Here are some pointers to help you on your journey in learning to play the piano:
1. Take some lessons with a good classical teacher.
2. Use the Hanon exercises (especially the scales and arpeggios) to gain finger dexterity and to know the correct piano fingering of the scales and arpeggios. Always use a metronome when you’re doing these exercises to develop your sense of timing. If you don’t have a metronome try putting an accent on the “one” count of every sixteenth note (e.g. ONE,two,three,four; ONE,two,three,four…etc…).
3. After learning the basics/rudiments of playing the instrument, find another teacher who can teach you how to play the chords (a good jazz piano improvisation teacher will do!) and how to improvise.
4. Master the five qualities of chords (major seventh, dominant seventh, minor seventh, half-diminished, and the diminished seventh) their inversions, arpeggios and scales.
5. Try to apply what you are learning to your favorite songs especially jazz standard songs even to some classical music pieces. You can use songbooks, fake books, real books and music sheets, which are readily available at your local music stores or online.
6. Listen to all types of music and try to transcribe phrases/passages/riffs/licks or songs that interests you. Listen to piano players - the way they play, improvise and learn from them. Try to read their biography to learn how they study, practice, who influenced them and their achievements. I believe these can help to make you a well-rounded piano player.
7. Play with other musicians or join a band in your school or in your neighborhood.
8. Try to sing the melody of the song you are playing (you might have a hidden talent in singing) or if you are improvising, sing (scat) what you are playing.
9. Buy some piano lesson books, magazines, piano lesson videos, piano lesson software or CD-ROM.
10. Practice, practice and practice!
About the Author
Carlos Semilla got more piano tips for you and free piano lessons at http://www.learn-to-play-piano-online.com. A website with free sheet music, jazz improvisation lessons, tips, and music resources.

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I’ll never forget the time I took my first piano class. It was at the Community College of Philadelphia 1984. It was a group class with 20 or so electronic keyboards arranged around the room. We each received a class text book titled “Class Piano.” No shocker there.

I opened up the book and saw that I would be learning how to read music and play triads. I also saw that I would be playing very simple classical pieces. Now, while I enjoyed this and learned how to play these easy pieces, it just didn’t do it for me. It was because as I soon as I put the book down, I was dumbfounded! I didn’t know what to do on the piano without the book!

I soon realized that I didn’t want to become a professional note reader. No. I wanted to be able to sit down at the piano, place my fingers on a chord that called to me, and just play. I wanted to express myself at the piano in the same way visual artists are able to take pen and paper and artfully color their inner worlds. Why was this so difficult to do?

It was at this time that I started to look for new ways to play. I came upon a book that taught a modern chord position which could be used right away to make music with. Amazing! No note reading. Just chords. And once I learned a few chords, I was able to create my own music. This open position chord structure allowed me to improvise music quite easily.

Another book influenced me as well. This one showed how to play chord progressions using 4, 8 and 16 bar phrases. With this chord charting technique, I could see that I could create my own pieces. It taught me the principles of repetition and contrast - the cornerstones to musical composition.

A few chords arranged for 8-bars is repeated 2 or more times giving you what is called an “A” section of music. Another few bars of different chord changes and the “B” section is produced. And all of this was taught within a very slim volume. Maybe 46 pages or so.

After a few years of working with this material, I synthesized both methods so beginning piano players can take a modern sounding chord and work with it within a set framework. The result is a method where students are able to improvise their own music right away!

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!

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Love him or hate him, George Winston single handedly invented a whole new genre of music - New Age piano. His light ambient sound has reached millions of listeners around the world.

Now, a lot, and I mean a lot of pianists would like to be able to play like George but don’t think they can. That is, they don’t know how he does what he does. They think he just sits down and music comes up or, they believe that he spent years studying composition and theory in order to create these sometimes elaborate compositions.

But, and here’s the interesting thing, when you really listen and break down what he’s doing (and most other composers for that matter) it’s all about how phrases of music are repeated and then contrasted with new material. That’s it! That’s all composition is. It’s the art of repetition and contrast!

Just saying this won’t help you understand how it’s done though. For example, in the author’s lesson “Winter Scene,” we have a repeating ostinato pattern using 2 chords. The pattern is played over and over again while the right hand improvises a melody. And guess what? That’s a piece of music! That’s right! Now, if I wanted to show this piece as a composition, I would have to chart it out using a chord chart. This too is a lot easier than it sounds.

For instance, “Winter Scene” is just a 4-bar phrase in 4/4 time. Each chord gets 2 bars and that’s it! Sometimes called a “loop” these phrases can be repeated as long as the composer/improviser wishes. Then, if more music is required, we just add in new phrases and keep building up our piece of music.

So what is George Winston’s secret? Learn how to use musical phrases to create your own easy compositions!

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!

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