Plan of a beginner...

[piago]

Hello everyone,

I would like to share my short term learning plan with you at least to read your comments about it. OK, may be I am a bit old to start playing piano (36) but I feel I have a "late" passion. I have a digital piano and I "know" read music (elementary level). I found Synthesia very useful like most of you and even started playing Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven (the version which in Harder folder in Synthesia). OK it is not as hard as original one but I feel that I play it with my heart until the first lights of morning ( I sometimes go to work without sleeping for this reason ).

I have a study plan as follows:

. Sit at the piano 4 days a week, each 90 min.
. Scale study for 30 min. (Synthesia scale studies)
. Starting from easy tutorials and progress the list in every study (alternately studying Burgmuller's 25 easy and progressive studies in every other day) 30 min.
. Moonlight Sonata 30 min.

Do you have any suggestions? Your advices are valuable for me.

Regards,

Piago

[kiwi]

Hi and welcome on the wonderfull world of piano Learning process ^^.

You're Schedule seems good.
But i would suggest this one slighty better and more enjoying.

30 mn scales is really too much (cause when studying scales we need to be 100% focused (avoid any mistake when doing it and with Synthesia it can be very intense)
90 mn only 4 days is not so good.

So here's my tips:
Use a timer.
First begin with scale for only 15 mn then 15 mn of chords practising. (sing the notes/chords when doing it is good) Use the Synthesia Metronome.
Then 15 mn for studying rythm in musical situation (eg: choose a short piano riff (swing upbeat laidback,latin or any you love) and try to learn it with a good feeling specially in the rhytm/tempo) choose a simply one.
Use the last 15 mn for doing whatever you want (Learning moonlight or just enjoying playing piano).
So it's 1 hour per day not 90 mn
But it 'll be reallly better to do 1 hour for one complete weeks than only 4days/weeks.

If you're short in time just do the 30 minutes scales/chords exercices

If you don't cut beetween days you're practising you'll growing really more fast.

Sometimes you're goal 'll change then you're time'll can be adjusting depending on the situation.

Listen piano the more you can or depending on you're goals listen jazz player classic player rock player ... and even others instrument like guitar/saxo drummer etc...
If you plan to do only classic well just listening classic is enough.And theRhytm exercices can be adjusted too...

[piago]

Thank you very much kiwi.

I will try to follow your suggestions. I think I can have 1 hour for piano every day in the way you suggest.

[kiwi]

You're welcome.
Don't forget to always begin with scales exercices and really slow for to avoid troubles on muscles.
Don't need to practice the speed just focus on 1 regularity 2 flowless in movements and to hear the scale.
You'll practice speed only when you 'll be very confortable at slow tempo.
Cause muscle memory is very stongh so it's really important to avoid bad movements at first.

And learn some basic theory too (more important than to read music in my opinion).

I mean first the diatonic scale (1step,1step,1step,1/2step etc...) what is one step and 1/2 step on the keyboard ,how the 2 intervalls sounds.

Then how i construct chords based on the diatonic scale.
And what the role of the 7e degree and how they sound.

At this point you 'll have a good bagage.

Then maybe the modes of the diatonic scale and how they sounds

Then you can learn the blues theory if u interested.

At last you 'll learn the 3 minors scales

And finally why not modal theory and exotics scales.

There's plenty of website about it

One software i like because you have sound examples and it's easy to understand.
http://www.chordwizard.com/theory.aspx
Video: http://www.chordwizard.com/video_cwmt.a ... mtOverview

The music theory is also chipped with any of the software on the website (songtrix and chordwizard)

Chordwizard is really good for to see/ear relation beetween chords scales (unfortunately there's no keyboard view i think i 'll wrote a message to the author about this )
Songtrix is a really good midi sequencer.

Try the demo i think it's just limited to 30 days so you have 30 days for to understand but it's easy .If you want to buy it's fine but there's also website on muscic theory who are free.

And if you have theory questions we can help too

Sometimes you 'll be discouraged that's normal so it's also important to play piano for enjoying sometimes not only focused on work and progress.
At the beginning we learn fast it's more hard after...

[piago]

Hi,

I came to say that I think this plan worked for me in an excellent way.

I gave the piano 1 hour a day in last month (almost every day) and now I see the difference. It was also very surprising to see the "muscle memory". My fingers moving something like without needing my thinking in many times.

I know things gonna be harder as time goes, however, for an amateur, it is always nice to see the progression to boost the morale for the future

Take care,

[kiwi]

Am really glad to ear that you growing and yes muscle memory is astonishing! This is why i recommend to really do the things very slowly trying to avoid the bad movements because it's more works to erase bad habits than to gain good ones
And what about the basic Theory? Did you found you're way?

[piago]

Yes.

I am spending time on theory. The progress is slow but it felt nice to understand some "mathematics" inside music. For example, the time when I understood the logic behind major chord progression, it seemed to me that is easier to stroll around the keys and prepare for the next move. Therefore, this taught me again that "practice without theory is not the correct way" as I have always been told.

By the way, I am about to finish a version of 1st movement of Moonlight Sonata placed in "Harder" folder in Synthesia with those 15 min/day work

Thank you for all your help again.

[kiwi]

Ah i have forgotten like the major scale as reference it's also very recommended to learn by heart the chromatic chart so you can more easily build you're chords on the fly and understand the theory without to calculate each time (screenshot attached).
One upper octave it's called 8 (=C note one octave upper) 9 ,11,13 etc...
Augmented 4th & 5th are also called respectively 5 Diminshed and 6 minor.

By the way not knowing the theory is not a so bad if you focus only on you're hear but you 'll need to be very good for to achieve the same result without theory So i think both are usefull to learn.
And when you have a good basics on theory it's easy to go on youtube and to understand instantly when you see a video about piano.
Yes theory is a good tool even if we can do without it but hey! We can also dig an hole by hand without garden-tools if we have time ^^

And Remember furthermore Rhythm is the most important thing to study!

Feel free to ask if i am not clear English is not my native language!

Blues is easy to learn too if you like the style...

Feel free to rec the moonlight sonata if u want i 'll say what is good or not

[piago]

Almost one year. I did this:

http://arxiv.org/abs/1507.07307

Cheers,

[jimhenry]

I like this for music theory:
https://www.amazon.com/Leonard-Pocket-M ... 063404771X

[kiwi]

Mine is from 1880 but well it does the job for the basics and beyhond for exotics stuff there's internet :p

@Piago :
What about you're progress?