Learning an instrument can be one of the most challenging things you can do.
When you have the interest, though, it somehow smoothens the process. If you are looking to learn the piano, you need to have the right ideas on how to go about it – the right ways.
You may need a few tips which will guide you in the right direction and ensure you follow them. You will also need to practice to get the hang of what you can improve on as often as possible. That means you’ll either need to get a piano or hire one.
When you can’t afford to buy a piano and hire one – or get daily class, you need to get one that serves your needs. When you get a piano, you can quickly implement the tips you will find here at any time of the day or the night. Below are some of the tips you can use to learn the piano in the right way.
Get a Class
The first thing you need to do before you can learn anything is to get a class. In some instances, you would have been asked to get equipment; this isn’t one of those times. Not everyone can get a piano; getting a class should be at the top of your list.
Today, several things have changed, in a good way. Initially, you would have struggled to get a class since you had to shop around – physically. That has been changed with tech today, as you can get a lesson from almost anywhere.
You don’t need to go around physically shopping for a suitable class. You only need to hop online and search for the best piano class. You can find the class online and the course online or find the website and the class offline.
Figure out which is best for your particular needs. For example, when searching for an online course, The Music Ambition is one of the classes you can have a second look at. Among everything, the fees paid there are pretty manageable for anyone.
Set Goals
Now that you have the course, you need to break down the course in ways that can work. The first thing you will need to do is set goals for the course. You can’t go into the course without a clear plan on how you will meet each session’s lesson.
The goals need to be long-term and short term too – like any other thing. For example, the short-term goals should be about every session you take. Have a plan for each session so you can review every day that you meet your set-out target.
When you are setting these goals, you need to be realistic and also ensure that this is something that you can measure. For example, mastering three or four notes should be enough for a session. You have the goal and how to measure the said goal.
Your long-term goal is obvious to learn the piano; in between, though, there are various mini-goals that you need to meet. You can also set a goal to find out how many times you can play without making mistakes. These are just a few things that, if done correctly, will get you to the ultimate goal.
Structure Your Practice
“Practice makes perfect,” and if you are going to get any better at the piano, you need to practice constantly. When you are about to get into the practice setup, you need to structure the session. With a structure, you will easily keep up with what you practice.
Remember when you needed to get a piano or hire one – this is the time. Look at practice like you would a workout session. It would help if you got out of bed, got your shoes on, walked or drove to the gym, warm-up then picked up the weights. You can’t get up and pick up the weights – even if you have them at your bedside.
When you have structure, you are likely to have a better footing with your practice. A few things before you get into it, playing the piano will improve your brain function. It’s not all it does, though; there are several physical attributes it provides you with too.
When you play the piano, you are working out around 34 muscles. It also takes around 123 ligaments to ensure your fingers move when you play the piano. Knuckle down, structure the practice sessions if you are to do it well.
It would help if you warmed up first – loosen your wrists and your fingers. This you can do with simple hand exercises that you can pick up from anywhere. You may also want to stretch out your waist a little bit to ensure you are on point.
Cut off Distractions
You can get distracted from anywhere regardless of where you are practicing—the most distracting can come when you practice from home. When you hire a piano in the studio, you will get far fewer distractions. Cut them off if you are to learn anything.
First of all, if you have family members around, you need to request them not to speak to you for the next 30 or so minutes while you practice. You can also keep your phone silent or switch it off entirely to starve off your distractions.
Other things you also need to do include switching off the TV or radio. When you have moving parts around you or those tiny noises, you will interfere with the quality of your practice. You need to ensure that you exercise the power of unbroken exercises as you move forward with your practice.
You will learn much more and faster when you have severely reduced the distractions around you. If you study in a studio somewhere, you will have fewer distractions – the few you have, you need to cut them off entirely. Find a convenient place when the one you have isn’t giving you the quality you need.
Vary Your Practices
You can’t be practicing the same tune or note every single day – you will not get any better at the piano. You need to ensure that you vary your practices. This will help you see how far you have come and if you are making any progress.
When you practice the same repeatedly, it will likely become a chore, and you won’t get it right overall. Alternating when practicing the piano will be the best move you can make here. You can start by avoiding your problem sections for a while.
The problem sections will take most of your time as you try to perfect them. You will want to keep at it until you get it right, and you will have a problem moving forward. What you need to focus on are speeding up, slowing down, and so on.
Look at it this way, why not start with the complex parts this time around and then move on to the easy parts? You’d have switched it all up and ensured you have played it all safe and spent enough time getting some new ideas in there. Keep on switching it all up to ensure it doesn’t become a boring routine.
Fight Bad Habits
Several bad habits can let you down when you are learning the piano. You need to know them and fight them off before they take over all your sessions. One of the bad habits you need to start fighting off is being late for your sessions.
It may look like a light thing, but once it forms, you will have a bad attitude about the sessions. Another one is moving on to the next part if a particular piece is difficult – you won’t learn anything in your comfort zone.
The next bad habit is your posture, and this one can take time to shake off once it has fully formed. You need to find out the right posture and ensure you keep at it throughout. Fighting bad habits will ensure you get the right mentality and attitude to practice well.
Get Feedback
When you are learning and practicing, you need to get feedback, or it would be a total waste of your time. It would help if you got the instructor to hear how you are doing and give honest feedback. Feedback can either build you or destroy you; you need to know where you are getting it.
You need someone who knows what they are doing because you don’t want to be stopped at every point. That’s what people who don’t know anything about piano can be all about. It would help if you had your mistakes pinpointed when you were done with the session.
Tech has come up with some great ideas that you can even download an app to help you with the feedback part. You will easily find out where you can improve and get feedback according to your settings. If you ever want to improve on your lessons, you need to get feedback.
Conclusion
Learning the piano can be an exciting prospect, but you need to learn it the right way to entertain people with it. And when you want to know, you will need to get a few pointers on how to go about it. These are some of the tips you can use to ensure you learn the piano the right way.
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