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it's a turn. it's a fast embellishment, where you play the note above, the note itself, the note below, and then the note itself again. in this example, you would play F-A-D-B-A-F GFEF (the last 4 denote the symbol in question). In this example you would probably play them as fast as 32nd notes, so that you play all 4 notes in the time span of an 8th note holding of course the F for the final 8th note.

Berklee College of Music is offering a free online course called "Developing your Musicianship". https://www.coursera.org/course/musicianship

The course is geared at beginners, so you might find some parts of it too simple, but it helped me quite a bit with finding the real music within all the techniques and theory. Perhaps you will find some inspiration in it too?

I'm in a similar position to you man. I am 23 years old and just started learning piano now. This course is FREE and has really helped me https://www.coursera.org/course/musicianship Hope this helps you out!

It's not really a talent, all it takes is some ear training. I don't think you can learn it in few days but in the long run your music will benefit from two months training.

For now, just fire up some virtual piano or virtual bass on your computer and practice along. At the very least you'll learn song structure and dynamics.

Minor pentatonic = R, b3, 4, 5, b7 (in relationships to the major scale) That would be root, MINOR third, fourth, fifth and MINOR second.

Major pentatonic = R, 2, 3, 5, 6

A minor pentatonic = A C D E G (A minor pentatonic comes from the C major scale)

A major pentatonic = A B C# E F# (A major pentatonic comes from on the A major scale)

C minor pentatonic = C Eb F G Bb (C minor pentatonic is based on the Eb major scale)

C major pentatonic = C D E G A (C major pentatonic is based on the C major scale)

Sorry, if I made it more confusing. I tried to include a couple of extra examples. I think the misunderstanding is that major and minor pentatonic would use the same formula, but that's incorrect.

If you're on Android, please check out my app Music Theory Helper. It's completely free: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.okramuf.musikteori

Created an app for this on iOS and Android ;)

I recommend this MOOC: https://www.coursera.org/course/musictheory

It was really good for the beginners. It finished a year and a half ago but is still accessible, so go ahead and take a look at those lectures! :-)

Get this one:

The Music Lesson by Victor L Wooten

If you've never purchased anything from audible.com before, you can get the first one for free, but I'm not recommending it to you just because you can get it for free., you owe it to yourself to check it out.

If that's a general question about the piano (and not a question about jammin') then you could look into this. But that's not the only Czerny work which can be useful so look around if you want. These are very useful exercises, which pretty much cover the "beginner phase". If you want to improve your technique, there's no better than Czerny. Play these every day.

Practicing scales is also essential, I'm sure you can find all of them on youtube. Practice them with both hands, first seperately, then together. Then mix it up and make it as hard as you can.

Check out /r/piano, there might be some useful stuff over there too. Also, every now and then check out sites like Coursera.org. See if they have some piano lessons or music theory or something.

You didn't say where you're at in your studies, so if you're past all of this, sorry. There's much more to do besides that, but you can't go wrong with scales and Czerny.

You can probably find something here. I think MuseScore is nice if you're comfortable with standard musical notation. Sekaiju also looks very useful but I never tried it.

Online editors don't support MIDI interface, there's no practical way of accessing it from within browser.

Never tried them, but there are a couple of open source automatic accompaniment programs:

1. Impro-Visor
2. MMA

Another option would be to download MIDI arrangements of songs from one of the many websites.

The lessons in Garageband are really great! The best part is after a lesson, they have an exercise that's usually backed by a band, so instead of something dull, you've got something to play along with.

Check out the lessons info and videos

In the latest version, it'll even tell you how accurate you were. Pretty neat stuff...

Truly I wouldn’t buy any, for ~15 you won’t be able to find anything worth your time IMO. If you truly want a good pair of headphones to help you hear the piano better I would look for a balanced sound, most of the cheaper end or more mainstream stuff will have the bass boosted through the roof. It looks like the p45 uses a quarter inch headphone in, I would recommend a pair of Sennheiser HD559, they’re a solid pair of open backs and have a pretty decent soundstage, I’ve plugged these into my piano and it sounds pretty good through them.

SENNHEISER HD 559 Open Back Headphone - Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L1IIEKM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_HWKEYYWXDNGKXWRZ419H

Perfect Ear

This is, without a doubt, one of the best apps I've ever had on my phone. It's thorough, demanding and helpful.

Welcome to the club. I'm 31 and ALSO trying to learn keyboard (on a 61 key MIDI keyboard).

From what I've seen there are courses (some free, most are paid) on udemy. Then there's also youtube.

Honestly, finding a teacher would be your best bet, but the second best free method is this:

Find a WELL RATED piano for adults book on amazon, take the Table of Contents and find videos that teach those topics.
Just a random pick from the top rated ones:
https://www.amazon.com/Adult-All-One-Course-Lesson-Theory-Technic/dp/0882848186

OR, get a curriculum from a piano school and go searching online based on that.

Found this one in a few mins of google search:
https://www.esm.rochester.edu/community/files/Piano-Curriculum-2015.pdf

Time is really the biggest issue. If I can find a way to "success" (say, playing Fur Elise somewhat properly) I might even make a guide on this.

I don't know if it's right for learning music from zero but I'm using Perfect Ear 2 (on Android) and I found it to be the best ear training app I've tried. It got exercises about almost everything (scale recognition, chord recognition, absolute pitch, rythm, intervals) and you can also make your custom exercises. Here's the link!

I should have clarified, my bad. Not the whole piece, but the measures before, during, and after the problematic notes.

In any case, it's incredibly rare that a piece of music will have just one 8th note or 16th note.

You can also outsource the subdivision by using a metronome app such as Soundbrenner which can handle many different types of subdivisions rather than just the main beats.

I like the Alfred's books but there are ton out there. I haven't used any of the apps but try some out. These books do a good job of starting a progression that teaches reading music as well as some basics on theory and different songs. It's a good place to start and if you really want to get better, get a real life teacher. Having someone who know more, watch you play can teach you faster and better than any book or app.

https://www.amazon.com/Adult-All-One-Course-Lesson-Theory-Technic/dp/0882848186?ref_=ast_sto_dp

I'm just sight singing for ear training. I haven't done any singing since primary school choir.

> Was it in your vocal range? Did you understand the rhythmic notation? How was your diction? Did you mess up on the intervals? Did you forget to account for the key signature?

The notation is just whole notes in C major, so nothing complicated.

It's the intervals I'm having trouble with mostly. I'm still learning to associate the solfege syllables with the scale degrees; these exercises are trying to teach that. But it's stupidly easy to miss and screw up.

> Do you have a teacher? How did you get your sight reading book?

I don't have a teacher. The book's a music theory textbook, specifically this one.

I would suggest not trying to learn on a chromatic. You can get a full set of keyed harps to learn with for $35 here: https://www.amazon.com/Hohner-Piedmont-Blues-Harmonica-Piece/dp/B008C67VDI?th=1

Asking questions is the first step! Check out the piano learning subreddit. Also a piano methods book like Alfred's from the library is an excellent start.

If you need more practice you can check out my apps free now ads.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.happypennygames.aimusic.sightreader

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.happypennygames.aimusic.flash

Let me know if useful!

Maybe using a flashcard program like Anki to memorize the notes would help? There is a music reading deck available. One other suggestion would be to start off learning note names and rhythm separately.

Hey man, thanks for your reply, I really really appreciate it.

The thing I learned til now is that I should stop worrying too much about how my sound doesn't quite have that edge certain other good musicians have. It's really all about doing what I think is awesome and I should stop worrying what others will dislike about it. Just by playing around in my DAW and listening to other music gives me these musical ideas you speak of like for example combining an LFO with this or that instrument and sort of expanding on that idea, it's really a matter of trying out a lot of concepts and knowing your tools. I don't usually just abondon things when they don't work but rather revisit them when I gain more insights and ideas and when I'm capable of relistening to them with a fresh ear.

Having a framework to work in has always been a struggle for me because I'm a scattered person by nature but you're right. I set out to create a genre on my own but I lacked the fundamentals of arranging music. Now that I have explored things a bit more, I start to feel what's right and works for me and I'm starting to see the bigger lines of how I can produce decent tracks.

You make a good point about looking at songs from a larger perspective. I feel that a lot of starting musicians miss that. For me, still lacking a bit in the understanding of forming the sounds that I would want really holds me back from conveying the emotion the way I want, but then again, maybe I'm being too critical towards myself.

Here's my first track I sort of consider almost finished: clicky

I tried to go for a journey-like experience and I feel that I accomplished it well with the drums going on.

I will look further into the frequency band topic, it makes sense what you're saying with that perspective. Thanks for your reply bro!

Interesting article... I don’t know if you are into songwriting but I’ve written an article about melody writing.

Take a look if you’re interested:

https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/how-to/topline-writers-definition-how-to-start-toplining

You can learn a lot from synth software, and later use that knowledge by hooking keyboard to PC via MIDI cable.

ZynAddSubFX is very complex synth package and can teach you how different synthesis types sound.

MiniMogue is faithful emulator for classic MiniMoog synth, and good starting point for learning about LFOs and ADSR.

this book of classical duets is a fantastic way to learn. https://www.amazon.com/Carulli-Progressive-Student-Teacher-Classical-Guitar/dp/1530036623

get yourself a cheap nylon string guitar and find a player who can read the teacher parts. there is no way around that first task of memorizing all the names of the notes in open/first position. get your c major scale together, then start playing these duets. I've studied reading in a few different ways and I really think this is the best way to start. Once youre well into this book, also start looking at this book: https://www.amazon.com/Music-Reading-Guitar-Complete-Method/dp/0793581885

those two together will make you a pretty solid reader. good luck.

Playing scales along with a drum machine is kinda fun. I haven't played with the open source drum machine program Hydrogen in years, but it's still around - you might find it useful. http://www.hydrogen-music.org

I'm guessing most programs can do this. MuseScore can! Just create a new score with Viola as instrument (You will get an Alto Clef, which should be correct as I understand it). Enter the notes Then create a new score with treble clef. In the first score select all the notes (Ctrl-A) and copy them (Ctrl-C) Switch to the new treble score and paste (Ctrl-V).

Remember to set the same key in both scores before copying...

Some things I can think of that you could practice without an instrument:

1. ear training
2. rhythm reading & counting - tap rhythms out with your hand
3. memorizing notes/reading
4. sight singing/solfeggio

Anki, a spaced repetition app, has quite a few music related decks (you can also build your own).

Edit: formatting

Hey, I've been a musician for the vast majority of my live, and I'm currently working on my degree to be a music therapist. Over the last 10 years I've really worked on learning every instrument I can, and now I am self trained in over 30 instruments.

From my experience, I highly recommend the Irish tin whistle. Its about 20-30 bucks for a pretty decent beginner one, and has plenty of more expensive options if you decide you like it and want to upgrade. But even many professional players stick with the cheaper options.

My recommendation is the Clark Original Tin Whistle in the key of C. Its lower pitched than the option in the key of D, and the design of the whistle makes it quieter less shrill than the other whistle options with plastic mouthpieces. Its ridiculously intuitive to start with (just lift up a finger to play the next highest note in the scale) and you can get it sounding decent in a reasonably short amount of time. The most important thing you will have to learn is breath control. Just making sure your breath is steady, and just enough to make a good sound. You can get a book to learn from which will include instructions, and some songs. But you can also learn from YouTube or even just by figuring it out on your own.

Here's an Amazon link to the model of whistle I recommend. Good luck! 😊

Clarke Tinwhistle SBCC Original C Whistle - Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VPHC50/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_1Y0T3S8108ECGKJ8NPRH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I really like this one, the weighted keys feel like a real piano and sounds pretty good. I don't know of any that will fold up or are battery operated but am sure there are is one somewhere.

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-88-Key-Weighted-Digital-P45B/dp/B00UJ9LNDK

​

If you want something small and portable then won't get the full 88 keys but synths and midi devices have a ton of other options.

Thanks for explaining and clearing everything!

The Yamaha P45 is something that I'm looking at actually, alongside this one (the fact that it is part of a set sounds really nice, and I also like that it has 700 sounds to play with).

As uncomfortable as it makes me feel, I want to use my voice down the line too. Great recommendations!

It seems like the Privia PX160 is out of stock in amazon unfortunately. I keep gravitating towards this keyboard, which comes in a set: amazon link

I wonder if this one is good. The included headphones look really attractive because I can practice without disturbing neighbors. The 700 sounds seems pretty nice to.

I wish to get a teacher someday!

I played as a teenager, quit in my twenties, then picked it up again now in my thirties during lockdown, too. Apart from the cliché of practise, practise, practise, what helps me at least is:

- Studying at least a weeny bit of music theory as that helped me with my sight-reading. I enjoy playing more now than I did in my teens (and I swear my sight-reading is better now than after five years of playing the first-time round) because I can read the grand staff moderately well. I use this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jsplash.musictutor, but there's heaps of others and games that can make it slightly less dry.

- Playing songs that I know and like. I am practising songs from Annie atm and although one is giving me grief, I LOVE the song so I am motivated to keep learning.

- Articulating at least some vague goals. I want to be able to sight-read and play at performance level some day, but right now my goal is to play that Annie song properly.

- Don't be afraid to be discerning with teachers. They all have different styles and will have different backgrounds, so you are totally allowed to find someone that is happy to work with you on your goals, not theirs. I tried a few before I found my current teacher who is adorably enthusiastic and supportive.

Hopefully that helps you! Update us on how you go.

I'm a music teacher. The best option would be to get your 6-year-old into lessons. You don't know enough about piano to know what to look out for in another learner (bad habits, masking skills, teaching easy ways to read music, gradually increasing the difficulty at their pace, etc.)

To help your child: •Get a footstool. •Find a stiff cushion for your child to sit on to bring them higher on the bench. Something like this. •Lesson book: Wunderkeys Primer 1, 2, and 3 (not Preschool 1-3) This is a book that goes at a great pace for an early-elementary student! It lays such a great foundation! •Lessons with an experienced teacher.

THE ICTUS!!!! Here's a pretty standard text.

>Want to learn the keyboard piano but don't know the starting step

Press any key (on any keyboard), then continue (i.e. press it again or press a different one).

Start exploring. Try something. Listen to your play. Document somehow, what sound good to you.

Next time, try again, i.e. repeat and explore.

Start asking yourself questions. Find answers, e.g. from wonderful "all-you-need-to-know-about-music-theory" books available nowaday. Use it as a corrective guideline.

Discover your own music, the one inside you.

Sooner, rather than later, involve two constant friends:

1. your metronome
2. correct/useful finger placements: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1479285277/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tu00_p1_i1

​

Good luck

P.S.: Be prepared that your first piano won't be your last. So your first one can be almost anything.

Yeah I was thinking about hetting her this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HBJ7B3Q?pf_rd_r=AQRQVB79M0GYAT9PNPV5&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee

So is that normal? It's just bars, and everything else gets drawn in? Such as the vertical lines etc. She plays the piano

I took a physics course on Acoustics in college and it was really cool, this is the text book that we used.

The Yamaha P45 is a good starter piano. Not sure if you want to order off of Amazon right now, but this is the one to get:

Yamaha P45, 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano (P45B) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UJ9LNDK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_JjFFEbCZY1SND

The B in P45B only denotes the color: Black.

Also, get a MIDI cable appropriate to connect your phone/tablet so that if you use any of the popular learning apps, you can connect your device and the piano/computer.

For e.g for iOS device, I have the following:

MeloAudio USB 2.0 Cable Type B to Midi Cable OTG Cable Compatible with iOS Devices to Midi Controller, Electronic Music Instrument, Midi Keyboard, Recording Audio Interface, USB Microphone，5FT https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FLWN6G4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZlFFEbYQHSWW4

The P45 has headphone jack for silent practice, 3 levels of adjustable key weights, split keyboard functionality and some very decent piano sounds. Its not polyphonic though. Mine came with the seat and single pedal.

I have the exact same setup as above, and am a noob - and I don’t plan to invest in anything else for the moment.

Depending on your budget, you can look at Roland - have heard good stuff. Avoid the el cheapo ones - even though I was very inclined to do so myself.

Good luck!

Cheap, sweet, and tiny: Kalimba $30-50. I have a Moozica 17. Moozica 17 on Amazon. Limited to diatonic songs/pieces, but super portable. And oh, so soothing. It's also known as a thumb piano or a thumb harp.

Quiet and portable: lap harp. Not cheap, but you could get a cardboard harp for $160-300 and upgrade if you love it. Technique is not intuitive, so a few lessons with a teacher is a must.

I think everyone should learn a song or two on the ukulele. It's reentrant tuning makes it the cheeriest instrument I know. The ones with painted exterior are quieter (and cheaper). $40-50. $12-15 for a set of decent strings. Or get a nicer unpainted one ($60-100) and put a small sponge in the body to make it quieter. I got my first ukulele in the UK: a soprano Tanglewood. ❤ Still my favorite and I have 8 ukuleles now (6 cheap ones in rainbow colors and 2 nice ones... I'm a music teacher.)

I am biased, but I would always choose the piano over other instruments. But this wasn't always the case. I never liked the idea of not having a piano with me at all times. So I dabbled in learning other instruments like guitar and violin that were "portable". However, the truth is, as time progressed, I always came back to the piano.

Now to combat the frustration of not having a piano, I just separate my learning into things I practice at the piano and things I can practice without a piano. That way I always feel connected to the instrument. For instance, if I want to learn a new chord or scale or voicing on the piano, I use an app to internalize the patterns when I am away from the piano. Then when I am at a piano, I practice the technique of playing the instrument through the circle of 4ths. FYI -I use this app because of the Steinway Grand sounds: piano trainer.

The thing to be weary of with self learning is that sometimes, you can lose focus and discipline. That is why using an app might help you stay focused. Try this app, if you want to learn chords and scales fast. You can use it to supplement your piano learning, when you are not at the piano.

First, try learning chords and scales, away from the piano. At least this way, you are focusing on the scale and not on how to play the scale. This will reduce your reliance on muscle memory. Second, for jazz, you need to start learning chords and scales. Since you already have lot of experience playing, this should come easily. Use an app to try and learn these, like this one: Piano Chord Scale Trainer. Once you have learned a scale in 12 keys, return back to the piano and play it, try to improvise rather than simply playing it in ascending fashion. Some scales to learn would be pentatonic scales, blues scales, major scale modes and the bebop scales. Chords to target would be basic seventh chords to begin with (major,minor,augmented,diminished). Play a chord in the left hand, and then improvise in the right hand through the scale. Go to each new key, using the circle of 4ths.

Is this the sort of thing you're looking for?

There's tons out there, Mel Bay and Hal Leonard have published all sorts of "Giant Collection of Type of Music X Arranged for Instrument Y" --

what kind of music does your family like? Make a list of 4-6 categories (Broadway? Vintage 70s album rock?) and email the band teacher see, what s/he thinks.

You can find quite a few ukuleles under $50 on amazon. I suggest a concert or tenor instead of a soprano. Here's an example. It's a great instrument, not hard to learn, easier on your fingers than a guitar, lots of fun to play. I also have hand issues and use this for exercise.

I just updated it with a button to automatically detect a good mic threshold. In mic settings now if you play a note or two at a comfortable volume and hit "auto" it will (hopefully) find a good threshold to use. If you happen to try the updated version, let me know if it helps! Thanks! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.learnedapps.soundsightreading.free

My instructor had me get this book for learning how to read. It's a great resource in my opinion as it goes through the notes of each string in open position step by step (literally lol).

I went to berklee and this was our textbook: https://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Harmony-B-Music/dp/0078025141 Also ear training helps, it is pretty hard though, you have to practice alot. Im sure you can find some youtube vids to help.

1) Score study. After you finish the great orchestration books, the primary source of further study is always the works of great composers.

2) Form in Tonal Music by Douglass Green is good for this purpose, although it's not comprehensive. Perhaps what you're really looking for is something like the Anthology for Musical Analysis by Burkhart & Rothstein.

Sorry about the prices of those books on form. That's pretty typical for forms & analysis books since they're primarily text books.

I'm in a similar situation and have found Trevor Wye's Practice Books to be useful. I especially like the spiral-bound, omnibus edition.

There you go!

Sorry, apparently, I has a dumb.

Some of this will probably be way under your level but for brushing up and filling in some gaps I have found it to be great:

http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Handbook-Complete-Guide-Mastering/dp/0879307277

I've begun reading this for my Poetry & Song class at university. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Rhymes-Poetics-Hip-Hop/dp/0465003478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291152308&sr=8-1

This breaks down rap's poetic elements significantly before you.

Thanks for doing this. I am a beginner (male) taking voice lessons. I've been doing the warmups from this book.

Towards the end, there are some exercises dedicated to the 'mixed voice'. I don't quite know what this is or how to find it. I can't tell by listening to the singer on the recording either. Do you have any tips for me on this?

Harmony 3 is more chord scale considerations, modulations, diminished harmony, and an expansion on modal interchange. Harmony 4 is mostly modal harmony. It's also worth noting that the Berklee books are DEFINITELY geared towards jazz harmony. If you want the more traditional harmony, I recommend Tonal Harmony by Kotska and Payne.

As for the other Berklee books, I would heavily recommend Mick Goodrick's Advancing Guitarist. Modern Jazz Voicings is pretty cool, and Arranging for Large Jazz Ensemble probably assumes a very high level of knowledge of arranging techniques from the get go. Essential songwriter I have no experience with, but I know some friends who really enjoy the Berklee book on lyric writing (can't think of the title). Music notation is about writing music by hand and can be useful if you aren't familiar with a lot of written notation (but seeing as you are a BoCo student, I assume you read.) Rick Peckham's Jazz Guitar Techniques : Modal Voicings seems really good, because he is a beast teacher/player.

Jazz is definitely one of my interests, but I tend to lean in a Fusion/rock/funk direction most of the time.

I've been playing around with electronic music for years, but only started taking it really seriously the past year. I've read a lot of books, and honestly, NOTHING has been more helpful to me than The dance music manual.

Pasted from a similar thread:

I've recommended this to others in a similar situation: http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Handbook-Complete-Guide-Mastering/dp/0879307277

Also here is some pretty easy stuff, most have MIDI tracks to listen to first: http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebies.html

Syncopation for the Modern Drummer

My absolute favorite book. I'd recommend just starting with a practice pad. Learn your rudiments, syncopation, and rhythms before moving to the kit.

If it's drumset you are wanting to learn I recommend getting a small electronic set(since space/noise is an issue). If you can't afford that you can look into getting something like this.

Learning how to move around a drumset with sticks & pedals that give proper feedback is absolutely essential to becoming a proficient set player. Tapping on random surfaces with your feet and your hands won't cut it.

For me there could only be one : Mahalo Flying V

I smile every time I pick it up, and the few times I've played it with friends, they've all wanted one. Quality is not at all bad and for a first instrument is absolutely fine.

Edit: Sorry about this, I'd forgotten - I installed a better set of machine heads than the standard, as the tuning kept slipping, and restrung with better strings, so possibly not quite as good an instrument for a beginner. Nonetheless I love mine now.

Try the app Tunerval (iOS, Android). It will help you begin to recognize different intervals by testing if you can tell whether the interval specified is sharp or flat. Also, it's nice that it will track your progress so you can be sure you're improving. It's free too!

For guitar (or bass or most string instruments commonly found in western popular music) there's Smart Chord (I don't know if this link will work), which despite its name has a lot of useful features other than just chords. I don't know if it is available for iOS, though.

Unfortunately some of the features have been restricted to the paid version recently, but it is still useful anyway.