How to Play the Piano - Lesson One!

So, you wanna learn how to play the piano? Great! You have arrived to the right place.

This page is your starting point whether you'd like to learn to read piano notes, follow the complete beginners piano course or play piano by chords.

Do you wonder what's the best way to start playing the piano? Why don't you check the advice I gave to Pablo who was wondering about it as well...

You could use our Piano Forum just like Pablo for each and every question that comes in mind.
Me and the other visitors would be happy to answer your questions and take you to the next step in piano playing!

Once you've made your decision I advice you to simply follow the instructions in this piano course with no rush. Studying the piano is a progress. Don't worry, I guarantee you that you'll be playing the piano in a pleasing way pretty soon.

Understanding how the piano creates its unique sound will help us to figure out how to play in a beautiful manner.

First acquaintance

The simplest story you'll hear about the piano is this.

When you play a key, a hammer inside the piano is hitting a string. That string produces a sound. A tone.

So just like a hammer is falling to a nail we fall to the key. Then we stick to it for a desired time, and leave it in the right timing.

Here's an inside look at the piano

During our piano lessons some subjects might seem a bit more complicated from time to time, but remembering this simple concept will always keep you on the right track.

Dynamics

Dynamics are signs of loudness and softness.
When you fall slowly and gently to the key, the tone you produce is soft and relatively quiet. That is called Piano in musical terms.
Musical terms often derive from Italian.

Now the first made pianos were called Piano-Forte in the past since they had a unique ability to produce a wide range of in volume and sound like no other instrument could before. Today we simply name the instrument - "piano".

If you're curious to learn more about the history of the piano and how the piano came to be, visit our piano history section starting from the early piano history and through the later piano history.

When we play piano we should be searching for the secret to creating beautiful music. It's more complicated then reading the notes or playing a melodies by ear. We wish to give something beautiful and meaningful to those who listen to us. Even if we're the only one who listen to ourselves :).

In fact before we play a key we always have to imagine the sound and decide how soft or loud we want it to be.
Keep this point of view in mind and you will see later on that you get lots of answers on how to create a unique sound that is simply yours.

For now, lets that we're going to play with a clear tone (Mezzo forte or mf - meaning relatively strong),not to loud and not to soft.
Remember, the question is not only about how to play the piano. It's about how to play the piano well!

Now you may wonder if you'll need a piano book while using this piano course.
Well, I'll provide you some great free piano sheet through the way but I do suggest having a complete piano book as well.

I especially recommend buying the Alfred's Basic Piano Course - Lesson Book Complete Level 1 (1a/1b).

The Alfred's Basic Library has some amazing books for beginners in all different level. Check it out in Ebay to see what fits you best.

Why should you buy the Alfred's Basic Piano Library Books on Ebay?

Please subscribe to my monthly newsletter, Piano-Playground. It tells you each month about the new information that I have added along with cool tips and heap information that will make your piano playing sound like magic.

O.k. we're done here. You're all set to go the next step on learning how to play the piano, where you'll learn about the piano keys.

		Next Piano Lesson→