Your classical music piano teacher may have a hard time teaching you Billy Joel or Elton John. However, classical music learned along with the ‘fun’ stuff can be a great help in understanding the various elements that go into learning piano music. There is still a lot of value in understanding the structure and basic elements of classical music theory when studying the folk piano.
So how do we go about learning the basics so that you can be in a position to play your favorite piano songs?
Basic Need #1: Get an instrument that fits your budget
Buying a new instrument and method books (either online or on paper) will be your two biggest investments. Save a lot of money by buying a keyboard instead of an acoustic grand piano. The best thing about learning with a keyboard is its portability so you can take it to your friend’s next birthday party!
Basic Need #2: Enroll in Piano Lessons
Oh no! That means occupy my night, you may be saying! No! you can take a course on the internet to easily learn your favorite piano pop music tunes. The Web is teeming with high-quality, well-known online piano lessons and instructional courses. Or, you can collect tips on how to play the basic notes on the piano, then find hundreds of large, simple note transcriptions of your favorite pieces of music and become virtually self-taught in a matter of days. The last method is quite limiting and it is better to recommend that one follow a proven method of learning.
Basic Need #3: Stay Motivated by Playing With Others
Some people get a lot of inspiration from playing with other pianists. You can sign up to a local community using online services like Mixer or even Facebook and find other musicians who have your aspirations. You can always easily associate with other music artists interested in piano pop and playing! This is a perfect addition to your online piano tutorials, as making music should be about exchanging your performances with others, whether it be another pianist or your audience one day.
Basic need #4: identify piano notes easily
The first step in learning to play rock piano is always to study the notes on the piano and when to play each one. Reading music may not be a priority, but it is an overridingly valuable skill, as it will give you the confidence to perform a wider selection of music. It also helps you understand the essential chords in case you get an online piano course or keyboard teacher. Practice naming notes every day so you can learn from what you rehearsed the day before.
Basic Need #5: Masterful Piano Chords
Learning chords should be on the priority list for budding musical artists of the pop-piano style of music. You can buy a chord exercise book to study on your own time or maybe take a piano program that specifically teaches chords. You can use various websites to learn more about chords, often for free, as the more you can identify the various chords, the better you can tackle familiar melodies.
Basic Need #6: Download printable sheet music from the web
Long before the days of the Internet, one had to leave their apartment and sometimes even went to great lengths to get to a store to buy sheet music. You now have a printable sheet music downloaded from the internet that will save the day. Others still hated the idea of buying music from a music store, so they just photocopied sheet music from the library, but these people still had to leave their homes!