'd have to get a digital piano. I'll have roughly ~1000 to spend on both keyboard and amp- what should I get? Obviously it has to have fully weighted keys, and different voices (mostly interested in organ and epiano) would be nice.
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Dec 2, 2008 00:15
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mofmog posted:I've sort of learned to noodle around on a keyboard and I know how to do chords and the whole deal, but I feel I really need to get a lot better, and the only way to do that is to get a keyboard I can practice on at home. However, I live in a pretty cramped apartment, so I was thinking I'd have to get a digital piano. I'll have roughly ~1000 to spend on both keyboard and amp- what should I get? Obviously it has to have fully weighted keys, and different voices (mostly interested in organ and epiano) would be nice. I've suggested the Kawai MP5 twice already in this thread. http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/Kawai-MP5-Professional-Stage-Piano?sku=702817 It's a little bit more expensive than your limit (you may be able to find it on special, or find a Kawai dealer who'll give you a deal) and that's without an amp, but it's the perfect match for your requirements. I have one of these in the tiny second bedroom of my apartment, along with 2 guitars, 2 computers, a laptop, various recording gear a clothes horse and a bookshelf and it fits fine, even with the ginormous 300W amp. I have it on a stand like this http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/OnStage-Stands-Pro-Platform-Keyboard-Stand?sku=450384 because flimsy X-stands suck, but the stand is a little high for normal piano so you'll need a reasonably high or adjustable chair or you'll do damage to the tendons in your hand from not getting enough blood supply while playing. You could always play it through headphones for a few months while you save for an amp. http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-KC150-Keyboard-Mixing-Amp?sku=480193 this Roland KC-150 would do you unless you're going to be playing fairly large gigs.
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Dec 2, 2008 01:29
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Is anybody able to help me with what the left hand would be playing in this? Mainly just those repeating few bars at the start. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekUmxzoH72o I have figured out the right hand easily based off my ear but even watching the persons hands I am struggling to make it sound right.
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Dec 4, 2008 12:49
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Fists Up posted:Is anybody able to help me with what the left hand would be playing in this? Mainly just those repeating few bars at the start. It's just 1-3-5 triplets in a simple repeating pattern. F# A# C#, C# F G#, D# F# A#, B D# F#. aka F# major, C# major, D# minor, B major. Rinse repeat. Looks like an F# major key to me, so that would make it a I, V, vi, IV progression (in F# major). Which is a fairly common progression. Fun exercise to enhance your understanding of music theory - try shifting the song to a different major key after you've learned it. e.g. shift the song over into C major or A major or whatever you like.
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Dec 4, 2008 13:37
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I went out and bought a Yamaha s90 es, and I'd like to set it up on a desk in addition to a few computer monitors as a little workstation. I'm just wondering about the height of the desk and chair, neither I have bought yet. Is there some standard height a piano should be relative to the ground? Should i look for a very high chair to compensate for the height of a normal desk?
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Dec 4, 2008 15:59
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FateFree posted:I went out and bought a Yamaha s90 es, and I'd like to set it up on a desk in addition to a few computer monitors as a little workstation. I'm just wondering about the height of the desk and chair, neither I have bought yet. Yes and yes. You either need a very low desk or a high chair, as you want the Piano keys to be around about stomach height while you play. If it is much higher than this you will not have as good circulation to your hands and are much more likely to get sore tendons, which is a problem you really want to avoid. If you have reasonably long legs a high chair should be fine, as long as you can reach the pedals comfortably while playing.
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Dec 5, 2008 00:31
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I started piano about a year ago on my own. I've gotten a lot better and I'm enjoying it but a major problem I have to deal with is that I can not look at a piece of music and have any idea what it sounds like. Is it just a matter of getting used to the notation? If I'm listening to it and looking at the piece I can tell if what i hear matches what i look at but thats about it. In order for me to play something, i have to be able to hear it. Thats one of the major reasons why I haven't gotten any books yet. But I want to get some books because i need more structure. My routine so far has been to find a midi i like and learn to play it. I have a roland digital piano so i can play the midi on the piano and slow it down and play along which has been my routine for the past 6mo. I can't afford a teacher right now. My primary goal is to be able to play ragtime pieces. I need a book that will help me develop basic movements that will help me with any kind of piano music. I already know how to read notes and notation. I've never practiced scales or chords because I don't really know how it can not be mind numbing as gently caress. This post kind of wandered so my main point is that i need a book or several. Cheap is a plus. Anyone got anything for me?
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Dec 7, 2008 00:19
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"Knowing what a piece sounds like by looking at the sheet music" is done by being able to identify the intervals. Don't expect to be able to do this until you've learned a lot of pieces from sheet. And even then, only a very rough approximation probably. You don't REALLY need to "practice" scales, you just need to know them. Same with chords. It's not really about sitting there and playing your scales 100 times repeatedly, it's just about knowing them and being able to identify them, so it doesn't have to be anything like as mind numbing as you think. Fact is you'll never be a good pianist/musician/songwriter/songreader unless you know your scales, and can identify key signatures, because knowing this information reduces the problem space of everything in music so much that it becomes massively easier to do/write/learn. You do NOT need to hear a song to play it. If you need to do that you have not learned how to read sheet sufficiently. Every piece of information you need to reproduce that song should be on the sheet. The tempo, the key signature, the notes and their durations, the way you should attack the keys. Everything. It would be a very good idea if you got a book of beginners piano pieces and learned them without ever hearing them, this will probably force you to fill in some gaps in your understanding. I suggest just hitting eBay and looking for a book of grade 1/2 pieces. There's heaps out there, and they're all good enough to get the job done you just may like the songs more in one than another.
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Dec 7, 2008 08:38
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What do you guys think about the Casio CDP-100? I just want a fairly cheap, good-feeling (weighted keys) digital piano I can start learning on in my apartment with headphones. $399 seems like a pretty good price, and the reviews on it don't seem bad.
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Dec 9, 2008 19:35
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I played it against the Yamaha P85 and it really felt cheap. I think it would be a great MIDI controller but I didn't like it as a standalone piano. But hell the price is right.
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Dec 10, 2008 02:42
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Gunga-Din posted:I played it against the Yamaha P85 and it really felt cheap. I think it would be a great MIDI controller but I didn't like it as a standalone piano. But hell the price is right. What did you think of the P85? I was set on a Priva PX-120 with a stand but I don't think I can not buy a Yamaha. Does anyone know of an any place with deals (or a promotion code) on P85's? It seems no one budges from $599. Edit: I answered my own question. Here's a P85 for $499 with free shipping. You have to add it to your cart for the lower price. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/543224-REG/Yamaha_P85_P85_88_Key_Portable_Digital.html Eli Cash fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Dec 15, 2008 |
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Dec 13, 2008 22:03
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So I'm about as new as you can be for this. I'm currently looking to buy a piano after christmas passes. It will most definitely be electronic and most of the time listened to/recorded on headphones/computer. There might be occasions where it is played aloud, but I really don't think I'd like to bother the others in my house with the noise of a beginner. Also from this thread I should be looking to buy an 88-key piano correct? Keep in mind I am also going to have to learn to read music. Early on my goal is to be able to play the chords and basic theory stuff, including learning to read music. Less-early I'd like to learn some nerdy video game songs such as silent hill's. Middle ability I want to learn to play some more popular music, songs most everyone would know or remember. Later ability I would know much more about what genre I'd want to focus on playing or composing if I get skilled. Probably not jazz but maybe some classical style with modifications (themes, etc.) So, I'm about as green as they come as far as I know. Pretty much no musical history outside of failed self-teaching of guitar and trombone. (Barely know tabs) As far as price range goes I'd be looking for something under 500$ at the most, especially since I am a beginner and don't want to toss a huge amount of cash out the window. There's really only a railroad bazaar (think it's local? music store) and a best buy that sells instruments to my knowledge here in huntsville, alabama. So I really don't even know where to start looking. Outside of all the self-doubt in the previous, I want to learn piano. I've made up my mind very much on it and am motivated. I just have a student salary and can't toss 2 grand and hire an instructor at this time (hell not even for a few years at least). Man I'm really inexperienced 
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Dec 17, 2008 06:14
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The couple of posters above you pretty much have you sorted there. P85 can be had for <$500, and will be good to learn on. If you wanna be even tighter you can go the Casio, but the thing to remember with music gear is it tends to hold its value better if people have a good opinion of it. So you say you don't want to waste money, presumably because you're worried you won't get into it and will quit... in that case, make sure you buy something that has some re-sale value. Most modern Casios do not, thanks to poor build quality.
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Dec 17, 2008 06:46
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I'm also looking for a digital piano with 88 weighted keys as I'll be moving somewhere without an acoustic in February. I'm torn between the P85 and the casio px 310 (which I can get a very good deal on). I know the P85 is a safe bet, but does anyone have any experience with the 310?
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Dec 17, 2008 15:36
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Vanmani posted:The couple of posters above you pretty much have you sorted there. P85 can be had for <$500, and will be good to learn on. If you wanna be even tighter you can go the Casio, but the thing to remember with music gear is it tends to hold its value better if people have a good opinion of it. So you say you don't want to waste money, presumably because you're worried you won't get into it and will quit... in that case, make sure you buy something that has some re-sale value. Most modern Casios do not, thanks to poor build quality. Yea, but the thing about that posted on the last page... quote:P85 is a great, cheap entry level practice piano for kids that're learning but it's got no growth potential. It's also about as lame as a MIDI controller can get. It doesn't even have a mod wheel or pitch bend, let alone any knobs/sliders or assignable zones. I've tried looking through some dealers online but wow. cheapest I find is in the 1k range. And all I need is 88keys, I can do without weighted keys perfectly fine, and an audio out as far as I know.. Since I don't care for speakers right now and I don't need a billion different sound effects.. Edit: Been looking more and need an opinion of the Casio WK-200.. It's only 76 keys but seems to have more features than the PX120, except the number of keys. Good comparison links: PX120 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8885673&type=product&id=1211455041928 WK-200 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8885655&type=product&id=1211455041798 Basically, how much am I sacrificing by buying the WK-200 as opposed to a cheaper version of a 88 key like the PX120? Timelord fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Dec 17, 2008 |
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Dec 17, 2008 19:38
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Hey, I'm new-ish to piano, I decided about 7 months ago to learn piano and since then I've written a lot of stuff. I jam with one of my chem professors (he's a guitar freak) on a regular basis. We generally just play a chord progression and go back and forth improvising on it, and as a result I've developed a good ear for melody and can normally one by ear pretty well [chords if I get lucky], but I have a lot of trouble reading sheet music. I can get the notes, but reading rhythm just seems impossible. After I hear how the piece sounds, it seems obvious, but that's just because I've heard it. Anyone know any good drills for learning how to read rhythm?
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Dec 17, 2008 21:49
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People posted:Casioooos Ok, the deal with Casios is they're cheap for a reason. If you want the quality option you never choose the Casio. However, due to rapid advances in technology in our generation even those poor low end Casios are pretty decent learners, with tolerable sound modules etc. but I do mean TOLERABLE. They will very rarely sound beautiful as a good instrument should, so the motivation to learn they provide is relatively low. If you are strongly self-motivated to learn piano (and perhaps you are since you're posting in this thread) you will definitely still be able to get the basics down on such a device. The obvious advantage is price and availability, so if this is really all you can afford then you are bound by those restrictions, going into debt to buy an instrument is a slippery slope that should certainly be avoided. But do keep in mind that 3 months after you buy it something like a P85 will still be worth 70% of its retail, while the Casio will be worth 50%. Really quality instruments are likely to retain up to 80-90% of their retail value for a couple of years, if they're well looked after. Sometimes it really is worth saving up for a little while longer if it's an option. What you sacrifice by getting a keyboard that does not have weighted keys is dynamics. Heavier keys are easier to press with varying levels of attack (hard, soft and a few ranges in between). Normal keyboard keys are spring loaded velocity sensitive things, but because they're so light it's much harder to get your expression right AND your learned experience of "hard" and "soft" will not transfer very well to the real deal. If the keys aren't even velocity sensitive, forget about it, it's a toy for toddlers. Further to this, you must be sure the keyboard actually has samples for those varying dynamics. Any velocity sensitive key should be able to report 128 intensity values (although good luck reliably hitting within about a range of 40 or less), but if the keyboard doesn't have different samples loaded for various ranges it's not going to make a difference to the sound. You need to be able to reliably hit about 4 different levels to actually produce ok piano music...although good acoustic piano players are hitting more like 40. As far as number of keys go, (entirely off the top of my head, made up stats) 61 is enough for 95% of songs a beginner should be reasonably wanting to play. 74 is enough for 98%. But 88 is enough for 100% of songs for anyone, regardless of level. You will find songs that you cannot quite play correctly with 74 keys eventually, and it will annoy you immensely at the time, but 74 should otherwise be ok. Edit: Cat Food posted:Rhythm. Set it to some reasonable speed, like 70bpm to start. You can change this later once you know what you're doing. Also, this is all going to be in 4/4, but once you understand 4/4 it should be easy enough to understand others... 4/4 has 4 beats to a bar, 3/4 has 3 beats to a bar yada yada. Whole notes (the big empty round ones with no stem) are "4 beats long", meaning 4 ticks of your metronome. Half notes (the empty round ones with a stem) are "2 beats long", 2 ticks of your metronome. Quarter notes (the filled in ones with a stem) are "1 beat long", 1 tick of your metronome. Eighth notes (the filled in ones with a stem with a tick) are half a beat long. 2 per every 1 tick of a metronome. Sixteenth notes (2 ticks) are a quarter of a beat long. 4 per every 1 tick of a metronome. There is also equivalents for rests, whole rest, half rest, quarter rest etc, which just mean don't play for that equivalent duration. There is also ties, which link two of the same note together and imply that the note is held for the total duration of both of them (you will see this a lot between bars). These look the same as slurs, but slurs tie together two different notes and imply that you should play smoothly from the first to the next. There is also dotted notes, which are to be held for their indicated time + half. The thing to realise is that a particular bar or measure (section between the solid black vertical lines) is meant to add up to 4 beats (or whatever is prescribed by your songs time signature). So that section could have one whole note, or 2 half notes, or a half note and 2 quarter notes, or a 8 eighth notes, or 7 eighth notes and an eighth rest etc. They add up to 4 beats. So just try to learn songs from sheet and learn them one bar at a time with a metronome set to the appropriate tempo for the song (or maybe a slower speed while you're first learning it) and count the beats making sure you GET IT RIGHT. You will quickly get a feel for it. Vanmani fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Dec 17, 2008 |
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Dec 17, 2008 23:31
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Looks like every one has questions about Casio's! Well I have another question about the things. I am looking to start playing piano and I got a few questions. I play bass and am looking at getting the Casio Privio PX-120 does any one have any experience with one of these? Would I be able to buy that keyboard and be able to hook it up to my amp? It has a line in/out for a pa if that helps. It has midi support does that mean I would be able to connect it to my pc and use a program like say fruity loops or something like that and use the keyboard to play it?
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Dec 18, 2008 00:36
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spigotthebear posted:Looks like every one has questions about Casio's! Well I have another question about the things. I am looking to start playing piano and I got a few questions. I play bass and am looking at getting the Casio Privio PX-120 does any one have any experience with one of these? Would I be able to buy that keyboard and be able to hook it up to my amp? It has a line in/out for a pa if that helps. It has midi support does that mean I would be able to connect it to my pc and use a program like say fruity loops or something like that and use the keyboard to play it? Yes, bass amps make pretty decent keyboard amps and vice versa. The important thing is that the speaker has a decent range, with a bass amp you'll miss a little on the high end frequencies probably and get a bit of unusual colour on the sound, but it's not the end of the world. Guitar amps are useless for keyboards though, they can even destroy themselves trying to reproduce the bass notes and they will colour the sound a lot. Any keyboard with MIDI out (either in a traditional sense, or via a USB cable) can send MIDI signals to programs like Fruity Loops, Reason, Ableton, Cubase etc. etc. so yes, you will be able to use the keyboard to drive synths and drums etc on fruity loops or whatever, and record it even. This is a good way to do things even, since the Casio itself has lovely sounds but software synths and samplers sometimes have very good sounds indeed. What a keyboard like that Casio will lack for software sequencing is knobs and sliders. No pitch bend, no mod wheel, no sliders, no knobs. THe P85 is the same in this regard. When software sequencing, many artists like to use these controls to adjust their sound on the fly, like you might bind some knobs to phaser rate and depth, or distortion or filter frequency... anything really. This gives you a lot of scope to sculpt your sound as you play and I find it pretty invaluable. However, you can buy MIDI controllers that don't have a keyboard and just have a bunch of knobs and sliders and stuff to supplement your keyboard at some point if you find this necessary. They're not too expensive. Personally I do almost all my instrument recording in software these days, it's awesome what's out there now.
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Dec 18, 2008 03:18
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Vanmani posted:alot of words Wow thank you thats cool I just wanted to be sure I would be able to run through a program like that to give me more options when I do get a keyboard which will be a little after christmas.
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Dec 18, 2008 03:49
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I have a lot of trouble achieving perfection in the pieces I learn. Even after I have learned the piece, playing it all the way through without a mistake is difficult. Any thoughts on this? I also get excited in parts of the song that I like and either play too fast or too loud, or both. How do you keep tempo and volume consistent?
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Dec 18, 2008 08:11
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The more complex you find the pieces to learn, the harder it is to play without mistake. With practice you will find that you can play pieces without error, go learn a few pieces that you now think are simple and you should find this. Other than that, it's just practice practice practice. As far as playing too fast and too loud goes, it's a similar thing. Try and play the songs the way you think they're meant to be played, definitely do some practice playing the song with a metronome if you're having trouble keeping tempo.
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Dec 18, 2008 10:08
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Vanmani posted:What a keyboard like that Casio will lack for software sequencing is knobs and sliders. No pitch bend, no mod wheel, no sliders, no knobs. THe P85 is the same in this regard. When software sequencing, many artists like to use these controls to adjust their sound on the fly, like you might bind some knobs to phaser rate and depth, or distortion or filter frequency... anything really. This gives you a lot of scope to sculpt your sound as you play and I find it pretty invaluable. However, you can buy MIDI controllers that don't have a keyboard and just have a bunch of knobs and sliders and stuff to supplement your keyboard at some point if you find this necessary. They're not too expensive. I have an old GEM WK2 with a lot of bells and whistles (both literally and figuratively), could I buy a basic Casio or Yamaha and just hook it up to that as a midi controller if I need more/better sounds. It's the 88 weighted keys I crave, so I can definitively live without knobs and sliders and a relatively small selection of sounds if it saves me some money and I can hook it up to the WK2 for additional sounds/effects.
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Dec 18, 2008 20:39
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Arashikage posted:I have an old GEM WK2 with a lot of bells and whistles (both literally and figuratively), could I buy a basic Casio or Yamaha and just hook it up to that as a midi controller if I need more/better sounds. It's the 88 weighted keys I crave, so I can definitively live without knobs and sliders and a relatively small selection of sounds if it saves me some money and I can hook it up to the WK2 for additional sounds/effects. I don't know much about a GEM WK2 apart from the fact it's still worth a good chunk of money... but just from looking at it I can see it's got a bunch of buttons and a touch-knob and 1 volume slider. Buttons are handy, but it seems to have them in spades, and knobs/sliders are generally more handy in my opinion. It seems likely to me that you could use it as an extra MIDI controller for a software DAW (note that it will not be able to control anything relevant on the DP, since there is nothing to control), but it was designed to be a MIDI arranger so perhaps they didn't see fit to include MIDI OUT... but that would surprise me. Take a look and see. The other thing to keep in mind is that all the controls in a DAW like Reason/Ableton/Cubase etc. can be modified via the GUI. Just record the note track, then record over the top of that track using the mouse to adjust parameters and it'll record those changes... it's just nicer to use proper knobs and stuff on the fly in one take. What you should definitely be able to do is hook the Piano up to the WK2 and use the WK2's onboard sounds/effects/drum machine but playing using your DP's keys. The other option for you is to just buy a plain MIDI 88 weighted key MIDI controller like the ones M-Audio make, very cheap option and you will get knobs and sliders, but absolutely no onboard sounds. Unfortunately M-Audio do have somewhat questionable quality on those keybeds too.
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Dec 18, 2008 23:33
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OK I'll scout the market after the holidays, thanks a bunch for the info!
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Dec 19, 2008 11:12
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So I just bought a sustain pedal for my keyboard and I plugged it in but I'm having problems. The "Ped" icon lights up whenever I'm not pushing down on the pedal, and when I do push down, it goes away. Similarly, when I play keys and the pedal isn't being pressed down, they have the sustain effect, and to play normally I need to press down on the pedal. Anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this?
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Dec 31, 2008 00:04
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Cat Food posted:So I just bought a sustain pedal for my keyboard and I plugged it in but I'm having problems. The "Ped" icon lights up whenever I'm not pushing down on the pedal, and when I do push down, it goes away. Similarly, when I play keys and the pedal isn't being pressed down, they have the sustain effect, and to play normally I need to press down on the pedal. Anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this? look along the side or bottom of the pedal and look for a switch.
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Dec 31, 2008 01:24
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80k posted:look along the side or bottom of the pedal and look for a switch. Ah, no switch, it's just a pedal with a cord in the back to connect to the keyboard.
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Dec 31, 2008 01:38
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Silly question, but are you stepping on the pedal when you power the keyboard on? If you are that is likely the problem, if you're not, give it a try and see if it it reverses it. Most pedals usually come with a little tiny switch on them to toggle it.
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Dec 31, 2008 01:43
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It's a common issue, so if there is no switch, you may be able to "correct" it with the keyboard itself. Check the manual of your keyboard, and look for the section that discusses the sustain pedal. It may tell you how to change a setting so that it can handle a sustain pedal with reverse polarity. Finally, if all else fails, are you handy with a soldering iron? you could open it up and reconnect the leads going to the switch.
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Dec 31, 2008 06:25
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80k posted:It's a common issue, so if there is no switch, you may be able to "correct" it with the keyboard itself. Check the manual of your keyboard, and look for the section that discusses the sustain pedal. It may tell you how to change a setting so that it can handle a sustain pedal with reverse polarity. Haha, no, not very good with the soldering iron... And the instruction manual doesn't seem to be being very helpful. I still have the receipt, I suppose I can just go back to the store.
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Dec 31, 2008 17:01
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Yeah, common problem with those sustain pedals. Some are on by default some are off by default. You need to get the sort that your keyboard expects or it won't work at all, but as mentioned above some keyboards can support both at the toggle of an option.
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Jan 1, 2009 01:35
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I got a Yamaha P-85. I was using a Casio keyboard happily and thought this piano would blow me away but I was slightly underwhelmed. I like it, but it's definitely no acoustic. My question- where does reading end and rote memory begin? I've decided to back off stuff I want to play and try some easier stuff to get more variety and develop some reading skill. I picked the easiest piece out of a early intermediate book and can read through and play it perfectly. But by the time I could play it perfect reading, I could also play it by memory. So I guess what I'm asking is if I should be able to play pieces perfectly just reading them well before I memorize them. I know memorization is inevitable to some degree.
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Jan 6, 2009 07:27
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Truth is even most proficient piano teachers don't play perfectly from sight except on the very simplest of pieces, they need to "know" the song to some extent and use the sheet as a trigger to remind them how it goes. I cannot sight play with any real proficiency though, I definitely need to go over even reasonably simple pieces a few times before I can then play them "on sight", so perhaps I'll leave it to more classically disciplined posters to answer. Try the same thing with slightly harder pieces and see what happens. Good exercise for you either way.
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Jan 6, 2009 10:05
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Using it as a trigger is a good way to put it. I use it to trigger what I've memorized into muscle memory. I'm just worried that I'm learning so slow and using too much muscle memory to a point where I'm memorizing the just the piece and not becoming familiar with the notes and how they should feel. I also have trouble actually recognizing notes on the sheet, and I hope to get better at this by playing easier music.
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Jan 6, 2009 22:04
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I think a well-kept secret is that, on pretty much any instrument, the players of average to above average fluency still don't sight-read like crazy. My main instrument is the classical guitar, and I can play without looking only as far as the notes keep my hands in one position on the neck. When I have to move my hands, I absolutely have to look away from the sheet. I think piano is pretty much the same way. Vanmani posted:Truth is even most proficient piano teachers don't play perfectly from sight except on the very simplest of pieces, they need to "know" the song to some extent and use the sheet as a trigger to remind them how it goes. This is how my teacher tells me to deal with sheet music. Actually, he tells me to work on memorizing my concert pieces by re-notating them when I'm away from my instrument, just me and blank staff paper. I've been too lazy to actually do this but it seems like a good idea... The point is that you're going over the physical side in your head, and then linking that to the notes that you write down, so that when you're on stage the notes will trigger the physical memory. Eli Cash posted:I also have trouble actually recognizing notes on the sheet, and I hope to get better at this by playing easier music. This will get better with time. It's that simple -- I mean, it's frustrating how slow and painstaking the process can be, but there's really no way to speed things up. I'll bet you're not doing anything wrong here, just keep at it. Eli Cash posted:I'm just worried that I'm learning so slow and using too much muscle memory to a point where I'm memorizing the just the piece and not becoming familiar with the notes and how they should feel. Speaking as a musician in general, this what you ought to worry yourself about more. It's good that you're developing to the point that you can notice this, so just run with it. Here's what me and my teacher do, with my big old book of graded guitar pieces: 1) I play through every piece in a section, not for perfection but to practice reading the notes and fingering the fingerings and whatnot. 2) We get together and he points at one or two of those. Then he gives me advice, not so much about technique as about volumes, phrasings, articulations... you know, expression. 3) I go home and practice just those pieces, working on expression. These are the ones that I memorize, usually just by repetition. 4) Repeat. I don't know if you have a teacher, but you should have a big old book of graded piano pieces regardless. So this is something you can do on your own: just read through a big chunk of them quickly, then go back and pick one or two that sounded good to you, and make them sound better. Of course, you probably don't have as much time as I do for practice (it's my job)... So just do what you can. Everyone has a different pace, and if you don't set artificial goals for yourself, you'll probably enjoy playing more AND move faster inadvertently.
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Jan 9, 2009 00:00
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Forgive me if this sort of thing has been asked a lot, but I could use a recommendation on some good practice material. I'm a to-be music major on the drum set for jazz, along with playing alto sax pretty well and messing around on the various guitars, so I'm fine as far as theory and general music knowledge goes, but my coordination and general ability on the piano is pretty awful. I can comp along to a basic jazz progression and I can play some really easy pieces (like The Beatles' Let It Be), but for the most part I can't really do anything. What are some good beginner-ish pieces for me? I'm not talking about stupidly easy stuff like Yankee Doodle Dandee or whatever, but something reasonably easy. I've got a few books of easy tunes from guys like Schumann and Hadyn, but they're just a tiny bit above my level still. I know this isn't much info to go off of, but even an educated guess would be great.
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Jan 9, 2009 03:54
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Give Fur Elise a go.
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Jan 9, 2009 04:38
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Do I really have to be that guy that just knows Fur Elise 
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Jan 9, 2009 12:06
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I've been dropping by the piano place like four times now on my way home to try out a few digital pianos to see how they grow on me before I finally by one. I think I've narrowed it down to either the Yamaha P-140 or maybe P-85 or the Roland FP-4. I definitely enjoy playing the roland more w/r/t key action and key texture(and their grand piano sample has grown on me, I hated it first time I tried it), but while fun to play, the action/keys is really light. With regards to progression, is it better to get the yamaha with heavier keys? My initial thought was that since I enjoyed playing the Roland more, I'm likely to practice more with it and that will offset any advantage the heavier keys on the yamaha would provide.
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Jan 9, 2009 18:38
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