YES you can play the piano.
You can learn the basic stuff very easily and I will show you how to play 3 chords on the piano, the C chord, F chord and the G chord, with these 3 chords you can have a lot of fun, there are thousands of songs written with just 3 chords and you will be able to show off at home to your friends, or just play for your own enjoyment.
First a little about me. I am a graphic designer/digital printer/piano player/piano tuner. I know that’s an odd combination for a job title, but that’s just what it is. I thought it would be fun to make a very basic piano tutorial to show people how EASY it can be to learn to play very basic piano, and add some content to STEEMIT.
Of course there is a whole lifetime of learning to understand music theory and to be able to read music, but forget all that for now, you can actually learn a few basic piano chords, have fun playing and if you want to go further, you can learn all the fancy stuff later.
Now onto the easy stuff.
Step one - Above is a piano - notice all those white and black keys, looks intimidating doesn’t it? But the reality is there are only a few keys or notes you need to know, actually only 7 - yes that is right, only 7 keys out of all 88 is all you need to know, not so hard, right?
Step two -
Step up to the centre of the piano and look down, you will see a group of keys that I’ve highlighted here. Notice there is a pattern and look at the black keys, (you don’t need to learn these yet but it makes seeing the pattern clearer) There are 2 black keys that seem to be resting together like logs on a beach, then there is a gap and there are another 3 black keys that are close together. This pattern is called an “Octave” and it is repeated across the whole keyboard from bottom to top. We are only going to learn the white keys in between the black keys (I may make another tutorial about the black keys and what they are later)
Step Three - Middle C - This is where it all begins and finding middle C on a piano is very easy and quick.
In the above image it is the first white key sitting in front the pair of black keys just to the left of the middle of the piano or just under the left part of the piano logo just above the keyboard on most pianos.
THIS IS MIDDLE C - I highlighted it in blue to make so it is easier to see.
Step Four - The rest of the notes - The next white key is the note D and it is always the white key in between the pair of black keys everywhere on the piano from the bottom right to the top.
From here it is simple, the keys or notes simply go C, D, E, F, G, A, B and back to C again, that’s actually 8 notes but the C is repeated again.
All the notes between MIDDLE C and the next C on the piano are called an Octave as show in the image above. This pattern is repeated on the whole piano, the octaves are just lower in tone below the middle and higher in tone as you go up, Try it for yourself.
Step Five - The CHORDS! - the “C” chord
We are going to be playing in what is referred to as the “key of C” all white notes, for our purposes the chords are just 3 notes spaced one key apart from each other. Starting with MIDDLE C hold it and then skip a note and hold the next note “E” and skip a note and hold the next which is “G” - use your thumb, your middle finger and your pinky. Play all three notes at the same time and TA DA! you just played the “C chord”
(chords are named by the first note of each chord you play)
Step Six - The “F” chord
Now just find the white note that is lying just in front of the 3 black keys that seem to be close together. That is the “F” note - Remember going from the “C” - it goes D, E, F and so on up the alphabet. Now hold that “F” note with your thumb and then skip a note and hold the next one “A” and then skip the next white key and hold the next one which just happens to be the “C” note again - or the start of the next octave on the piano (remember all the group of 8 keys are the same (leaving out the black keys for now) they are just repeated up and down the piano. You now should know ALL the white keys on the piano!
Step Seven - The “G” chord
Now next to the “F” note you just learned is the “G” note, see it’s getting easier. This is the start of the “G” chord. Hold that note with your thumb and skip a white key and hold the next one which is a “B” note, skip the next white key and hold the next one which is the “D” note. THAT’S IT! - you now know 3 chords. You can play them all up and down the key board with your right hand and if your are adventurous try making the same chords with your left hand and right hand at the same time, just position your left hand in the octave just below the octave your have your right hand in and play them all at the same time. It sounds wonderful doesn’t it. Already you could fool most people into thinking you are a great pianist, but you just don’t feel like playing at the moment, LOL.
Now you can just play the “C” chord a couple of times, switch to the “F” chord for a couple of times or beats or whatever counting you want to use (it is usually 1234 and 1234 and 1234) you get it. and then switch to the “G” chord for a couple more beats and then back to the “C” chord, and you have essentially played the basic foundation to hundreds if not thousands of songs on the piano.
Have Fun with this short tutorial and practice, practice, practice until you can play those three chords easily and mix them up any way you want and make some music.
I’ll make another Tutorial next showing how to play with both hands and adding a little rhythm to it all.
THANKS and up vote if you found this interesting or helpful in any way.
