am i learning songs or learning keyboard ??

[mark vaughan]

let me explain.....
I came across a piano forum and I read a very interesting post around how you learn , it was around two different ways you can learn or find yourself learning
one is where you just practice songs over and over and basically you are just learning hand movements and you practice it that many times it is implanted in your muscle memory that you are just repeating the hand movements

the other is learning a broad range of techniques and positions (hand finger etc) and music theory so that you can pick up any music and play it by sight reading

I guess as a beginner I am in the first category but I am also picking up techniques and I am learning a few techniques cross overs arpeggios scales etc , so in time do the two types of learning become one ?

I am a bit confused as to how I should go am I doing right by just practicing a song over and over until I get it right , notes finger positions etc and does the sight reading get easier as time goes on or is there specific things I should be doing ?

i have ben playing about ten weeks and still enjoying it very much i must admit i do like improvising with the grand piano switched on and improvising and i am learning to get the left hand going together with the right with arpeggios etc and just playing

mark

 

[happyrat1]

Music is not only an art. It is a science as well. Like anything worth studying it's a mixed bag of tricks and techniques and theory that you pick up along the way to becoming a master of the art.

Is woodworking a craft or an art or a science? Depending on how skilled you are you can be classified as an apprentice or a journeyman or a master craftsman or a bona fide artist.

Don't get hung up on labels.

The real joy of learning music is in the journey, not the destination. It's all the discoveries you make about yourself and the tunes along the way that make the trip worthwhile.

A lot of young people start out with stars in their eyes and dreams of stardom. And a lot of those people become Milli Vanilli

Just keep working on refining your edge and creating your art and you will amaze yourself someday with just how good you become.

Remember, the toughest critic that you need to please is first and foremost yourself.

Like I said, don't get hung up on labels and allow the synergy to flow from you to your instrument and just try and be the best damned musician you can be.

Gary

 

[CowboyNQ]

Really agree with this post by Gary. Don't overcomplicate it.

Learn, practice, have fun.

 

[Hardtop Harry]

This is a really old topic: should I let the music itself provide the technical challenges necessary to improve my abilities, or should I play exercises in order to prepare myself for the music?

For me, I've found that a bit of both works best. For me anyway.

There are a lot of players who spend a lot of time on technical exercises and have astonishing techniques but hardly know any songs.

On the other hand there are people who play a lot of 'part songs' and can't play anything all the way through.

I don't want to be either of these people.

 

[ViLana]

Hi Mark,

I can relate to what you are saying. I've been taking lessons...they were supposed to be keyboard lessons but actually they are piano lessons. The teacher does not instruct how to use the features of the keyboard at all. I end up learning how to play a song and keep on practicing it until I can play it. then I go on to a new song and learn how to play that. With this class I'm in I don't learn scales, just a new chord so I can play it with my left hand while I play the melody with the right hand. I feel there is something missing with this method.

ViLana

 

[happyrat1]

Supplement your formal lessons with a good book on music theory.

How much you learn is totally dependent on how motivated and driven you are to learn.

Meanwhile continue to learn your lessons while supplementing your knowledge of music theory, scales and chord structures.

Gary

 

[Fred Coulter]

Learn pieces. But keep pushing how difficult each piece is. Learn more and more difficult pieces.

When you're having a specific technical problem, break out the exercises specifically aimed at that problem. But keep working on pieces.

Basically, the idea is that exercises are boring, but pieces are more interesting. Also, you can play the pieces for friends, but they must really like you to listen to you playing scales.

There are multiple sources of pieces listed by difficulty. Two of them are the Canadian and English assessment organizations. Both of them publish syllabi with multiple levels. If you can play pieces at one level, look at the next level and learn some of those pieces.

Here are all the keyboard syllabi of the two organizations:

Royal Conservatory of Music (Canadian)

• Piano (old) - http://www.musicdevelopmentprogram....iles/MDP_PianoSyllabus_2008_online_SECURE.pdf
• Piano (new) - http://www.musicdevelopmentprogram.org/sites/default/files/files/RCM-Piano-Syllabus-2015.pdf
• Piano Licentiate - http://www.musicdevelopmentprogram.org/sites/default/files/files/RCM-Piano-Licentiate-2015.pdf
  • This is the top level of piano assessment, which basically consists of an hour long professional level concert.
• Harpsichord - http://www.musicdevelopmentprogram.org/sites/default/files/files/Harpsichord_Syllabus_2008.pdf
• Organ - http://www.musicdevelopmentprogram.org/sites/default/files/files/organ_syllabus_2010.pdf
• Accordion - http://www.musicdevelopmentprogram.org/sites/default/files/files/Accordion_Syllabus_2008.pdf

Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (England)

• Piano - http://us.abrsm.org/fileadmin/user_upload/syllabuses/pianoSyllabusComplete15.pdf
• Jazz Piano - http://us.abrsm.org/fileadmin/user_upload/PDFs/jazzPianoFull.pdf
• Harpischord - http://us.abrsm.org/fileadmin/user_upload/syllabuses/harpsichordSyllabusComplete15.pdf
• Organ - http://us.abrsm.org/fileadmin/user_upload/syllabuses/organSyllabusComplete15.pdf
• Advanced Performance - http://us.abrsm.org/en/our-exams/diplomas/music-performance/
  • This is the top level assessments for all instruments. There are three "diploma" levels for piano, harpsichord, and organ.

You do not need to go through the assessment process. These are just a source of music listed in order of difficulty so that learning new pieces will also push your technique to the next level. The listings are free for download, but you'll have to find the music separately. Much of it is available online for free -- Google is your friend. Both the RCM and the ABRSM will sell books of piano music for the numerical levels, so if you don't want to search them out, you can just get a collection. The organ and harpsichord markets aren't big enough to justify selling graded collections.

 

[happyrat1]

Great links Fred.

You should post those to the Tutorial Links Thread.

https://www.keyboardforums.com/threads/good-tutorial-links.24556/

Gary