Piano For Dummies®, 3rd Edition
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020938973
ISBN: 978-1-119-70097-5 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-70102-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-70106-4 (ebk)
Welcome to Piano For Dummies, 3rd Edition. Don’t be nervous about wanting to play the piano; it’s just a big, lazy piece of oversized furniture with a bunch of black and white keys on it. By selecting this book, you’re taking the appropriate action to keep your piano from becoming a giant dust collector.
If you’ve never seen or put your hands on a piano or keyboard, no problem. This book starts at the very beginning and walks you through everything you need to know to tame that beast and make it sing sweet music. You’ll also have fun along the way.
Because you’re in possession of a piano or keyboard or you have access to one, you may need this book to figure out how to play it. Or you may want to study how to read music. Maybe you already know how to play and you just want to improve your playing skills or develop your style. Could be you’re interested in knowing more about pianos and their performers. Or you may need some help buying a keyboard or finding a teacher. For any of these reasons, this is the book for you.
You can use Piano For Dummies, 3rd Edition, as a teaching aid or just as a reference book. Even if you already know how to play music, you may run across some new tricks or techniques in these pages. If you read every page of this book and set about to play the examples and listen to the audio tracks and watch the video clips at www.dummies.com/go/piano
, you’ll be able to read piano music; know the names of notes, scales, and chords; understand a lot about different musical styles; and in general get a solid handle on some fundamental piano skills.
If you have a few specific questions about playing piano or want to go directly to something you’ve been dying to know, you’ll find the part titles, chapter titles, and section headings practical and helpful. They make it easy to maneuver through the book and find what you’re looking for.
Note: Truth be told, reading music and coordinating your hands and fingers to play musically on the piano are skills not learned in a day. It takes a bit of time and dedication. Although you may have seen or heard about methods to play the piano without reading music, this book isn’t one of them. Piano For Dummies, 3rd Edition, follows the tried-and-true method of teaching the basics of reading notes and rhythms from the get-go. And this book aims to do all that in a simple and fun way.
Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.
In writing this book, I made a few assumptions about you, the reader:
If any of these assumptions is true for you, you’re reading the right book.
As you go through the chapters of this book, you’ll find the following friendly icons designed to draw your attention to different bits of information, from helpful guidance to pleasant diversions.
In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some online goodies. Check out the eCheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/piano
for common musical symbols, piano fingerings, and the names of the piano keys.
You can also find several other tidbits of information online about rhythm, mode, and arpeggios. Go to www.dummies.com/extras/piano
to read them.
You can view and listen to various techniques and songs that I discuss throughout the book. Go to www.dummies.com/go/piano
to download the audio tracks and video clips. You can also discover a list of ten additional tips for making the most of your practice sessions at this same site. When prompted, enter the username of pianofordummies and the password of wiley.
If you don’t know much about the piano as an instrument, start with Part 1 and get to know the different types of pianos. Pianos are a wonder of the world.
If you’re thinking about buying a piano or keyboard, turn to Chapters 3 and 4. They’ll leave you feeling so much more prepared for the tasks of shopping and buying.
Check out the guide to reading music at the beginning of Chapter 6 and test yourself by trying to identify the elements of music notation on a page of piano music. (Don’t worry, there’s a key that tells you where to look for a reminder or an explanation of each element.)
Go through Chapters 7 and 8, which cover rhythms. Reading and responding to rhythm smoothly are huge components of reading music. If you can get your rhythm down, it will make all the other elements come together much more easily.
If you already know how to read music, try Parts 3 and 4 for some scales, melodies, chords, and more that fit your taste and technique. Skip around and play fun songs while you expand your knowledge. If you have trouble playing something, backtrack to where you can brush up on a particular technique.
To get an idea of the music you play as you work through this book, check out the audio tracks and video clips on the accompanying website (www.dummies.com/go/piano
) and enter the username (pianofordummies) and password (wiley). Use the audio track table at the back of the book to direct you to the written music.
Part 1
IN THIS PART …
Find out what makes playing the piano so satisfying and what elements come together to make beautiful piano music (you’re probably aware of some without even knowing it). Also check out some tips that will make your piano-playing journey a smooth one.
Take a tour inside the piano and meet the extended family of keyboard instruments. Get the lowdown on the two major players in the keyboard arena — acoustic and electric pianos — along with an introduction to the organ and the harpsichord.
Gather advice for finding and purchasing a piano or keyboard, getting one that’s not only right for you now and but will also allow you room to grow as a musician.
Keep your instrument — be it a traditional piano or a digital instrument — clean, in tune, and in perfect working order.
Get to know the keyboard, what makes it tick, where to put your hands and feet, and what all those keys are for.