Playing the Piano - Essay Example

I get to feeling as if I simply can’t hang on another moment, one of the best ways I’ve found to relax my cares away is to sit at my piano and get lost in the beautiful music I can create.  Knowing I am in control of the sounds coming out of the instrument is not the only reason I feel such satisfaction.  It is also the ability to play the music that most match the way I feel when I sit down that helps me to relax into my mood and begin to play other things.  For example, I might sit down playing something slow and sad to match my mood and end up playing something quick and jazzy before I’m done, leaving the piano in a much better mood.  Playing the piano isn’t as hard as most people seem to think.  If you can type, you can probably make music.

Your hands should be able to reach the keyboard with your arms bent at roughly right angles to give you the greatest playing comfort.  The keys to the piano are located under the keyguard which is generally moved out of the way by lifting on the knobs until the wood clears the top of the keys and then pushing in so that the keyguard slides easily into the niche made specifically for this purpose.  Finally, you can place your fingers on the keys and begin playing. 

Most people automatically place their hands in the middle C position when they are getting ready to play.  Middle C can be found just where you’d expect, in the middle of the keyboard.  If you’re sitting at the right place, it should be just in front of your belly button.  Another way to find it is to look carefully at the keyboard and notice that the black keys alternate between sets of two and sets of three.  These keys offer sharp and flat notes that give the music its character.  Beginning on the left-hand side of the keyboard, count to the fourth twin set of black keys.  The middle C is the key just to the left of this set.  The right hand is positioned so that the thumb is resting on this key and each of the other fingers of this hand are resting on each successive key to the right.  These are the notes C, D, E, F, and G.  The left hand is usually placed so that the pinky finger is resting on the lower C, the key just to the left of the two-black key set just to the left of the middle C.  Each of the fingers of this hand again rests on each successive note up to G.  The two white keys without fingers between these positions are, from left to right, A and B. 

Whether playing by ear or reading sheet music, the last step in playing the piano is to simply press the keys in an order that will make a pleasing sound.  The best way to assure this is to know how to read sheet music and to press the right keys in order and tempo to create the music, but once you’ve learned the sounds of the notes it may be possible to simply pick out the tunes you hear on the radio.  When you want something that sounds sad, you can use a minor chord, which usually contains a lot of flat notes (remember those black keys), and when you want something happy, you can play short, staccato notes that sound light and bouncy.  The pedals under the piano are used to create a different sound. 

The other pedals are used to dampen the sound so that you can get closer to a pure note.  Do this and you will be playing the piano, too. Read More