How to learn to play the piano? This question is often asked by children aged about 7 years and older, as well as adults of all ages. Of course, they ask those who did not study music. Those who have an idea of ​​the learning process do not ask this question, understanding: without a teacher, the task of mastering the piano has no solution.
The author of this article has been teaching piano for 36 years. The material presented here is based on this experience.
The main answer to the question - how to learn to play the piano yourself, in our full and deep conviction, looks disappointing. You cannot learn without a mentor, and you should not even try.
On the Internet you can find a huge amount of training materials that contradict this statement. Beginning self-taught people who are not familiar with the essence of the matter argue something like this: “There are enough materials, advertising promises success. How to quickly learn to play the piano? If you follow the instructions exactly, fast enough. ”
Who is right: professional teachers who deny the possibility of independent learning or popularizers who insist on its availability?
A small analysis of the problem will help to formulate the correct answer.
At the initial stage of training, the following goals should be pursued:
- learn musical notation, as well as recording meter and rhythm. The level of proficiency should be sufficient for independent analysis of notes and the performance of one-voice melodies (with each hand separately and with two hands);
- to master the initial skills of setting hands, without which the control of movements is simply impossible;
- learn to select melodies from different notes by ear;
- independently read notes, disassemble and learn some of the most common chord sequences (mainly for the left hand);
- learn to pick them from different notes by ear;
- learn to choose the right chord sequence for any melody.
Among these goals, the main ones are those that help to master the game by ear. The next most important goal is independent reading and analysis of music by notes.
Consider the requirements for training programs aimed at achieving these goals.
When teaching musical notation, the most difficult question is the understanding of the material by the student. The presence of such an understanding would be indicated by the ability to correctly play the melody on the notes, and then sing it. The training program should be able to control these two processes. Today, such products do not exist. But in abundance you can find programs that show the keyboard with the "magic" keys - they seem to be "pressed themselves."
Allegedly answering the question of how to learn to play the piano, such programs bring great harm to the student. Firstly, they do not show the participation of hands in the performing process. Secondly, in the absence of reference points separating melody and accompaniment (and such a reference would undoubtedly be a musical notation), the student must reproduce poorly ordered presses instead of an organized musical fabric. Thirdly, such programs are not connected to a real piano keyboard, and motor skills to transfer the “magic picture” to a real instrument are simply not developed.
There are many videos that demonstrate the technique of a pianist: landing behind an instrument, setting hands. However, most of these videos have made a critical mistake. The video aspect is selected from above or in front, from which it is impossible to understand how to put the brush and fingers correctly. Shooting should be done from the side, alternately left or right of the teacher’s hands, in a plane parallel to the keyboard.
In addition, when setting hands, there are literally hundreds of nuances and recommendations that no program can track. Needless to say, book descriptions of piano technique: learning from them is unrealistic.
The selection of melodies by ear is the most important stage in the development of musical ability to distinguish sound pitch. Without this ability, the student has nothing to do in music. Existing programs can only monitor whether the key is pressed correctly, but are not able to “understand” whether the sound is heard correctly.
Chord sequences can indeed be learned from the pattern given in a computer program. But as soon as the task is set to reproduce the sequence from different notes, the student is lost: the program cannot show him this.
Only a teacher can help in such a difficult matter as selecting chords from different notes.
The same goes for an even more difficult task - the selection of chords for the melody.
The student must try many options that the teacher is able to instantly appreciate.
The analysis shows how important the teacher’s role is in mastering the piano.
However, there is a purely “amateur” version of the training, where the goal is not to master the instrument, but the ability to play a small number of simple plays. Upon reaching the result, students believe that they answered the question - how to learn how to play the piano. From our point of view, such a solution is equally far from both musical culture and the culture of the pedagogical process.