PIANO LESSONS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING CHORDS AND
MUSIC THEORY
By Todd Bridges
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To truly learn to play the piano well,
piano lessons and a proper instructor are of utmost importance. Sure,
there have been many great self-
taught piano players throughout the
history of the piano, but even the most naturally gifted piano players
know the benefits of having a good mentor can result in a much quicker
and more well-rounded learning process for the average beginning
pianist. When I say "much quicker," I do not mean that a qualified piano
instructor will magically turn you into a concert pianist in a week’s
time, because it takes years to truly reach an advanced level of piano
playing, even for the gifted students. The reason that proper piano
instruction is vital to the learning process is that it enables the
piano student to learn proper piano playing techniques from a qualified
source and gives the student an additional perspective rather than being
only self-taught.
Of course, the styles of each piano
instructor you meet may vary, but their teaching should always cover the
same five basic topics: fingering and posture, reading music, scales,
technique, and sight reading. The proper fingering and posture should be
taught earliest, due to the importance of a piano student knowing how to
their hands and where to place them on the piano keys. The basis of this
area of study should be repetitive practicing of scales. Soon after, the
piano student should start learning how to read music notation beginning
with the very simplest notes, key signatures and time signatures before
moving on to more advanced ideas.
Piano teachers introduce most of these
ideas into the piano lessons at the same time the student is learning to
read music notation. Learning to read music is an area of practice that
will continue throughout the full course of learning to play the piano.
A piano teacher will usually begin a student with easy musical pieces to
start off with, and gradually increase the difficulty level and
introduce the piano student to more advanced assignments. After the
student is adequately knowledgeable in reading music, a piano teacher
might introduce the student to Sight Reading, which is the term used for
playing a piece of piano music without having seen it before.
Another detail of properly learning to
play the piano is studying and practicing music theory and chords.
Chords and music theory are extremely valuable aspects of a pianist's
learning process. When learning to read music, a beginning piano player
should be taught to understand the theory behind the music, rather than
simply relying on sheet music. There may be instances in a pianist's
life in which he or she will have to perform without the aid of sheet
music, and this is where the value of knowing chords and music theory
kicks in. Unfortunately, many piano instructors seem to leave this
factor out of their piano lesson plans, but with chords and music theory
mixed in with all other quality piano instruction, the beginning piano
player begins to grow as a pianist since all of the elements of
instruction are working together. Learning to play the piano then
becomes simply gaining knowledge gradually over time, and it only gets
easier and more enjoyable!
Todd Bridges is a life-long music fan
and piano lover. His website is at
http://www.perfect-piano.com. Other than standard piano lessons, Mr.
Bridges is a supporter of the educational and entertaining
Piano
Wizard software for learning how to play the piano.
