/diy/ - Do It Yourself

did you check on the internet?

self taught piano player here. been playing 15 yrs. I am 30 now. get a starter piano player book. level 1. learn to read but rely more on your ear. practice scales with both hands in all possible keys everyday. play what you love to listen to. also nowadays, YouTube has some pretty good tutorial videos. most important though, practice everyday.

>>615521

isn't 4chan part of the internet tho?

>>615523

Thanks.

Any book in particular you'd recommend?

>>615526
ZING

>>615531 it really doesn't matter, anything that teaches form, and basic chords and scales.

http://www.8notes.com/theory/
this site is where i began to learn theory it starts very basic. but being a student studying music at university id highly recommend getting a good teacher, teaching yourself can be a case of trail and error and very slow going

>>615523
>learn to read but rely more on your ear

regular piano player here. took lessons for 14 years been playing for 18. That's entirely inaccurate when it comes to many things I've played (haven't played beginner in quite a while, but). When you first learn a song you play it slowly to get a feel for it and the fingers right. The sound can even sound quite awful if not played with the tempo the artist intended. You could get stuck on measures wondering if they really mean that chord or things that sound bad. Blues is a whole genre example of very harsh and off sounding notes but when played with the flow of the whole song sound perfectly in place.

Also get a teacher OP, the earliest habits are the ones that die the hardest, you can't afford them to be bad. I only stopped seeing mine because he told me there was nothing more he could teach me.

For books I think the faber & faber is a good friendly start. They have levels and songs designed to teach you new things as you progress. Get a theory book or two so you can understand all the signs you see and scales you will play. Use fingerpower books to learn fingering, and really really adhere to it, it helps you so much when you get more and more advanced. There's not much point in playing scales, it's not like a guitar, they're just good to know.

Make it a passion to learn songs you know. I was in a slump for a while until my father introduced me to billy joel. He got me the whole original songbook and I learned it within months. My teacher even gave me a reward after the recital in front of the 30+ students for that back in late middle school as most improved player that year.

Practice does make perfect, but a teacher can inspire the practice so much more.

>>615580
Also fun facts. Once you learn to play with confidence you'll never need to look at your fingers anymore, that's probably the hardest of habits to break. But if you do, it's an amazing feeling, and you can just play whatever is set in front of you, make eye contact while playing a girls favorite song, and memorize the piece a lot faster. Muscle memory builds here faster than even in super meat boy for me, and memorizing songs is a nice add on to have.

Also, a piano is one of the highest scaling instruments octaves wise to play. I'm not sure for other who play instruments as I just play piano and guitar, but once I started guitar lessons and was learning the actual notes and how to read sheet music it clicked really really fast. I can play my piano songs on guitar and vice versa and it feels pretty cool. Also going to a store full of sheet music is pretty nice nowadays. Whatever your favorite artist or songs you like you can buy whole songbooks, individual sheets, and even easier versions if you're a beginner. These things aren't things commonly uploaded to the internet, and although you can download and pay for sheet music on the net it's always been cheaper at me to go to the store and have them print some off.

>>615509
Train your ears first.
sibelius auralia

/mu/

>>615580
>>615586
don't listen to this faggot op. even his words are pretentious. I can see his fedora furrowing as he types. this man is not a piano player. if you solely read music like this twat you will never develop personal style. the ultimate goal of "looking into a girl's eyes and playing her favorite song" is limited and a product of virgindom and wizardry. learn to read but learn to hear and make "your" sound. the previously mentioned anon will never understand this. Imagine looking at nothing but your mind and playing what lies within your soul.
listen to me and
>>615867.

also fuck:
>>615868
>>615521 these guys.

If you learn by ear, and learn theory, you'll be prepared to learn improvisation. Improvisation is the real heart and soul of music.

Playing notes on a page, and technical studies like scales will only get you comfortable on a keyboard playing in key.

From 20 years of playing, take it from me. playing notes from a page and classical music is a difficult habit to break, and although technically challenging, it is really no more than mimicking somebody elses musical genius

The real fun happens when you are able to let your ideas flow freely into the keys. Dont get stuck on technique, or you'll miss the bigger picture

>>615899
Don't get all butthurt HURRDURR HE HAS FEDORA FULL OF VIRGIN WIZARD LIES LISTEN TO ME ONLY just because I said you were wrong about something. Women fucking love piano played well. Personal style is something that comes naturally years down the road. It's good to have the discipline to play a piece the way the artist intended when you start out.

>looking at your mind
>playing what lies in the depths of your soul
You're going full autistic, which I guess is to be expected of a namefag on an anonymous board.

>>615868

>/mu/

>helping anyone

>>615899
This guy is full of shit. He'll probably also tell you that in order to play card games, all you need to do is follow the heart of the cards.

I know my theory pretty inside and out but I can't read bass for shit and I'm not very practiced with actually touching the piano. what do, just pick something hard and peck at it slowly until I stop sucking?

also how do I get better at reading various C clef positions. I really wanna get through Schoenberg's counterpoint book but all the C clef is really fucking me

>>616472
Definitely not. Start slowly, Master beginner songs, and increase difficulty. You don't start up a game on the last level. Many beginner books only start with a few notes and dont even get into bass notes until later. The Schoenberg's book focuses on learning counterpoint, something even intermediate level pianists do not know or need to. It is not for learning how to play. It is a great book, but save it for later. A teacher is a great help and many provide books for you and can help you pick what pace to move at. If you don't have the money for them just buy a real in-depth beginner walkthrough book and go to the music store and flip through a few to find the level you need and the one that explains it to you best. Don't be embarrassed just because it's not large scales or made for kids. Everyone has to start somewhere.

>>616697
well part of it is my own impatience, I took like seven years of piano lessons when I was younger and I've already forgotten all the physical aspects but I retained a lot of the theoretical stuff since I still kept myself involved in music. so it's kinda frustrating to poke through all the beginner zzz stuff again but I guess I gotta deal.

and I've taken a course on beginning counterpoint but I've forgotten most of it, I just wanted to dick around with the Schoenberg book because I have a chub for cp as useless and outdated as it is. I'd be fine if it was in just bass and treble.

>>616714
bass and treble *clefs, if that wasn't clear. polite sage for being a dumbass.

>>616472
Vladislav Blazhevich's "Clef Studies for Trombone" is where I learned how to read alto and tenor clefs.

Hey, I'm not OP but am also an aspiring pianist. I've been practicing everyday for about 2 months playing mostly by ear, and memorizing all the minor and major scales.

I feel like I have accomplished a lot, but according to this thread I should pick up some music theory as well.

Well anyways, I know many of you recommended getting a book, is there any book in particular that you may have liked or helped any of you?
If you guys have an suggestions that would be awesome but I'll also take a look on amazon.

>>615580
Self taught awesome piano player here. Can't read music. Maple leaf rag + many more 100% by ear. Don't listen to this guy, you can play by ear if you try.

Although I've had access to a piano since as long as I could walk + probably autism.

OP is too vague, doesnt specify if he wants to go full classical or jazz or quickest-way-to-get-laid-via-poppiano style

>>616794
What if I told you that if you had learned to read music......you could also play by ear? It's a shame it doesn't work the other way around.

>>616864

This.

>>616794
You'll never be as good as someone who can read music, but it's pretty neat that you can still play by ear.

>tfw 5 years in and sight reading with two hands is still suffering.

>>616743
oh hell yes, this looks like it'll work great for my purposes. thanks a whole bunch dude