Cheap piano keyboards can still help you learn piano at first, but if you want to be a professional player you will have to get yourself a grand piano. Learning to play this instrument is not that hard but you will need a teacher to guide you, a focused mentality, time on your hands, and a quality instrument.
Patience matters
When playing the piano, having the proper technique is one of the most important things. Having that you are able to play anything, complex scales, falling sequences, and any other intricate music patterns that you might want to. But developing technique takes time and practice, and it’s always important to strive and develop that technique.
At first, you might complain that you can’t do many different things. Some people fail to press the right keys in a chord, or they can’t play at a certain speed. But, like babies don’t start running as soon as they are born, you won’t be able to perform fast musical patterns right from the start either.
It is a learning process in which your mind and your body need to get accustomed to playing the instrument. That’s why you have to develop your muscles to be able to play. It’s like an athlete training over and over again until winning the competition. Things can be frustrating at first but don’t let them be, focus on the development, on becoming better.
Having a teacher
You could think you’re able to learn to play the piano by yourself, but if you don’t want that process to be a difficult thing to do, you would be better off with the help of a teacher. A person that is there to guide you will be able to help you in many ways. A teacher will teach you how to establish good habits.
Learning the piano by yourself is difficult because you don’t know the posture that you should stay in, positioning your hands at first can be awkward and moving your fingers from one chord to another will seem difficult. Of course, working with a teacher won’t make you an expert, but a person that will guide you will certainly stop you from developing bad habits.
A teacher will also be able to offer you advanced tips, especially about style. You could play a piece of music on the right rhythm and the correct notes, but you also need to get some feeling into your playing and create music with the proper volume, and precise tempo.
Furthermore, it’s possible that you don’t observe your mistakes if there isn’t a person there with you to point them out. Feedback, especially correct one, is impossible to get from a textbook or a person that knows nothing about music.
Learning to play the piano is also difficult if you don’t have the learning materials, and a teacher will happily provide those to you. Furthermore, if you find that you’re having issues reading music theory, the teacher will help you with that as well. The person you are learning from could also assign you homework and exercises to do on yourself if he or she needs that you need improvement in certain areas.
You could struggle to play piano yourself because you don’t have the patience, you don’t find the time, or you just don’t like it that much. Having a teacher will force you to play the piano even when you’re not 100 percent in the mood for it, and that’s always an advantage. With practice comes mastery, of course.
As a result, having a teacher is an excellent way to hold you accountable. How many times have you set yourself an objective, a deadline, only to find yourself in the situation that you either forgot about your objective or you just ignored it day after day. With a teacher, you won’t get that problem because you are obliged to reach the goals you set.
And it’s not only about the fear of disappointing someone else, but it’s also about the fact that a good teacher could encourage you in moments when you need the most. Sometimes you may feel you’re not good enough to play the piano, but if an experienced piano player says that you actually can, it may give you the push you need.
The quality of the piano matters
One of the most prevalent mistakes that beginners make when starting to play the piano or any similar instrument is that they buy really cheap keyboards. Of course, not everybody affords a high-quality acoustic piano, but if you want to progress, or at least play without feeling like it’s a sort of torture, you need to get a keyboard that offers some quality.
You can start with a small keyboard that only has 61 keys. Preferably, it should be weighted, but if you can’t afford that, it’s ok at first. Eventually, you will have to move to a full-sized keyboard that has weighted keys, as those give you the feeling of an actual piano. Also, your keyboard should always be touch-sensitive, so if you press a key harder, the sound should be louder.
A teacher will also help you here because he or she would be able to tell you when you’re ready for the next step. Ultimately, you want to get a full-sized acoustic piano. If you advance fast and your technique develops well, a cheap keyboard will hinder your development.
Don’t forget about digital pianos, as they are something between keyboards and acoustic pianos. Nevertheless, check with your teacher to see if you need a piano or if you still have some work to do.
Practice with your mind
Playing the piano is hard if your hands aren’t ready for it. But the task is even harder if you’re mind is not up for the task. While playing the instrument you have to keep yourself relaxed, but at the same time in a constant state of focus. If you start your practice time thinking that you’re going to play bad, chances are that you will be correct.
You need to find yourself in the position of overcoming the nerves and transforming them into a sort of adrenaline that will give you the enthusiasm needed to play the piano. Don’t overthink it, just start playing. Of course, a teacher will always help you with the mental aspects of playing the piano too.
If you’re going through a rough period or you’re just not in the mood to play the piano, it’s ok to take some breaks. Instead of being defeated and feeling that practicing is a pain, just relax for a bit and start playing again when you are in the mood for it. Don’t forget that learning to play the piano is an activity that is quite demanding, so don’t stress yourself out, if you want it to be easy.
Another tough aspect when it comes to playing the piano is the fact that you need to memorize everything. There are people with good memory that can recall and replay passages from the first try, but most of us aren’t like that. Again, don’t think too much about how much time it takes for you to memorize something. At first, you will probably be bad at everything.
Fortunately, over time, a piano player will be able to memorize more and more. Furthermore, muscle memory will kick in, and the basic things will be played by themselves almost. Some might say that memory is the toughest part when playing the piano because it’s what makes the difference between a smooth piece of music and one that’s split into 20 parts because the performer forgot what comes next.
You’re never too old to start
Many people think that you can only learn how to play the piano when you’re a kid. Of course, that would give you an advantage both in terms of time and because your brain is capable of learning quicker at that stage of life, but it doesn’t mean you can’t learn it afterward.
Some would even say that it’s easier to learn as an adult because your brain is mature and it can grasp certain concepts faster than the brain of a child. Although you may not have the free time that you did when you were young, you now have control over it, and you’re more likely to set the right schedule for you to practice. You will also ask better questions where you’re not sure, and you will probably understand feedback better.
