Is learning the piano on your “I have always wanted to” list? Turning your dream into a reality could change your life.

Learning to play the piano and read sheet music opens up a whole world of music to you. What style of music do you enjoy listening to? Do you like Songs from the Shows, Classical Music or the Blues? Whatever your taste in music, it can be played on the piano.

You will be able to entertain yourself for hours. Each new piece presents a challenge with a huge reward at the end of it. Being able to play a new piece of music all the way through with no mistakes will give you a huge buzz.

Because it is an active hobby rather than a passive one, it fully engages your mind. It is a great way to escape from the busy world that we live in, and enter into your own private world. Shut the door and immerse yourself in the magical powers of playing music.

It is quick and easy to get started playing a few easy tunes.

All you need is a piano or keyboard, about 10 to 15 minutes a day to practice and the desire to learn. You will be off and away in no time at all.

So how can it change your life? It opens up all sorts of possibilities to you. You can play duets with other people. You can join a band, accompany a choir, or play at church. You can entertain your friends and family, especially at Christmas. If you want to learn piano just for your own entertainment, it is one of the best ways of de-stressing. You will feel yourself relaxing as piano chords ripple under your fingertips. There may be a budding song writer inside of you, just waiting to be unleashed!

Start playing the piano and reading music today. Access Andrea Monk’s Free Video Course called Piano Lessons for Beginners by clicking on this link
http://www.realpianoplayer.com

It is really nice to know how to use piano chords as you play melodies in your piano scores! You can develop this ability by practicing songs you like with only basic chords in your left hand. Read on and find out how to play chords to your piano music notes!

Two skills

There are two things to learn in order to use chords in song melodies in your piano sheet music. First you have to learn how to play chords on your piano. For example, you have to know how to play the chord C-major and which notes to use in order to use the chord symbols you can find above the melody line in your piano sheets. When you see the symbol C above a note you will then know how to play the chord.

The next important but more sophisticated skill is to learn how to use chords in music notes even if you do not have written chord symbols to a song you are going to play. Having to know which chords to use in a song is also necessary if you are requested to play “Happy Birthday To You” on a birthday party for example. Of course you can learn to play this song by heart but it is a tremendous pleasure to be able to play songs you have heard with chords and melody on the go.

The first steps to piano chords

There are some basic levels to master in order to play chords to songs in an effortless and professional way but even mastering the first steps will give you the means to play songs you like.

The first level means that you can handle piano chords with your left hand and play the melody line with your right hand. If you see the chord symbol C above the piano music notes you will press down the notes c, e and g with your left hand as you play the note below the chord symbol with your right hand.

The only way to learn this is to start from where you are now. This is a piano beginners lesson so we will start with the most basic chord skills you have to master in order to play chords from piano music sheets.

Playing melodies and piano chords by heart

An easy way to start learning chords is to memorize easy melodies you like. This will gradually help you develop your musical taste and the ability to use the appropriate chords when you hear a melody or have to put chords to the melodies in your piano notes.

Try to learn the melody to for example “Mary Had A Little Lamb” by heart. You can play the melody in the key of C for a start. This means that you start with an E note on the piano as you play the melody. Try to figure out the melody by ear. Here is the lyrics with suggested chord symbols in brackets after the syllable where you are supposed to press down the chord.

Ma(C)ry had a little lamb, litt(G7)le lamb, litt(C)le lamb

Ma(C)ry had a little lamb, its fleece(G7) was white as snow(C)

The C chord contains the notes c, e and g

The G7 chord contains the notes g, b and f

You can try the same approach with other easy songs you know. Try to figure out the melody by ear and to find out which chords to use by trial and error. The process will develop your musicality and ability to play by ear!

How to use a fake book

A fake book contains melodies in the form of lead sheets with the melody line, basic chord symbols and often lyrics. The idea is that this information is enough for a skilled pianist to make an impromptu rendering of a song and maybe also improvise and create a personal arrangement.

However, you can use a fake book even if you are not able to create complicated and improvised arrangements from the scant musical information to the songs in these books. Just pick a song you like and are familiar with from the book and use the music scores and the notated chord symbols as a method for learning piano chords.

The art of messing around

A very pleasant way to learn which chord to use in a song is to use the chords you know with your left hand and play simple melodies that you improvise as you play the chords. For example, play the chord sequence C,F, G7 and C with your left hand as you try to play melodies on the white keys. You really can not go to wrong as all white keys will sound more or less good.

This will help you develop your ability to feel which chords to use in songs, you will be training your finger dexterity and also develop your ability to compose your own melodies.

It is really a pleasure to be able to play chords to piano sheet music you play. Even the process of learning to play chords can be a positive experience if you start on the level where you are right now!

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Be sure to visit his site Capotasto Music and download your easy free piano sheet music at http://www.capotastomusic.com

The Skye Boat Song is a traditional Scottish song. It tells the story of the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie to the Isle of Skye after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. He traveled in disguise with the help of Flora McDonald.

The song begins with the chorus. Each verse is then sung with the chorus between. Here are the lyrics:

Chorus

Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,

Onward! the sailors cry;

Carry the lad that’s born to be King

Over the sea to Skye.

Verse

Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,

Thunderclaps rend the air;

Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,

Follow they will not dare.

Repeat Chorus

To play the song on the piano you are going to use the range of one octave (8 notes). The lowest note is G and the highest note is G. Place both thumbs on Middle C. The right hand will cover the notes Middle C, D, E, F and G. The left hand will cover the notes directly below Middle C. They will be B, A and G. To help distinguish the right and left notes, the left hand notes will be written in lower case. So the B, A and G will be written as b, a and g.

The song begins in the left hand. Here are the notes of the Skye Boat Song:

Chorus

g a g C, C C D E D G

E D E a a g

g a g C, C D E D G

E D E a a g

Verse

E C E E, D b D D,

C a C C C a

E C E E, D b D D,

C a C C C a g

Repeat Chorus

Would you like to learn more about playing the piano and reading music? Get access to my Free Video Course called Piano Lessons for Beginners by clicking on this link http://www.realpianoplayer.com

Did you know that you can find many piano scores for free on the Internet? This guide will show you some of the many sites available and what you can expect to find if you are looking for free piano sheet music!

What is free piano sheet music?

You can define this as music scores that you can download and and printout without any obligations on your part. However, some sites require that you subscribe to a newsletter or that you create a free account to have access to their music.

If you want to download completely free scores you have to search a bit and you might have to browse many search result pages before you find what you are looking for.

Search terms to use

You can search for “free sheet music”, “free music scores” and include the file format you are searching for. Files can be published as PDF files, Gif files and in other formats.

You can also include the words “printable”, “downloads” and of course “piano” or “keyboard”.

Piano sites

There are a lot of piano sites that offer free piano sheet music. You can of course find the music on sites with primarily music scores but many sites with piano education and lessons also offer piano sheets.

To find these sites you can also search for “piano lessons”, “learn to play piano” and maybe include “easy” or “beginners” and other similar search terms to find many fine but easy to play solos.

Here are just a few examples of sites with free keyboard music scores:

8notes

On 8notes.com you can find melodies and arrangements as printable free piano sheet music in various file formats. The GIF file format is available for for free without any obligations on your part.

The Gif format is a low quality graphic format used for clipart, logos and other pictures on the net. But on some sites it is also used to present sheet music.

You can also listen to the music in Scorch format. This is a plugin that you can download for free at the sibelius.com website and it makes it possible to listen to a midifile and at the same time follow the score as the music proceeds.

They also offer the free sheet music in PDF format if you subscribe to the site. PDF sheet music present music in much better quality but requires the Adobe reader plugin that can be downloaded for free at the Adobe website.

Pianostreet

Pianostreet.com offers a lot of free piano sheet music as high quality scores in PDF format. However, you have to subscribe in order to have access to all music. They offer some samples and a free membership with some limitations. You can also pay for access to all their piano sheets.

Sibeliusmusic

On sibeliusmusic.com you will find a lot of free piano scores in the Scorch format that was previously explained. You can search for keyboard music and also listen to many sheets in mp3 format.

G Major Music Theory

This is an example of a site that offers piano education and also piano solos in progressive order. The piano scores are completely free to print out in PDF format on the address gmajormusictheory.org. You will also find midifiles together with the sheets for your reference.

It is impossible to include all free piano sheet music sites here and my advice is for you to search for the sites by including the before mentioned search terms and to have patience. As you bookmark the sites of your taste you will be able to build up your own personal library with free quality piano sheets!

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. He invites you to download your free piano sheet music at http://www.capotastomusic.com

Piano chords provide the harmony and backing to any tune. If you are a singer, it is great away to accompany yourself. Once you know a few chords, there is no limit to what you can use them for in music, by varying the way that you play them.

The 3 easy chords you are going to learn are C major, F major and G major. Major means happy and bright in music.

A piano chord consists of 3 alternate notes on the piano. To play this shape you need to form a matching shape with your hand. Your fingers are numbered – thumb =1, index finger = 2, middle finger = 3 and so on. If you are playing a chord with your right hand the fingering is 1 3 5. If you are playing with your left hand, the fingering is 5 3 1.

Allow your hands to relax on your lap. Slightly raise fingers 2 and 4. Feel the chord triangle on your lap. A very important part of playing chords is to keep your wrists relaxed. Play the chord and follow through afterwards. Your wrists should never feel tense or tight.

Sitting at the piano, find C. C is the white note on the left of 2 black notes together. With your right hand form the chord triangle 1 3 5 and place your thumb on C. Your 3 fingers should be covering C E and G. Play the chord cleanly and follow through.

Practice this using your left hand, lower down the piano. You will use the same triangle shape using the fingering 5 3 1.

The 2nd chord is F major. Move the hand shape so that your end finger is on F. F is 3 white keys above C. The 3 notes that make up the chord of F major are F A and C.

The 3rd chord is G major. This consists of G B and D.

Practice the chords with each hand separately. Then play them together. You will get a rich warm sound. Experiment with different rhythms and begin to unlock the magical effect of piano chords!

Would you like to learn more about playing the piano and reading music? Get access to my Free Video Course called Piano Lessons for Beginners by clicking on this link http://www.realpianoplayer.com

In this piano lesson you will learn to read easy piano tab notation. You will also learn to play an easy piano melody with the help of tabs. We will use the popular song Yesterday as an example.

To really learn to read piano sheet music is a goal worth striving for. It will open a world of music waiting to be played by your fingers. However, it will take some time to really master the art of reading sheet music.

Piano tabs are tools that can help you learn melodies fast. They are not a complete substitute for sheet music notation but can be an easy way to learn easy melodies as you develop your sight reading skills.

There is an established system for reading and writing piano tab notation. In this system you will have to learn the names of the white keys on your piano. The first note to find is middle c. This note is located at the middle of a piano keyboard. If you take a closer look at the black keys you will find that they are organized in groups of two or three keys.

The middle c is located immediately to the left of a group of two black keys in the middle of your keyboard. It is sometimes called c4 as it is in the fourth octave of an ordinary piano. On a keyboard with a less number of keys the key at the middle of the keyboard will still be called c4.

What is an octave?

If you start with the note c and play the notes to the right of c you will play a c-major scale. The notes are c d e f g a b. The note that comes after b is the next c. As you can see the next c has the same position to the left of two black keys as the middle c. This c is sometimes called c5 because it is in the fifth octave of a piano or grand.

The notes you play from c to the next c is called an octave. Octave means eight and you have played eight notes when you play from c to the next c. This interval is repeated all over the keyboard. c3 is the c to the left of middle c and so on.

The piano tab notation we will use in this article is a simplified form of the piano tabs used on the Internet. Here are the rules:

1. The white keys we will use are notated with lowercase letters. That is, c d e f g a and b.

2. The octave in which you are to play the notes are indicated with a number. c4 means middle c. If the following notes are in the same octave there will not be any numbers after the notes until you change octave.

3. If you are to play a black key it is indicated with an uppercase letter. C means the black key immediately to the right of c. In ordinary sheet music notation this note is written C#.

Now it is time to try to play the first notes of Yesterday by Beatles with the help of our simple piano tab notation. I will show you the first line of lyrics and below the corresponding melody written with piano tabs.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

d4 c c e F G a b c5 b4 a a

Now it looks as though they’re here to stay

a4 a g f e d f e e

Oh, I believe in yesterday

d4 c e d a5 c4 e e

Now we have completed the first verse. The second verse have the same melody so we will jump right into the bridge:

Why she had to go I don’t know, she wouldn’t say

e4 e a b c5 b4 a b a g a e

I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday

e4 e a b c5 b4 a b a g b c5 g4 f e

After this you can complete the melody by playing the verse again. I recommend that you memorize the melody one line at a time. This little piano tab exercise is an introduction to the complete tab notation system you will find on the net.

Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free piano sheet music and piano tabs at http://www.capotastomusic.com

Lightly Row is a popular song which uses a range of only 5 notes. This makes it very easy to play on the piano because you can play it easily in one hand.

Here are the lyrics for the song:

Light-ly row, light-ly row,

O’er the glas-sy waves we go!

Smooth-ly glide, smooth-ly glide,

On the sil-ent tide.

Let the winds and wa-ters be

Ming-led with our me-lo-dy.

Sing and float, sing and float

In our lit-tle boat!

Hyphens are used to separate words with 2 or more syllables. This makes it easier to match the lyrics with the tune.

This song can be played in either the right or the left hand only. The range of notes is between Middle C and the G above. Try this piece first in the right hand. Then play it 8 notes (one octave) lower in the left hand. If you feel brave, play both hands together one octave apart. This is called playing in unison.

Here are the notes of Lightly Row:

G E E, F D D,

C D E F G G G,

G E E, F D D,

C E G G E.

D D D D D E F

E E E E E F G.

G E E, F D D

C E G G E.

There are 8 lines in the song. Which lines are identical? Notice in the first line that the the first 3 notes are G E E. This pattern then repeats one note lower. You then play F D D. This is called a falling pattern. It is a very helpful way of learning and remembering piano music.

Would you like to learn more about playing the piano and reading music? Get access to my Free Video Course called Piano Lessons for Beginners by clicking on this link http://www.realpianoplayer.com

Do you feel that you progress as a pianist? The feeling that you become better as time goes by gives you incentive to keep on practicing. In order for you to succeed in your endeavors, let us take a look at your practicing habits!

As you practice on your piano there are things that will lead you towards your goal to become a better pianist. Let us first take a look at things that can hinder your progression:

1. You do not have a clear picture of what type of pianist you want to become. This will make it difficult to choose the right exercises that will help you progress. If you do not know your goals you will not be able to prioritize between the many things you could practice.

2. You are not practicing your homework long enough to commit the skills to your long-term memory. You might find it interesting to browse through piano sheet music and play a few notes here and there. This might help your sight reading skills but you will not progress as a pianist and musician.

3. You practice too difficult things! If you practice things above your level of proficiency you might hinder your progression towards a good pianist and performer. It is good to have accomplished pianists as models of what you can become but you are not there yet!

4. Your hand posture is preventing your progress. Bad hand and body posture makes it difficult to play demanding piano pieces with smoothness and in a musical way.

5. You play your exercises at a tempo that is above your technical skills. This is understandable since every pianist wants to hear how things they practice are supposed to sound at the final stages of repetition. However, playing too fast will hinder your progression!

6. You practice but forget that all is about music. Without music in mind and heart you will probably lose interest in playing sooner or later.

7. You do not have any piano pieces to play to your friends. All you have done is practicing exercises and fragments from piano solos. You have never learned to play a melody perfectly from beginning to end.

Let us take a look at how you can eliminate these obstacles and make your piano practicing sessions more effective and maybe even shorter and more joyful:

1. Give yourself time to think a lot about your piano playing. Why you play, what things you like about playing the piano, what type of pianist you want to become and your weaknesses that right now hinder you from becoming what you want to be. Write down some goals and use them as a guide when you decide what to practice.

This will also make it easier to evaluate how well you progress as a pianist. Your goals help to see if you are on the right road. As time goes by your vision of what you want to become will be clearer and your goals will be more and more perfected!

2. When you have choosen exercises and piano pieces to play that will lead you towards your goals I suggest that you practice them long enought to really learn the skills involved. These skills will become building blocks that will help you learn more difficult exercises later on. An absolute condition for this to happen is that you commit your present homework to your long-term memory.

3. Be careful to select exercises and piano pieces that are not too much above your technical skills. Too difficult exercises will be boring as you have to play them in a very slow tempo and they will take a very long time to master and you might as a result actually lose interest in playing piano.

4. Correct hand posture guarantees that you will use your energy in the most effective way and that you will not cause yourself muscle injuries. Correct hand and body posture will make your playing a pleasant experience as you will be able to play with minimal muscle tension.

5. The most effective way to learn new things on the piano is to practice slowly. This will resque you from making a lot of mistakes that can grow into negative habits that will hinder your progression. Practicing slowly will also help you play as relaxed as possible. Practice a piece of music in a relaxed and enjoyable way and this will be the way you perform it!

6. In order to develop as a musician you will benefit from listening to music performed with heart and musical depth. In the long run you will become a much better pianist if you devote some of your time to assimilate musical expressions and manifestations from good musicians.

7. To have a number of well rehearsed piano pieces in your repertoire is very rewarding for yourself and enjoyable to your listeners as you can play them to the best of your ability. Memorizing pieces of music should be a significant part of your practicing schedule. If someone asks you to play you know that you can play piano pieces you are proud of sharing with others!

Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free piano sheet music at http://www.capotastomusic.com

Understanding the meaning of the various music symbols is the crux of reading piano sheet music. These symbols were devised over 1,000 years ago and have become the cornerstone of notating music in the Western world. With helpful, clear instruction, the world of written music will be within your grasp. Here are 10 easy ways to learn the music symbols.

#1 – The simpler the note is, the longer it lasts! A plain oval (a whole note) is worth 4 beats.

#2 – Add a stem and halve its value. An oval with a stem (a half note) is worth 2 beats.

#3 – Colour it in black and halve its value. A black oval with a stem (a quarter note) is worth 1 beat.

#4 – If you add a dot after a note, you add on half of its value. A half note is worth 2 beats. A dotted half note is worth 2 + 1 = 3 beats.

#5 – If you see a # sign, this is called a sharp. It refers to the black notes on the piano. C is a white note. C# is the very next black note up from C.

#6 – If you see a “b” sign (it will be a pointed b), this is called a flat. Again it refers to the black notes on the piano. D is a white note. Db is the very next black note down from D.

#7 – “p” in music stands for piano. This means play quietly.

#8 – “f” in music stands for forte. This means play loudly.

#9 – The treble clef refers to the notes above Middle C on the piano.

#10 – The bass clef refers to the notes below Middle C.

Start playing the piano and reading music today. Access Andrea Monk’s Free Video Course called Piano Lessons for Beginners by clicking on this link: http://www.realpianoplayer.com

I know classical piano players who are very good at reading sheet music. I also know pianists that has a tremendous ability to play by ear. How can you become a classical pianist having a good ear and the ability to play chords and improvising?

I have many times seen that pianists that can read sheet music and sightread very well feel uncomfortable when they are asked to accompany a singer without the aid of sheet music notation.

Personally I have been asked many times to play piano to singers who wants to sing in another key then the one in the sheet music available. This happens because I have developed my ability to play by ear and to change keys on the go. Of course, someone could transpose the music to a lower key and write it down in order to play sheet music but it is much work involved and often you will not have time to write the music down.

If you are playing popular music it can actually be an advantage to play by ear to get into the right mood and play more musically. But all this presupposes that you have the ability to play piano by ear and that you can play various styles of music.

I know of some piano players who can’t play a note of sheet music. I guess they have earlier in their life been scared off by sheet music notation or maybe they have seen some pianists playing with accuracy but too mechanically for their taste. Maybe they just think that it is too much hard work involved!

I think that there are some misconceptions pertaining to playing by ear and playing sheet music. Some people think that sight reading pianists have to be bad at playing by ear and that improvising pianists need to be poor sight readers.

Well, the truth is that you will be good at what you practice. If you practice both sight reading and chord playing you will become better and better in these areas.

If you are a classical pianist with the ambition to be able to play by ear you can develop this ability as you practice your repertoire and learn new sheet music. Here are some suggestions:

1. Develop your ability to understand chord theory. This can be done as you practice a piece of sheet music. In classical piano pieces you will find passages with chords that you can investigate and learn a lot from. In the first bars of Fur Elise for example you will find the chords Am and E-major. As you play this piece you will find a lot of common chords interwoven in the music.

To spot chords and scales as you practice a piece of classical music will help you put more intellectual power into the enterprise and will also help you memorize the music better.

2. Learn licks from your piano pieces. When you find passages in the music you play that you like and want to incorporate in your repertoire of licks and phrases to use you can memorize them and play around with them trying to improvise, changing notes here and there and transposing them. Many classical piano pieces are filled with interesting chord progressions and melodic phrases.

3. Playing scales. If you include playing scales in your daily routine practice as a classical pianist you might benefit from also using the material in the scales in developing you sense for melodies, and licks. Play around with the notes, try to create interesting melodies and small licks and using chords as you play. This will help you practice both your finger dexterity and musical abilities.

There are many more things you can do to develop your ear and your sense for chords and improvisation. The important thing is to see possibilities in the classical piano sheet music you play.

Peter Edvinsson is a pianist, composer and music teacher. He invites you to download your free piano sheet music at http://www.capotastomusic.com