Piano Music Sheet, Piano Music

Mother's day is coming soon. I have prepared a
special video and sheet music for you. This is a
song I composed for Mother's day. It is called -
My Carnations.
Mother's Day Song

If you have not thought about what to give to your
lovely mother this weekend, this would be a good
song to play for her.

Happy Mother's Day.

Susan Boyle and her recent performance at "Britain's Got Talent" TV show inspires other musicians to learn and perform the piece, "I Dreamed A Dream"
Her other song, "Cry Me A River", standard of Arthur Hamilton, is also gaining popularity among young musicians who have not learned about the music prior to the "Britain's Got Talent" TV show.

PianoMother.com , a website created by Harmony & Melody Studio Inc, serves as an outlet for many unique piano sheet music. You can also learn to play piano on PianoMother.com

PianoMother.com is created for music student, piano teachers, or anyone who likes to listen and browse sheet music and piano lessons without the hassle of going to a music store

Visitors can access lots of music scores, ranging from Classical, Country, Latin America, Jazz, Disney, Hymns and all genres in between. Your favorite music available 24/7 from home, office, school or anywhere else.

The printed musical notation that is used for playing music on a piano is called piano sheet music. Any musician relies on piano sheet music for playing on a piano perfectly without any flaws - unless of course, the music is practiced very, very well. Novices cannot afford huge sums of money for the piano sheet music so they rely on the free options. Internet offers free piano sheet music sites, which are replete with many sheets of music on classics and popular numbers.

Piano Sheet Music - Past to Present

Piano sheet music was essential for playing on a piano, earlier. Prior to the invention of television, internet, movies and radios the sheet music played an important role in popularizing new compositions.

In the nineteenth century, this became popular, owing to the popularity of the parlor music. Piano sheet music's fame declined gradually with the arrival of the new gadgets like phonograph and radio.

Piano sheet music has not completely faded out from the world of music. Now-a-days, sheet music is used by singers, guitarists and pianists. The piano sheet music is published on paper sheets by song writer, in the modern times. The advent of computer technology has revolutionized piano sheet music scene. Piano sheet music is now provided in a format that is computer-readable. Free piano sheet music can be downloaded from the internet.

Free Piano Sheet Music: Courtesy Internet!

Computers and the latest advancements in technology have revolutionized every aspect of music. Free piano sheet music is available on the internet. The websites that provide free piano sheet music can be found, only after spending hours on the net. These websites are rare finds since most of the sites demand a fee for downloading or accessing piano sheet music. Free piano sheet music that is available in the websites is limited.

While downloading free piano sheet music from websites, a person can find piano music sheets that belong to different styles. The musical styles written in the free piano music sheets comprises classics, country, rock, pop, old music, rock and roll, etc. A pianist can opt for the music sheets that represent a particular style, according to his/her interest.

Free piano sheet music for classical, Christian and popular songs are available online. Many websites offer the piano music sheets for free and they have only a limited number of compositions. Sometimes a pianist's favorite song or composition may not be available in the websites, on such occasions music stores are a great option.

The free piano sheet music which is available today online or in musical stores is mostly of old songs and classical songs. The old songs will never incur copyright issues, since their copyrights must have expired, early. The music sheets of the popular songs and latest songs are sometimes available on net. Some of the free piano music sheet comprises songs, in which new arrangements are incorporated. The free downloadable music of latest songs on net is mostly samples and not the entire compositions.

Free popular sheets of music have songs belonging to a gamut of styles. Finding a favorite song from a few randomly picked music sheets can be difficult. With intense research, a pianist can download a few songs that are his/her favorites. Visiting the sites of the musicians can sometimes help one in downloading a few memorable and favorite compositions. Free piano sheet music is the economical way of learning for an amateur, who cannot spend a lot of money on piano sheet music, which are an expensive buy.

Here are a few tips to supercharge your sight reading skills:
1. Read patterns - most music are written in certain formats such as AABA, AABC, ABCA, etc. If you can spot the pattern you can predict and sight read music a lot faster.
2. Do not repeat - this is a big one. Most piano players repeat the song from the beginning once they play a wrong note.
3. Know the key signature - can you tell within 1-2 seconds what key the music is in? Is it a major or minor key? Remember the circle of fifth, you can learn more about circle of fifth.
4. Eyes are always ahead of hands.
5. Keeping a steady tempo - many players tend to play fast once they see easier notes and slow down when notes become harder. Keep a slow and steady tempo to avoid inconsistent tempo.
6. Practice, Practice, Practice
If you are interested in a step-by-step sight reading course, make sure to check out www.sightreadingtips.com

Many pianists can play well from written music in a certain keys. But they have a hard time transposing the music into a different key.
In order to transpose on the piano, it is necessary to have knowledge of some piano theory. One of the most important things to be familiar with is the major and minor scales. This will help you immensely as you transpose a song from one key to another. You will not have to guess which note to play, but instead you will already have a thorough knowledge of that particular key signature and will therefore know which note to play.

Another concept you should be familiar with when transposing is the Circle of Fifth Theory. This theory is a simple way to understand key signatures. By starting at any key, count seven keys to the right or left (both black and white keys) and you will find the perfect fifth. In other words, the perfect 5th is seven half steps, or the distance between the first and the eighth key. If you start at C (which has zero flats and zero sharps in the key signature) and count upwards, G is the eighth key. G is the perfect fifth of C.

The key signature of G only has one sharp. Then if you find the perfect fifth of G, you will find that D has two sharps. Then A, the perfect fifth of D, has three sharps and so fourth. Now, lets say you go back to C and find the perfect fifth of C counting downwards. You will find that F is the perfect fifth, and the key signature of F has only one flat. Counting downwards again, you will find that the key signature of B flat has two flats. Continue on in this pattern for the rest of the keys. This theory will help you enormously in terms of transposition.

Being able to freely transpose songs to different keys is a talent that takes time to build. Stay positive and be patient. If you have knowledge of these concepts previously mentioned, you should have no problem transposing songs.

Key signatures are a series of symbols used in written musical notation. This type of notation is covered when you develop your sight reading music. These symbols include sharps and flats that are placed on the staff to indicate that a note should be played one semitone lower or higher than the neutral note. In the case of the piano, a neutral (or natural) note will be any of the white keys. T he black keys are the sharps and flats of these neutral notes. Each black key has two different names. It is shared between two natural notes. For example, the black key between natural C and D can be either a C sharp or a D flat.
Key signatures are commonly written immediately after the clef sign (treble clef or base clef) and after the time signature. The effect of the key signature last throughout the entire music. If a flat symbol is placed on the B line of the treble clef, that means every time you play the B you will be playing the B flat (the black key to the left of natural B). The only way the key signature does not continue for every note in the music is if it is explicitly cancelled by another key signature symbol (sharp, flat, or neutral symbols). For example, you would play a natural B in this case would be if there were a neutral sign paired with a particular B note. It will be played in its natural tone until the measure is completed, unless changed back by another flat sign for the next B in the same measure.
Scales and keys are indicated by the key signatures at the beginning of the music. If there is only one flat on the B line, the music is written in the key of F major or D minor. If there are two sharps written on the C and the F spaces, then the key is D major or B minor. It is important to know the 12 major and 12 minor scales to better understand this concept.

Difficulty on the piano is a very subjective topic. What is difficult for one person may be a breeze for another. Some factors that affect this are: your natural skill, knowledge of piano theory, size of hands and range of movement. But being able to play even difficult music doesn't always mean you are playing it successfully. A pianist is able to play difficult music correctly, but if it has no feeling so it sounds robotic. Not only do you have to master the theory part of the music, but you also have to put energy and emotion into your performances.

Many piano players define "difficultly" in a number of ways. Some would consider a piece of music hard to play if the notes are all over the staff, stretching their fingers. Perhaps your stretching range is one octave from your thumb (finger 1) to your pinky (finger 5). But like I said before, some may find this difficult while others find it easy. There are piano players that can stretch one hand over 13+ keys. Of course, this comes in handy when playing difficult music. Some pianists would call music that has complicated notes difficult; when your hands are quickly around the keys. Music that includes a variety of notes and rhythms may be difficult for most, but easy for a few.

Music composed by Liszt is widely regarded as a difficult sheet music to learn play. His piano compositions involve very technical and intricate parts. Another composer considered to be difficult is Scriabin. His etudes collection is also very technical If you can successfully play any one of either Liszt's or Scrabin's pieces, it is safe to say that you are a successful pianist!

One effective way to style your piano playing chords are by experimenting with them. Color chords and extended chords are powerful chords to be styled
and experimented with.
Consider the following:
1. Use two notes as base - Pick the root and fifth or root and seventh as the base.
2. Voicing can be done in a couple ways - closed voicing or open voicing. To create close voicing, use more notes together. To create an open voicing, spread out notes further apart.

A great course to help piano player is the Piano Improvisation course.

Here is a piano course review:
REVIEW FOR YOKE WONG'S PIANO IMPROVISATION COURSE!

On perusing this course, it's evident from the quality of the resources that there is SO MUCH to be gained.
I was immediately "taken in" by Yoke's warmth and her deep sense of caring regarding the development of all keyboard skills for pianists during her practical demonstrations.
This is a progressional course and I strongly recommend that no steps are "skipped by" as attention to detail is clear for all to view.
Any professional musician that has never got to grips with their keyboard harmony skills and feels they never will, THINK AGAIN!
Forget the stuffy and outdated books as research has proved that visual learning is more successful than just by reading musical facts from the printed page.
I have no problems in proselytizing this course to anyone I encounter in the musical arena as I am totally convinced that this course lives up to
its reputation.
I will look forward to reviewing this most detailed and well written course of study and other courses by Yoke for the European Piano Teachers Association in the near future.

Bravo Yoke and may all your courses be exploited by all musicians as time passes by!

David Martin LGSM LTCL LLCM ALCM
Ex examiner London College of Music and Media
Member of the European Piano Teachers Association

Have you ever been stumped? Confused? or Overwhelmed when it comes to playing from a hymn book or music sheet? Do you feel that playing piano from a hymn book does not sound very exciting and may even be boring at times?
I have been a church pianist since 1990 and I have struggled with playing hymns also; I remember as if it was yesterday how badly I was shaking the first few times I ever played in church.
I literally felt the butterflies in my stomach!
After becoming a church pianist for close to 20 years, I have finally develop a step-by-step Piano DVD Course to help church pianist become better at arranging hymn.

Improvisation technique is important if one want to be good at arranging church music. You are probably aware that Hymn books were written primarily for singers (it comes in 4 parts, SATB) and it was not designed for piano players in mind.

If you play hymns as they are written, there is no way that they are going to sound great.

So, if not from the hymn book, how are you to learn to play hymns that really sound alive?

That's where improvisation techniques come in. If you know the melody well, you can then put in chords to harmonize the melody of hymns. Things such as octaves and evangelistic playing will make the playing more exciting.

When choosing music to listen to during meditation, it is important to keep a few concepts in mind. Music can either distract or enhance meditation. The music should be soothing, relaxing, and it should promote positive feelings. Many popular forms of meditation music include sounds of nature, such as rolling thunder, waves crashing, and birds chirping. Some popular musical instruments used in this type of music are the flute, sitar and relaxing vocals. New Age style music is used frequently as meditation music.

Searching for meditation music can be very easy. It is very easy to find meditation music online through popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Below, we have listed a few websites that we believe are good sources of meditation music.

www.Pandora.com, features a free online website that streams music directly to your computer. You can create your own station. For example, type "meditation" or "calm meditation" in the search field and it will create a station that streams meditation music through your computer. You man also try entering "New Age Genre" in the search field. You can also enter an artist's name and it will create a station that features music related to the same style. You can create different stations, and they will be saved on the site for you for your next visit.

Do you think it is possible to learn piano without a private piano teacher?
The answer may not be a surprise to you.
Years ago when we have no internet access, the idea of YouTube or other video sharing seem impossible.
No you can turn to these websites and learn how to play piano by simply watching any of the piano playing video clips.
I have posted lots of piano lessons and music video clips on youtube in the past couple years.
The only drawback with these video clips is that anyone can claim to be a piano teacher on video clips. You could get yourself into bad habits by imitating some of the hand positions.
I know many self taught piano players have poor playing habits without realizing it.
You could only get so far self learning piano playing. I think if your goal is to achieve certain level within a time frame, a private piano teacher would help.

I recently did a total make-over with the favorite classical piece - Fur Elise. It sounded pretty different with a latin twist to it. If you like to watch my video collection at youtube, here is the channel for piano playing

There are many piano teachers available to you, so how do you know which one is best to choose?
One of the most important things to look for when finding a piano teacher is their qualifications. If a teacher is qualified, you can be certain that you are getting the most out of your money. Typically, the more qualified the teacher, the more expensive. It is also important that the teacher belongs to some sort of association, such as the MTNA (Music Teachers National Association). This is important because it will assure you that your teacher is legitimate, and that they are in company with other teachers and take their profession seriously.

Finding a piano teacher that is involved in community events is a gem. For example, a teacher that take part in federation or events on a regular basis, or even judges piano performances. It is also beneficial for you to find a teacher that holds piano recitals for their students at least once a year. This will give you the opportunity (or your child) to play publically, which will help with a common psychological block called performance anxiety. If your teacher is involved with the community, they will be involved with you as well.

If the teacher is qualified and is involved in their community, then that is great. But that doesn't mean they will be right for you. Look for a well-rounded piano teacher; someone that teaches sight reading, as well as improvisation. It is important to find a teacher that caters to your needs as a piano player. For example, if you are interested in accompaniment and composing. Therefore, you should find a teacher that focused on these areas.
Find someone whose personality excites you. After all, you will be spending quite some time with this person. This is especially important with children. If your child does not like the teacher, then they will automatically not like piano. Finding a teacher will take time, so be prepared to put some effort into the search. Be prepared to meet with a number of teachers before you settle with just one. It is ok to browse! Be persistent with your search, and eventually you will find a teacher that works for you.

I know many folks are looking for printable sheet music. Here are a couple printable sheet music I composed a few years ago. Feel free to print it out and enjoy the music.
Sunrise Flower Printable Sheet Music.
Sunrise Flower MIDI Clip.
The Story Of Autumn Printable Sheet Music.
The Story Of Autumn MIDI Clip.

A piano player can learn to recognize certain music intervals by associating them with certain music. For example, you can use the entertainer song or Jaws to recognize a minor 2nd. Below is a list of songs that are related to certain intervals.

Minor 2nd
The Entertainer
Chromatic Scale (Semitone)
Stormy Weather
Jaws
Nice Work if You Can Get It
Pink Panther

Major 2nd
Frere Jacques
Happy Birthday
O Susanna
Silent Night
She'll Be Comin'Round the Mountain
Doh a Deer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Minor 3rd
O Canada
Somewhere out there
Brahms Lullaby
Greensleeves
To Dream the Impossible Dream
Smells Like Teen Spirit Solo

Major 3rd
Kum Ba Yah
A Jolly Good Fellow
O When the Saints Go Marching In
From the Halls Of Montezuma
Michael Row Your Boat Ashore

Perfect 4th
Amazing Grace
On My Own
Here Comes the Bride
French National Anthem
Jeopardy
Hark the Harold Angels Sing
Oh Christmas Tree
There Was A Farmer Had a dog and Bingo

Perfect 5th
Twinkle, Twinkle
Do You Hear What I Hear (Little Drummer Boy)
Star Wars
The Alphabet Song (ABCDEFG)
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Raindrops on Roses
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Georgy Girl

Minor 6th
Chopin Waltz in C#
Love Story
Because (The Beatles)

Major 6th
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
It Came upon a Midnight Clear
NBC Theme
Dashing Through the Snow

Minor 7th
Classic Star Trek
Top of the Dominant Seventh Chord
Land Before Time Them

Major 7th
Superman
Maria (From West Side Story)
Fantasy Island Theme

Octave (8th)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Paper Moon

I once heard the following comments being mentioned in one of the piano group -

"Have any of you had doubts whether the classical composers could actually play/perform their own music the way they were transcribed? Some of the more difficult pieces have incredibly huge intervals (did they roll these chords?) and other attributes which make me wonder if they were capable of playing them; or is it possible they made them more difficult than their own abilities for the sake of higher caliber performers?"
To be honest - I have the same question.

Well, here is the answer -

Schubert couldn't play his own Wanderer Fantasy despite the fact that pianos of his day made it easier to negotiate (lighter action and slightly more narrow keys).

Stravinsky liked to think he could play his own works, but in reality he was quite sloppy (it's "easy" to play anything if slop is the standard of quality). But as for Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Liszt, Chopin, Mozart, Scarlatti... they could probably play their own works better than most who are paid to perform them today.

Certain composers had long fingers span -
Rachmaninov just flat out had huge hands - he could
reach a 13th. Liszt didn't have exceptionally big hands, but his hands were extremely flexible and had a fairly good reach.
More importantly, he could roll a chord nearly 2 octaves in span as if it were one octave - exceptional technique can compensate even for the smallest hands. Many speculate that he may have been the greatest pianist ever to live, but we can never know since recording technology wasn't available at that time. (Special thanks to Chad Twedt for his answers)

I struggled with music rhythm earlier on. Learning rhythm is not an easy task. It takes time and understanding. The good news is once you understand the concept, it will make it a lot easier.
Here are some rhythm exercises that you can print out to practice on.
Music rhythm worksheet 1

You can learn more about the piano rhythm course.

No matter what your age, you can still learn to play piano. Though children do tend to pick up on their piano lessons fairly easily, adults often approach their lessons in a more structured manner, which makes learning piano manageable for them as well.

You will likely find that when you learn to play the piano it is one of the most enjoyable things that you will ever do, and today finding options to help you in learning piano is easier than ever.

To learn to play piano most people take music lessons, and there are a variety of methods in which you can do this. You can look in your local newspapers classifieds to see if there is someone locally who may be giving piano lessons, you may also want to ask around at your local schools and churches to find out if they can refer you to a piano teacher.

The fees associated with piano lessons vary with each instructor; while some may only charge a small fee because they are only teaching part time, professional music teachers may be quite expensive.

Another option to learn to play piano would be to opt to take online lessons, or you can choose to learn through piano course or DVD course. The online lessons tend to be less expensive than traditional piano lessons, and if you do have problems in learning to play the piano, there is an instructor to help you. On the other hand if you choose to learn to play piano on your own and begin to have some difficulty, you won't have an instructor to help you understand the lesson.
Each method of learning how to play the piano has its advantages and drawbacks; so it really comes down to personal preference when it comes to how you will go about learning piano.

In addition to taking piano lessons, to learn how to play piano you will also need a piano, or a small, portable keyboard. A piano purchase can be quite a large investment, so to begin with while you are learning piano, the portable keyboard may be your best option. You can shop around and find several portable keyboards that have all the same keys as the standard piano, but they are far less expensive.

Once you have bought a piano or portable keyboard, you'll be all set to learn to play the piano, all that will be left is to find a good piano teacher, and to set your mind to learning how to play piano.

When you teach piano, you are using your own talent to spread the beauty of music to others, which is a wonderful thing. Here are some tips to help you to learn how to teach piano to students.


The very foundation of how to teach piano is in understanding that every student will be different, and each person will learn at their own pace. It's easy to get into a routine when you are teaching music and to forget that not everyone will learn through the same routine or at the same pace, but it's best to avoid this approach and tailor your lessons to each individual's learning abilities.
To begin to teach piano there are some essential tools of the trade you will have to have on hand.
A whiteboard can help you to teach through activities, and will aid your students in learning notes, rhythm, etc. You will also want to have some rhythm sticks, which you can use to help your students learn rhythm. Along with these tools, you will want some good music lesson books, preferably those that contain a variety of ability levels so that you can match each student with lessons for their level.

If a student has no previous experience in playing the piano, you will want to start to teach piano to them by having them learn and practice some basic chords. Along with the chords, in the beginning your student will also have to learn about hand position, piano keys, as well as notes and scales.
When you teach piano a general lesson guideline to follow may include,


1. A warm up period: At the beginning of each lesson, the student should warm up before going over what they learned during the previous lesson.
2. Evaluate the student's progress: As the student is warming up and playing what they were taught during their previous lesson, you can evaluate their progress and decide if they are ready to move on to the next lesson.
3. Introducing a new lesson: If the new lesson is especially difficult, you may find it helpful to teach piano lessons in blocks. Show your student how to play in separate blocks, learning each one before moving on to the next.
4. Whiteboard lessons: After practicing lessons at the piano, spend some time with your student using the whiteboard. You can go through a variety of activities that can aid them in understanding rhythm and notes. During your whiteboard lessons you can teach your student rhythm, note naming, notes and values.

When you teach piano at the end of each lesson, always ensure that your student leaves feeling as if they have achieved some measure of success.

Developing good piano technique is an important element of learning to play the piano well. Piano technique is basically a personal method of which someone handles the fundamental elements that are necessary to play the piano.

Without using good , piano technique it would be difficult, if not impossible to play the piano well, and you will never become as good as some of the masters. Developing good piano technique is absolutely necessary to becoming a good pianist, let alone a brilliant pianist.
When someone has a bad piano technique, what this means is that all the elements that are necessary to play well will also be bad, but when you have a good piano technique, you will have all the basics to play the piano well. This may include elements such as flexible fingers, wrist motion, as well as good hand position. When you combine all of this, you have a piano technique.

One of the most talked about piano techniques is the virtuoso technique. This is the technique that all pianists strive for, which is the ability to technically master the piano, while expressing artistic brilliance.
To play the piano like a master you will have to develop a piano technique that allows you to integrate well with the mechanics of playing the piano, as well as the ability of musical expression.
One of the best ways in which to develop good piano technique is to pay attention to the fundamentals of techniques, including elements such as hand position, finger strengthening, sitting position, etc. Another element of acquiring good piano technique is to consistently use proper technique when playing the piano, especially during practice. Keep in mind that acquiring good piano technique takes a lot of time and practice.
Piano technique is something that has been built upon and passed down to others. Each of the master pianists has added their brilliance to the technique of others, but learning how to incorporate their knowledge into your own technique will take time, and a lot of work.
If you want to become a brilliant pianist, or just learn to play the piano well, you will have to practice good piano technique everyday, build strength in your fingers, and keep them limber.
Remember, the mechanics of playing the piano are as important as music expression. Once you understand this, you will be on your way to making some beautiful piano music.

Learning any musical instrument becomes easy when the learner has a determination and commitment. Piano learning is no exception. Learning to play piano is an asset and creating your own music with chords and improvisation is an achievement.

Today more and more people prefer to learn easy piano music that allows them to experience the pleasure of playing piano.

Getting started

Easy piano lessons and music make the entire process of learning piano, very simple. Easy piano music lessons offer one the luxury of beginning to learn piano, using three or four chords. For beginners, repetitive songs make them accustomed to the keys, chords and the pleasant melody involved in the tunes. 'Chop sticks', an easy piano classic is ideal for beginners and this acts as a template, on which complicated compositions can be built.

Easy piano songs

To learn easy piano music, a person has to select songs that are easy to play on a piano. The easiest song that is preferred by young and old alike, is the song, 'Mary had a little Lamb'. The song's tune is a three-note tune and this allows the learners to be familiar with the keys and use their hands dexterously. Songs like these are building blocks, in the process of learning. Songs like 'Jingle Bells', 'Row Row, Row your boat' and 'Ode to Joy' are ideal for beginners. Choosing songs like these help one to master easy piano music, without any complication.

Easy piano classics

It is not true that when a person learns easy piano music, he learns songs that are simple and mundane. He/she can also experience playing classics, which are easy to play. The simple and classic compositions of the renowned musicians like Bach, Chopin and Beethoven offer the joy of playing classics on a piano, in a simple and lucid manner!

Easy piano classics are available online and one can download it from a particular site. They are also found in the form of CDs and even as musical scores. One can choose any form, depending upon his/her convenience. Learning the uncomplicated classical composition of the great masters is the first step towards learning more complicated songs.

Contemporary songs

Learning Easy piano music is inclusive of learning to play easy songs, easy piano classics and also contemporary songs, that are easy. Beginners consider learning contemporary songs, a pleasure. A gamut of songs are available that are timeless and simple, in the music galleries, across the globe. Songs like 'My Heart Will Go On', 'Somewhere Out There', 'Unchained Melody', etc are great songs that are also uncomplicated compositions.

Easy piano music can now be learnt online or using tutorials. A wide variety of websites offer classes on piano music and also teaches the learners easy ways to learn piano music.

Only a person with total devotion, extreme passion and the urge to learn every nuance of playing piano becomes a great musician. Mastering the chords is the first step and the rest follows. Learning a few easy songs and classics can make a person restrict his talents. One has to learn, explore and experiment with music. A true musician masters basics practices consistently and finally focuses all his/her efforts in creating charming tunes that entertain and elevate!

Moving your fingers on a piano and churning out harmonious tunes can be exciting and great fun. Through the years, many have devised various methods to learn and play piano. The main concern of these piano methods is to aid musicians or pianists to generate lilting music on the instrument. There is a lot that a pianist goes through under the hood to deliver the scintillating notes that mesmerize.

Read Music

Reading music is a vital ingredient that is essential to learn piano music or any kind of music. For the layman, it will be related to reading lyrics, mostly. But what about the one who has to play music? How do you render the notes on the piano, or any other instrument? That's what reading music is all about. Reading music is an essential component of playing piano. In this method, a pianist is provided with a music sheet that comprises every little nuance on the music that is to be played on the piano. Details on the keys, notes, chords, etc are provided to the musicians. The notes on paper refer to keys on the piano, and how they need to be pressed and for how long, to make the intended music.

Chord Charts

The major part of learning piano involves learning piano chords. The chord chart gives a perfect idea regarding the use of chords. There is a template that allows one to make his/her own different arrangements.

Some piano playing methods involve a lot of improvisations with the chord. These methods stress on chord changes and mastering the piano chords. In a given framework, called phrase, one can implement chord changes. Four-bar phrases, Eight-bar phrases, etc are frameworks, on which the chord changes occur. Playing within this framework allows a person to improvise and eliminate the problems that arise due to contrast and repetition.

In these methods, chord chart is provided and this offers help on when and where to change the chords and play with them, so one can improvise, create harmonious music and change chords as one wishes.

Playing By Ear!

Playing piano by ear is an interesting method of playing the piano. Some pianist can play any kind of music extemporaneously. Many piano players need a music score and notes to play piano, while some hear a song, once and play the song confidently and without errors. This sort of talent is developed by a pianist, after years of learning, practice, reading music scores, listening and imitating.

Some are gifted with an innate talent of playing exactly what they have heard. A classic example of this kind of talent is the renowned musician, Mozart who composed and played complex compositions, even before he saw a music sheet. Extreme concentration and constant practice can make a person play a composition, after listening to it just once or twice. A person has to practice every great musical piece and read music consistently. Reading music helps one to recognize musical notes and unconsciously helps one to learn to play piano by ear. Practicing chords, scales and positions reinforces one's skill of playing by ear! Try it! It can be an addictive pastime!

Benefits

A person can condition himself socially and physically, by learning a musical instrument. Music heals. Music teaches. Music brings patience and contention. Playing piano helps to develop and strengthen hand-eye coordination in both adults and children. This coordination fine tunes one's nervous system and develops brain skills. Playing an instrument requires concentration and playing piano is a great way to develop the skills. Concentration entails discipline, which is vital for life and learning. Self-esteem and confidence of a person increases manifold when he/she learns music.

Pianists or any musician enjoys the respect of people, in a social set up. Learning piano offers a person a pleasurable experience that is truly divine. These are not keys to open door locks. These are keys to make music. These are keys to create magic, to mesmerize. Good luck!

Pianos are one of the most popular musical instruments throughout the world, and arguably the most famous, as also versatile. Do you know piano is actually pianoforte, formally? Grand pianos are, simply put, full size pianos. These pianos are ideally meant for large spacious rooms and concerts, etc., and the sound from these pianos is more real than on other pianos. Baby grand pianos are smaller versions of grand pianos, primarily built for 'everyday use' in homes.

The sole problem a piano lover had to deal with was size of the piano. Not any more - with a cute and attractive baby grand piano, its lovely curves and strings, he can have his piano and play it, too! The design has a much smaller footprint, while maintaining the sound quality as true as possible. If you still want to go for the truest sound, you would consider the original grand piano. Baby grand piano is an owner's and a pianist's delight. Baby grand pianos are elegant and affordable, and unlike their bigger counterparts, can be used as an ornament in the living room.

Baby Grand Pianos: Feature Set

Baby Grand pianos are usually shorter in dimensions, and the strings are thick and short when compared to full size grand. Although purists say the sound produced by these pianos is inharmonious, for a normal user, this piano does fit the bill, and the sound is definitely not as bad as many may have you believe. Grand pianos are first of all huge, then hugely expensive. Baby pianos on the other hand are small, can fit in your rooms, are elegant and affordable, too. They are mostly made of wood like oak, mahogany, etc. There are many antique baby pianos which are breathtakingly beautiful for their artistry.

Baby Grand Pianos: Sound

Baby grand pianos are smaller in size, but the sound they generate is not small in any way. While it is true that if we were to achieve the same level of true sound as a grand piano, then the cost would escalate manifold, but that doesn't mean that baby grand pianos sound bad. They sound remarkably close to grand pianos, and first time users will not be able to make out the difference. Somehow, these pianos seem to add sheen and beauty to any living room. A baby grand piano makes the room look majestic, artistic and adds to the glamour. And of course, it can fill the room with sound that is not easily described. Generally with smaller sound board, the sound quality of a baby grand tends to be somewhat lower than grand piano.

Baby Grand Pianos: Space Constraints

There are none! This aesthetic instrument is around 5 ft. in height, even lesser in some cases. This makes it easy to fit in any room with ease. They must be placed away from the radiator, ceiling vent or heat, wall, door, window, etc. The pianos must be ideally placed in a room, where the temperature is constant and moderate. This will make them durable, since they are made of wood, predominantly.

Baby Grand Pianos: Room Acoustics and Furnishing

The tone of the piano is invariably affected by the room acoustics, where the piano is placed. The sound generated from any instrument reverberates and reflects from the floors, walls, windows, etc. The reverberation time is shorter in small living rooms. Hardwood floors are good sound reflectors. So, the tone of the piano is enhanced and the sound becomes lovelier and livelier. The furnishings in a room like the hangings, tapestries, etc have the capacity of absorbing, reflecting and scattering sound. Rooms with adequate furnishing can sometimes affect of the sound of the baby piano, since the sound is reflected. Place your baby grand piano in the room where it sounds best.

Baby Grand Pianos: One Click Away?

The internet has just totally spoilt us. Baby Grand pianos too, like many other instruments, can be bought online. A few popular brands of the pianos are Stuyvesant, Baldwin, Bergmann and Breitenbach. Online shopping offers a gamut of brands to choose from. There are sites which offer a worthy bargain, through bids. However, if you wish to test the sound of the piano before buying, you will have to visit the shop - presently the internet doesn't have a substitute to this!

The attractive sound of the baby grand pianos has won many hearts and is one of the primary reasons for its popularity. The musicians who have limited financial resources can get a baby grand piano and enjoy the experience of mastering their music on it. No more do you require a mansion to get a piano, and no more do you require a fortune to make one yours. Baby grand pianos are the ideal choice for normal households with normal budgets. These pianos can be an asset for a pianist or a piano enthusiast. It can also decorate the room in which it is placed. A baby grand piano kept in a room can be the cynosure of all eyes for its sheer brilliance, compactness, beauty and allure!

I want a baby! (Piano)

How to Play Piano Smoothly

Piano players like to play piano smoothly and fluidly. But these skills are not acquired overnight. Learning to play this way is a process that takes practice and discipline.

Many people think there is some magic short-cut to learning to play piano smoothly, just as people think they can lose weight in a short time or instantly have a great golf swing.
Of course, all that is a myth. In reality, it is only consistent effort that will make this happen. .

There are essentially two ways to play piano: reading music (sight reading) or improvising (playing by ear). Both take a lot of practice; both are essentials skills. Some people learn faster by reading music and some prefer to improvise.

You may have mistakenly overheard someone say that it is easy to play piano.
Well, it is easy to play piano, but it is not easy to play well. There's a huge difference. Playing well takes work and practice. You've probably heard from people who play well how much work they put into it. Many great piano players have easily spent well over 10,000 hours only in practicing.

Another dilemma that seems to follow piano players is that they tend to purchase a lot of material but never fully use it all. It's the same as the exercise program that many sign up for, but do not have the discipline to follow through with the classes.

As with anything else in life, you reap what you sow. If you are willing to invest practice time and resources into piano playing, you will undoubtedly see the benefits.

Digital pianos were created as an alternative to the traditional pianos. The modern digital pianos replicate the sound of the grand piano or a traditional piano realistically enough for them to be considered a viable alternative. The affordability, performance and elegance of a digital piano have made it widely popular among the piano buffs and pianists across the globe.

Digital Vs Traditional

Digital pianos today have many advantages compared to the traditional and conventional pianos. Traditional pianos have to be tuned continuously whereas a digital piano needs no tuning. An acoustic piano is heavy and is not easily transportable like the digital pianos, which are lightweight, and hence, easily transportable.

Digital pianos are less expensive than the acoustic pianos and this has prompted many to opt for the former in favor of the latter. Digital pianos are ideal for a beginner who sometimes creates noise instead of music on a piano during his/her years of learning. Practicing on a traditional piano will disturb the neighbors and family. This can be avoided by playing on a digital piano with headphones in total privacy. Wicked, isn't it?

On a conventional piano, a person can play only piano music. A digital piano is, well, digital, and is a lot more customizable. On a digital piano, it is possible to generate the sounds of a guitar, drum, organ music, etc. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital interface) connected to a computer allows the digital pianos to interact with them. This helps the pianist to record his/her composition in a computer.

Digital Pianos: Sound Timbres

Digital pianos can produce different piano timbres. A digital piano can produce the sounds similar to the sounds of a grand piano, tack piano, upright piano, etc. The music played on the digital pianos can be stored in the ROM. The music samples stored thus are of excellent quality.

Though the digital pianos produce high quality music, they come with many limitations. Harmonic tones cannot be implemented in a digital piano. Polyphony is limited and the pianos lack natural reverberation. Despite all these limitations, professional recordings produced using digital pianos sound exactly like the recordings done, using a real piano.

Digital Pianos: How unique!

One of the most unique features of the digital piano is that MIDI can be implemented on them. This allows a digital piano to control other sequencers and electronic instruments and be controlled by them as. The pianos also possess built-in sequencers so more than two tracks can be recorded. The reverb in a digital piano is simulated electronically. Some digital pianos are enhanced with 'stage simulation' and 'chorus' effect. Some digital pianos are designed with keys that have lights related to them. This provision allows a novice to learn piano by touching the keys that are lit.

The digital pianos have evolved through the passing years. The digital pianos were connected to MIDI to perform software synthesis, musical sequencing, interactive music lessons and musical notation. The latest technology is the Computer Enhanced Musical Instruments technology (CEMI) that combines and implements both internet and software technologies in a variety of musical instruments.

The latest technology incorporated in the pianos makes playing and recording on the pianos a great experience. Amateurs find practicing on a digital piano very helpful in their process of learning. Professionals are interested to explore, compose, play and record their new compositions through MIDI technology.

Digital pianos are the 'in thing' of the new generation. Immaterial of the shape, size and form of a digital piano, the enthralling sound it produces and the exciting in-built features in the pianos make them a much sought after musical instrument.

Yamaha Corporation is renowned for making world-class keyboards that embody exceptional quality and better performance. Yamaha keyboards cater to the needs of an amateur and a professional pianist alike. Professionals love their Yamaha, and aspirants rave at the day they will get their hands on one. Yamaha adheres to the culture of innovation and incorporation of new technologies in the making of the pianos and keyboards. The excellent sound they produce and distinct features make the keyboards and pianos, much sought after, in the world of music. Yamaha offers a range of keyboards like Yamaha portable keyboards, Yamaha PSR keyboards, Yamaha MIDI keyboards, etc.

Keyboards Ahoy!

Yamaha has been manufacturing a wide variety of keyboards. The YPT series of keyboards are portable keyboards, which are endowed with Yamaha Education Suite or YES. The clarity of the YPT series of portable grand pianos is of exceptional quality and they are enhanced with 'touch response' feature that makes the keyboard sound like an acoustic piano.

PSR series of portable grand pianos from Yamaha are endowed with computer connectivity (MIDI), real stereo, 32 note polyphony, internal songs, expressive touch like a piano, backlit LCD screen, bass ports, a gamut of accompaniment styles, dual and split, etc. The advanced PSR series pianos which are ideal for music composing is enhanced with mega voice technology, 16-track sequencer, LAN port, exemplary articulation, color screen, etc

The YPG series of pianos are equipped with innovative features like a broad selection of realistic voices, soft touch action, USB MIDI and storage options, stereo piano sound, built-in recorder, pitch bend wheel, backlit LCD displays, ultra modern enhancements, etc.

DGX series of portable keyboards are ideal for a novice as well as a professional. The vital features of these keyboards are easy song arranger, music database, on-board sequencer, 2-way speaker system, flash ROM, PC connectivity, performance assistant, etc.

The advanced keyboards that are used in music production by professional composers and pianists are the MM series keyboards, Motif XS and MO series. All these series of pianos are ideal for arranging, recording and performing. The S-Series of pianos have a perfect balance of piano and synthesizer, excellent sound quality, user friendly operations, outstanding software and are great in sight, feel and sound. Tyros 2, a musical powerhouse is an advanced keyboard that is enhanced with innovative features, from Yamaha.

Learn, Compose, Perform! As easy as 1-2-3! Or Is It?

In the learning stages, a person can opt for a keyboard that is affordable and easy to play on. The keyboards generally used for learning and practicing are called home keyboards, which can be possessed at a reasonable price. Electronic keyboards like the Yamaha PSR series can play a prominent role in the learning stages. Yamaha also produces a number of pianos, if a person desires to practice on a piano.

To perform in front of an audience, a pianist needs a professional arranger keyboard. The higher models of the PSR series can be ideal for a professional at the performing stages. For composing and arranging music, a pianist needs to work with a number of effects and sounds. Recording vocals and acoustic instruments and editing them is essential while composing and arranging. Workstations, synthesizers and samplers from Yamaha are ideal for a composer.

Yamaha keyboards are chosen by piano professionals and beginners since the clarity and sound quality of the keyboards are unparalleled by other keyboards. Yamaha Corporation updates the technologies and constantly innovates to built keyboards that satisfy all kinds of customer. This reputation of Yamaha has made Yamaha keyboard, a coveted property among the music fraternity!

Yamaha, a Japanese company has a tradition of innovation, for over 100 years. The company has manufactured some of the finest digital and acoustic instruments, including a gamut of pianos. The pianos from Yamaha offers a great experience for the money spend on the instruments, for any pianist. The sound, touch and feel of the Yamaha pianos have made them a coveted property for the piano enthusiasts all over the world.

The Yamaha History

A wide variety of products are produced by the Yamaha Company, apart from pianos. Yamaha has been producing pianos since 1899. Earlier, Yamaha built pianos primarily for the American and Asian markets. These markets demanded clinical tonal characteristics and less sonorous sound, when compared to European market. During 1970 Yamaha pianos became popular in Europe. Yamaha has customized its pianos to suit the needs of every market.

Pianos A-Plenty

Yamaha offers a number of pianos like upright pianos, grand pianos, baby grand pianos, digital pianos, silent pianos, clavinovas and disklavier. Every Yamaha piano is endowed with a unique quality and tonal characteristic, which makes Yamaha a popular brand.

Upright Pianos

Gallery collection, Cable-Nelson collection, professional gallery collection and professional collection in various sizes are the popular collections of Yamaha upright pianos. The pianos also belong to different series like the YUS series, U series and SU series. The Yamaha uprights are exclusively designed for professional and personal use. Their beauty adds to the décor of any room.

Grand Pianos

The Yamaha grand piano collection comprises Cable-Nelson grand pianos, classic collection, conservatory collection, conservatory concert collection and handcrafted concert collection. The grand pianos and baby grand pianos from Yamaha are crafted exquisitely and technically sophisticated.

Silent Pianos: Where Did My Music Go?

To enjoy the enthralling tunes played on a piano in total privacy, using headphones, Yamaha Silent pianos are a great option. A pianist can enjoy the piano music in controlled volumes, through the silent piano technology. The silent piano is a rare combination of elegance, tone, touch and digital technology.

Disklavier from Yamaha

Yamaha disklavier is a hybrid digital/acoustic piano and this brilliant combination has become popular worldwide. Hailed as a wonderful entertainment system, disklavier can reproduce the concerts with vocal tracks and backing instruments. Disklavier is enhanced with digital technology, which can create a 'live' performance or concert, at home.

Yamaha Clavinovas

Clavinovas from Yamaha creates magic with the expressive sound that is generated from them. The CVP and CLP series of Yamaha Clavinovas are elegant and produce realistic sounds. The Clavinovas are ideal for the beginners and professionals and for practice and performance, alike!

Digital Pianos

Yamaha digital pianos are preferred by pianists and piano enthusiasts across the globe.
The digital pianos are cheaper than the Yamaha acoustic pianos. Yamaha digital pianos do not need tuning and they do not consume a lot of space. A pianist can connect the piano to a headphone and practice in total privacy. They are enhanced with MIDI features, Graded Hammer effect, etc.

Yamaha pianos can be bought from various Yamaha outlets, all over the world. Buying a Yamaha piano from a certified dealer offers the advantages of exceptional support and high quality service. In the modern days, buying Yamaha pianos from the Internet has become a new trend. Anyone can shop online easily with the aid of many internet shopping site. A few reputed sites can be great options for buying Yamaha pianos! Feel the music, touch the keys and enjoy the exceptional music, by playing on a Yamaha piano!

The mere euphony of something musical can sometimes reach one's soul so deeply, that it can even cure ailments. Musical instruments play a large part in adding melody and beat to compositions. Many people are encouraged to learn to play instruments as a hobby. The most common of these instruments has been the piano because of the versatility that the instrument teaches. Piano also provides an important base to most compositions, and hence has become popular amongst many.
To cater to this type of learner, here are some key tips on how to play the piano with both hands. As they always say, practice - in fact - does make perfect. For piano they say fingers tend to rust if you give up playing for even a week - and this doesn't hold true just for amateurs.
For beginners it is always important to pay attention to hand motion and keeping fingers raised for each note, as this brings clarity to what is being played. It is also essential to strike the chords strongly and to sing along with the chords. This helps focus the concentration on the piece that is being learned. Needless to say, relaxing and enjoying the melody is important as you gain control over both hands and are careful not to become overly self-conscious about missing notes in the process. Often playing by ear helps you avoid making such mistakes. It is playing a note which is familiar to your ear, and not trying to play the note that you memorized, that produces results. You will learn to play the piano with a melodious flow if you start by trying to learn notes to a song you already know.
The left hand is a mirror image of what the right hand tries to play on the piano. The right hand plays by ear once the note has been memorized. The left hand picks this up with practice, and plays the required sections with careful attention to where the next key has to be struck. These tasks require diligent work, and eventually will have the hands come together to give the piano playing beautiful results.
Just as a toddler's speech develops into adult speech, with sufficient practice playing the piano with both hands will also develop into sophisticated playing. A cautionary note: It's easy to make repeated mistakes, since your hands begin to get used to playing the same chords and can play the same wrong note over and over. Such errors can be avoided by beginning with playing only the simple parts of a new composition, reaching the point where you can play them with ease and have little room for error. Playing one hand at a time, slowly and with sufficient breaks, is important. Playing with both hands together is only advised once you have memorized the notes of each hand. Again, playing the piece in sections and at a slower speed than required, is highly suggested. You should build up gradually to normal speed, and only when confident of having memorized the entire piece, begin to play with both hands.

Pentatonic scales are common in the neo-musical world and are used around the globe. These scales are developed with five notes and exist as two common types: major and minor pentatonic scales. The major pentatonic scale is commonly used and is denoted as the primary pentatonic scale.

These scales are developed smoothly. When you create a major pentatonic scale, you prefer five consecutive pitches alongside the circle of fifths. This is common practice in Western European classical music. Scales are always the key component of an outstanding music performance. They refer to the progression of single notes in twofold steps upwards or downwards. The word "scales" is derived from the Latin word la scala, meaning ladder. That is why most of the scales are denoted with ladders. The musical scales read from their roots to the octave notes, as they gain sustainable output.

Why do amateur musicians kowtow to the basics of music? Is it justifiable that they should be introduced to the primary concepts of scaling in their initial training and only again in the later stages? The reply is affirmative. It takes several years to go deeply into the rhythmic cynosure. That is why every musician is prodded to accomplish the basics because understanding scales needs years of training.

You need to comprehend music scales in order to understand its ascent. Scales move either upwards or downwards until they are fixated at the basic point, which is the same note of octave. Scales are also called tonics in music terminology. Every scale starts with a particular root. The methodology is very simple. Take the example of C scale that should always begin with tonic C. Note that while going upwards, the notes that follow are D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. But when you see downwards, the note progression is settled at C, B, A, G, F, E, D, and C. Another aspect is that the C scale is comprised of eight notes. Scales in the eight notes are denoted as diatonic.

Piano contains 12 notes in one octave. Piano notes consist of semitones on a C scale that are also known as black keys. Chromatic scales include many semitones, but the chromatic C scale goes upwards with C, C sharp, D, D sharp, E, F, F sharp, G, G sharp, A, A sharp, B and C. You should also be aware of the opposite impact. The downward scaling process consists of C, B, B flat, A, A flat, G, G flat, F, E, E flat, D, D flat and C. Scales are major (M), minor (m), perfect (P), augmented (A) or diminished (d or dim).

The pentatonic scales are the well established combination of five notes. They have attained remarkable stature in the Western music world. These scales are common in the American blues and popular in the rock culture. They have remained household names in most of the Asian cultures, are admired in the Celtic and African music world, and are equally popular in modern, classical, and jazz music.

It is frequently said that music plays a crucial role in creating a human experience. Jazz is famous for the evocative impression it leaves universally. Jazz had its origins in Blues music, though it also carries an influence from other genres. To be a perfect jazz player, you have to follow its elementary rules. If you are an amateur, you need to focus on the basics and the early Swing Era.

As a jazz piano student, you need to explore the best of some of the recordings. The most important step is to analyze jazz piano with close observation given to the early works. Some renowned, jazz piano works - like the Art Tatum, Count Basie, Thelonius Monk and so on - are a great help for beginners. As a serious student, you observe Jazz by closely following the works of the veterans. Regular practice can and will turn you into a master pianist.

Start with a systematic approach. Learning the basic theory of all 12 major scales is mandatory for each step. As a beginner, you should master these scales, read music, and play the basics even if they are not exactly Jazz. This keeps you right in tune. It is suggested that you purchase a songbook to accompany your studies.

Understanding the symbols and tabs of chords and guitars is pivotal. This understanding will help you catch on to the basics very easily. As a learner, you should be aware of the major, minor, dominant, half diminished, and diminished chords of every key. Once these scales are mastered, you are completely ready to move on.

You will notice that after regular practice you are playing a song without actually reading any music. Now is the time for some introspection. You can check your shortcomings, make the distinctions between the original tune and yours, and modify from there.

Understand that learning piano is possible only by actually playing it, not by reading a book. It certainly requires total dedication and zeal.

If you are into classical music, you will know who composed this famous so-called Halloween Music. Even if you don't know the piece, you have heard of it elsewhere - especially in the month of October.
Watch this video and see if you can play this Halloween Music on the piano

How can I play a new piece with both hands together without pausing?

You probably know the reason for the pausing: fluency. It's just like speaking a language. You need to know what to say in order to speak fluently.

Piano playing is just the same. Many players, regardless of their skill level, tend to pause and stop with pieces in certain sections due to lack of fluency. Often, lack of fluency is due to lack of practice on that specific spot.

If you can identify which areas you need to practice more, simply isolate that part and practice! Another good idea when learning a new piece is to listen to recordings of the piece. Some people advise against listening to recordings of other pianists in order to avoid imitating others' styles. Think about it, what would help you learn a language faster: listening to someone speak the language often or by speaking your own language only?

In fact, we learn language by listening and imitating. How can you expect a person to master piano playing without listening to others' playing? One learns the most/best by observing more advanced players playing the same piece.

Second step in learning a new piece is analyzing the musical piece. Most players avoid this step as it is time consuming and uninteresting. I sincerely believe if one is to take their playing to the next level, enough time needs to be spent on understanding the structure and nature of the piece. Things to consider when analyzing a piece include the following:

1. Key and meter of the piece. Is the piece in a major or minor key? Does it switch keys in the middle of the piece? What key does it switch to? What is the meter? Is it a 3/4 or 4/4 or other?
2. Patterns of the piece - what are the musical patterns of the piece? Do certain bars/measures repeat? How is certain section different from beginning and ending? What chords are used to harmonize the piece? Once you've gone through the analysis, you can then break down the whole piece into manageable sections to practice. Here is where we would use the 7/20 rule. Practice each small section 7 times and no more than 20 minutes. If you notice that certain sections repeats (some repeat a few time), you only need to practice one section in order to have tackled many sections of the piece.
Many experts agree that essentially 100% of technique development is accomplished by practicing hands separately. However, if you feel that the section is manageable and you can accomplish the same fluency with practicing both hands together, you may go with it. Do not try to develop finger/hand technique hands together for technically challenging piece as that is much more difficult, time consuming, and generate undesirable tones. Choosing to practice each hand separately will give you the best results.

Do notice by working out each hand separately, one also is able to memorize the piece better.

I also recommend our hand coordination, runs and fillers piano course if you would like get better at working out each hand effectively.

No, your piano is not about to throw a tantrum if you don't practice! Temper, or temperament, are terms referring to methods of tuning the piano.

In Western music, most pianos nowadays are tuned using Twelve-Tone Equal Temperament, or 12-TET. This means that the twelve notes that make up an octave - the chromatic scale - represent twelve equal frequency intervals. The difference in frequency between a C and a C-sharp, or a D-flat and a D, is the same.

The goal of equal temperament is to make different keys (C, D, F-sharp, and so on) sound equally well in tune. Seems obvious, right?

Not so fast! In fact, this simple-seeming tuning technique took hundreds of years to develop. What's more, in order to make all keys sound equally well in tune%u2026 each individual interval must be made ever so slightly out of tune.

To understand this, let's take a step back. A musical note, or tone, is simply a sound wave of a certain frequency. Certain combination of notes, or frequencies, sound more or less pleasant to the human ear. When a piano's strings are adjusted to enable the pleasant frequency combinations to predominate, while unpleasant combination are minimized, the piano sounds "in tune."

One of the earliest methods of tuning was Pythagorean Tuning. In this method, particular intervals were based on whole-number ratios (i.e., 3:2 or 4:3). These intervals are particularly pleasing to the ear, and are known as "just intervals." Unfortunately, when one key (for example, C), is "in tune" using just intervals, other keys are perceived as being out of tune - in some cases, quite badly. Imagine giving a concert where all the pieces had to be in the key of C, because anything in the key of F-sharp would have sounded out of tune!

Why? Because just intervals cannot be fit evenly into an octave if there are only 12 tones in the octave. There's a little extra frequency left over, called the "Pythagorean comma."
To solve this problem, the just intervals are "tempered," or degraded slightly from their purest form. How best to achieve this has preoccupied pianists and tuners for centuries.

A popular tuning system widely used in the Renaissance was "Meantone" Temperament. In meantone temperament, the just tuning of certain intervals was compromised in favor of others. Certain musical fifths might be narrowed (the top note made slightly flat) in order to allow the musical major third to more closely approach its just ratio. These out-of-tune fifths were known as "wolf" fifths and were concentrated in certain keys, which were sacrificed to the better tuning of other keys. Composers of the day simply avoided using the unplayable keys with wolf fifths.

During the time of Johann Sebastian Bach, Well Temperament was developed. Well temperament is an "irregular" temperament, meaning that the intervals between adjacent notes are not equal. This represented a major advance over meantone tuning, since all keys were playable without the instrument having to be retuned. However, the keys still sounded slightly different from each other, a phenomenon known as "key color." For example, a particular key might be described as "dark" or "melancholic" and therefore be seen as more appropriate for certain pieces and less appropriate for others. Bach wrote two books of preludes and fugues to take advantage of well temperament. The title? "The Well-Tempered Clavier," of course!

About a hundred years ago, modern Equal Temperament was developed, and it remains in general use today. Believe it or not, it was once controversial! Natural or just intonation was seen as reflecting God's order; equal temperament, which debased all intervals for the sake of the overall effect, was seen by some as detrimental to the purity of music. Others lamented the loss of key color. Indeed, there are some purists even today who hold that music written for other temperaments betrays the composer's intentions when played on an equal-tempered piano.

Now you know your piano's temperament - and why your piano tuner should be given the utmost respect!

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a preeminent composer of the Baroque era. In fact, the Baroque era is widely considered to have ended with his death. During his life, he composed over 1,000 works in all musical genres except opera, yet he remained relatively obscure until composer Felix Mendelssohn gave a performance of Bach's work, "St. Matthew Passion," just over one hundred years after Bach had written it.

During his life, J.S. Bach was known more widely as an organist than a composer. He was a master of keyboard instruments of his day, including the organ, the harpsichord, and the clavichord. He also held several posts under local nobility or royalty as court organist, Kapellmeister, and Kantor, the latter two positions indicating responsibility for directing choirs in addition to organ performance. While other noted musicians of the day may have traveled and pursued their careers abroad, Bach remained in his native Germany throughout his career.

J.S. Bach was married twice, and fathered twenty children with his two wives, though only ten of them survived to adulthood. His second wife, Anna Magdalena Bach, was an accomplished pianist in her own right, and by all accounts thrived in her partnership with Bach. Their home became a musical center in their city of Leipzig. Not surprisingly, their children were quite musical.

Of Bach's surviving offspring, several of them became accomplished musicians in their own rights, including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who became a leader of the next great musical era, the Classical.

The compositions of J.S. Bach himself stayed firmly within Baroque traditions, the most notable of which is the counterpoint, or contrapuntal, style. In the contrapuntal style, two (or more) independent lines are played simultaneously. Some well-known examples of this for the keyboard include Bach's "Inventions and Sinfonias" and "The Well-Tempered Clavier."

The most extreme form of contrapuntal style is the fugue, and Bach showed himself the master of it in his last major work, "The Art of the Fugue." The final version of this work was published in 1751, after Bach's death, and the last Fugue in the collection remains unfinished. Though the manuscript was written with each voice scored separately, the work is playable on a keyboard instrument, in contrast to most of Bach's orchestral works which are not. This suggests that Bach had intended "The Art of the Fugue" as a keyboard work.

Another famous keyboard piece is "The Goldberg Variations," an aria with thirty variations. This piece is highly structured, and unusual in that the variations build on the bass line of the aria rather than its melody.

Bach spent his life devoted to music. Even near his death, after having gone blind, he dictated one final piece to his son-in-law, a chorale prelude for organ entitled, "Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit" (Before thy throne I now appear, BWV 668a). This work is often performed after the unfinished 14th Fugue of "The Art of the Fugue."

J.S. Bach was well-regarded by other famous keyboard artists, not only of his own day but in the generations that followed. Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin were among his admirers in the Classical and Romantic eras.

With his prodigious output of musical compositions, as well as his influence on his sons and other accomplished composers of the Classical and Romantic eras that followed him, Johann Sebastian Bach was truly a father of the musical traditions that we cherish today.

We've already talked about J.S. Bach's life and times, and his well-known piano work, the "Inventions and Sinfonias." Now we'll take a look at another of Bach's masterpieces for piano pedagogy: "The Well-Tempered Clavier."

"The Well-Tempered Clavier" is another collection of short works for keyboard instruments by Bach. Although the work was not printed until over 50 years after his death, manuscript copies were distributed throughout Europe by Bach's students, and their students in turn. Beethoven and Mozart were among later pianists who received copies. Thus "The Well-Tempered Clavier" was widely influential and remains so right up to the present.

Bach wrote "The Well-Tempered Clavier" as an educational work for his students. The work contains a paired Prelude and Fugue in each of the 12 major and minor keys, each one a minor masterpiece. Bach seems to have been inspired to take advantage the "Well Temperament" system of piano tuning that was developed during his day. A keyboard instrument tuned according to Well Temperament could be played in any key without needing to be retuned. This represented an advance from the previous popular tuning method, Meantone Tuning, in which some keys were unplayable even though others were in tune.

Did Bach sit down and bang out a series of etudes moving up the chromatic scale, all in one short period? Well, no. As a gifted composer, performer, and teacher, Bach was not satisfied until each piece was a small gem, rich with symbolism and artistry.

In fact, one could argue that Bach did this twice. The "Well-Tempered Clavier" that we use in piano pedagogy today is actually a combination of two works which Bach wrote twenty years apart. The first set of 24 pieces is dated 1722 and is specifically dedicated to the "profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study." In 1742, Bach produced a similar collection of short pieces, two in each key, this time labeled simply, "Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues." Nowadays, we refer to the first set as WTC-I and the second set as WTC-II, and together they make up the whole of "The Well-Tempered Clavier."

The short works contained in "The Well-Tempered Clavier" embrace diverse forms and styles, leaving out no popular style of Bach's day. Moreover, they also illustrate the religious and numerological symbolism of which Bach was so fond. This even applies to the preludes, in contrast to the usual practice of the era. In the Baroque era, preludes, as the name implies, were typically short and light, meant only to introduce the key in which the following fugue would demonstrate the composer's, and the performer's, virtuosity. In "The Well-Tempered Clavier," by contrast, even the preludes are works of art in their own right.

In Bach's own teaching, he appears to have reserved "The Well-Tempered Clavier" for later study. He usually had students begin with his "Inventions and Sinfonias," and only after the student had mastered those would Bach provide "The Well-Tempered Clavier." To gain mastery over the keyboard even today, the pianist must include "The Well-Tempered Clavier" in his or her repertoire.