Out of all the instruments, few hold the sophistication that keyboards do. Today’s keyboards originate from the piano, which has long been considered a great instrument to teach younger children to promote growth and maturity. Keyboards are following the same suit, although they are appealing to the modernist generation in an easier manner.
Having a good time is what playing the keyboard is all about. Being able to show off one’s skills in front of others is always nice, too! The best way to start out is finding a couple of songs that one thinks holds a special value to him or her, and learn how to play it. Buying sheet music online or through local music stores is always a fun adventure, and learning to play one’s most loved songs is more than rewarding in the long run.
Learning how to get the perfect listening ear for musical notes is one of the highest sought skills in keyboard playing. This is because anyone who can learn how to play by ear will essentially be able to hear a song and play it just from listening to it! This also serves a great purpose for when the keyboardist with the perfect ear wants to record their own music into tablature. Thus, it’s a good idea to try and learn by ear as well as through reading notes.
Metronomes are highly recommended for musicians that haven’t yet grasped the concepts of timing and rhythm. While many would love to skip this step by claiming they know how to keep time, most beginners in fact, do not. It’s almost always required to obtain a metronome and some sheet music for practice. Practice makes perfect, and until one’s own internal metronome is developed, be prepared to do lots of it!
Next, it’s good to try and use both hands where applicable. Even when one hand can be used to play multiple notes close together, it’s good to use two hands to simplify the action and to help learn placement at a quicker pace. This way, less attention will be put onto trying to find keys with a certain hand, and more attention can be put on reading sheet music that most keyboardists require for learning.
In the end, the average keyboard player who is just learning how to play needs to realize that learning how to play the keyboard is supposed to be fun. As such, trying to keep the subject fun means pacing out the frustration in learning, and focusing on the finer points of playing the keyboard. If further difficulty arises, never be afraid to ask for professional help- although it may be rather costly to pay for such help.
In Conclusion
All in all, beginning on the keyboard is a tough prospect. But learning a bit here and there over the years will essentially make an expert of anyone, given enough time. Being able to play stunning performances on a keyboard on command is a valuable skill to have, and plenty of musicians make their living based on keyboards alone. Whether a hobby or a way of life, starting on this lifelong relationship with music is quite beneficial to growth and stress release for years to come.