Playing the piano

[Ayachuco]

Playing the piano is easy huh. I mean all your doin is just pressin some keys and using the pedaling just to have a full sound out of it right? Wrong. Playing the piano is an art that is often misused and should be treated properly. One should not suffer trying to play loud chords or scales or whatever. A trained pianist plays loud when attacking the piano with the arms or the body to have an even louder effect (physics). When scales are played, the mature pianist rotates their wrists as they are trained to relax their them. When playing music from the romantic era, the pianist should always play legato and should work on voicing trying to make the melody sing through harmony or broken chords accompianment. Pedaling is another crucial concept to learn. It is an offense to the listener if you pedal without reason in which you will most likely cause a disturbing sinority. In general, pedaling means to hold certain notes simply because the hands cannot hold them because they are busy with other notes. Pedal at the very tip and do not go all the way down unless it is necessary to do so in some circumstances. The piano takes years to master and theres a whole lot to learn about but not in one day. There is slow pracice to learn in having technique and making sure you do exercises everyday to have good technique. Now the organ, that's a different story.

Here are some tips from other people about proper piano playing:

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bi...2;t=009758;p=0

[Ayachuco]

who plays the piano. any questions, comments?

[Csargo]

Not me.

[Avicenna]

My mum made me learn it for a few years, absolutely loathed it. I really don't see how it's 'lucky' and even a privelige to have to pay to:
a) buy the darned thing
b) find space for the darned thing
c) pay money to learn how to play the darned thing
d) play for other people's enjoyment when you've learned
A complete utter waste of effort, the single biggest waste of time in my life. Ever. At least RTW inspired me to read and hence learn some history, while enjoying myself.

[IrishArmenian]

I play Guitar, Violin, Tin Whistle and I am learning the Harp and I tell you, all instruments are much harder than they seem.

[Csargo]

Well if were doing that then I play Guitar, Bass, and the Triangle

[GeneralHankerchief]

A complete utter waste of effort, the single biggest waste of time in my life. Ever. At least RTW inspired me to read and hence learn some history, while enjoying myself.

Not true.

There's still the dream of becoming a keyboardist for some rock group in which case the piano does have some use- groupie attractor.

But aside from that, you pretty much made me realize that I've been playing the stupid thing all these years for nothing.

[doc_bean]

I played organ/keyboards before I hit puberty. I like the sound of a piano (or keyboard) but can't bring myself to spend enough time with it to learn to play it again (I also have a bass and can hardly play that ).

[naut]

Everyone has a bass, how come?

Bass for the win . I'm not really musically knowlegable enough to play anything else, especially not the piano.

[Avicenna]

Not true.

There's still the dream of becoming a keyboardist for some rock group in which case the piano does have some use- groupie attractor.

But aside from that, you pretty much made me realize that I've been playing the stupid thing all these years for nothing.

Let's just say I'm not exactly the type that listens to this kind of music. Makes me go

It's supposed to make you better at maths though. Note that that's just speculation, as plenty of my classmates have played piano since they could barely talk, but I've always been best at maths.

[Somebody Else]

I can't play the piano. I tried once, it just didn't happen.

Something just goes wrong when I get near any sort of keyboard... I just can't use them.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Well if were doing that then I play Guitar, Bass, and the Triangle

Triangle.


Try playing triangle, maracas, and tuba at the same time. Most fun I had in ages.

On a side note, yeah, I can play piano.

[naut]

Try playing triangle, maracas, and tuba at the same time. Most fun I had in ages.

I've never seen a more appropriate time to use this smiley

[Csargo]

Triangle.


Try playing triangle, maracas, and tuba at the same time. Most fun I had in ages.

On a side note, yeah, I can play piano.

Go Evil Triangles all the way.

[Dutch_guy]

My mum made me learn it for a few years, absolutely loathed it.

Hmm that's about the same way I felt, my parents however loved me playing it, if you liked it so much then why didn't you start playing !

Thought so.

[Ayachuco]

Playing the piano is not hard! All you have to do is start playing the piano when your six years old diligently everyday for ten years and you'll be a phenominal pianist. Then you can learn how to play the organ!

[naut]

The organ is really hard to play isn't it?

[Avicenna]

The organ, according to someone who plays it, is very tiring. Loads of keyboards, buttons, and pedals. You have to play it standing up, methinks, and involves a lot of turning round playing the keyboard at the back then switching back to the front. Much harder than the piano.

[AntiochusIII]

I played organ/keyboards before I hit puberty. I like the sound of a piano (or keyboard) but can't bring myself to spend enough time with it to learn to play it again (I also have a bass and can hardly play that ).

Ah, then we are the same, brother! Except for the bass part.

I have a few short forays into other instruments but I find their keys, surprisingly, much harder to familiarize than the naturally-organized piano keys.

I rather miss those youthful days when I was 8 and piano contests seem sooo important. 8 years seem so long since then. Admittedly, I used to find myself quite in love with the keyboard and the piano, though practicing doesn't count.

The parental obsession with their kids (my parents too) being capable of playing musical instruments (and playing sports, and debating, and being overall "elite") is quite peculiar to me though. Any parents wanna give some lights?

[doc_bean]

The organ, according to someone who plays it, is very tiring. Loads of keyboards, buttons, and pedals. You have to play it standing up, methinks, and involves a lot of turning round playing the keyboard at the back then switching back to the front. Much harder than the piano.

The organ keys have a discrete effect (sound or no sound) whilst the sound produced when hitting a piano key depends on how you hit it. I wouldn't call playing the piano easier.

The parental obsession with their kids (my parents too) being capable of playing musical instruments (and playing sports, and debating, and being overall "elite") is quite peculiar to me though. Any parents wanna give some lights?

While not a parent, as someone who had to take several years of organ lessons, was forced to take a French class (as a nine year old), and had to take Latin in HS, I've come to the conclusion that it's mostly about vanity. There's also the idea that a kid that is forced to work hard will change into an adult that will work hard. That doesn't work though

[Beirut]

The parental obsession with their kids (my parents too) being capable of playing musical instruments (and playing sports, and debating, and being overall "elite") is quite peculiar to me though. Any parents wanna give some lights?

Enlightenment. You expose the kids to different things to see what they have an aptitude for and what they enjoy. (Often you have to force them.) Having them play a musical instrument is the first and possibly best way of having them transcend themselves, be creative, and learn to express their emotions in a positive way. And it will be something they can carry with them their entire life.

Every parent wants their kid to have a catalog of capabilities and talents. It's a stepping stone to a better life.

[naut]

Enlightenment. You expose the kids to different things to see what they have an aptitude for and what they enjoy. (Often you have to force them.) Having them play a musical instrument is the first and possibly best way of having them transcend themselves, be creative, and learn to express their emotions in a positive way. And it will be something they can carry with them their entire life.

Every parent wants their kid to have a catalog of capabilities and talents. It's a stepping stone to a better life.

Wise words.

[Quid]

Countless moons ago I was made to play the piano for two years. Needless to say, I dodged lessons every way I possibly could.

Today, I wish I had paid more attention in piano classes and actually learnt to play the damn thing. You only know what you miss when it's gone...

Quid

[ArcticSonata]

Been playing most of my life. I think the mistake most people in playing paino is that it is easy after anyone can sit downand hit a few note and even play out a familiar easy song ( something likehappy birthday). The real challenge is the where instrument like Guitar seem to get easier as you play, the paino grows from being to harder. Personally I think that play paino ( its even hader when playing a synth or an organ) is the most challenge instrument out there. Unlike other other instrument you can be chanlenged to to keep the melody and the rythm at the same time,ect.

If you get a chance to play take it evenif it is only a part time hobby.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Been playing most of my life. I think the mistake most people in playing paino is that it is easy after anyone can sit downand hit a few note and even play out a familiar easy song ( something likehappy birthday). The real challenge is the where instrument like Guitar seem to get easier as you play, the paino grows from being to harder. Personally I think that play paino ( its even hader when playing a synth or an organ) is the most challenge instrument out there. Unlike other other instrument you can be chanlenged to to keep the melody and the rythm at the same time,ect.

I've been talking about this to a guitarist friend of mine, and we both say the other instrument seems harder. After a bit of debate, this is what we agreed on:

As far as actually playing notes, guitar is harder since you need to do two things to get the note: Line finger up correctly and pluck the right string. With piano it's just hit the right key.

However, when it comes to getting complicated melodies and the like, piano et al. is more difficult since you need to keep both hands in rhythm, play more notes, etc.

[Ayachuco]

Originally Posted by Tiberius:
The organ, according to someone who plays it, is very tiring. Loads of keyboards, buttons, and pedals. You have to play it standing up, methinks, and involves a lot of turning round playing the keyboard at the back then switching back to the front. Much harder than the piano.

Through my experience, the organ is not that hard to understand if you know how to play the piano. Once you know which buttons to push (More specifically Stops and pistons) and keyboards to play then you will play like it's patty cake. The crucial concept to learn is good registration and peadaling. You don't have to worry about producing sound with the body as much as the piano. You do not have to attack the organ to produce a loud sound because the pipes are blown by a certain amount of air causing a pitch by even the softest touch on the keys.

Originally posted by doc bean:
The organ keys have a discrete effect (sound or no sound) whilst the sound produced when hitting a piano key depends on how you hit it. I wouldn't call playing the piano easier.

Yes. Out of all the instruments, their is no doubt that the piano is the hardest to learn. The pianist has to work at producing sound with the body into the keys while they are trained to relax. This is the most complex rudiment to understand and learn how to do.

[Lehesu]

Beirut, can you become my official interpretor and mind-reader? I could use you around to articulate my massive intellect.

[Togakure]

11 years of classical piano study from age 8-19, supported by a statewide music teacher's association and the state university system (California). Then rock and roll as an 80s keyboardist for the next 5 years. Then isolated hobbyist composing using MIDI recording gear for the next 14 years. And now, a dry spell of absolutely no playing for 5 years. Piano/music is the greatest gift my folks ever gave me. Beirut is spot on. Music brings quantitative and qualitative thinking together in an artistically expressive and potentially creative way. It requires self-discipline and a lot of practice to develop your technique, but all the practice in the world won't show you how to express yourself deeply, or how to compose rich original tunes, or how to improvise artfully on the spot over the top of your groovin' band m8s.

Learning how to play ditties on the piano is relatively easy. Mastering the piano is a never-ending challenge. There are precious few in my experience who could play even a modest Chopin waltz well.

An organ has no touch sensitivity. While you can control volume in a very global way with pedals, and tone by manipulating drawbars, you can't control nuances of amplitude or frequency (volume or pitch/tone), on an organ with just your armweight and finger pressure. You can on a piano--but most who learn to play piano ditties don't develop this ability to any great degree. Easier to play piano? Well, that's not my opinion, but to each his own.

As long as playing brings you pleasure though, I say all the power to ya. In my opinion, music is definitely the most beautiful universal language.