Kids Can Play The Piano

Very good to see you here again today!

You already know that with regular practice, you can achieve the impossible. All it takes is a a little commitment and determination to succeed and I assure you that, you will succeed. For me here, I'm always there for you to provide the much needed assistance, reminders, professional advice and to respond to any other challenge you may have.

Lets now discuss this important topic, "Unleash the Genius in Your Kids"

Jahress, what he loved doing

Unleash The Genius in Your Kids

I have spent some time helping some kids as well as adults play. Along the line, I observe that kids improve faster than adults. Something a adult would learn for about 3 weeks, a kid masters it in say 2 weeks or even less. 

Remember one important point, and that is, "Kids learn faster than adults". This is so true and if you start now to take advantage of that fact, then your kid could in the next few year be a piano professional. This does not mean, he should stop formal education, no no, the can continue his schooling but in his part time, allow him to play.

Take not of these few points:

1. Dont Allow The Piano Take Precedence over School Work

Ensure that you don't allow your kid use the keyboard as an excuse to avoid school work. What this means is that, when there is home work from school, then make sure the homework is done before playing the keyboard. The reason for this is that  playing of the keyboard is addictive. If not checkmated, the kid may become addicted to it and you may not be able to do any other thin.

2. About The Age of the Kid

It is best to allow the kid play once the kid can sit upright, and that would be by the age of say between 3 and 5. This is not too early because the earlier he spend time with the keyboard, the better he is able to master the key arrangement and the better he is able to identify the keys is a short time.

3, No Eating on the Keyboard

Let the kid know that what is done on the keyboard is serious business. Let it be clear to him that the keyboard is not a kind of toy, that he use to know. So when it comes to eating, it should not be on the keyboard. Spilling tea, water or any other drink on the keyboard not only may damage the keyboard but would reduce the child's commitment and interest in learning.

4. Practice Along With the Kid

This depends on your schedule. The point is, if your kid sees that you show some interest in playing from time to time, he  would be more determine to do more. Note that playing the piano requires effort on both kids and adults. So seeing you practice your help him put more effort.

5. Give Him a Thumbs up!

This is very important. If you see your kid make progress, then tell him he's doing great. This is a big motivation  for him. At certain times, you may need to spend some time beside him listening as he plays. The more you commend him and recognize his effort, the faster he improves. This I have come to realize over the years.

7. Buy Him Kids Piano Books

For me personally, I did not use any book like this. But I know that there  are piano books for kids. Just search bookshops around and see if you can get some kind of music/piano books for kid.

About The Guy in The Pix

The little guy in the pix is Jahress Chinedu William. In just one weekend the learnt so much that made me decide to make up this post.

In two days, he learnt.

• Finger positioning
• Posture
• Key arrangement
• Musical Alphabets and more

Final Notes

You cannot say exactly what skill your kid would excel in so give him to exercise  his intellect in this important way. Remember, I'm always there to answer to your questions and respond to any challenges you may face. You can just leave a question or comment on the comment box below an I would get back to you. I remain Kindson The Piano Man

Introduction to Chords - C, F and G

It is possible to play a very interesting melody using one finger to play each note and this is fine. You can play each note with a finger on your right hand and then follow up with a parallel note with a finger on the left hand, this is also great. You may even randomly sound more than  one note at some point as you play along. 

All these are ways to improve, but a very important concept in the Piano is the concept of Chords.  Yes, you can't be a good armature(let alone professional!) if you don't know about chords.

What are Chords

A chord can be defined as a combination of three or more notes (played together) and where the distance between the notes follow  a definite pattern. I have added the last part in a brackets because there is also the concept of 'broken chords' or appergios where you don't have to play the notes together.

Generally, chords are played with the left hand in the lower register of the keyboard.

Three Note Chords

Let's examine the basic type of chords, that is three-note chords. Note that there is no such thing as 'two-note chord'.

Three note chords are also called triads.

The C Chord

The C chord consists of the notes C, E and G.

The name of the chord comes from the first letter of the chord, C, and this is referred to as the root of the chord.  The C Chord is illustrated in Figure 1.

The second note of the chord E is called the third and the last note G is called the fifth. So we have, 

Root-Third-Fifth

You play the C Chord with your Pinky, the middle finger and the thumb.

Exercise 1: Master the C Chord

As an exercise, try playing the C chord beginning with the first C on the keyboard and then play on the next C and so on until you get to the end of the keyboard. 

Do it with your right hand and then with your left.

Repeat this a number of times until you can do it very fast without having to take time to think.

The F Chord

The F chord is made up of the notes F, A and C. Just like the C Chord , the F chord derives its name from the fact that the root note of the chord is F.

Exercise 2: Master the F Chord

Play the F Chord several times with your left hand, then with your right until you get used to it.

The G Chord

The G Chord is made up of the notes G, B and D with the G as the root note. The G chord is normally played beginning with the G below the middle C.

The G Chord is shown in the figure below.

Exercise 3: Master the G Chord

Play the G chord several times until you get used to it.

Summary

The three chords you learnt in this lesson are known as "All Whites" and is the easiest chord you will learn and that is why I choose to start with it. Notice that these three chords look exactly the same. Be sure that as we progress, you will learn of chords having black keys. But for now make sure you can play these chords perfectly enough before moving on.

As an exercise, try playing the C Chord, then the F Chord, then the G Chord and then back to the C chord and repeat the process all over again.

From an Software Engineer to a Pianist

I would tell you the interesting story of how I transited from a professional Software Engineer to a Skilled Pianist.

I always loved computers right from when I was little and even now I still love using computers and writing apps. But I can tell you its more interesting playing on the piano keyboard than typing on the computer keyboard.

So wether you are an Accountant, an Engineer, a Lawyer, Doctor, Businessman, you can make your home lively by being able to entertain your family and friends with the piano keyboard.

Sure, you can do it!

• How it all Started
• During School Days
• My First Keyboard
• Playing and Singing Along
• My Second Keyboard
• Combining with regular Work
• Final Notes and My Advice

How It all Started

It all started when I was a kid. During holidays, i normally join my dad to places: to see clients, to to office or even to travel long distances. At such times he plays country songs in the car stereo. One of his country artists was Don Williams. He have many of Don William songs in cassettes(not CDs!). Another was Jim Reeves and then Kenny Rogers as much as I can remember now. So I enjoyed these songs so much that I wanted to get involved.

So one day at home, someone bought a toy keyboard (of about say 12 keys). I figured out that this keyboard works just the same like the bigger one, it produces nice sounds when you hit the keys correctly. Then there was this songbook we had in the the house that contains songs together with the solfa notations(do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do) of those songs. So I spent time trying to play those songs using the solfa notations, and interestingly, this small keyboard, have the solfa notation of each key labeled on them. The more I played, the more it gets interesting and the the more time I spent on the practice.

I continued that way until... you guess right!. The keyboard was damaged, and that was where everything stopped. Then come my School days.

During School Days

I gained admission to study Computer Engineering in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology in Port Harcourt in the year 2000. Just like you know, one needs to work hard in school to make good results. That means that, somehow, I didn't have anything to do with the piano keyboard at the time. I even don't remember it due to much school activities. The Computer Engineering Curriculum was really really tasking, involving Mathematics, Electronics, Programming etc. So my love for the piano keyboard died naturally.

Then comes a day I went to a friend's place, Joe, who stays somewhere in the quarters and realized there was a piano keyboard in the room. Though the keyboard belongs to the next room, I now have found a place to continue my piano practice. So from time to time, I would visit just to play the keyboard and I would stay for some time say, 30 minutes, 1 hour or even longer.

In all of this, I still focused more on my studies, but one things is clear, I kept my love for the piano keyboard alive in school.

My First Keyboard - 2008

One year after my school, I have to go for a compulsory 12 months National Youth Service. So prior to the time of the Youth Service, I bough a digital keyboard .  I bought it for 11,500(Nigerian Naira) together with the stand, at the time. I think the model is XY, a made-in-china product. Then I printed a few keyboard lessons. That I used for practice almost every day. I also bough a small piano practice book called Smallwood's Piano Tutor.

So when I was posted to the town of Omoku in Rivers State, I went with my keyboard. I had much time to practice at the time. This is because I worked as a teacher and taught for about three days in the week. Every other day was used for my piano practice. I could tell you, I improved a great deal during this one year i spent in this place.

Added to that, I downloaded and printed a few sheet music for popular artists like Celine Dion, Elton John etc, just to have a feel of how it looks like.

Playing and Single Along

One thing I must tell you that is very difficult even for professional pianists is to play and sing along and that is what I've been trying to to but since the time of my first keyboard but it has been so difficult. I got some of the  sheet music score that has the lyrics of the the songs. I could play, then I could sing, but the challenge is singing while playing in harmony. I kept trying though.

One thing that helped me improve is a songbook called "Sing Praises to Jehovah", produced by Jehovah's Witnesses. I found out that I could manage to play a few verses while singing but I did that very slowly, and the sound you would here if you were there was really terrible! but I kept trying. I did improve a little, but I knew I still had a long way to go.

Playing at home after work

My Second Keyboard - 2011

I 2010, I got a job to work as a Software Engineer in Saipem, Nigeria. This was an Italian company. After working with them for a little over on year, I bough my second keyboard for 50,000(Nigerian Naira). It was YAMAH PSR E433 series keyboard. I loved it so much as is was much improvement from the small keyboard I've been using. I still use it now but I hope to buy a better one say YAMAH DGX 630 and I hope to do that this year, 2017.

My Second Keyboard- YAMAH PSR E433

Combining With Regular Job

On my job as a Software Engineer, I have to wake up before 6 am, prepare and go to work and come back home by after 6pm tired. As such Its note really easy to cope. Added to that, I also make out time to go out for regular visit to persons in the neighborhood to discuss with them from the Bible. Added to that is the fact that I still have to do some work at home using the computer at home. However I ensure I play the keyboard everyday before I sleep for at least 1 hour. I must tell you this requires commitment and some measure of self-discipline. But that is what it takes.

Working as a Software Engineer

Final Notes and Advice

As of today, though I don't play perfectly, I still consider myself a pianist and be sure you can do the same. Take some of the few tips that can help you reach your objective

You need to make out time to regularly practice, wether in during the day or night.

It may not be easy initially, but don't relent, the more you practice the more interesting it becomes and the less difficult.

If you have the funds, you can get a better keyboard. It would help you to progress faster

Permit me to stop here at this time. But more especially, I would like to thank you for reading. 

Also note that you can always reach me at any time with any challenges you may have. Just leave a comment for me below. You can also send me an email, to kidnsonthepianoman@gmail.com

Introduction to Piano Technique

In my previous post, I examine the starting point of a beginner on the piano keyboard. Now I'm going to talk about how to actually practice.

What this means is that you could practice for 1 hour every day adopting a wrong technique, while someone else could practice for 20 minutes a day with the right techniques. At the long run someone who uses the right techniques, improved faster even though he practices for a shorter time.

So we are going to consider the following:

• What is Piano Technique Anyway
• Your Piano Practice Routine
• Learn Some of the Basics of Music Theory
• Good Finger Positioning
• Sitting Positioning and Keyboard Stand
• Left and Right Hands
• Listening to a Piece of Music and Playing by Ear

1. What is Piano Technique Anyway

Simply put, Piano Technique is the method you adopt in playing the piano.  This encompasses a number of things including all the other six points listed above. Piano technique is what helps you improve to the point that you can play like any of the popular pianist you know. This is because you skills develop from the techniques you adopt. The professionals are not born professional, they simply apply the right techniques over time and after a while they are what they are. You can be the same like them with the right techniques

2. Your Piano Practice Routine

You must adopt a regular practice routine. Examples are:

20 minutes every day

30 minutes every two days

15 minutes each morning and evening

1 hour every two days 

Every Saturday and Sunday evening(2hour each day)

Any of the routine you adopt is up to you depending on your particular circumstance. But the important point is, have a regular routine. Don't just wake up after 3 weeks and jump on the keyboard and play for the whole day! and then the next day you forget you have a keyboard. The effect of this is that your progress would be retarded.

3. Learn Some Basics of Music Theory

If you adopt an excellence technique in you leaning the keyboard, what would be the difference between you and a graduate of music? The simple answer is "Theory". 

Now you want to be the best you can be, so it would be necessary to learn the basic theory of music. So just buy a good music textbook from a bookshop and read for a few minutes from time to time. You need to learn concepts including the following:

• Musical Clef
• Musical Stave
• Musical Notes
• Key Signatures
• Time Signature
• Octave
• Chords
• Finger Positioning
• Middle C

Note that the focus in in your practice, so don't spend all the time reading. Say 10% of you practice time could be devoted to getting a few tidbits, then the 90% would be practice.

4. Good Finger Positioning

Playing the keyboard is like typing on the typewriter. What this means, is that you need to learn the various finger positioning and apply them. Just like in typewriters, some typist might type fast without having learnt about the finger positioning. Here they improved over time but in such case, their improvement is limited. For  a typist that applies good finger positioning, there is not limits to his improvement, his typing speed keeps increasing indefinitely with time!

For the keyboard the basic and simplest position is the C position: here your thumb should be on the C key and other fingers is place on other keys progressively. We also have the G position F position.

5. Sitting Position and Keyboard Stand

The height of the sit as well as the height of the keyboard stand matters too although this may also depend on your personal preference.

A good positioning though would be when you elbows are at your side and your hand at the keyboard level.

Sit close to the front of the bench and make sure your body is in a vertical position with your arms forming 90 degrees from your body.

6. Left and Right Hand

All professional musicians playing with two hands on the keyboard started with one hand. What this means is that it is ok to start learning with one hand first, and that should be your right hand. A piece of music normally contains the treble cref and the base clef. You play the treble with your right hand and the base with your left. When practicing, practice sepearalty first with your right hand alone, and then with your left hand alone. When you feel a little comfortable playing each, you can then practice with both hands.

7. Listening to a Piece of Music and Playing by Ear

Long time piano players could actually listen to a piece of music playing and then play along even for the first time! This takes time even years to do, but you can start. So you can attempt to play a piece of music you are listening to. The first thing you do is to listen to the music an number of time an become used to it. Then try to play from the beginning, you may not get it at first, but the more you try the likely you will achieve proficiency in time.

I would like to stop here to allow you to digest the little I've wrote so far. You may have to read this article a number of times and feel free to leave a comment below to let me know what you would like me to clarify on. Let me know your challenges and I would give you the needed assistance.