The book I read for my quarter 2 IRP is The Classic Piano Course by Carol Barratt. I found this book in the Fairwood Library after establishing my interest on music, especially either the piano or the violin. I decided to choose the piano over the violin because I felt like I could show more progress learning a new instrument over a course of about 2 months.
The book starts out easy enough, by giving you very basic information about basic notation and the piano in general. I already knew most of the basic notations from my previous experience learning the violin. However, the "Introducing the Keyboard" page was very useful for a beginner like me.
Like any other instrument, the piano requires good posture. This includes things like setting straight but comfortably, as well as making sure your fingers are curved with wrists not too high or low. After making sure I had the correct posture down, I was able to begin playing basic exercises that mainly focused around middle C, which is the C note in the middle of the keyboard (More information on the "Introducing the Keyboard" page.) These simple exercises were simple enough to learn because all the notes required are on the same octave, which allowed you to play all of the notes without shifting your hand position. This way, beginners can become familiar with the piano and the basic notes.
Something new to me was the bass clef. The left hand plays the bass clef while the right hand plays the treble clef, which I was more familiar with. While not having to play with both hands yet, I was still having trouble on some exercises that required both hands to play, even if at the same time. (I was able to play with both hands at the same time after 3 days of practice)
Something that challenged me was the rhythms. It's easy to play with both hands when both hands are playing the same rhythm, such as example 1. What challenges be is when one hand has a different rhythm. For example, my right hand is playing half notes while my left hand is playing quarter notes mixed with rests during the half note (Example 2), which confuses me and leads to my left hand (Which is supposed to be playing quarter notes) mimicking the rhythm on my right hand, which is different. However, this problem can be solved with enough practice, but only on that specific piece.
 |
| Example 1 |
 |
| Example 2 |
If you play an instrument, what is the most challenging part of that instrument for you?
The most challenging part of playing an instrument for me is getting rid of bad habits.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I completely forgot to mention the development of bad habits, which is common when learning a new instrument and even more common when learning to play without a teacher. However, I think information online is enough to enlighten you about common bad habits on your particular instrument, which may make you more aware of them.
DeleteThe most challenging part is rhythm. As humans, we all mess up, and our brains often make very very small mistakes when playing music. Keeping a beat is an essential part in being a good musician, if you do not have a good beat, then the music you are trying to play will just be noise. As good as your rhythm is, you can always improve as there are always mistakes, no matter how small or big. I loved the blog post, and tell me this; How has your experience playing the violin help you in learning the piano?
ReplyDeleteI agree about what you said about rhythm, It's almost impossible to get the rhythm correct 100% of the time, and musicians can always improve on it. I feel like playing the violin has helped me be more comfortable with the basics of reading sheet music, such as key signatures, rests, etc. Without experience with reading musical notation, you would have to be comfortable with reading and understanding the notations, as well as learning the notes on the piano at the same time. This means that you will progress more slowly.
DeleteI feel like I am much more comfortable with the Violin despite all of the tone issues I have. Since I have played the violin for 4 years and played the piano for 1 week, I think it's obvious which one I am more comfortable on. Even the piece "Raccoon Rag" above is pushing the my limits on the piano at this time.
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest part of learning a new instrument is sight reading new music. To be fair, sight reading is hard in general, but sight reading on a new instrument is a whole new level of difficult. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree, sight reading is a difficult part of music. At the time of this post, I didn't really do much sight reading because most of the exercises were short. However, sight reading will come soon.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSteven, I play violin, and I think that the most challenging part is tuning. It is hard to hit every single note perfectly in tune since the note will either be too flat or sharp if your finger is slightly out of position. I know you play violin as well, so what do you think is the hardest part of it?
ReplyDeleteI highly agree with your opinion. Tuning issues don't apply much to the piano, but are very common on the violin. Even slightly out of tune notes can be very noticeable.
Deletei play the trombone and the hardest part is hitting high notes while staying in tune, though i doubt there is any real way to have that issue on the piano. What do you plan on doing to improve your skills at playing different rhythms simultaneously?
ReplyDelete