thanks. i am patient and believe i can do anything (6 years of college will do this to you) and i am not lazy, but i don't do things if I feel they're a futile effort. I have always wanted to "play the piano" so even if being able to play the piano more coherently doesn't help me with my dance projects, I'll still be happy. I surely don't think learning how to do it is going to hurt me, so what is there to lose?!

I've heard practice, practice, practice, which is why I'm here. I just want my time practicing to be well spent, meaning I want to practice in the most efficient manners possible. Thanks for the suggestions

There are many types of piano players. There are the ones that act like one of those old automated piano players pressing keys according to the score in a robotic fashion and there are the ones that understand what they are playing. By undestrand , I mean know what the chord is, know which notes of the chord to accentuate, understand the voice leading withing the music. This will not only make you sound better but it is a great intellectual exercise that will increas your ability to conceptualize music.

There really isn't a secret to playing piano. Learn the technique so you don't hurt yourself and the rest is really just recording yourself, compare it to recordings and then adjust until you are satisfied ( which of course won't ever quite happen )

Piano is a great tool for composing although perhaps not the most necessary asset for EDM.

to Stephen, I've been playing for 23 years so feel free to ask me any questions.

What are your opinions on self teaching? Positives? Negatives?

I'm guessing you'll recommend a resource for this, but whats the best way to begin and progress in practicing?

What are your thoughts on reading piano tabs for songs and practicing them?

Do you think playing "fake piano" (writing midi notes on a sequencer for an edm track after you've dicked around and created something you think sounds worthwhile) helps?

Any major do's and don't's?

I know this is an EDM forum, and writing EDM is very important to me and im sure many others here, but playing the keyboard, or piano, is important to me as well. I took my laptop and keyboard to a friends 2 nights ago and it was neat being able to show him the production side of things. Being more "keyboard coherent" would have been great.

My advice is to definitely take lessons. It's too easy to learn bad habits. Also, having a structured lesson plan and a person who can give you feedback on your progress, answer your questions, etc. will get you up to speed much quicker than self-teaching will. I taught bass lessons for many years and I spent much of my time trying to un-teach my students' bad habits that they developed learning on their own - I have friends who teach guitar and piano lessons and they can attest to the same thing.

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Dangit cryo you're supposed to tell me what I want to hear

I guess I will call around to some places and see whats up. I'd rather go somewhere than have somebody come to my casa.

ps. you need to update your sig and take that dirty mopho out of there

quote:

Originally posted by RichieV There are many types of piano players. There are the ones that act like one of those old automated piano players pressing keys according to the score in a robotic fashion and there are the ones that understand what they are playing.

LOL

I can't help but think this has something to do with those Japanese players you mentioned a while back.

The Japanese will end up making robots who play piano.

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quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi change your avatar for fucks sake.

I'm also a piano player and I would really have to say that lessons are very important in order to avoid a lot of bad habits when it comes to reading/playing music. Before I took lessons, I knew very little how to read notes, so I would habitually read each note, practice measure by measure, and unintentionally memorize the song. Hence, when I started lessons it became really really hard to learn how to sight read or improvise. I learned theory but it took me much longer than necessary to REALLY learn it and how to apply it to music. In effect, I played robotically. Even now it cripples my composition ability because I can't, on command, play freely in whatever key you tell me - I have to take it slowly and rely heavily on my memory, rather than just feeling the music and going with it.

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Do piano lessons help you learn to "play by ear".. Meaning you hear a melody, and you can recognize the notes being played, and play it back?

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E = mc²/2

E = mc² is the optical illusion of E = mc²/2

Click me to find out why.

quote:

Originally posted by cl0ckw3rk I'm also a piano player and I would really have to say that lessons are very important in order to avoid a lot of bad habits when it comes to reading/playing music. Before I took lessons, I knew very little how to read notes, so I would habitually read each note, practice measure by measure, and unintentionally memorize the song. Hence, when I started lessons it became really really hard to learn how to sight read or improvise. I learned theory but it took me much longer than necessary to REALLY learn it and how to apply it to music. In effect, I played robotically. Even now it cripples my composition ability because I can't, on command, play freely in whatever key you tell me - I have to take it slowly and rely heavily on my memory, rather than just feeling the music and going with it.

You and I have the exact same problem.

quote:

Originally posted by sixofour.604 Do piano lessons help you learn to "play by ear".. Meaning you hear a melody, and you can recognize the notes being played, and play it back?

yeah it will from what people i know that play the piano. I would imagine those that play the guitar on this site would say the same thing. Once you learn piano through whatever method you choose after time your able to determine the notes played in music and therefore play it back to yourself without any sheet music whatsoever. Of course, this is someone who is very advanced. My mate is an example of this with Guitar, he can just listen to something on the radio a couple of times, and then just play it back.

Eventually piano lessons will help you play by ear this is once you build up familiarity to the sounds or notes and, again this will take a fair amount of time.

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Well I can learn melodies from songs now, but it takes an hour and many replays. But this could be useful for me taking lessons.

Do you have a messenger? [AIM, MSN, ICQ etc etc]

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E = mc²/2

E = mc² is the optical illusion of E = mc²/2

Click me to find out why.