Do you know what a guitar player has to spend to get a good quality acoustic instrument? Anywhere from $500 to $2000 depending on make and model. Do you know what a piano player looking for a grand piano has to spend to get a similar quality instrument? Anywhere from $5000 to $100,000 and up!

Who has this kind of money? Not the average Joe on the street. No. Grand pianos are beautiful and great sounding but are way out of the price range of the average family. What to do? Well there’s the baby grand. Here we have a nice instrument that can be bought used for as little as $2000.

While the sound won’t be as full and resonant as the grand piano sound, still, it’s worth looking into. Many baby grand pianos have the look and feel of a grand without the high price tag AND they actually fit in your living room. Grand pianos on the other hand are 6 feet in length or more and require substantial space to house them.

If a baby grand piano is too expensive for you, there’s the upright piano. This is the choice most take. Why? Because they are relatively inexpensive and take up very little space. Some sound as good as baby grand’s depending on make and model. And they have their charm as well. Look to spend anywhere from $1000 to $3000 for a decent piano of this type.

Or you can go digital. Now, digital pianos these days sound as good as the grand pianos they are sampled from but… they will never give you the sound you can get from an acoustic instrument. There’s just no way a digital piano can capture the many overtones and harmonics that “real” pianos give but, they are quite a deal if that doesn’t bother you!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

To this day, I feel deprived that my parents didn’t sign me up for piano lessons. You see, I have two sisters who are considerably older than I am (ten and 14 years older, respectively). They both learned to play the piano, and my parents had a piano in the house until the time I was six years old. At that point, they sold the piano and, alas, my potential piano lessons went with out the door with the instrument. In retrospect, I imagine they felt as though they’d “been there, done that” with my sisters, and that another round of piano practices and recitals was more than they could bear. Still, to this day, I wish I had learned to play the piano.

Many parents embrace the idea of piano lessons for their children, but wonder when beginner piano lessons are appropriate. Is it when their prodigy-to-be bangs out his first tune on his toy piano? Is it once he’s show an interest in an educational toy or an educational game? Is it once he’s started school?

Experts generally agree that parents should take their child’s lead in deciding when beginner piano lessons are appropriate. If a child shows an interest in her toy piano, that may be an early indicator. A child who sits down at her aunt’s piano and bangs out notes at every opportunity is one who may be ready for piano lessons.

Ultimately, a child’s experience of piano lessons - just like the experience of playing with an educational toy or educational game - should be one that’s enjoyable. He should be old enough to understand that there is a level of commitment necessary in learning to play the piano, and to understand that beginner piano lessons are just that - for beginners. Once he can see that his skills improve with practice, he’s likely to more thoroughly enjoy his piano lessons.

Parents can contribute to their child’s feels of satisfaction about her progress by encouraging her at every opportunity. Applaud her initiative in practicing, attend her recitals, and - if you’ve ever had the urge - consider taking beginner piano lessons with her. Family involvement in her piano lessons will go far in giving her the motivation to continue playing.

If a child does lose interest in piano lessons after a time, though, it doesn’t pay for parents to force their child to continue taking piano lessons. Instead, they should encourage him to continue to enjoy music in its infinite variety.

About the author:

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International , one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Visit this Music Website and Majon’s Music directory.

Do you know why playing guitar is so much easier than playing piano? It’s because guitar players learn how to use chords first. Even before note reading!

They usually learn how to play chords in the first position. Called open position chords, the beginning guitarist quickly learns how to finger this position and can immediately create music. That’s why so many people love the guitar and want to learn it!

They don’t waste time learning “the masters” or anything like that at all. Nope. It’s all contemporary. Unless of course it’s classical guitar.

Now why can’t those interested in learning piano have the same benefits? After all, it’s not like everyone wants to learn how to play Bach or Beethoven.

The good news is you can play piano using only chords. But not just any chords. I’m talking about learning a chord structure that will have you sounding like a professional right away! It’s called the Open Position Chord and with it, you’ll be able to create your own unique music!

I know it sounds far-fetched. I didn’t think I could make my own music either until I discovered this chord position from a book titled “The Four-Way Keyboard System.” In it, the author Alan Swain goes into great detail about the benefits of learning this chord structure.

I didn’t have to really read what he wrote. I just played it. And I was hooked! Here was something I could learn quite easily. And I could learn it in all 12 keys - just as easily! I had found what I was looking for. A modern sounding chord that would let me improvise with both hands at the piano right away AND sound good doing it!

Most of us know what triads are. This 3-note chord structure has been used to introduce students to chording on the piano. But learning triads isn’t necessarily the best place to start. In fact, there really is no good reason to begin your piano studies with triads.

Listen, if your goal is to read music and play kum-ba-ya, then by all means, spend countless hours learning how to read music and play triads. But, if you want to improvise and create your own unique music, I can think of no better chord structure than the open position chord!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!