How to Play the Piano

Playing the piano is a fun activity. It allows you to relax and release the tension that you may have during the day. If you always wanted to play the piano, by all means, start today. It doesn't matter if you always wanted to play but never had the chance to or have played the instrument since you were a child or teen. You are never too young or old to learn to play the instrument.
If you want to play the piano, here are some tips that will help you getting started:

1. Warm-up Exercises

Athletes in any sport (Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Tennis, Soccer, Track & Field, etc.)
always have a warm up routine before they get started. As a musician, you must perform
warm-up exercises before you start playing a song. Start with playing the scales in every major and minor key (C to B- including sharps and flats.) One of my favorite techniques include playing the scales with my eyes closed. This is a great skill to develop because 1) you can play without looking down at the eyes and 2) it is great to enhance your musical ear- you can hear whether or not you have played the wrong note automatically.

2. Music Theory

As a musician, you must learn how to play different chords in each key. Begin this exercise at
C Major (C-E-G) and end at B Major (B-D#-F#.) From there, use the inversion technique in in each chord (ex. 1st inversion for C Major is: E-G-C# and 2nd inversion is: G-C#-E.) Once you learn how to do that, add the following chords to your repertoire:

Minor (lower the 3rd note of the chord),
Major (Ex. 1-3-5-6) and Minor 6 ( 1-lower the 3rd a half step-5-6);
Major (1-3-5-7)and Minor 7th ( 1-lower the 3rd a half step-5-lower the 7th a half step)
Major (1-3-5-7-raise the 9th a half step)and Minor 9th (1-lower the 3rd -5-lower the 7th-9) Major and Minor 11th (1-lower the 3rd-5-lower the 7th-9-lower the 11th a half step )
Major (1-3-5-7-9-11-13)and Minor 13th (1-lower the 3rd-5-lower the 7th-9-lower the 11th- 13)
Augmented chords (raise the 5th a half step Ex. C-E-G becomes C-E-G#);
Diminished chords (lower the 3rd and 5th notes a half step- Ex. C-E-G becomes C-Eb-Gb)
Slashed Chords (Playing a note in the left hand that's not in a chord in the right hand- Ex. playing A in the left hand and a E chord( E-G#B) in the right hand.

3. Playing a song

If you want to learn how to play a song, you must break it down and learn each part separately.
The right hand carries the melody and the chords, so first you must play the piece nice and slow, you don't want to do it too fast because it would not sound good at all. Play each section of the songs (with the rests included) at least 5 times. Once you will feel comfortable, then pick up
the tempo (if the song is fast, then slowly start play faster, if the song is ballad, then you don't have to worry about that.) The left hand carries the bass line ( and sometime the chords) so just like the right hand, play it slow and steady with the rests included of course. Then after 5 times, start playing it a little faster than normal. Once you have learned how to play the song in each hand, here comes the tough part: Playing the piece with both hands. Now, in the beginning, the song is not going to sound like what you thought what it was going to be. You might think that after the playing the song with both hands together for the first time that you suck- but that's all right- I feel the same way after learning how to play a new song for the first time. It takes patience and repetition to make it work. Keep at it and don't give up!

4. Practice

To quote former Philadelphia 76ers point guard Allen Iverson- "We're Talking About Practice."
Yes, just like the old saying " How To Get to Carnegie Hall- "Practice, Practice, Practice" and they are telling the truth about that. In order to become a really good piano player, you must practice all the time. Now, if you have work and/or school that occupies most of your time, you don't have to practice every single day, but find some time during the week to play the keys. The best practice routine is 5 or 6 days a week for 20/30 minutes. Repetition is the key here.
It is better to practice 5 times a week for a half hour than play for 4-5 hours one day a week because to me, you're not going to learn anything by practicing just once a week.

5. Metronome

If you have the money, buy a metronome right now. This is a tool that can help you out with playing a song in a certain tempo (slow to extremely fast) and it provides you the chance to count how many beats each note, chord and rest receives in the song. If you don't have the cash right now to buy a metronome, save up as much as you can because it can be a very sound
(no pun intended) investment.

6. Piano Teacher

Check your local newspaper, phone book or flyers around town to see if you want to hire a piano
music if you are a beginner or if want to enhance your piano playing skills. If you're one of those folks that want to teach yourself how to play the piano, that is possible too. Just make sure you buy a music book that provide a graphic step-by-step illustration on how to play the piano.

The six steps just presented to you are the steps that you need to take if you want to be a good player. Have some fun playing the piano!

Black History Month

Picture this- Millions of people do this routine: After waking up, they get up and take a shower;

they use an iron board to press out the work clothes; since the room is pretty warm, they turn on the air conditioner to cool off; After using a hair brush in order to get ready for work, they go downstairs, open the refrigerator door to make some eggs. Then they use an egg beater to make some scrambled eggs. After breakfast, they leave for work after getting their cell phone and use the key on their key chain to lock the back door. So what does an iron board, air conditioner, hair brush, refrigerator, egg beater, cell phone key chain and lock have in common? All of those just mentioned products were created by African Americans.



This article will focus on African-American Inventors who made products that we used almost every single day. These inventors created some amazing products that a lot of people didn't know, but sadly in the era of Jim Crow, they never received the credit or for that matter reap in the fortune that they richly deserve. In some case, these inventors created the product and without providing a patent for their invention, told people about their new creation. Since the product was not patented, these people would go somewhere to steal... I mean ...make their own product, slap their name on it and gain instant fame. While doing research in this topic, it is truly amazing to find out that each inventor made their product with very primitive material, unlike the technology that we have in today's world.



Here's the list. You will be surprised by what is on the list!





Inventor Invention Date of Invention



A.P. Ashbourne Biscuit Cutter November 30, 1875





Benjamin Banneker Almanac 1791

Patricia Bath updated a device to 1988

remove cataracts

Miriam Benjamin "Gong and Signal" chair 1888

for hotels

Edward Berger Spark Plug February 2, 1839

Henry Blair Seed Planting Device October 14, 1834

Henry Blair Cotton Planting Device 1836

Sarah Boone Iron Board December 30, 1897

Bordy and Surgwar Folding Chair June 11, 1889

Otis Boykin Control Unit for Pacemaker 1961

Benjamin Bradley A Steam Engine for 1856

steam-powered warships

Henry Brown Fire/Burglar Resistant Safe November 2, 1886

L.A. Burr Lawnmower May 19, 1889

Charles Brooks Street Sweeper March 17, 1890

Lee Burridge & Typewriter April 7, 1885

Newman Marshman

T.A. Carrington Stove July 25, 1876

W.C. Carter Umbrella Stand 1885



George Washington Carver Peanut Butter 1839

M.A. Cherry Tricycle May 6, 1886

G. Cook Auto Fishing Devise May 30, 1899



A.L. Cralle Ice Cream Scooper February 2, 1897

David Crosthwaut, Jr. Heating System 1934
(for Radio City Music Hall)

George Crum Potato Chip 1853





Mark Dean Led his team to create 1st 1999

gigahertz computer procesor chip







O. Dorsey Door Stop December 10, 1878



Paul Downing Mail Box October 27, 1891

Charles Drew Blood Plasma Bag 1945

T. Elikins Chamber Commode January 3, 1897

Henry Faulkner Ventilated Shoe 1890

O.A. Fisher Furniture Caster 1878



Robert Flemming Jr. Guitar March 3, 1866

Sarah E. Goode Folding Bed July 14, 1885

T. Grant Golf Tee December 12, 1899

William S. Grant Curtain Rod Support August 4, 1896

Blessie Blount Griffin An elctronic feeding device 1951

for amputees

Michael C. Harvey Lantern August 19, 1884

Joseph Hawkins Metal Oven Racks 1800's

L.R. Johnson Bicycle Frame October 10, 1899



Lonnie Johnson Super Soaker November 13, 1989





P. Johnson Eye Protector November 2, 1880





Willie Johnson Egg Beater February 5, 1884







Frederick M. Jones Movie Ticket Dispenser June, 1939



Frederick M. Jones Motor June 27, 1939


Frederick M. Jones Air Condtioning Unit July 12, 1949





Lewis Latimer Electric Lightbulb March 21, 1882

Joseph Lee Bread Crumbling Machine June 4, 1895
Automatic Bread Making Machine

F.D. Loudin Key Chain January 9, 1894



J.C. Love Pencil Sharpener November 27, 1897



W.A. Martin Lock July 23, 1889





Alexander Miles Elevator October 11, 1867



Garrett Morgan Gas Mask October 13, 1914



Garrett Morgan Traffic Light November 20, 1923



Lydia O. Newman Hair Brush November 15

Robert Pelham Tabulation Device 1905

Tallying Machine for U.S. Census 1913

W.B Purvis Fountain Pen January 7, 1890

Walter Purvis Hand Stamp February 27, 1883





Lawrence P. Ray Dust Pan August 3, 1897



John W. Reed Rolling Pin 1864

A.C. Richard Insect Destroyer Gun February 28, 1899

W. H. Richardson Baby Carriage June 18, 1889

J. Ricks Horseshoe March 30, 1885

James Robinson Lunch/Dinner Pail 1887

G. T. Sampson Clothes Dryer June 6, 1862


Henry Sampson Cell Phone July 6, 1971





S.R Scratton Curtain Rod November 30, 1889






J. Standard Refrigerator June 14, 1891



Thomas Stewart Mop June 11, 1893

Benjamin Thornton A Precursor to the Answer Machine 1935

Madame C.J. Walker Straightening Comb 1905



J. Thomas White Lemon Squeezer December 8, 1893

Daniel Hale Williams 1st Successful Open Heart Surgery July 9, 1893



J.W. Winters Fire Escape Ladder May 7, 1878



Granville T. Woods Auto Cut-off Switch January 1, 1839


Granville T. Woods Phone Transmitter December 2, 1884

It's a shame that the majority of theses inventors did not live enough to gain the recognition

that they deserve. The goal of this article is to shed light on these great people and

their contributions to society.