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Any piano players in here?

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  • Any piano players in here?

    I've got a keyboard at home. Actually it's a "family" keyboard.

    I dabbled with playing keyboard, but never really got anywhere beyond basic chords.

    Well, we primarily use it for my son, as he likes music. I play guitar. So I'm not good at keyboard at all, but I'm trying to find a good way to encourage and/or help him learn.

    He learned to play the Tetris theme on it. I want him to improvise, ad-lib, and learn to play more than just the Tetris theme. He knows what it means, but I can't demonstrate because I suck at keyboard. I can't really read much more than basic music, either.

    He almost seems to have a natural "ear" for it (since he figured out the Tetris theme I think this).

    So aside from paying for "school marm/grandma" piano lessons, how can I help him learn and get better, since I don't play keys myself? Although I suppose I could learn along with him to kind of supplement my guitar playing...
    Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

  • #2
    Quoth mjr View Post
    So aside from paying for "school marm/grandma" piano lessons, how can I help him learn and get better, since I don't play keys myself? Although I suppose I could learn along with him to kind of supplement my guitar playing...
    Short answer? Get him some Billy Joel CDs

    But seriously, I took lessons from about second grade all the way through college. Then work got in the way, and it's been a long time since. But seriously, the local community college (CCAC) once offered low-cost music lessons, as do many music stores.

    Most of my early lessons were scales, chords, fingering techniques, and other things that you'd use when playing compositions.
    Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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    • #3
      Maybe pick up some free online guides you could print out.

      If you would like him to try a specific tune, maybe just (slowly) pluck out the single notes on your guitar, a measure at a time (don't worry about the chords yet, that'll just confuse him if he's a beginner), and it could be a good way to test his "ear" -- I used to play keys many, many years ago, and I tend to learn music the same way (learning by ear), even though all I really do anymore is sing.
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      • #4
        The best way to encourage him to play the instrument that interests him (whether it be piano or anything else)?

        Enjoy playing your instrument. Do it a lot. At least once a day, and not as if it's a chore, but something to do because it's fun.

        And yes, it's more than fine to spend one day's playing doing nothing but blues walks, over and over. Another doing fingering exercises. When - not if - he asks why you do those, explain that it's so that when the weekend comes, the skills for improvisation are fresh in your mind and your hands.

        Explain about so-called 'muscle memory' (it isn't in the muscles, it's in the nerves, but it makes more 'sense' to most human minds - including mine - if we call it muscle memory.)
        In case you don't know what that is, the short form is that everywhere that we have clusters of nerves together - especially the spinal cord - those clusters store frequently used muscle movement patterns.
        The classic example is what happens when we step on uneven terrain and our foot just adapts to it. It doesn't 'just adapt', and it doesn't have to send all the way to the brain to find out what to do. It 'asks' the nearest nerve cluster, which might have the answer or might send the problem up to the next one brainwards. If you don't do much walking on uneven terrain, it might make it as far as the spinal cord before getting an answer. The cluster with the answer sends it back down to the foot.
        Fingering practice, fingering exercises on any instrument, drumming patterns, breathing exercises, they're all done to train our 'muscle memory' and keep it trained. Sportsmen, dancers, magicians and gymnasts do the same thing so they can keep their own physical tricks.

        Anyway, you might find a music store (or an online music library) and get some guitar/piano duet pieces at whichever level is your lower skill level. It won't hurt for whichever of you is more skilled to add personal flourishes after you both have the basic piece down; that will encourage the other to improve.
        Introduce a new piece to your mutual repertoire every month or so, especially if you find a free music library. Let your son choose every second piece, even if his choices start out being more difficult than you two can manage, at first.

        Practice your half of the duet pieces solo whenever he's not interested in mutual practice. You'll know you've succeeded when he practices on his own.


        As for improvisation: that will come. He needs some basics, needs examples of what works. Some people learn from examples, some from theory, some from other things. I need theoretical background - so show him how to find pages on music theory on the 'web. Bast needs examples - so for her, a large repertoire of music is critical before she's confident in improv.
        Seshat's self-help guide:
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        2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
        3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
        4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

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        • #5
          Quoth mjr View Post
          He almost seems to have a natural "ear" for it (since he figured out the Tetris theme I think this).

          So aside from paying for "school marm/grandma" piano lessons, how can I help him learn and get better, since I don't play keys myself? Although I suppose I could learn along with him to kind of supplement my guitar playing...
          If he's good at self-teaching, you can go to any music store (like the places band kids go) to pick up lesson books. I don't remember the series I was using off the top of my head, but it came in two books per level: one for theory and one for music.

          Then he goes through the books. One theory lesson and song per week. Songs can take longer, though, if he can't prove proficiency (play without messing up). That will give him the basics he needs for further playing of the piano or any other instrument he wants.

          Edit: Found the books!

          http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Basic-...N1CW8CPSXGQ4XZ

          This is a great series. I started in 1B because I had a smattering of lessons before I got dedicated weekly ones and my mom had taught me some. Plus I did choir, so a lot of the basic theory (like reading music) was known to me. So you can start with A or B depending on his knowledge base.

          And if he's really serious, a good warm up book is a must. I used Dozen A Day: http://www.grothmusic.com/p-25347-do...k-1-piano.aspx

          There are a number of levels to those books too. Move up as he masters each exercise in each book.
          Last edited by EricKei; 05-06-2016, 07:26 AM. Reason: snip
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          • #6
            Nice. I'll check those out. I think they have those at a book/entertainment store that sounds a lot like "Pastings" near where I live...
            Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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            • #7
              Quoth Kheldarson View Post
              And if he's really serious, a good warm up book is a must. I used Dozen A Day: http://www.grothmusic.com/p-25347-do...k-1-piano.aspx
              I remember the Dozen-a-Day books
              Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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              • #8
                Quoth protege View Post

                I remember the Dozen-a-Day books
                This thread has me wanting to raid my mom's music books for my old lesson books
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                • #9
                  If he's interested in improv, the best thing is a good music theory class/book. He may not be quite ready for that yet though. Learning to read the notes isn't terribly difficult; it's mostly memorization. I've been playing off and on since I was 8, and sometimes I still have to use the mnemonics.

                  But if he really wants to get good, practice, practice, practice. My siblings and I all had piano lessons as kids. I quit in middle school, Li'l Bro still plays, but didn't do his scales and arpeggios, and often tries to tackle pieces he doesn't have the foundations for. Li'l Sis practiced scales and chords and such. Guess who plays the best. She's pretty good at sight reading too, which just isn't fair, lol.
                  I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

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                  • #10
                    I remember from when my (4) ladle sisters were pounding the fortepiano that pushing the music back would unfold the keyboard cover...

                    Our mother thought every composition ended with a crashing discord and a shriek...
                    I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
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                    • #11
                      Quoth Kheldarson View Post
                      This thread has me wanting to raid my mom's music books for my old lesson books
                      Last weekend saw me doing just that. I found the Dozen A Day books, and several others. Also in the box were my art books, photography stuff, magazines, and the very last notebook that my piano teacher had written in. She died when I was 12 All of that stuff had been sitting upstairs since I left for college...22 years ago

                      But seriously, I'd thought about trying to start playing the piano again. Hopefully, it would use up some idle time after work...and counteract what might be carpal tunnel setting in. Typing reports up all day really sucks, folks.
                      Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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                      • #12
                        Quoth protege View Post

                        But seriously, I'd thought about trying to start playing the piano again. Hopefully, it would use up some idle time after work...and counteract what might be carpal tunnel setting in. Typing reports up all day really sucks, folks.
                        I try to play off and on. But reading, writing, and gaming tend to be my go-tos for after work relaxation, along with exercise. Only so much time, you know?

                        But I do miss it

                        So maybe I should make time again.
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