Every year millions of budding musicians decide to take up an instrument and of all those millions, quite a high proportion will choose to learn to play the piano. This instrument is not a particularly easy instrument to learn, requiring excellent coordination between the hands and a great deal of patience due to the amount of practice required. Most new players will quickly realize that learning how to play the piano is not as easy as they thought! Rocket Piano is a great new system available online intended to put fun into the music learning process, reduce the need for repetitive practice methods and offer learners a guided and enjoyable approach to improving their musicianship.

The main features of Rocket Piano include:

• Popular songs in several genres covered throughout the course.
• Varied lessons targeted at all abilities from learner to advanced players.
• Styles taught at all levels ranging from classical to popular music, which includes country, rock and blues.
• Step by step tuition based on some famous songs.
• This course can be used to learn piano, organ or any other keyboard instrument.
• Theory instruction has been carefully interlinked with practical lessons forming a user friendly interface coupled with a fun, “easy-learning” tuition style.
• No waiting around for your music teacher to turn up – Rocket Piano is always there, ready when you want to learn and at your own pace.
• Unbeatable value for money in comparison to a music tutor; Rocket Piano will pay for itself in saved lesson fees in just a few weeks!

Learning to play the piano is not simply sitting down at a keyboard and tinkling at the ivories; part of the process involves learning to read music so that any piece may be played by the competent pianist. With this in mind, the makers of Rocket Piano have incorporated a substantial amount of theory instruction that goes hand-in-hand with their practical playing tuition. By the end of their course learners should have a firm grounding in both theory and practice. The course is not stuffed with unnecessary and tedious theory instruction, but attempts to cover applicable music theory that is relative to the songs and practice pieces provided.

User friendly scores

Intimidating looking scores for the popular songs that are supplied in the course have been augmented with chord replacements and other devices that make following scores  much more easily, without the students having to know what e.g. “Léger lines” are and the theory behind musical chord structure. This enables students to learn to play chords without having to learn complicated music theory thereby further increasing the chances of a student wanting to progress.

This comprehensive music learning system has been developed by professional music teachers and musicians alike. It has been developed in an entertaining and engaging way to encourage players rather than make their learning experience too complex. The material is varied so that all genres can be learned. Included are hundreds of pictures, videos, sound clips and full performances; there is a comprehensive help system and tutorials to match every level of expertise. Whether the student has just started (at whatever age), trying to pick up from where they left off, already plays but just wants to improve their performance and playing ability, Rocket Piano seems to have it all covered and best of all, they made it fun!

Musical tastes vary wildly from person to person and while a majority of the public will play popular music loudly and merrily, there is a sector the population who adore classical music with the piano being the favored instrument. Such people grow up dreaming of having the ability to tinkle the ivories like Ludwig van Beethoven but even if they have a modicum of talent, the price of classical teaching is extremely high and beyond the price range of most people especially when you consider how long it can take to master the piano. Will Barrow has cleverly spotted a gap in the market and has released a Learn and Master Piano set of DVD’s and CD’s that will help you live out your dreams of being a pianist for a fraction of the usual cost.

The format

Barrow is a master pianist himself and has won the prestigious Grammy award as well as having worked with some of the music industry’s most talented musicians. The most striking thing about this collection is its completeness. There are numerous other instructional videos that profess to have the ability to teach you how to learn a particular instrument but they always fall short. ‘Learn and Master Piano’ comes with 14 DVD’s, 5 CD’s and a lesson book that is over 100 pages long.

Complete teaching

Will Barrow gives you top class instruction, fully utilizing the three mediums provided with the course. The DVD’s contain lessons that are clearly taught and well structured by Barrow as he shows you what you should and shouldn’t do. The book allows you to practice a certain section that is troubling you and the CD’s allow you to play with an actual band, using the information you have used thus far to really enjoy yourself.

Cost effective

This format gives you incredibly detailed instruction for a price that most people can afford. The whole package is designed to allow you to learn at your own pace without having to worry about time constraints imposed on you by an instructor. And the teaching is so clear that even an average student can become an expert in far less time that they would take with regular lessons.

The whole package can actually be bought for as little as $149 in one payment or else several payments of $49 can be issued instead. This compares extremely favorably to private lessons which can cost in excess of $1,000 over the course of the year and you would not learn nearly as much as you do with the Learn and Master Piano course. For anyone who always wanted to learn piano but didn’t have the time and money required, this is a godsend.

Learning how to play piano can be challenging, but it’s definitely worth the it. It’s a great way to develop your knowledge of music theory. Group lessons or private tutoring are the traditional methods for learning to play piano, and are perfect for those who desire the motivation and individual attention. Or you can try to learn piano using courses available online and offline which make it easier to learn how to play the piano in your own time.

First, you will need to decide how you want to learn to play piano. Are you a self-starter? Do you enjoy being in group settings? Do you get a little nervous at the idea of other people hearing you play? Not every learning method is suited to every learner, so you’ll need to assess your learning style and decide if a group, private lessons, or self-teaching is best for you. Keep in mind, that no amount of group or private instruction will substitute for regular practice.

Private lessons can take place in a studio, in your home, or your teacher’s home. Lessons are usually offered once a week, and you’ll learn to warm up, perform exercises to develop technical proficiency, learn to read music if needed, and your teacher will check and correct your playing as you play exercises and songs. Your teacher will often select songs for you to learn, and will usually require that you buy a specific book to learn from. A private teacher is excellent for helping you perfect your playing posture and other aspects that you can’t check yourself.

Group lessons are often more affordable than private sessions, but you still get some individual attention. They are almost always offered in a studio or music school. Sessions usually take place once a week, and you’ll have much the same program as private lessons, only the teacher will go from student to student, checking and correcting technique. But don’t think it will be a cacophony- electric pianos with headphones make it possible for a dozen people to practice in the same room without hearing a peep from one another.

Also, teaching yourself to play piano through online courses or DVD lessons has become an excellent option for the busy student. While they don’t offer the individual attention of a teacher, you can learn at your own pace, rewinding when you miss something, or skipping a lesson if you’re already familiar with the concept being taught. Currently, the best learn to play piano DVD set is Learn and Master Piano. It’s a highly recommended piano course that teaches you from the ground up how to play piano well. It’s a great way to get started learning to play the piano and it’s much more affordable compared to private piano lessons.

There are so many things you can do online these days. You can buy and sell all sorts of things, keep in touch with friends, and even learn how to play piano. A brief search for online piano playing lessons will turn up many options, varying in price range and features. But are they a good way to learn piano? For some students, they are the best option, for others, more conventional methods like group classes or private tutoring are better. But they are an option worth considering for anyone who wants to learn.

Online piano playing lessons may consist of any combination of videos, reading material, and sheet music for you to practice and study. Videos and illustrations will help you perfect aspects of technique like playing posture, which can affect your comfort level while playing and enable you to play for longer periods of time. Written sections of the lessons will give you tips on executing various techniques and on reading and understanding musical notation and terms, and the sheet music will consist of playing exercises, songs, and pieces for you to study to learn to read and interpret music. Not all methods of teaching involve learning to read music, however.

Some methods available for sale online and offline involve no reading of music at all, but involve playing “by ear”- that is, you will learn to play piano, but you will not learn how to read music. Some of these methods claim to be faster that methods that involve reading music. With these methods, you learn to listen to music closely and imitate what you hear. While this is an important skill to develop, this also means that if you follow this method and do not learn to read music, it will take you longer to play new pieces. But if you already know how to read music or would rather not learn, these methods will help you develop a musical ear.

One of the advantages to searching for piano lessons online is that there are several options available for free. This can be a great way to help you decide if learning to play piano online is a good method for you, and it can supplement other methods of learning. However, a teacher or method that you pay for might suit your learning style best. There are a number of excellent instructors online who have made their lessons available for paying students. If you find an instructor whose method works for you, it’s well worth the price.

If you’ve seen music written for brass, string, or woodwind instruments before, you’ll note some important differences between music written for those instruments and what you’ll find when you start to learn to play piano. Because the piano is capable of playing more than one note at the same time, this capability is used to remarkable effect to express harmonies in the form of chords or even separate melodies. How do you read- or even write- two or more notes intended to be played together? When you learn to play piano, accordion, or guitar, you’ll find that it’s not as hard as it might seem at first.

All music is written from left to right, like letters and words, and when you play piano, you are “reading” the music. However, unlike text, a music staff has five spaces and lines, meaning that you could stack several notes on top of one another. Notes that are lined up vertically are meant to be played at the same time. Like all music, notes that are higher in pitch will be higher on the staff, and notes that are lower in pitch are lower on the staff. But because the piano has the largest pitch range of all instruments, how do you show that range with only a five line musical staff? One thing that helps is to add a second five line staff, creating a grand staff.

Much of the music you’ll find when learning to play piano is written on the grand staff, a staff consisting of a treble clef and a bass clef connected by a bracket on the left hand side. The treble clef and bass clef work as a single unit, so notes that are lined up vertically will be played at the same time. The grand staff is often used for classical music, but other styles use it as well. But you’ll also see notation that provides a handy code to transmit some basic information.

Chord symbols are a type of musical code that you may see written above the staff. The code will indicate the chord to be played, and any additional notes the composer desires in a mix of abbreviations, letters, symbols and numbers. Because there are no note values attached to the chord symbols, only the pitches to be played, you can experiment with different rhythms- as long as you change chords when the music does, you won’t make an error.

Whether you see chord symbols or a grand staff, a little knowledge of reading music goes a long way in helping you learn piano.

As the old joke goes, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Learning to play piano is partly a mental exercise, but also physical exercise as well. Practice helps you develop muscle memory, improving the agility and flexibility of your fingers and hands through scales and exercises. Regular practice also helps you memorize the tunes you love, making your playing more accurate. If you want to learn piano well, regular practice is absolutely essential.

When you start to play piano, you’ll begin with a warm-up. Your teacher, book, or online lessons should recommend at least one good warm-up exercise. A common one is playing scales. You will play ascending and descending scales with both hands simultaneously. This is easier than it sounds, but remember to play them in the way indicated in your lessons- the method is designed so that you don’t “run out” of fingers when you play. You’ll also have exercises to teach you how to play certain intervals of notes simultaneously or one at a time, how to play different lines of music with each hand, and special techniques or effects. You can use all the warm-up exercises that you are taught, use a few and change them around for some variety, or even make up some of your own.

When you have progressed a little in learning to play piano, you’ll have learned some songs, and will look forward to playing new and more complex works. When learning new tunes, try to play the piece from beginning to end, then focus on challenging parts, then the parts that you are comfortable with, then play again from the beginning. Your warm-up, songs learned previously, and songs you’re currently learning will form the bulk of your practice time, but an excellent way to improve your ear during practice is to attempt to play familiar songs by ear- attempting to imitate the notes being played. You may not get it on the first try, but it will improve your playing and overall musicianship.

How much time should you devote to practice? Your teacher or lessons will indicate how much time you should devote to practice, but a half-hour of practice daily for the beginner is a good place to start. Don’t think you can practice for four hours right before your lesson, either. It will show in your playing. It’s better to take even ten minutes daily to practice than to try to “cram” right before a lesson. Learning to play piano takes a regular commitment- but a commitment you’ll enjoy.

If you want to learn how to play piano, finding the right piano teacher will be very helpful. Individual or group lessons can help motivate you and help you perfect your technique- musicians at all levels benefit from expert advice and coaching. Finding the right teacher to help you play piano will consist of finding the right teacher for your learning style, one who also teaches the styles you’re interested in, and who offers a program that suits your needs. If you can articulate what you want in a piano teacher before you start searching, your search will end sooner and you will be happier with the results.

Decide if you prefer group or individual lessons. Not all teachers offer both. If you strongly prefer one over the other, you’ll want to look for this in ads for teachers or ask when you call. Also, if you’ prefer private lessons, decide if you’d rather have your teacher come to you or whether you’d rather travel to your teacher’s home or studio to learn to play piano. Some music studios and schools operate on a semester or quarter schedule, so if you’re looking to join a class, you may need to register at a specific time, often at the beginning of the fall or summer. Teachers who teach privately from their own or students’ homes don’t usually have a schedule like that, so if you’re in an off-peak time to start lessons, private teachers can often accommodate you.

What musical style do you want to learn? While many music teachers learn a bit about most styles, music teachers often specialize in a few styles. Finding a teacher who can teach you the styles you want to learn will help you play your best. Also ask potential teachers about experience both teaching and playing. You want a teacher with playing and teaching experience in the styles you want to learn.

Last, but not least, are financial considerations. Group lessons are often, but not always, more affordable than private instruction. Teachers who will travel to your home may charge a little more than teachers who have you come to their studio or home, to offset travel expenses. You might be able to pay by the lesson, but often, it’s cheaper to buy a whole block of lessons at once. Shop around to find the best teacher you can afford. Learning to play piano with the help of a teacher can be affordable as well as fun. In addition, you might be interested in online courses such as Learn and Master Piano.

You can certainly learn to play piano without learning to read music, but learning to read music will greatly enhance your musical development. Why should you learn to read music? When you learn piano without learning to read music, you learn by rote and by ear, which are quicker methods to start to play piano, but it’s a slower method to learning new pieces, especially music in styles you’re unfamiliar with. If you join a school or community ensemble, you’ll be given sheet music to play and learn quickly. You’ll also understand the music you play and hear better, as you’ll more easily grasp the relationships of harmonies and melodic developments when you have the music in front of you to analyze. If you plan to play piano with or for others, learning to read music is essential.

Like learning to play piano, it’s best to start small when learning to read music. Material designed for beginners will be perfect for those who haven’t taken advanced music classes, as you can review the basics and speed ahead to the parts that are new to you. Materials for beginners are available online in free lessons and tutorials in written, audio, and video form. Lectures and podcasts are available for download or for watching on your PC, and many get rated and reviewed, so you don’t need to spend time with a poor quality recording or get confused by bad information. Some offer quizzes and worksheets to download and complete, which make for excellent ways to practice the skills you’re developing. Music schools and university departments may offer lectures and other materials online for free, so that’s a good place to start. Websites that offer these lessons often contain contact information for the author so you can ask questions, but if getting a prompt and complete response is important to you, paying for an online music class is an excellent way to get the instructor feedback you desire. One good choice out there is Rocket Piano. You may also want to invest in a music reference book, as you can quickly look up something you’ve forgotten or heard in passing. Some also provide a DVD or CD-ROM for multimedia content.

All of the skills you learn when you learn to read music online will benefit you as you learn to play piano. If you can understand the music you’re playing, you can play it more accurately and even improvise in a manner appropriate to the style. With the many online options available for free or a modest fee, learning to read music online is an excellent way to expand your body of knowledge.

You may have been studying for months, or even years. Your friends and family may have been asking to hear you play piano. It’s time for you to share your talent in the form of a piano recital. A music recital traditionally focuses on one performer or composer. But don’t feel limited to that- as long as you have a theme uniting the pieces or performers, your recital should still be accessible and enjoyable. Planning a recital does take some preparation, but it’s also very enjoyable to bring together music lovers and share music.

When are you ready to play piano in a recital? Your teacher can help you figure that out, but you should be able to play at least five pieces accurately from memory. If you plan on a solo recital, you should be able to play at least fifteen pieces. Depending on how long you have to prepare, you can select a piece or two to learn for the recital, but to expect to learn more is unrealistic.

When planning your recital, you’ll need a venue and a date. Lots of recitals and performances are held in December, May and June. If you want to hold a recital during those times, you may need to secure a venue well in advance. Possible venues include music schools, studios, community centers, houses of worship, and even your home. Make sure that your venue is capable of handling set-up, breakdown, and any equipment or services you’ll need. If not, you’ll need to hire a firm or recruit volunteers.

Decide whether you prefer to play piano alone, with a group, or as part of a series of performers. If you play with a group, you’ll need to rehearse regularly, and if you have a series of performers, you’ll need information on their acts and need at least one dress rehearsal to ensure everything goes smoothly the day of the performance. Determine the theme of your recital- it can be the works of one composer, one musical period, style, or songs selected because they have a certain theme or characteristic in common.

You’ll need to publicize your recital. The traditional methods include flyers and notices in school, or community newsletters, but modern methods include email lists and social networking. Start advertising at least a month in advance, but not more than three months. On the day of the recital, remember to relax and have fun. You don’t work the piano- you play piano. Have fun, and break a leg.

If the piano classes in your area don’t fit into your schedule but you’d still like to learn to play piano, teaching yourself is always an option. You’ll miss out on the motivation and guidance of a teacher, but teaching yourself to play piano is even easier with the aid of videos and tutorials available online. Books and online tutorials will help you understand music better, and the videos will help you with technique and posture. Online piano lessons such as Learn and Master Piano and DVD piano lessons such as Rocket Piano are definitely the good ones to try. I personally have tried both and I love them both. With the aid of books, videos, and online tutorials, you can craft a personalized piano curriculum tailored to your tastes and learning style, and you’ll learn to play piano all by yourself.

Teaching is an art that uses a wide variety of tools and techniques,and this is no less true when you are your own teacher. Assembling several versions of the same concepts will help you reinforce the basics and help you figure out how you learn best. You may want to combine methods that require you to interact in some way- worksheets and exercises- with methods where you’re simply expected to absorb the information, such as book passages explaining a concept or a lecture. This way, you get to use what you’re learning, and you can test your skills.

When you begin your search for materials to help you play piano, start looking for books and videos with words like “beginner”, “easy”, “simple” “basic”, and “first” in the title. These will direct you to items to start you on the basics, and you should look for tutorials or books that have a diagram of the music staff and the piano keyboard. If the books or tutorials have a sequence of lessons for you to follow, that’s even better. With those, you will simply follow the book from beginning to end, practicing regularly and progressing through the lessons.

In addition to following lessons in books and online tutorials, books of sheet music of songs that you’d like to learn will motivate you and help you build your repertoire- a body of musical pieces that you know well. Chances are, you won’t be able to play them for a few weeks, but that’s no reason not to attempt to learn them. Whether you play them well at first or not, you’ll have fun while learning more about the music you love. Teaching yourself to play piano means that the music you want to hear is the music you’ll be learning.