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    Piano Lesson
    Piano Lesson
    Piano Lesson
    Ebook148 pages1 hour

    Piano Lesson

    By Xlibris US

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Being sent for piano lessons was probably the single worst thing that could have happened in my young life. But thanks to an exceptional lady and piano teacher named Florence Powers, I wound up unexpectedly becoming a professional piano player. Here are some curious things about the piano that I picked up along the way...


    Playing the piano has got to be one of lifes greatest treasures. In my estimation, there are few other activities that can even begin to compare with the ability to play this amazing instrument. As you can probably guess, I have the highest regard for those individuals who have mastered the art of playing the piano. Some performers have taken the art to a very high level, often out of the reach of most players. But my aim here is to present a simple accessible approach on learning how to listen to, or how to approach playing the piano for ones own pleasure... first and foremost.

    This self-centered idea doesnt necessarily imply being selfish, but it probably does require a slight adjustment to ones priorities. However, if you can get around this inconvenience, the possibilities are sitting right there in front of you... and all you have to do is reach out and take.


    My aim here is to demystify the piano for both listeners or those who wish to learn how to get started in learning how play this amazing instrument. In any event, I feel that pleasure can be derived by having a wider understanding as just what the piano actually is. And while a book such as this one may be helpful to those who wish to learn to play the piano, there is no substitute for a live teacher.

    However, its extremely important to find a teacher that can fulfill ones personal musical taste and ambition. There is much involved if a student wishes to become a proficient music reader, thus having a good teacher is essential to success in this area. Take your time in finding the right one... and good luck!


    However, before looking at the piano, its also important to establish what kind of music one is interested in, whether for listening or performing. For purposes of this book, I have arbitrarily broken it down into four major forms: Classical, Standards, Popular and Jazz.


    Classical leads the list as the music that has been around longer, much longer than the other two forms of music. It represents the foundation of all of todays music. Much of it is seriously challenging to play, and requires years of dedicated practice. At the concert level, Olympic style discipline prevails, as the techniques of performance far surpasses the scope of this book. Be that as it may, classical music has an abundance of priceless melodiesthat can be played in a simplified manner while still retaining their pure magic for listeners. (and pianists ) Music operates on principles that were founded in the past 600 years, they carry with them an enormous amount of human cultural genius, including the invention of equal temperament.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXlibris US
    Release dateMar 25, 2014
    ISBN9781493160228
    Piano Lesson

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    • 4/5
      Nice conversational style; a number of errors regarding which keys a song is in; an example is "Birthday," which is in A, but the book shows as C

    Book preview

    Piano Lesson - Xlibris US

    Copyright © 2014 by Billy Georgette.

    Library of Congress Control Number:   Pending

    ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4931-6021-1

          Softcover        978-1-4931-6020-4

          eBook             978-1-4931-6022-8

    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

    Rev. date: 01/07/2014

    To order additional copies of this book, contact:

    Xlibris LLC

    1-888-795-4274

    www.Xlibris.com

    Orders@Xlibris.com

    144285

    music-notes.jpg

    B eing sent for piano lessons was probably the single worst thing that could have happened in my young life. But thanks to an exceptional lady and piano teacher named Florence Powers, I wound up unexpectedly becoming a professional piano player. Here are some curious things about the piano that I picked up along the way…

    Playing the piano has got to be one of life’s greatest treasures. In my estimation, there are few other activities that can even begin to compare with the ability to play this amazing instrument. As you can probably guess, I have the highest regard for those individuals who have mastered the art of playing the piano. Some performers have taken the art to a very high level, often out of the reach of most players. But my aim here is to present a simple accessible approach on learning how to listen to, or how to approach playing the piano for one’s own pleasure… first and foremost.

    This self-centered idea doesn’t necessarily imply being selfish, but it probably does require a slight adjustment to one’s priorities. However, if you can get around this inconvenience, the possibilities are sitting right there in front of you… and all you have to do is reach out and take.

    My aim here is to demystify the piano for both listeners and for those who wish to get started learning how play this amazing instrument. In any event, I feel that pleasure can be derived by having a wider understanding as just what the piano actually is. And while a book such as this may be helpful to those who wish to learn to play the piano, there is no substitute for a live teacher. However, it’s extremely important to find a teacher that can fulfill one’s personal musical taste and ambition. There is much involved if a student wishes to become a proficient music reader, thus having a good teacher is essential to success in this area. Take your time in finding the right one… and good luck!

    However, before looking at the piano, it’s also important to establish what kind of music one is interested in, whether for listening or performing. For purposes of this book, I have arbitrarily broken it down into four major forms: Classical, Standards, Popular and Jazz.

    Classical leads the list as the music that has been around longer, much longer than the other two forms of music. It represents the foundation of all of today’s music. Much of it is seriously challenging to play, and requires years of dedicated practice. At the concert level, olympic style discipline prevails, as the techniques of performance far surpasses the scope of this book. Be that as it may, classical music has an abundance of priceless melodies that can be played in a simplified manner while still retaining their pure magic for listeners and pianists.

    Music operates on principles that were founded in the past 600 years, and as such they carry with them an enormous amount of human cultural genius, including the invention of equal temperament.

    Jazz piano has flowered in it’s 100 year history with a firm footing on the principles of the classical period. J.S. Bach would have embraced Oscar Peterson as Chopin would have loved Bill Evans. In either case, it’s a matter of striving for perfection along with a huge dose of talent. Examining modern jazz piano can be a fascinating glimpse into the future of music in up-coming centuries.

    Popular piano is highly accessible when compared with the other two disciplines. But it is deeply rewarding and offers endless possibilities for song-form music in both composition and performance. Hopefully with the information and tips that I’m putting forth in this book, one should soon be able to become a competent player of popular music. Like maple trees in the spring, this is an area of piano music ready to be tapped in simple straightforward ways. Results can be very sweet… or very sticky.

    Let’s say that you and the keyboard are facing each other like strangers meeting for the first time. Consider for a moment just what you are looking at. For example, where did this thing come from? How long has it been around? What’s with this arrangement of black and white keys?

    Funny thing with the piano is the business of black and white keys. When I ask other pianists how come, no one seems to know. Most don’t even know how many black keys there are, or how many white keys, for instance, there are (36 black, 52 white.) while pretty much everyone knows that there are 88 keys on the piano. (the old 88s).

    Another curious fact is that the keys are laid out in groups of 2 and 3 for the blacks,(placed in the back) with groupings of 3 and 4 for the whites.(firmly occupying the front). Whatever the reasons are, or how they came to be, one thing is certain… this particular arrangement of keys on the keyboard works. And it works in spite of the fact that the two human hands are basically different (thumbs in, little fingers out) in terms of natural human symmetry.

    The basic idea is to use the thumbs as pivots to project the fingers into the different groupings and, as a rule, there are exceptions, like never starting a motion with a thumb on a black key. But then again, there are many exceptions to this rule as well.

    The human ear has the ability to identify that any given note will sound the same when played higher or lower… they’re called octaves and they can be found repeating themselves across the compass of the keyboard. Starting at the very bottom of the keyboard, the notes / keys A, B flat, B, and C, are repeated 8 times.(octavio, ocho) along with the 8 other subsequent notes, all the way to the top of the keyboard for a full 7 octaves + 3 extra keys.

    The earliest known depiction of a keyboard can be found in a small obscure church somewhere in central England. There, in a corner near the pulpit is a stone sculpture of an angel holding a small keyboard. Dating back to the ninth century, it clearly shows keys in the same general formation that we can easily recognize on a modern keyboard. But this arrangement of keys is enveloped in mystery. There is simply no clear explanation as to how it came about, all we really know is that it works. It appears to be tied to human evolution… something that evolved over time. What we would regard as the modern piano wasn’t born until the beginning of the 18th century, a relatively recent arrival. It is interesting to note that musical keyboards are the predecessor of all of today’s touch control devises from typewriters to aircraft cockpit controls… all of them linking the human mind to an ever expanding technology presided over by keyboards.

    However, playing the piano is a whole different life game than playing a computer. Which is baffling to me because the piano only has 12 different keys and that’s it. Even so, the very simplicity of the piano is wrapped up in some of the most complex possibilities ever put forth by human endeavor in the invention of art. Playing the piano is something you really have to work at. As always, no matter what you put in, what you ultimately get back depends on you and you alone.

    But the computer has countless keys and is relatively easy to operate, plus it’s reach is endless. One can always navigate their way around a computer without a basic comprehension of it’s principles or even how to apply them in order to enjoy it’s everyday usage.

    Not so the piano.

    Opening the lid of a piano is opening a lid of magic, mystery, adventure… and romance.

    Some folks may simply never be able to play the piano, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t listen. But for those who are willing to take up the challenge of playing this instrument, here we are talking about using the hands, both hands, moving the fingers, thumbs in, pinky’s out. Begin by stretching both hands wide open over the keys observing how many notes ///// keys one is able to span between the thumb and the little finger. Do this with of both hands. It’s a definite advantage if you can reach ten notes without effort, (a ‘tenth’) but not a necessity in basic fingering or one’s

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