Piano Lessons: Make Sure They Include
Chords & Music Theory!
Proper piano instruction is an element
extremely vital to learning the instrument well. Though it's very possible to be
a self-taught piano player, piano lessons can really increase the speed and
efficiency with which one learns the instrument. That's not to say that great
piano instruction makes great piano players overnight; even the most naturally
talented pianists still play for years before they consider themselves advanced.
But proper piano lesson instructions will maximize those years to the fullest
and ensure that the student is learning the correct techniques.
Though teaching styles always vary from instructor
to instructor, piano instruction generally covers the same basic areas:
fingering, , music reading, scales, technique, and sight reading. The early
lessons will cover fingering and posture, making sure the student knows how to
hold his or her hands and where to put them on the keys; series of scales
practiced repeatedly will be the basis of this area. Piano instruction will then
move on to notation essentials, starting with the basics of notes and key
signatures and time signatures and then moving forward to more advanced concepts
in rhythm, tempo and dynamics.
Many of these concepts are introduced into the piano
instruction while the student is learning to read music, a practice that runs
through the entire course of the piano instruction. Teachers will assign short,
easy pieces to kick start the student's music reading knowledge and eventually
move forward to more advanced pieces. Sight reading, the ability to play a piece
of music without ever having seen it, is sometimes placed sporadically
throughout the piano instruction, after a student is fairly well-versed in
reading music.
One crucial element of piano playing that is often
left out of traditional piano lessons is the study and practice of chords and
music theory. To learn to read music without understanding the theory behind the
music and the chords and chord progressions that form the music is almost like
teaching a surgeon to cut without understanding the human anatomy and it's
interrelated parts. The student will be able to play the piano from a piece of
sheet music, but take that music away or have it blow off the piano and he or
she is immediately in big trouble.
There is a famous anecdote about a lady who was a
concert pianist and could impress people with her playing, yet when asked to
play "Happy Birthday" at a party had to decline with great embarrassment because
she didn't have sheet music for the song handy. To be tied to the written music
is a shame, when learning chords and music theory adds so much to the value of
piano instruction.
Given a healthy dose of music theory and chord
instruction mixed in, all of the other elements of piano instruction eventually
begin to work hand in hand. Piano instruction then becomes an intricate web of
gaining bits of detailed knowledge little by little and understanding the music
that's being played without fully realizing that it's being gained.
Having access to piano lesson videos greatly speeds
up the learning curve, so whether you take private lessons or do it on your own,
try to latch on to some piano lesson videos. They will save you lots of time and
make fingering and chords much clearer.
Then playing the piano becomes more fun and a joyful
event that can be shared with full understanding of the theory and form that
lies behind each song.
Piano Lesson Video
Duane Shinn is the
author of over 500 music courses for adults including
"Pro Secrets:
Piano Playing Secrets Of The Pros”.
http://www.piano-playing-by-ear.com
He is
also the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled
“Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions” at
www.playpiano.com
with over 61,400 current subscribers
Back to
Home Page
