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Alizee posted:Piano has a place in literally loving everywhere, it is THE instrument. Haha, relax man. Just going by stereotypes because those are the terms that people usually think in. I know you could stick an accordion or bagpipe in there and someone could make it work. The instrumentals in that link are pretty much the only thing going for that song. Oh god, the voice.
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Nov 4, 2009 01:31
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I laugh when people get the impression I'm foaming at the mouth from my keyboard when I'm sitting here contently typing away =(
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Nov 4, 2009 05:11
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Got a quick question for you guys. I wanted to get some sort of a beginner keyboard to mess around with, but I have no idea where to start. I'm not a complete mess playing piano/keyboard, but I generally want it to hack out ideas. I find it easier on a keyboard than on guitar. I'd rather not spend too much money (used) and get something widely available (in Canada). I want it to sound decent and synthy, because I like gay hipster music. The main thing I want is the ability to plug it into my old guitar amp with some of my guitar pedals. Where and what should I be looking for? I'm cool with some sort of Casio or Yamaha. EDIT: My friend says maybe a MicroKORG would be good for me. Is this a good way to go? ScreaminKing fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Nov 5, 2009 |
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Nov 5, 2009 19:11
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Maybe this thread is less popular because people learning the piano just go take lessons for it? My impression is that most people learning electric guitar don't even want to take lessons because lessons aren't rock 'n roll enough for them.
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Nov 6, 2009 23:46
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http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/msg/1456325682.html What do my fellow Goons think of the Kawai 705? There is virtually no information on it at all online. Apparently it has acoustic strings, but it just has no soundboard hence requiring external amplification-- i have no idea if this is practical. It looks like it might be pretty old though. You know, I think it must suck, i'd have to get it tuned and it wouldn't even be a real piano still. Many thanks. APimpNamedSlickback fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Nov 8, 2009 |
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Nov 8, 2009 22:13
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I picked up a P85 last week and have been loving it. Gotten surprisingly good too - I think learning a new language recently has put my brain into a mode that has let me learn sheet music faster than any time I've tried to learn it before.  Anyway I've learned a piece well enough that I'm trying to make it sound as good as I can, but I'm finding some chords can randomly sound a little weird. The part I'm talking about is basically 4 chords in a progression that accompanies a vocal melody. I'm always playing the right notes but sometimes I find it sounds a little sour (very slightly). It's almost like when I press all 4 keys down they have a little fight and one of them emerges victorious and sometimes it's not the note that follows the melody. Is this a side effect of not hitting all the notes absolutely perfectly at the same time, or maybe not hitting all notes equally hard (or the opposite should I be hitting certain notes harder than others in the chord so that it helps preserve the melody?). Or is it just like when you look at something for too long your brain sees different patterns and it's hard to switch off?
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Nov 10, 2009 10:35
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RobattoJesus posted:I picked up a P85 last week and have been loving it. Gotten surprisingly good too - I think learning a new language recently has put my brain into a mode that has let me learn sheet music faster than any time I've tried to learn it before. It sort of depends on what you're playing. Sometimes I do 'lean' on one particular note in a chord but I play a lot of music where the melody notes are buried inside chords anyway and need to be brought out. If you're playing melody in one hand and accompaniment chords in the other you probably wouldn't need to do that. I would try to hit them all at the same time and with the same force - this is pretty hard to do, since all your fingers have different strength levels.
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Nov 10, 2009 15:03
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:It sort of depends on what you're playing. Sometimes I do 'lean' on one particular note in a chord but I play a lot of music where the melody notes are buried inside chords anyway and need to be brought out. If you're playing melody in one hand and accompaniment chords in the other you probably wouldn't need to do that. I would try to hit them all at the same time and with the same force - this is pretty hard to do, since all your fingers have different strength levels. Thanks, yeah it was specifically a part where the melody was dropping but forming chords where the interval was getting larger, so basically the lowest note was forming the melody, but sometimes losing out to the others. Plus the melody happened to be on a white key while all other notes in the chord were on black keys, so I was pressing right near the top of the white key which was making it weaker. I remembered reading a tip about letting gravity do the hard work, which seemed to make sense for making chords more even, and after practicing that for a couple of hours last night I couldn't notice the imperfections anymore.
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Nov 11, 2009 08:10
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RobattoJesus posted:Thanks, yeah it was specifically a part where the melody was dropping but forming chords where the interval was getting larger, so basically the lowest note was forming the melody, but sometimes losing out to the others. Plus the melody happened to be on a white key while all other notes in the chord were on black keys, so I was pressing right near the top of the white key which was making it weaker. Instead of hitting the white note near the top, try turning your hand towards the black notes so you can still hit the white note closer to the bottom. Especially if you have to bring out the white note more so. It's terribly hard to play the white notes well 'up top'. I only do it when it's 100% unavoidable. Oh yeah, gravity! My teacher always says something like "sink into the chord". Just sort of...rest your fingers on the notes and then let your whole hand 'fall' into them.
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Nov 11, 2009 13:46
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Why don't you tell us what the chords were and what fingering you were using so we can actually help you instead of just making assumptions about these magical sour chords =)
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Nov 11, 2009 16:12
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Alizee posted:Why don't you tell us what the chords were and what fingering you were using so we can actually help you instead of just making assumptions about these magical sour chords =) I was playing: http://modernpianomusic.com/free-sheet-music-for-samson-by-regina-spektor/ The bar right at the end of the first page, "Samson went back to bed" - code:When I say sour I don't mean, sour like it was a wrong note. I could only hear it with headphones, but it just sounded a bit "off". As a guitarist I've always been aware of tone and how tiny seemingly unrelated things can affect your sound, I always assumed piano was "push button -> sound comes out", but I'm learning now that there is more to making the piano sound good than just hitting the right notes on time. I'm wondering if being a digital piano, by hitting the notes unevenly it's causing one or two notes to use different samples which was making the problem stand out a little more.
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Nov 11, 2009 17:00
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RobattoJesus posted:
You wouldn't believe the nuances that are possible with a really good piano and a really excellent piannist - if you ever get a chance to see a really good piannist in concert, do it. You'll be blown away. I saw Alfred Brendel a year or two ago and was just completely floored.
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Nov 11, 2009 17:41
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One of the reasons is might seem difficult to play the notes evenly is because your fingering is bad. Right Hand Beat 1: ( 2 and 4 ) Beat 2: ( 1 and 3 ) Beat 3: ( 1 and 3 ) Beat 4: ( 1 and 4 ) For beat 3 and 4 you can do that or 1+2, 1+3. It's up to you, but you should never be using 1+5 for intervals so small. Left Hand Beat 1: ( 2 and 5 ) Beat 2: ( 1 and 4 ) Beat 3: ( 1 and 2 ) Beat 4: ( 1 ) That'll make it more natural to hit the keys. Also you might want to look at some youtube videos of how good pianists press the individual keys. Please understand that there are very specific motions that effect how the key sounds and resides.
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Nov 11, 2009 22:24
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Alizee posted:One of the reasons is might seem difficult to play the notes evenly is because your fingering is bad. Thanks, I'll try those new fingerings. I'm also reading the Piano Fundamentals book that was posted earlier in the thread, which seems to have a lot of good info on how to press the keys properly. I watched a few youtube videos of good pianists, but I think I need to get better myself before that helps me. I can't really translate what I'm seeing into how they're playing. (Other than that they're relaxed and super smooth) I liked this way of pressing the keys though - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKKlhYF53w
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Nov 12, 2009 09:25
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RobattoJesus posted:Thanks, I'll try those new fingerings. I'm also reading the Piano Fundamentals book that was posted earlier in the thread, which seems to have a lot of good info on how to press the keys properly. I think what I'd do is really concentrate on listening - it sounds like you might have a pretty good ear based on the fact that you even noticed this problem with your chords. If you play scales and just really listen to what's coming out and try to make the sound as even as possbile, meaning no one note really sticks out from the others, you'll probably learn a lot about touch. Most people don't listen to what they're playing as much as they ought (granted, it's hard to listen to yourself on top of concentrating on doing all that stuff).
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Nov 12, 2009 13:38
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I'm not really new to piano, but I had a question for veterans that doesn't really deserve it's own thread. I'm learning lots of new scales in an effort to get my improvisational ability up. The current focus has been pentatonic scales. Looking at instructional books they usually stress a certain kind of fingering for scales and for pentatonic it's this quite annoying 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3 repetition... But I've found it much easier to just wing it and play the scale without thinking about fingering and using my full hand, especially when both hands are playing the scale together. Most of the time, they come out great, but the fingering seems to vary slightly each time I do it and this becomes more obvious the more octaves I throw in the scale. How important is it to get down strict fingerings for scales? Most of the time when I'm improvising that poo poo just goes out the window anyways. Would this vary from an improvisational to a classical piano perspective? I know my old piano teacher would flip a poo poo if she saw my random fingering approach.
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Nov 12, 2009 21:33
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Playing them right the correct fingering will be better in the long run. You can alter some of the fingering if something else fits your hand better, but whatever is most practical is always best. Also it might seem to work now, but when you run them at 160 bpm you might find your fingering to be inferior.
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Nov 12, 2009 21:50
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Weird question, but do any of you piano players have long nails? I play jazz guitar and grow my fingernails for picking technique on my right hand, and it seems like this makes proper technique on piano pretty much impossible. My nails just clack against the keys and it feels unnatural - I feel like I'm forced to play with the pads of my fingers rather than the tips.
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Nov 15, 2009 06:35
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Nelsocracy posted:Weird question, but do any of you piano players have long nails? I play jazz guitar and grow my fingernails for picking technique on my right hand, and it seems like this makes proper technique on piano pretty much impossible. My nails just clack against the keys and it feels unnatural - I feel like I'm forced to play with the pads of my fingers rather than the tips. Long nails suck for piano.
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Nov 15, 2009 07:47
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I've been looking at buying a piano for a while now and I need some advice. I do believe, from experience, that buying second hand intruments is the best way to go, if you are smart about it. So I have been looking through ebay and other sites for the past month or so, looking at whats around, and I have some questions about one in particular. Someone is selling a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-360 in my area, so I did some research on it. It seems that that model was released in 1990 and the Clavinova's kick rear end, but the seller says that he bought the Piano 3 years ago off a friend who bought it new and lost interest quickly. So is this possible? When would yamaha have stopped producing this model? Do you think it has been sitting around doing nothing for 16 years until this guy bought it. And if so, is buying a nearly 20 year old digital piano alright? I wouldnt hesitate to buy a 20 year old electric guitar, but the technology hasnt changed in 20 years, and I assume there is a lot less that can go wrong with a guitar. So any advice on this would be extremely helpful. To clarify, I have no objection to buying old second hand things, I not long ago bought top of the line, pretty much perfect condition drums that were originally bought in 1996, but I have no idea if digital pianos have the same life span. Here is the auction if it helps http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Yamaha-Clavi...=item3a54c7a9e0
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Nov 20, 2009 04:02
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In my experience, digital pianos produced in about the last 5 years can be convincing as a piano. Previous to that? Not so much. However, it may well sound awesome in its own right - but I couldn't tell you that. It's just unlikely to sound much like a real piano.
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Nov 20, 2009 04:26
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Vanmani posted:In my experience, digital pianos produced in about the last 5 years can be convincing as a piano. Previous to that? Not so much. However, it may well sound awesome in its own right - but I couldn't tell you that. It's just unlikely to sound much like a real piano. I dont think i'm so worried about the sound as opposed to how it plays, and how it feels, because from what i've read you can connect it to your computer through MIDI and use some program to be able to use different sounds? Which is what I do with my electric guitar and Amplitube etc. So if this is possible, and the old imbuilt samples suck, then I would do this. But if it plays well, and feels high quality then I would go for it. So in a round about way of saying, I am more concerned that the action would be outdated quality, than the piano samples. Because all im really wanting to do is learn to play on a nice feeling piano. Also I gather that the 16-note polyphony refers to how many keys can register at once. So is 16-note or even 8-note really bad now-a-days, or would you not really play more than 8 or 16 notes at once? I dont think you would, unless you have more fingers.
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Nov 20, 2009 06:21
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websterandwebster posted:Also I gather that the 16-note polyphony refers to how many keys can register at once. So is 16-note or even 8-note really bad now-a-days, or would you not really play more than 8 or 16 notes at once? I dont think you would, unless you have more fingers. edit: My extremely unreliable opinion based entirely on the pictures in the auction you posted is that you will find the keys to be weighted, but very lightly. It'll feel more like a real piano than a dinky keyboard, but you'll feel a difference. Of course not only am I just basing this off a picture, I also just happen to not like the feel of even modern Clavinovas, the weighted keys just feel all kinds of weird to me. Hawkperson fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Nov 20, 2009 |
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Nov 20, 2009 06:38
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I agree that even 64 note polyphony is on the low side. I would occasionally notice its limits on my old Yamaha P-120. I think Yamaha's GHE (Graded Hammer Effect) is very good (different from Yamaha's GHS Graded Hammer Standard which is subpar) and you can get used Yamahas with those keys for about $500 range. Personally, I think Roland's PHA-II and PHA-III keyboards are the best feeling keys I have played in the digital piano world. It is worth shelling for a newer model just for the keys, as the oldest keyboards you can find with Roland's PHA-II would only be 2-3 years old, IIRC.
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Nov 20, 2009 19:56
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I've started working my way thru Adult All-In-One Course which is a 3 book series for beginner piano players. I've been playing for roughly 2 years but it has mostly comprised of finding a song I like then looking for a tutorial on how to play it on youtube. My finger skills have progressed beyond a beginner but I found I lacked quite a bit of theory and basic music skills. I'm struggling a little trying to sight-read and play Level 1 material. Long story short, for those beginners who want to delve a little deeper into becoming a complete player I recommend this series: http://www.amazon.com/Adult-All-One-Course-Lesson-Theory-Technic/dp/0882848186/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_c *Reading my post I realize I sound like a pitch-man for the product. I'm in no way affiliated with it. I'm interested in hearing opinions on it though for people who have progressed thru the entire series.
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Nov 20, 2009 23:20
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80k posted:I agree that even 64 note polyphony is on the low side. I would occasionally notice its limits on my old Yamaha P-120. So are these 'graded hammer effect' and 'progressive hammer effect-II/I' just the same thing but each company has a different name for them? If not, is there a difference and how do they work/feel different?
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Nov 21, 2009 09:56
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websterandwebster posted:So are these 'graded hammer effect' and 'progressive hammer effect-II/I' just the same thing but each company has a different name for them? If not, is there a difference and how do they work/feel different? They are different in that they are developed by different companies and will have different feels. But the goal is the same... to make a weighted key that feels great. Like I said, the Yamahas are not bad, but the Rolands are my favorite. I listed the name they use for the keys (like PHA-II for Roland or GHE for Yamaha) as they are important distinctions within their product line.
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Nov 21, 2009 17:53
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I'm looking for a good pattern to use to practice the Circle of Fifths. I just started recently, and I want to get a daily regimen of starting from C and working my way up the scale, through the circle of fifths and back to C. I know I can do this very straightforwardly by just playing the scale and jumping to the G and the next one, but I'm wondering if theres a video anywhere of a nice sequence that transitions smoothly into the next scale, so that it sounds sweet when I'm good enough to play through the whole thing through smoothly.
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Nov 22, 2009 18:30
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I have trouble reading chords on the piano. I have trouble trying to convert them from reading on sheet music to being able to play them. Any advice on how to improve my skills?
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Nov 25, 2009 21:16
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Tropicana posted:I have trouble reading chords on the piano. I have trouble trying to convert them from reading on sheet music to being able to play them. Any advice on how to improve my skills? Look at the shape of the chord not each individual note.
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Nov 25, 2009 21:35
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I want to learn the keyboard/piano and how to read music fluently but I'm unsure about what I should learn first, so far I can read all the notes on a staff and I've memorized the circle of fifths and can recognize key signatures, but I struggle with memorizing which notes are sharps or flats in a key signature as I'm trying to play the music, is there any good ways of remembering them or do I just visualize the scale and keep to it? I'm assuming only way to read music properly is to keep doing it, but I'm not improving so fast... I'm trying to get past the stage of reading music really slow so I can learn songs that way, I've learned a few songs by ear like Avril 14th by Aphex Twin but I want to get into notation and theory to help with writing some of my own stuff.
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Nov 26, 2009 02:49
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I know I put down Synthesia before but after taking a look at their learning pack, I think I've changed my mind. https://www.synthesiagame.com/learningPack.aspx Right now, it's got: Practice mode: The game waits for you to press the correct keys before moving on. Invaluable for learning a new piece or practicing correct fingering. Sheet music display: Add a classic notation view to the game in addition to the arcade-style falling note display. Choose between "page flip" or "scrolling" display styles. Resize it during gameplay. This is kind of similar to that Roland piano series with the built in teacher thing. Also coming up in newer versions is the ability to get rid of that stupid falling note thing and replace it with sheet music entirely. Also, it'll have a chord detection thing that'll tell you the names and inversions of any chord you play. Which could be helpful for learning chords and stuff. It might be worth checking out.
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Nov 27, 2009 09:33
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No, it's dumb.
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Nov 27, 2009 16:15
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Alizee posted:No, it's dumb. As opposed to? Not everyone can go devote their lives to piano and go to music school. What about the guy who wants to start a new hobby and just has an hour or 2 to practice everyday and is starting from nothing? I think it's fine for that.
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Nov 28, 2009 02:56
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Lol I'm lucky if I can get in 2 hours of practice every day (Pretty much never!). 1-2 hours of practice is perfect. Hell even 30 minutes a day works when you are starting out. There's no reason that anyone that has a reasonable amount of time cannot take the proper method to learning piano. Also, learning from flashing lights isn't going to help in the long run and probably isn't even better in the immediate future, which is why I say that it's a dumb method.
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Nov 28, 2009 03:08
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Why is it that I never hear anyone saying things like "yeah I'm gonna learn the cello I'm gonna get cello for dummies" or "how do I teach myself the French Horn at home". Is it just piano and guitar that people do this with, or what? What makes it seem like it should be possible to just figure it out? It's a complicated drat instrument.
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Nov 28, 2009 22:57
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:Why is it that I never hear anyone saying things like "yeah I'm gonna learn the cello I'm gonna get cello for dummies" or "how do I teach myself the French Horn at home". On the other hand, pianos/keyboards come ready tuned, and there's no "one key makes several different sounds" bullshit like the horn. Guitar you do need to tune, but again they make those handy guitar tuners that tell you what note you want. I'm convinced the big reason is that the instruments you mentioned you need help/piano/fingerboard tapes to make sure you're learning to play notes correctly. Piano/guitar, for the most part, you learn where a given note is, that's where that note is and it's never different. (edit: Not that these instruments aren't difficult or complicated - they are, just not at the very beginning of learning to play.)
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Nov 28, 2009 23:10
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Hawkgirl posted:Those instruments are complicated in a different way - French horn, for example, there's no way to even remotely tell what note you're playing without chops on another instrument or a teacher. Cello's a little more obvious, but they don't make cello tuners like they do guitar tuners (that I know of), so it's very tough for a newbie to tune the strings properly. Plus, cheapass cellos do NOT come ready to play. You need to buy them from legit music stores so that they can set your bridge and sell you rosin and etc. I guess I can see how it would seem easier to figure out on your own because the notes are already there for you, so to speak. But on the other hand, on the piano this means the music can get so much more complicated because every finger is freed up to play notes. I don't know, it's just kind of annoying because it's really an incredibly difficult instrument to learn and it seems like nobody wants to put in the time and money for a good teacher. I cringe every time I see books at Barnes and Noble called "INSTANT PIANNIST" or whatever. "LEARN PIANO PERFECTLY IN 30 DAYS".
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Nov 29, 2009 01:08
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Depends on your goals. If you just want to be able to play a handful of songs on your beater keyboard then Synthesia and the like are going to get you playing them with not a lot of overhead. They don't demand that you learn what the notes are called, or what the key signature is, or how to read sheet music. They just say "press here now" and eventually it makes a song. If your long term goal is to be a good musician this is unlikely to hold you in very good stead. But if you just want to be able to play the mario theme song at parties so that the chicks go TOTALLY WILD for your mad piano skills (warning: this does not work unless you are also good looking, charming and personable - give up now), it'll get the job done as quickly as anything else. Same with the guitar, there's a lot of people who just want to be able to play Wonderwall and Knockin' on Heaven's Door so that when they see a guitar they can pick it up and claim they know how to play. They never learn anything beyond the simplest strumming and open chord shapes - but that's all they need to achieve their goal. One day if they want to go beyond that they'll have to do it all again "properly", and perhaps very little of their pre-learned knowledge will be of value then, but most of those people never really intend to take it further.
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Nov 29, 2009 02:17
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| # ? May 16, 2024 08:26 |
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Looking for advice of turning an admittedly purist / square / nerd classical pianist of 6+ years into someone with a solid enough foundation to do improv, jam sessions, jazz solos etc. I'm already a big ben folds fan and know all of the catalogue that I want to learn. Plus a handful of other tunes. I can very easily look at chords/guitar tab and get a radio song performable in >5 minutes. I'm specifically seeking advice on jazz improv / soloing that extends beyond "learn your pentatonics/blues scales and play them up and down" edit: Voicing chords interestingly, and making sense of "sustained" chords would also be helpful. Anyone got a link?
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Dec 1, 2009 20:13
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