CHAT

Monday, September 20

Absolute beginners ages 6-106 start here.

The only way to begin piano lessons is to begin listing and listening to music you enjoy. There is, in fact, no such thing as a "piano lesson". What we do in a piano lesson, as it's called, is create music. But what music do you want to create? This is the first element to deal with. The piano is merely a means of recreation of the music. There is plenty of opportunity to view and listen to preferred music given the internet now-- MIDI files, MP3 and Youtube all come in handy.

Here are a few to begin with...

[+] Lyrics and Music
Alphabet Song

Lyrics and Music
A Tisket, A Tasket

Lyrics and Music
Ants Go Marching In

There is really no point in trying to learn to play more sophisticated material until you learn to play these basic nursery rhymes. The same theory applies so why not begin at the beginning?  Here is the sheet music for the above tunes...

Alphabet Song
http://www.kididdles.com/pdf/alphabetsongsheetmusic.pdf

A Tisket, A Tasket
Ella Fitzgerald - A-Tisket, a-Tasket Sheet Music (Digital Download)

The Ants Go Marching In (When Johnny Comes Marching Home)
Free sheet music : Gilmore, Patrick - When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Piano solo)

You can instantly see that the playing of these tunes is no small matter because the notation is substantially involved. This isn't to say you can't sing or play these by memory or by ear. Of course you can. The point is that to learn to "play the piano", you'll have to understand that notation as well-- otherwise, you'll end up at a dead end, limited by what you can recall, note by note. That's not much of a piano playing hobby.

YouTube offers some pretty wild possibilities for self-education that were not possible a few years ago. I'd like to offer piano learners the opportunity to use these tools. For example, here are the same three children's tunes given my YouTube search...  selections that are perfectly appropriate for absolute beginners as well... by virtue of the fact that a piano student absolutely must listen and explore and enjoy...

The Alphabet Song (originally Mozart's 12 variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) on a Youtube Music Reading Video... (don't worry if you can't follow along as it's played... however if you CAN, it's a lot of fun.. and helps you learn to play it.)
YouTube - Mozart: 12 Variations "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman" KV 265 (Clara Haskil)

A Tisket A Tasket is actually a sophisticated jazz tune made famous by Ella Fitzgerald... so what you think is an elementary childish tune, often is no such thing.
YouTube - Ella Fitzgerald - A-Tisket, A-Tasket

Here's a cartoon version of The Ants...
YouTube - THE ANTS GO MARCHING

... and a child plays the original titled version on a keyboard
YouTube - When Johnny Comes Marching Home on the Piano

...finally, the original version set to a video of the Civil War where the song originated...
YouTube - When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again / Gettysburg Scenes

It's pretty startling to witness realistic war scenes like that... but its how the American Republic was won against the onslaught of the British Empire... an onslaught that continues today in monetary warfare... but to end this article... listen to Oscar Peterson's jazz group handle A Tisket A Tasket...
YouTube - Oscar Peterson Quartet: A Tisket A Tasket (Feldman/Fitzgerald)


CLASSROOM (Threaded Discussion forum for questions and comments)
 Piano Lessons in Phoenix, Arizona: BEGINNGERS 6 - 106


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