Learn Piano in Five Minutes

Let's assume you're an adult who has always wanted to play piano but has never gotten around to it. Don't be shy, you are in good company. A recent survey says that 8 out of 10 people wish they had learned the piano.

Many of you perhaps had piano lessons as a child, but you didn't have the time to play much as an adult. Now, you have the time and have decided to try again. Good. I'm here to help you find what might be the right strategy for YOUR musical education.

And that's the key: strategy. You have to have a plan, implement it and then refine what you found.

For example, don't try just one piano teacher and then stick with them, out of loyalty, perhaps.

Try several, just to see what their approach is. It will cost you the same, and you will probably learn more from multiple approaches than one.

But here's one thing you may find as well: the perfect teacher, and that's the first essential for success at the piano. Even if that teacher must be you yourself.

So, if you are in a position to look for teachers, visit several.

Be careful to explain to the teacher what YOU want to learn, or they will simply start you into their program, which may or may not be what you want.

Here are some things to ask yourself:

1. What kind of music do I want to play? If you want to play jazz piano, perhaps a disciplined classical teacher of the old school is not for you.

2. Do you want to read music, or play by ear, by number, memorize? What method do you feel comfortable with. Ask for a demonstration of the options.

3. What kind of teacher do I want? A disciplinarian? A friendly mentor?

Next, be honest with yourself in determining how much time you can devote to learning the piano. I can offer you the advice that my father gave me: 5 minutes a day is better than 35 minutes once a week.

That's the best advice I ever got about learning the piano. In my own teaching practice, the adults who learn fastest and stay with it the longest are casual about it, but try to play even a few minutes a day.

A very destructive cycle is started when you say, "Oh, I could only play five minutes today, so I might just as well skip it." But that's so wrong: just sit down and play the 5 minutes, or tomorrow you will say, "I didn't play yesterday, so what's the point today?" Then you have already quit.

Next, if it's possible, use a piano teacher who will come to your home. In my experience, half of all piano lessons that YOU have to travel to will be cancelled by you. The convenience of an in-home piano teacher outweighs the cost, and if you want to stick with your piano learning program, you'll want to stick with it as long as you can.

Regardless of the piano teacher you select, here are several tips for success at learning the piano:

1. Play hands separately for a while. Don't immediately try a piece with both hands and expect less than chaos. Your brain requires repetition to get the idea of where your fingers go, and two hands at once is too much at first.

2. Play slowly. Most beginners assume that they are supposed to play the piece as fast as it traditionally goes. Play slowly, even painfully slowly.

3. Break the piece up into very small sections and resolve to conquer that one small area. It's too daunting to look at a page full of notes and think, "I have to play all this?"

4. Repeat more than you think necessary, as much as you can stand. This is the hard part. You have to be persistent.

5. Balance repetition with variety: play a piece you like until you are a little tired of it, and then go on to some other piece. Come back to the first piece when you are refreshed and not tired of it.

Now go out and find a teacher, but a book about piano, just make an attempt to get started.

If you can find a sympathetic, special piano teacher, you will learn very quickly.

Remember, just 5 minutes a day.

by John Aschenbrenner Copyright 2000 Walden Pond Press
Visit http://www.pianoiseasy.com to see the fun Piano by Number method for kids.