Learning a new instrument can be overwhelming at times. Sure, it’s fun and exciting, but it can be intimidating and can seem like a daunting task at times. Just remember that your first goal is to learn a bit, make a little music and have fun. This should keep you in a good frame of mind. Once you’ve got down the right attitude here’s some other tips to bear in mind.

Beginning to play piano involves a lot of different skills. From hand eye coordination to reading to rhythm and more, there’s a handful of new abilities to acquire. Practice them gradually and slowly! Before long you’ll be getting better, but it happens so incrementally you won’t really be aware of the improvement. It happens that gradually.

That covers how to practice. Obviously beginner pieces are necessary at the beginning, and preferably a song you know and love will keep you practicing more and more. If there’s a difficult song that you really like keep in mind that you can play a simplified version of it. It should have a simple melody and a very simple left hand, if it’s going to have a left hand at all. Eventually your left hand will come into play, but getting the thumb and fingers of the right hand is crucial. The goal should be to play something musical that you can recognize, however simple. You’ll feel rewarded, satisfied, and encouraged to go on.

It helps to have a working knowledge of music theory, a word which scares beginners but really is simpler than people think. Basic knowledge entails the names of the notes, and how these come together to form chords. Since you’ll be playing chords a lot it’s helpful to have a mental understanding of what they are and why you’re playing the notes you are. Visualization is important for the piano player, and it comes sooner than you might think! It’s a skill that enables you to understand music better in general, so it’s easier to approach another instrument. That’s why parents insist their kids learn piano first.

If possible, after you’ve played a couple basic tunes, have a teacher or a friend correct your form or make recommendations. It helps having somebody watch what you’re doing and offer their opinion. You don’t want to be internalizing any bad habits. Practice is good, but now when you’re practicing the wrong thing! There’s a couple technical requirements that differ for each hand when you’re playing scales, and if you learn on your own you may be able to hit the notes but there’s a good chance your esoteric system will give you problems down the road when you get to harder pieces. You’ll understand what this means when you need to play the sixth with your right hand and you run out of fingers! It’s beyond the scope of this article to explain proper technique to you, but suffice to say there is such thing as good and bad form and it’s something important enough to do well when you’re starting!

Best of luck, and have fun!

Author Bio: Long & McQuade’s Musical Education Center offers piano lessons Ottawa and piano lessons Vancouver. When trying to learn a musical instrument in North York or Markham be sure to visit the professionals at Long & McQuade – one of Canada\’s largest music stores.

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