Starting With the Piano

The piano is a very popular instrument to play. It is not hard to start. It is very easy to get a sound out of, unlike wind instruments, and it is not physically straining on your hands such as the calluses you develop from string instruments. Better yet, you don't have to have a piano to play. There are many places to get access to a piano without buying one such as at schools, churches, and recreation centers to name a few. If you have decided you want to start playing an instrument, the piano is a great one to start out with.

When you first start out, you need to make a huge decision. Are you going to stick with it? What's great about the piano is that if you are using an existing piano, meaning you don't have to go out and buy one, you can work at it for a little while and only lose the time and expense of a few teach yourself books or a few lessons. If you are okay with this and you really want to give the piano a try without making the commitment, you can. Playing the piano should not be the type of commitment you stress about. On the other hand, if you are the type who starts things all the time and always gives up, you should think about making this more of a commitment. Making a commitment is obviously a hard thing for you that you need to work on, and starting small will help you later on when you need to make bigger commitments.

Now that you are ready to start, you need to decide if you are going to take lessons, or if you are going to teach yourself. If you have trouble with self discipline and don't mind spending the money, or if you are not very talented in music, you may want to get a teacher. Piano lessons can be expensive starting as high as $20 for 30 minutes every week or much more. For many, piano lessons are worth it because you can learn things you could learn in a book, especially if you want precise classical training. If you aren't looking to spend so much money and you feel you can teach yourself, you should do so.

If you are going to teach yourself, make sure you have the proper learning aides. Get some beginner piano books, teach yourself piano books, and any other learning aides such as CDs and DVDs. You can find any of these through the link below. Try to get teaching tools that cater to the kind of piano you want to play such as classical, jazz, improve, or chords.

Once you begin, set up a plan to stick with. Get a book of Hannon exercises to build strength and agility in your fingers. Practice every day for at least 30 minutes or more. Continue practice and improving and before you know it, you'll be playing songs and having a lot of fun.