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!