Our Top 3 Methods for Learning the Piano

Our Top 3 Methods for Learning the Piano Out of hundreds of methods to learn to play piano, which is the right one for you? ChaptersThe traditional methodThe simplified methodSpecialized methodsThere are countless methods for learning how to play the piano. And so many questions to ask: piano or keyboard? Private piano course or music school? piano lessons online or conservatory? Piano teacher or self teaching? Music theory or improvisation? Major scale or minor scale?On the Internet alone you’ll find hundreds or methods, each professing to be the long-awaited, miracle solution for learning to play piano in 10 days, or something like that!This article attempts to help you sort through the mass of piano instruction methods, and narrows them down to three categories, each one responding to a particular aim. Afterwards, you’ll be one step closer to playing that keyboard like Mozart!Which piano method will you choose?if you want to learn piano simply to play your favorite tunes, there are more simplified methods for learning to play piano in less time.These are mainly methods that can be mined from the in ternet, full of online piano courses and piano tutorials. You yourself have most probably even seen those videos on YouTube or Dailymotion featuring a piano player promoting his or her method to learn to play the piano in 24 hours.These videos resemble those rather dubious ones that promise you thousands of dollars each month simply by working from home. You are right to be skeptical of these “miraculous” methods (be especially wary of those labeled “free piano courses”) that are coated in exaggerated marketing promises.However, there might be some truth in these miracle piano instruction methods: it can be possible to learn to play piano tunes through intuitive means rather quickly without learning solfege. The underlying principle consists in imitating another person who is playing. While it’s impossible to learn complex piano pieces this way, you’ll be able to play piano music with struck chords, or simplified versions of a score, for instance (i.e. Mary Had a Little Lamb and Ode to Joy). This method is efficient but does require a high level of concentration and a strong memory.Don't fall for those videos that say even cats can learn to play piano!Learn improvisation on the pianoThere are other “miracle” methods for learning how to play the pianos in several days. Although obviously exaggerated, is it possible?  Music is composed of chords and chord progressions: they follow one another according to a certain logic that most people could learn. This even applies to improvisation!In a given piano scale (the scale of D major for example), each note and each chord constructed on this note has a precise function. For instance, in C major, the C chord has a tonic function (the first scale degree of a diatonic scale). The note G is the dominant degree of C major (a dominant seventh chord).Then there is the subdominant chord, the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale: in C major, it’s the F chord. These three chords: tonic, dominant and subd ominant will allow you to improvise music pieces with little difficulty!The idea is to play a sequence of three chords with the left hand and improvise melodies with the right hand, in using all the notes of the scale. Gradually, you’ll learn new scales to diversify your piano chords and achieve modulations.There are no right or wrong methods, it all depends on your end goal!If you want to learn to play piano seriously, to deeply understand music, play complex pieces (classical and otherwise), and perhaps become a professional musician, you’ll quickly find this simplified method too limiting.Are you aiming to be a piano virtuoso?This method is advantageous only if your objectives are modest. However, methods are not always contradicting. You can just as well work using simplified and intuitive methods while learning solfege on the side (with a piano instructor from Superprof for instance).Specialized methodsAs we all know, there are many music genres! On the piano, you can learn to play all of them, from classical music to jazz, blues, variety and more.Whether you study classical music, variety or jazz improvisation, you will be using the same notes, the same chords, and most of the same rules, etc. So it’s relatively possible to go from one style to the next, and to learn piano tunes in several different music genres.Despite this, we recommend choosing one training method for the piano that corresponds to your musical aspirations. In jazz for example, the system of decoding chords uses an American system. But more to the point, jazz is an art of improvisation. And one won’t necessarily learn to improvise while studying classical music. Jazz piano training calls for a specific pedagogical instruction, a training method based on improvisation, and a harmony-driven understanding of music. Some classical musicians have very little knowledge of tonality, while it’s pretty much inconceivable to learn jazz without working on harmony. Classical music has it s own specific learning techniques, of course.Is jazz piano your thing, à la McCoy Tyner?Your chosen method of learning how to play piano will depend on your aims and the type of music you’d like to learn to play. Your chosen music style will also dictate the difficulty level of instruction.Learning to play variety music tunes  is simpler than learning a classical music score by Shubert or Brahms, because of the focus on plucked chord progressions played by the left hand, for instance. This is a bit of a stereotype, of course: some pieces of classical music are easy to play, and certain variety songs quite complex.There are methods for every style: traditional methods for classical music jazz methods and variety music methods, etc. You can learn all the musical style you desire by working at home and teaching yourself. But they share one major similarity: each method requires motivation in order to learn to play piano.You can play whatever your wish with motivation! But to retain your motivation and overcome challenges that you’ll meet along the way, working with a private music instructor in a piano lesson is your best option.And you won’t regret it! The advantages of piano playing are numerous (in terms of concentration, memory, relaxation, to name but a few). So what are you doing here, your baby grand is waiting!