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Learn to Read Piano Music...This Afternoon!
By
Jan Durrant
Making Music Now's Mini Course A Music Basics Guide for the
Beginning Musician
Hello! Welcome to the wonderful world of music. Have you always
dreamed of being able to learn how to play the piano, keyboard,
guitar or any other instrument? Well, your dream is just about
to come true with this Free Music eCourse. This dream of yours
is not something so far away that it cannot become a reality in
a very short while.
This is not rocket science but it does take a genuine commitment
on your part to read all seven chapters of this Free Music
eCourse in order to learn the music fundamentals that will apply
to any instrument. Be sure to STICK WITH IT!
Make it a point to pace yourself. The course has been written
with the intention of going through it in order, with one
chapter building on the next. Now that you have laid the
groundwork for your plan, let us begin! Whatever instument you
are studying or plan to study in the future, each one of those
instruments has a history. Let's take a moment to learn a very
brief history of keyboard instruments.
Did you know that pianos in some form have been around for over
500 years? Some of the first instruments of this kind were
called clavichords. They had a very light, metallic sound
because the small hand-pounded 'hammers' were made of very light
weight metal-like material. These hammers struck strings of
varying lengths to create different tones or pitches. The next
cousin to the clavichord was the harpsichord invented by
Cristofori in Italy around 1450 A.D. This keyboard instrument
had a mechanism in it called the plecktrum which 'plucked' the
strings and produced a slightly stronger sound than its
predecessor.
Whether you are playing an acoustic instrument, which is the
closest relative to the history just mentioned, or an electronic
keyboard, you are now participating in a centuries old musical
art form.
SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Piano or Keyboard?
Does it matter if you have a keyboard or a piano? Certainly not.
The only real difference is that a full size piano has 88 keys
(counting both the white and black keys). Keyboards come in
several different sizes. Some have 60 keys, some even less.
There are also 88 key electronic keyboards and digital pianos
that produce very realistic acoustic sounds. Whatever size your
instrument may be, remember that the ARRANGEMENT of the keys and
the ORDER of the KEY NAMES is the same on both instruments. Rest
assured that your basic knowledge of the fundamentals of music
can be learned quite effectively either on a keyboard or a
piano. The only missing ingredient is your own persistence and
determination to persevere through the entirety of the material
in this course with regular practice sessions. Do that and your
success is assured!
SELECTING THE BEST LEARNING PLACE IN YOUR HOME
Please take a moment and give serious consideration at to WHERE
you practice in your home. Make sure that you are not within
earshot of the television. Even if you are used to 'watching TV
with your ears' while you do other things, it will definitely be
a roadblock to your learning to Play Piano Now! Also, make sure
that you can sit down at your piano or keyboard comfortably. If
you have a piano and a bench which came with it when you bought
it, then you are in great shape. Seating at a keyboard can prove
a little more difficult. Just make sure that you are not
reaching too high up or stooping down too low for the keyboard.
Finding a chair that is the right height is the key. The right
height chair will allow your arms to be a an almost perfect
right angle (45 degree) from your body to the keyboard. Don't
worry too much about this. If you have the wrong height of chair
your back will start screaming at you to change your position!!!
Please make any adjustments to keep your back straight and your
arms at a 45 degree angle and you enjoy hours of music in one
seating.
PRACTICE GUIDELINES
Please practice as long and as often as you like. I am not going
to recommend a particular practice schedule for anyone. You will
find your own pace. Sometimes people ask me how long it will
take to learn to Play Piano Now. I simply answer with the
question of how much time are you willing to put into it on a
daily basis. Since this is an introductory piano course for
beginners, I think it would be very effective to work at 30 to
45 minute intervals on a daily basis. The longer you put in, the
more quickly you will learn and progress. However, your mind
needs a while to 'soak up' the information and will work best
when you have some hours or a day or so in between practice
sessions. The main thing is to make up a schedule and stick to
it! The longest journey begins with the first step! MUSICAL TERMS
Let's begin our musical study with a review of the main musical
terms you will need to be familiar with to proceed with your
music education.
BAR LINE - A vertical line which separates notes into groups
DOUBLE BAR LINE - A set of two (2) vertical lines which stand
for the end of a piece of music
REPEAT SIGN - Double bar with two dots at the end of a section
or piece of music which indicates that section is to be played
twice.
MEASURE - The distance between two bar lines.
TREBLE CLEF - The S-shaped symbol which stands for notes played
with the right hand.
BASS CLEF - The reversed C-shaped symbol which stand for notes
played with the left hand.
STAFF - The five lines and four spaces of both the bass and
treble clefs.
QUARTER NOTE - Musical symbol with solid note head and stem
which gets one count.
QUARTER REST - Musical symbol resembling a sideways W which gets
one count.
HALF NOTE - Musical symbol with hollow note head and stem which
gets two counts.
HALF REST - Solid half block sitting on third line of the staff
which gets two counts of silence.
DOTTED HALF NOTE - Musical symbol with hollow note head, dot and
stem which gets three counts.
WHOLE NOTE - Musical symbol resembling a circle on the staff
which gets four counts.
WHOLE REST - Solid half block hanging from the second line on
the staff which gets four counts of silence.
CHORD - Two or more notes played together.
BLOCKED CHORD - Two or more notes played at the same time
BROKEN CHORD - Two or more notes from the same chord played in
sequence.
INTERVAL - The distance between two notes on the musical staff
Now that you have had an introduction to musical terms, you are
ready to take the next step in your musical education.
All the best in music, Jan Durrant, Publisher
http://www.MakingMusicNow.com
About the author:
Jan Durrant is President of Making Music Now, a music publishing
company established in June 2003. Ms. Durrant is a music
teacher/composer/publisher interested in helping adult beginning
music students learn to read music.
Article Source:http://www.goarticles.com
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