just started playing

[mark vaughan]

Hi I am just started playing keyboard literally yesterday I got my keyboard and had my lesson the day before I got a used psr e333 from the music shop where I had my lesson

I have played kind of ok on a few instruments before mainly recorder , guitar and percussion

my intial thoughts are how the heck am I going to play this ??

I remember a similar feeling when I first started guitar although I know keyboard , well for me is on another level

I have been playing a simple melody that my teacher set me in the beginners book using the notes C (middle) DEFG

I have been looking at chords C and G and can change from one to the other and play the melody although I stop and start on the chord changes sometimes, I am not looking at my hands apart from the odd glance

then I been trying the f chord along with the other two and that's where my brain started to hurt when trying to figure out the changes ! oh and I been playing c scale with piano style cross overs purely to get me to learn the notes

I have been thinking is this for me ? will I ever get it ? sometimes I think too much and look to far ahead thinking how the heck am I ever going to get there ? anyway I see how it goes but am enjoying it for the most part until my brain starts hurting oh and my hand hurts the left one mainly but I think like on a guitar when you learning chords you can only keep the same hand position for so long

 

[happyrat1]

Hi Mark...

Welcome to the wonderful world of keyboards.

Don't sweat the left hand. It comes with practice and try to think of it like drumming with your fingertips. Start off just using your left hand on the downbeats and gradually you will gain coordination.

As for practicing until your hand hurts? Not a good thing. You shouldn't strain your fingers with excessive practice.

Usually 45 minutes to an hour a day is OK for most people.

As for getting the hang of keys? I used to play woodwinds before I started up with keys and I have to say keyboard fingering honestly must be the easiest of all musical instruments except for drums

It really is all laid out for you from left to right, A thru G then rinse and repeat

You're off to a good start. Just keep working at it and study your music theory and work on your ear training and sight reading and within 6 months to a year you'll be amazed how much progress you've made.

Gary

 

[CowboyNQ]

G'day and welcome Mark,

I know it seems like a long road ahead, but if you practice daily and work through your lessons with your teacher you will make progress. Try not to be intimidated by what's in front of you, but use it as motivation instead. Every note, scale, chord inversion and simple tune your teacher works on with you is an important stepping stone to increasing your ability to a level that will surprise and delight you!

If you're feeling frustrated or want some playing tips, come back here and post. We'll motivate you!

Cheers,

Paul

 

[mark vaughan]

thanks gary and paul for your kind words and taking the time to reply it really means a lot
after the first couple of days I must admit I put the keyboard up for sale on ebay three time then took it down again

I had another practice last night and I could tell was making progress and my 17 year old daughter was quite impressed still stopping and starting but getting smoother finding the f chord difficult to remember

I agree gary the fingerings are easy and to be playing a song after a couple of days is great but........

its the remembering where they go on the left hand like from g to f is sooo hard for me and telling my left hand to press different keys like from G to A key changing fingers when going from C to f chord my pinky still wants to press the g key ! that's what is difficult but hopefully will come in time , I must say improvising on the key board when I have done my pratice stuff I really enjoy last night I was just changing from G to C chord on left hand and just playing keys gently up and down with my right harmonising with the left and my daughter was well impressed she said "dad you can do all that after three days ? even though it was random stuff it sounded nice lol

so I think I will keep trying see how it goes but I am learning to relax and just enjoy it for what it is without thinking too far ahead

like you say paul it is building blocks

you may find me asking lots of questions though as I go along I will need your help !

mark

 

[CowboyNQ]

That's the way Mark,

You'll be fine, just don't expect too much from yourself too soon. Sounds to me like you're making excellent progress. We all have to start somewhere!

Cheers,

Paul

 

[happyrat1]

The way I see it, anyone who can touch type can learn to play a keyboard.

Just keep hammering away at it and it will eventually come without even thinking about it. Pure reflex.

Gary

 

[The Y_man]

its the remembering where they go on the left hand like from g to f is sooo hard

Hah! Well you should see (hear?) me trying to get from G to F on a guitar!!!
Takes a good 5 seconds!! (By which time the next chord has come up....)

The Y-man

 

[mark vaughan]

well update on progress guys after a week of playing , I can play song called white rose using five notes CDEFG and at the same time play the C AND G chord on left hand I can play it smoothly reading the music and changing chords without stop starting felt good the first time that happened !!

I am now onto the second song bye bye love which introduces the F chord so back to the stopping starting again but its getting slowly less and less and changing getting quicker

I was thinking maybe I could get the hang of this until I looked further into the book and read the songs with more notes included and the markings for changing hand positions on the right hand in order to reach notes further up the scale , now that looks hard !

got me thinking is this hand position an exact science for the right hand or does it matter if its telling me to move further up using a certain finger and I use say the finger next to it as long as I can stretch to the other notes coming up ? again I guess its building up the muscle memory and one step at a time

Y man I know what u mean I played guitar for a few years and I have to keep reminding myself how hard that was in the beginning to reach the chords !!

mark

 

[The Y_man]

got me thinking is this hand position an exact science for the right hand or does it matter if its telling me to move further up using a certain finger and I use say the finger next to it as long as I can stretch to the other notes coming up ? again I guess its building up the muscle memory and one step at a time

Yes there is a science apparently..... I never learnt properly, but those who learnt piano will tell you

The Y-man

 

[mark vaughan]

so y man if you didn't learn properly how do you overcome that ?

I not good at science

 

[The Y_man]

so y man if you didn't learn properly how do you overcome that ?

I didn't - I just play crap and freak out my mrs (she's a pianist) - she keeps telling me my fingers are too flat, wrist is below the keys etc etc etc


The Y-man

 

[CowboyNQ]

Sounds like you're making great progress. Well done!

The fingering suggestions on your sheet music are really only suggestions, however you'll find that if you follow them it will make it easier, not harder, for you to play well. If you are practicing scales you should definitely follow the fingering notes, otherwise you'll get yourself in a terrible tangle, particularly when playing scales over more than one octave.

Anyway, don't stress, it's not as hard as it looks, and as you're finding out practice is the key.

 

[mark vaughan]

well update at the end of week two I have learnt my second song which uses C G and F chords the song is bye bye love , I put a jazz style on with acompiament and really enjoy a good 45 mins playing around with the rhythm as I went along to make it more jazzy

I finished learning is basically in four days and have been honing it down for the last three I have also been learning a nice simple version of ode to joy

the next challenge is bad moon rising which is same three chords and notes but faster tempo and chord changes in the bars

its coming slowly but think this will take me a full week to learn , which got me thinking will it take me a week for every song I learn ? but even then that's 52 songs in a year hopefully some new songs I will pick up quicker than others after I have been learning a few months

I know all the basic stuff on the keyboard but there is more I need to learn when I have time such as splitting the key board

 

[SeaGtGruff]

It's good to hear that you're making progress!