Piano For Dummies®

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Table of Contents

1. Cover
2. Introduction
   1. About This Book
   2. Foolish Assumptions
   3. Icons Used in This Book
   4. Beyond the Book
   5. Where to Go from Here
3. Part 1: Getting Started with Piano
   1. Chapter 1: Preparing to Play a Piano
      1. Knowing Why the Piano Is So Special
      2. Understanding Why People Take Piano Lessons(And Why They Often Quit)
      3. Getting to Know Your Instrument
      4. Comprehending the Language of Music
      5. Starting to Play the Best Way
      6. Being Aware of What You Already Know about Playing the Piano
   2. Chapter 2: Meeting the Keyboard Family
      1. Looking at the Acoustic Ones
      2. Identifying the Electric Ones
   3. Chapter 3: Finding the Perfect Keyboard
      1. To Hum or Not to Hum: Electric or Acoustic (Or Both)?
      2. Picking the Perfect Acoustic Piano
      3. Selecting a Digital Keyboard That Lasts
      4. Before You Drive It Off the Lot: Sealing the Deal at the Store
      5. The MIDI Places You Can Go
   4. Chapter 4: Taking Good Care of Your Keyboard
      1. Providing a Good Place to Live
      2. Making It Shine: Cleaning Your Keyboard
      3. Calling In a Pro for General Checkups and Serious Repairs
      4. Taking the Worry Out of Moving Your Acoustic Piano
   5. Chapter 5: Eighty-Eight Keys, Three Pedals, Ten Fingers, and Two Feet
      1. Finding the Keys, Easy Peasy
      2. Discovering What Your Parents Never Told You about Posture
      3. Paying Attention to Hand Positioning
      4. Pedal Power: Getting Your Feet in on the Action
4. Part 2: Deciphering Squiggles on Paper to Create Sound
   1. Chapter 6: Reading Lines and Spaces
      1. Your Guide to a Piano Score
      2. Double Your Staff, Double Your Fun
      3. Punctuating Music: Bar Lines
      4. Continuing to Read: Don’t Stop
   2. Chapter 7: Joining the Rhythm Nation
      1. Eyeing Tempo: The Beat Goes On
      2. Serving Some Musical Pie: Basic Note Values
      3. Faster Rhythms, Same Tempo
      4. Listening for the Sound of Silence: Rests
      5. Counting Out Common Time Signatures
      6. Playing Songs in Familiar Time Signatures
   3. Chapter 8: Changing the Beaten Path
      1. Getting a Jump on the Start: Pickup Beats and Measures
      2. Adding Time to Your Notes with Ties and Dots
      3. Playing Offbeat Rhythms
      4. Playing Songs with Challenging Rhythms
5. Part 3: One Hand at a Time
   1. Chapter 9: Playing a Melody
      1. Let Your Fingers Do the Walking
      2. Getting into the Right Position
      3. Crossing Your Fingers and Hoping It Works
      4. Playing Melodies in the Right Hand
   2. Chapter 10: Scaling to New Heights
      1. Building a Scale, Step by Step
      2. Stepping Up to the Majors
      3. Exploring Minor Variations
      4. Showing Your Rebellious Side with Blues Scales
      5. Playing Songs Made of Scales
   3. Chapter 11: Hey, Don’t Forget Lefty!
      1. Exploring the Keyboard’s West Side
      2. Tackling Some Left-Hand Melodies
      3. Practicing Some South-Paw Scales
      4. Trying Accompaniment Patterns
      5. Adding the Left Hand to the Right Hand
      6. Playing Songs with Both Hands
6. Part 4: Living in Perfect Harmony
   1. Chapter 12: The Building Blocks of Harmony
      1. Measuring Melodic Intervals
      2. Combining Notes for Harmonic Intervals
      3. Playing Songs with More Harmony
   2. Chapter 13: Understanding Keys
      1. Homing In on Home Key
      2. Playing Songs with Key Signatures
   3. Chapter 14: Filling Out Your Sound with Chords
      1. Tapping into the Power of Chords
      2. Dissecting the Anatomy of a Triad
      3. Starting Out with Major Chords
      4. Branching Out with Minor Chords
      5. Exploring Other Types of Chords
      6. Adding the Seventh
      7. Reading Chord Symbols
      8. Playing with Chord Inversions
      9. Playing Songs with Chords
7. Part 5: Technique Counts for Everything
   1. Chapter 15: Dressing Up Your Music
      1. Playing Dynamically
      2. Articulating the Positive
      3. Controlling the Tempo
      4. Putting the Pedal to the Metal
      5. Touching on Grace Notes
      6. Tackling Trilling
      7. Dazzling Your Audience: Gliss
      8. Trembling Tremolos
      9. Dressing Up Your Songs
   2. Chapter 16: Great Grooves
      1. Great Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns
      2. Applying Great Intros and Finales
      3. Playing Songs with Left-Hand Grooves
   3. Chapter 17: Perusing the Aisle of Style
      1. Taking Aim at Classical Music
      2. Playing the Blues
      3. Rockin’ around the Keys
      4. You’re a Little Bit Country
      5. Pop! Goes the Piano
      6. Soul Searching
      7. All That Jazz
      8. Playing Songs in Favorite Styles
8. Part 6: The Part of Tens
   1. Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Improve Your Practice and Performance
      1. Be Comfortable at All Times
      2. Shut Off the Distractions
      3. Make a Schedule and a List
      4. Get into Deconstruction
      5. Use a Metronome
      6. Rehearse Your Dress Rehearsals
      7. Know Your Performance Piano
      8. If You Memorize …
      9. Preempt Post-Performance Syndrome
      10. Smile and Take a Bow
   2. Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Supplement This Book
      1. Working through Method Books
      2. Using Reference Books
      3. Buying Music to Play
      4. Gigging with Others
      5. Checking Out the Masters
      6. Attending Live Concerts
      7. Listening to Recordings
      8. Exploring Piano Sites on the Web
      9. Enjoying Pianos on the Big Screen
      10. Realizing You’re Not Alone
   3. Chapter 20: Ten Questions to Ask Prospective Teachers
      1. Whom Else Have You Taught?
      2. How Long Have You Been Teaching and Playing?
      3. How Much Do You Expect Me to Practice?
      4. Would You Mind Playing Something for Me?
      5. What Repertoire Do You Teach?
      6. How Do You Feel about Wrong Notes, Mistakes, and Slow Learners?
      7. What Methods Do You Use to Teach Piano?
      8. Where Will the Lessons Take Place?
      9. How Much Do You Charge?
      10. Do You Have Student Recitals?
9. Appendix: About the Website: Audio Tracks and Video Clips
   1. What You’ll Find on the Accompanying Audio Tracks
   2. Viewing Videos on the Website
10. Index
11. About the Reviser
12. Advertisement Page
13. Connect with Dummies
14. End User License Agreement

List of Tables

1. Chapter 7
   1. TABLE 7-1 Tempos and Their Approximate Beats Per Minute
2. Chapter 14
   1. TABLE 14-1 Recipes for Constructing Chords
3. Chapter 15
   1. TABLE 15-1 Dynamic Markings
   2. TABLE 15-2 Musical Articulations

List of Illustrations

1. Chapter 2
   1. FIGURE 2-1: Owning one is so grand.
   2. FIGURE 2-2: Upright, not uptight.
   3. FIGURE 2-3: Hammers vibrate piano strings to produce music to your ears.
   4. FIGURE 2-4: The ornate harpsichord.
2. Chapter 5
   1. FIGURE 5-1: Your basic set of black and whites.
   2. FIGURE 5-2: Chopsticks and forks on your keyboard.
   3. FIGURE 5-3: Octave groupings on your keyboard.
   4. FIGURE 5-4: Proper posture and positioning at the piano.
   5. FIGURE 5-5: An adjustable piano chair.
   6. FIGURE 5-6: Two types of piano benches: standard (a) and adjustable (b).
   7. FIGURE 5-7: Take a stand for your electric keyboard.
   8. FIGURE 5-8: The shape to emulate.
   9. FIGURE 5-9: Numbers and digits.
   10. FIGURE 5-10: The typical three pedals on a piano.
3. Chapter 6
   1. FIGURE 6-1: An example of music written for the piano.
   2. FIGURE 6-2: Music’s parallel lines.
   3. FIGURE 6-3: The treble clef.
   4. FIGURE 6-4: Finding treble clef G is no trouble.
   5. FIGURE 6-5: Names for notes on the treble clef lines and spaces.
   6. FIGURE 6-6: The bass clef.
   7. FIGURE 6-7: Finding bass clef F on the keyboard.
   8. FIGURE 6-8: Names for notes on the bass clef lines and spaces.
   9. FIGURE 6-9: Clues for reading octaves.
   10. FIGURE 6-10: Notating accidentals.
   11. FIGURE 6-11: Isn’t this staff grand?
   12. FIGURE 6-12: Where are the lines and spaces for these little guys?
   13. FIGURE 6-13: Middle C written with ledger lines for both the right and left han...
   14. FIGURE 6-14: Playing the same note with different hands.
   15. FIGURE 6-15: Notes on the grand staff.
   16. FIGURE 6-16: Octave lines.
   17. FIGURE 6-17: Bar lines are vertical lines that divide music into measures.
   18. FIGURE 6-18: The five types of bar lines.
   19. FIGURE 6-19: Keep on reading, keep on playing.
4. Chapter 7
   1. FIGURE 7-1: Bar lines help group the beats. Clap to the rhythm slashes.
   2. FIGURE 7-2: Count and play quarter notes.
   3. FIGURE 7-3: Save half for me.
   4. FIGURE 7-4: Whole notes hold out for all four counts.
   5. FIGURE 7-5: Mixing up all the notes.
   6. FIGURE 7-6: Flags on eighth notes become beams.
   7. FIGURE 7-7: Play and count the eighths and quarters.
   8. FIGURE 7-8: Sixteen going on sixteen.
   9. FIGURE 7-9: Dividing the beat into oblivion.
   10. FIGURE 7-10: Hat off for a whole rest, and hat on for a half rest.
   11. FIGURE 7-11: Placement of whole and half rests on the staff.
   12. FIGURE 7-12: Practice your whole and half rests.
   13. FIGURE 7-13: Notes and their equivalent rests.
   14. FIGURE 7-14: Counting quarter and eighth rests.
   15. FIGURE 7-15: You can recognize the tunes of three common time signatures.
   16. FIGURE 7-16: The letter C is a common way to indicate 4/4 meter.
5. Chapter 8
   1. FIGURE 8-1: Starting with a half rest.
   2. FIGURE 8-2: Instead of a rest, this notation uses a pickup measure.
   3. FIGURE 8-3: Ties that bind notes of the same pitch.
   4. FIGURE 8-4: The dotted half note.
   5. FIGURE 8-5: Dotted half notes in 4/4 and 3/4 time.
   6. FIGURE 8-6: A dotted quarter note paired with an eighth.
   7. FIGURE 8-7: A dotted eighth, a sixteenth, and their beams.
   8. FIGURE 8-8: Practice with dotted notes.
   9. FIGURE 8-9: Congrats! You have triplets.
   10. FIGURE 8-10: Counting triplets.
   11. FIGURE 8-11: Practice with triplets.
   12. FIGURE 8-12: Swing those eighths.
   13. FIGURE 8-13: This notation tells you to swing it.
   14. FIGURE 8-14: Suddenly syncopation by emphasizing upbeats.
   15. FIGURE 8-15: “After You’ve Gone,” without (top) and with (bottom) syncopation.
6. Chapter 9
   1. FIGURE 9-1: Playing a key.
   2. FIGURE 9-2: Getting into C position.
   3. FIGURE 9-3: The melody of “Frere Jacques” requires the right hand to be in C po...
   4. FIGURE 9-4: The melody of “Ode to Joy” calls for C position.
   5. FIGURE 9-5: “Skip to My Lou” uses C position but extends your thumb to play B.
   6. FIGURE 9-6: The melody of “Kumbaya” uses C position and stretches RH 5 to play ...
   7. FIGURE 9-7: “Chiapanecas” stretches and shifts C position.
   8. FIGURE 9-8: Gee, I like G position!
   9. FIGURE 9-9: “Little Bo-Peep” is a breeze in G position.
   10. FIGURE 9-10: “This Old Man” uses G position with some stretching.
   11. FIGURE 9-11: One song, two hand positions.
   12. FIGURE 9-12: Crossing over your thumb to play more notes.
   13. FIGURE 9-13: J. S. Bach’s “Minuet” features an RH 2 crossover.
   14. FIGURE 9-14: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” is a classic melody that requires the th...
7. Chapter 10
   1. FIGURE 10-1: Stepping out.
   2. FIGURE 10-2: The C major scale follows all the white keys.
   3. FIGURE 10-3: The G major scale employs one sharp: F-sharp.
   4. FIGURE 10-4: The F major scale uses B-flat.
   5. FIGURE 10-5: A joyful melody made from a major scale.
   6. FIGURE 10-6: A frugal melody needs only five notes of the major scale.
   7. FIGURE 10-7: Building your C major scale chops.
   8. FIGURE 10-8: Major and minor C scales.
   9. FIGURE 10-9: “Joy to the World” in C minor.
   10. FIGURE 10-10: So many minors, not enough chaperones.
   11. FIGURE 10-11: The A natural minor and A harmonic minor scales.
   12. FIGURE 10-12: The A melodic minor scale.
   13. FIGURE 10-13: Exercising the three C-minor scales: C natural (a), C harmonic (b...
   14. FIGURE 10-14: Getting the blues.
   15. FIGURE 10-15: Using the blues scale for a cool melody.
8. Chapter 11
   1. FIGURE 11-1: Assume C position with the left hand.
   2. FIGURE 11-2: Reading and playing notes in the bass clef, starting from LH C pos...
   3. FIGURE 11-3: Lower notes in the bass clef, starting from LH G position.
   4. FIGURE 11-4: Melody in the left hand: “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
   5. FIGURE 11-5: Another melody in the left hand: “Little Brown Jug.”
   6. FIGURE 11-6: C, G, and F major scales for the left hand.
   7. FIGURE 11-7: A, E, and D natural minor scales for the left hand.
   8. FIGURE 11-8: A harmonic and melodic minor scales.
   9. FIGURE 11-9: Root-fifth-top patterns in C, G, F, and A.
   10. FIGURE 11-10: Three-note arpeggios in quarter-note patterns.
   11. FIGURE 11-11: Three-note arpeggios in eighth-note patterns.
   12. FIGURE 11-12: Four-note arpeggios based on C.
   13. FIGURE 11-13: Up and down the four-note arpeggios.
   14. FIGURE 11-14: Four-note arpeggio patterns in eighths.
   15. FIGURE 11-15: RH and LH share a melody.
   16. FIGURE 11-16: A simple melody and accompaniment from Mozart.
   17. FIGURE 11-17: ”Old Smoky” with a three-note LH pattern.
   18. FIGURE 11-18: Double the melody.
9. Chapter 12
   1. FIGURE 12-1: Numbering the notes of the C major scale.
   2. FIGURE 12-2: A family of intervals on the C major scale.
   3. FIGURE 12-3: “London Bridge” uses major seconds.
   4. FIGURE 12-4: A minor second in action in Beethoven’s “Für Elise.”
   5. FIGURE 12-5: Major and minor thirds paired for the symphonic theme of Beethoven...
   6. FIGURE 12-6: The major third lifts the spirits.
   7. FIGURE 12-7: A minor interval close to children’s hearts.
   8. FIGURE 12-8: The perfect fourth in (loco)motion.
   9. FIGURE 12-9: Though unfinished, Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony is still a perfe...
   10. FIGURE 12-10: A shining star, the perfect fifth.
   11. FIGURE 12-11: A fifth interval descending perfectly.
   12. FIGURE 12-12: Perfect fourth and perfect fifth, together forever in “Here Comes...
   13. FIGURE 12-13: Augmented fourth or diminished fifth, depending on how you spell ...
   14. FIGURE 12-14: Bonnie’s favorite intervals — the major and minor sixth.
   15. FIGURE 12-15: Seventh heaven.
   16. FIGURE 12-16: Somewhere over the octave.
   17. FIGURE 12-17: Playing intervals all together now.
   18. FIGURE 12-18: “Aura Lee” is a melody that begs for harmony.
   19. FIGURE 12-19: Harmonizing “Yankee Doodle.”
   20. FIGURE 12-20: ”America, the Beautiful” with a harmonious, single-note LH part.
   21. FIGURE 12-21: Adding more harmony to the LH part.
   22. FIGURE 12-22: Adding harmony below the melody in the RH part.
   23. FIGURE 12-23: The LH harmony matches the rhythm of the melody.
   24. FIGURE 12-24: A full, choir-like harmonic treatment.
10. Chapter 13
    1. FIGURE 13-1: “Good Night, Ladies” in the key of C (major).
    2. FIGURE 13-2: “Good Night, Ladies” in the key of F (major).
    3. FIGURE 13-3: The sign on the line.
    4. FIGURE 13-4: A key signature for each hand.
    5. FIGURE 13-5: Playing a melody in the key of G.
    6. FIGURE 13-6: Trying the same melody in the key of D.
    7. FIGURE 13-7: The Circle of Fifths.
    8. FIGURE 13-8: Sharp keys.
    9. FIGURE 13-9: Flat keys.
    10. FIGURE 13-10: Changing keys and then returning home.
11. Chapter 14
    1. FIGURE 14-1: This C chord is a simple triad.
    2. FIGURE 14-2: Making new chords from the C triad.
    3. FIGURE 14-3: Major chords.
    4. FIGURE 14-4: Major chords for lefty, too.
    5. FIGURE 14-5: Minor, but not insignificant, chords.
    6. FIGURE 14-6: Augmented chords raise the fifth one half-step.
    7. FIGURE 14-7: Diminished chords lower the fifth one half-step.
    8. FIGURE 14-8: Augmented and diminished chords in “Old Folks at Home.”
    9. FIGURE 14-9: Suspended chords.
    10. FIGURE 14-10: A little suspension tension.
    11. FIGURE 14-11: There’s nothing plain about these seventh chords.
    12. FIGURE 14-12: Transforming chord symbols into notes on the staff.
    13. FIGURE 14-13: Building a chord from a chord symbol.
    14. FIGURE 14-14: Traveling back to your roots.
    15. FIGURE 14-15: There’s less effort in these chord inversions.
    16. FIGURE 14-16: Root position grabs chords by the roots.
    17. FIGURE 14-17: First inversions put the thirds on the bottom and the roots on to...
    18. FIGURE 14-18: Second inversions put the roots in the middle.
    19. FIGURE 14-19: Seventh chords and their third inversions.
12. Chapter 15
    1. FIGURE 15-1: Dynamic contrasts of piano and forte.
    2. FIGURE 15-2: Indications of gradual volume changes.
    3. FIGURE 15-3: Get loud, get soft, get dynamic.
    4. FIGURE 15-4: Notes grouped by a slur (played smoothly) and notes tied (held for...
    5. FIGURE 15-5: Giving a melody some individual character with articulations.
    6. FIGURE 15-6: Playing around with tempo.
    7. FIGURE 15-7: Pedaling indications.
    8. FIGURE 15-8: Use the damper pedal to connect notes melodically.
    9. FIGURE 15-9: Create a soft sound with the soft pedal.
    10. FIGURE 15-10: Amazing grace notes, how sweet the sound.
    11. FIGURE 15-11: This weasel pops with the help of some grace notes.
    12. FIGURE 15-12: What a trill sounds like.
    13. FIGURE 15-13: Simon says, “Trill this note.”
    14. FIGURE 15-14: Gliss me, gliss me, now you gotta kiss me.
    15. FIGURE 15-15: Down and up glissandos with the right and left hands.
    16. FIGURE 15-16: Use an RH gliss to begin and end a song.
    17. FIGURE 15-17: Tremolo notation.
    18. FIGURE 15-18: Tremolo chords.
13. Chapter 16
    1. FIGURE 16-1: Left-hand chords in varied rhythm patterns.
    2. FIGURE 16-2: Root-fifth-octave patterns are easy to play and sound great.
    3. FIGURE 16-3: Practice chord picking with four different chords.
    4. FIGURE 16-4: Left-hand chord picking in “Picking and Grinning.”
    5. FIGURE 16-5: Hammer out octaves in “Octaves in the Left.”
    6. FIGURE 16-6: Build octaves on different chord notes in “Jumping Octaves.”
    7. FIGURE 16-7: A driving left-hand pattern with the octave, fifth, and sixth inte...
    8. FIGURE 16-8: Open intervals that chug along in “Berry-Style Blues.”
    9. FIGURE 16-9: Mosey along with the bum-ba-di-da bass pattern.
    10. FIGURE 16-10: A boogie-woogie pattern that never goes out of style.
    11. FIGURE 16-11: Intro #1.
    12. FIGURE 16-12: Intro #2.
    13. FIGURE 16-13: Intro #3.
    14. FIGURE 16-14: Intro #4.
    15. FIGURE 16-15: Intro #5.
    16. FIGURE 16-16: Finale #1.
    17. FIGURE 16-17: Finale #2.
    18. FIGURE 16-18: Finale #3.
    19. FIGURE 16-19: Finale #4.
14. Chapter 17
    1. FIGURE 17-1: Excerpt from Mozart’s Sonata in C.
    2. FIGURE 17-2: Excerpt from Grieg’s Piano Concerto.
    3. FIGURE 17-3: Rolling to a romantic close.
    4. FIGURE 17-4: The 12-bar blues.
    5. FIGURE 17-5: Chord substitutions for the blues.
    6. FIGURE 17-6: Lefty provides the rockin’ bass line.
    7. FIGURE 17-7: Good ol’ country music.
    8. FIGURE 17-8: Romancing the sixth tone.
    9. FIGURE 17-9: Motown syncopation.
    10. FIGURE 17-10: Funky patterns.
    11. FIGURE 17-11: “Yankee Doodle” swings.
    12. FIGURE 17-12: “Merrily” with standard chords.
    13. FIGURE 17-13: “Merrily” jazz variation #1.
    14. FIGURE 17-14: “Merrily” jazz variation #2.
    15. FIGURE 17-15: “Merrily” jazz variation #3.

Guide

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