Learn to play the keyboard

Posts Tagged ‘Reading Music’

I’m 15 and I want to learn how to play the piano. I used to take lessons when I was around 11, but now I really want to take them up again. Is it too late for me to start lessons? I know that alot of people who play started when they were really young. I’m also still pretty good at reading music so I think it will help me with learning again.

I really want to play the piano, but I’m worried that if I get a teacher, I’ll just be embarrassed since I don’t know anything about piano or reading music.

Also, do I need a piano at home if I’m taking lessons? Cost? What about a full keyboard piano?

I used to take organ lessons when I was younger but stopped enjoying them so quit.. Nowadays I’m pretty skilled on the keyboard and piano, but I learn by ear and from guitar pro etc (copying the digital keyboard).. Anyways I thought about taking piano lessons again and practicing reading music.. But, I’m just wondering would it be worth it? I wanna be able to teach myself from sheet music cuz I think it’d be soo much more thorough, anyone else been through a similar situation and taken lessons? I’d really love to be an epic pianist.. I just don’t feel I’m living up to it yet..

(I’ve only ever tried learning from Organ music sheets – so piano might be a bit harder I think?)

Anyways any good advice is much appreciated
Oh and I forgot to say, I’ve figured out that I just prefer the sound of piano to organ and so am much more enthused to learn!

Chord symbols (for example, Cmaj7 or G6) are a type of notation used frequently in jazz and other areas of modern music to notate chord progressions and changes. This type of notation differs from that of classical music in that chord symbols don’t show the function of a chord the way the Roman numeral notation does.
Chord symbols, for modern music with lots of changes, are much easier to read. They function as a sort of shorthand for change-heavy music and are written with four chord parts in mind: the root, the quality, the extension, and the alterations.
The first part in chord symbols, the root, tells the musician which note is the root of the chord. In an E6 chord, for instance, the E serves as the root. Chord symbols also allow for inverted chords, or chords with a root other than the bass note. These chord symbols express that by showing the bass note with a diagonal slash under the original symbol.
Quality, the second part in chord symbols, denotes whether the chord is major, minor, diminished, or augmented. In a Cmaj7, the maj tells us that the C chord is major. The abbreviations for this area in chord symbols are maj, min, dim, and aug, respectively.
The extension in chord symbols, written after the quality, shows the musician if the chord differs from a triad (a three note chord), such as a ninth or an eleventh or seventh. This part of chord symbols is not always shown; if there is no indication of an extension, the musician is to assume that the chord is a triad.
The last part in chord symbols, the alteration, is usually but not always expressed. Think of this part as the “notes” section in chord symbols; it gives the musician any specific (and sometimes irregular) instructions for playing the chord and is always written in parentheses after the extension (or the quality, if no extension exists). For instance, (no fifth) would tell the musician that the chord is to be played with the fifth tone left out. “Sus” is short for suspension, would mean to play the 4th scale note instead of the 3rd. A minus sign would mean to lower (flat) a chord tone, such as C-9 which would mean to flat the 9th of the chord. Conversely, a plus sign would mean to raise (sharp) a particular chord tone.
Reading music using chord symbols allows a person to use written music as a map, rather than a note-for-note approach. By just reading the melody note and the chord symbols, musicians can improvise to their hearts content and create their own sounds on the keyboard.
The best of all worlds, however, is to be able to read music as it is written in a sheet music score, but also be able to read the chord symbols. Then the musician is free to choose which is best – the written part, or an improvised part. The sky is the limit for musicians who can do both.