The Advantages of Playing Piano
The piano is a unique instrument. It is unique in the sense that it lays out all of the different notes you can play, literally, right in front of you. No special skills needed, no training to make it work, just the music notes laid out for your exploration. This characteristic makes it a great way to help someone learn to read music. Having skills in reading music will also give you the ability to learn songs faster. Now this isn’t to say that piano is any easier or harder than singing or playing any other instrument, it’s just different. Piano is a great place to start when it comes to learning music and complements other instruments really well.
I remember when I was in grade 6 I wanted to learn how to play the guitar. My mom helped get me started and taught me a few chords but she insisted that I take piano lessons as well if I wanted to continue. At the time I wasn’t so sure. I wasn’t really interested in playing the piano, I wanted to play the guitar! I resisted the scales and learning technique along with the Royal Conservatory books. I mostly just played popular songs at first but I was slowly starting to understand how to read music.
In middle school I joined the school band playing clarinet. My interest in music continued to grow and learning a new instrument came fairly easy to me. In high school I joined the choir and just about every other music ensemble that was available. This included the Jazz Band where I even learned a little Alto Saxophone. Eventually I learned that you could continue to study music beyond high school and pursue it at a university level. To do so you needed to have a certain level of piano proficiency. At that point I realized how important those early piano lessons were and I quickly changed my attitude towards the Royal Conservatory methods.
I am so grateful for my Mom getting me to take piano lessons. If not for them I might not be where I am today with my singing and teaching. I probably wouldn’t even be writing this blog post. One thing I do regret is not starting sooner and not practicing more, but that’s another topic for another day. And, no, I’m not just saying that to get my students to practice more!
Now I use the piano daily not only to teach my students but also as a practice and learning tool. When I’m learning a new song I first use the piano to play and hear the notes before I start to sing them. I can use the piano to teach myself by going through the song, note by note, line by line, and phrase by phrase. This is very similar to learning a song by ear, such as when someone sings something and you sing it back to them. The difference here is that you are the one in control of the learning process because you are creating that first call as well as the response.
Did you know that I also teach piano lessons?
In addition to singing lessons I also offer lessons for piano. Lessons appear the same in the booking calendar, just be sure to select “Piano” or “both” (piano and voice) when filling out the intake form.
As for method books, I personally like to use the Faber Piano Adventures series for students of all ages and levels of experience. They have a series for adults and teenagers as well as the ones geared towards children.
Piano can also be used to accompany yourself while you are singing and performing. You might think that this is way beyond your level of skill but it’s not as hard as it looks. You can simplify this by playing chords on the piano the same way you would on a guitar. I myself do this because I find that it allows me to direct my focus more on my singing while still maintaining the piano part. You can start with a very basic chord progression such as I-IV-V-I (1-4-5-1). In the key of C Major this would be C, F, G, C. To form a C major triad we will use the notes C E G. I recommend using your thumb, middle finger and pinky while playing these notes. The F Chord will be F A C and the G Chord will be G B D. If you have access to a piano I recommend you try this out yourself.
https://pianosecrets.com/piano-note-chart/
Of course not all of you have access to a piano and that’s understandable. There are many free piano apps that you can download on your smartphone or tablet. I encourage you to play around with it. What have you got to loose? At the very least this could be a way for you to get your starting notes for songs. Now by no means is it required that you play piano or read music in order to sing and be a musician. That being said I think that it’s a great tool to help you develop your ability to read music. It also compliments any other instruments you might play including singing and can be used as a way to help you practice and learn new songs. Lastly, it can be used to accompany yourself when you perform.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. It means a lot to me. If you would like to hear more from me then I encourage you to subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on social media.
I look forward to seeing you in the studio and online!
Sincerely,
Adam
