For an adult, busting the age old myths and embarking on a new musical journey can be quite adventurous and exciting at the same time! Since acquiring piano skills is a long-term goal, it is difficult to accomplish without a certain degree of commitment.
However, if you have that motivation in you, coupled with a deep love for music, then nothing in this world can prevent you from fulfilling your desire of becoming a successful pianist.
The following strategies can provide you with a wholesome learning experience and optimize your progress as you start learning piano, well into adulthood:
Begin by investing in the right musical products
Once you have decided that you are really serious about learning piano, a reliable and affordable instrument would be a bare necessity for getting started. Even though a vast majority of players tend to press the button for a traditional piano primarily because of the sound quality, as a beginner you can always settle for an acoustic piano, or a digital keyboard accompanied by a pedal.
In addition to this, you might also consider investing in the following equipment for your benefit:
- Headphones for steering clear of distractive sounds and maintaining peace in your immediate surroundings.
- A metronome for aiding you regarding the tempo of the music.
- Piano lesson videos and DVDs for self-help during your practice sessions at home.
- A planner for keeping track of your lesson dates, as well as practice schedules.
Developing a keen ear for music
This is something which certainly cannot be accomplished overnight, but if you dream of becoming a skilled pianist, you would be required to put in a prolific deal of effort in enhancing this subtle, yet extremely powerful quality of a talented musician. Since developing a musical ear is as crucial as developing your music reading skills, you simply cannot afford to compromise on either. Instead, attempt to strike a balance between these two aspects, under the supervision of an experienced teacher.
Work on increasing your exposure to fantastic music by regularly attending concerts, recordings, and listening to the radio. This turns out to be a tremendously enriching experience, as you get acquainted with a plethora of playing styles, genres, music composers, and pianists!
Concentrating on the fundamental skills for building a stable foundation
The first and foremost task of every beginner would be to strive for getting the basics correct. During the initial phases, your piano lessons would revolve around learning fingering techniques, proper positioning of hands, and developing musical note reading skills, along with a good sense of rhythm. These fundamentals are absolutely indispensable for solidifying your foundation, irrespective of the style of music that you choose to play.
Seeking the assistance of a professional coach can accelerate your progress
Since piano playing involves a combination of highly specialized cognitive and motor skills, a personal instructor is highly recommended for providing you with a mental boost, clarification of all your doubts, ruling out the risk of acquiring wrong playing habits, and speeding up your rate of progress. These services can never be offered by online piano tutorials or learning software.
Practice is the ultimate key to perfection
No matter how busy you are, you must ensure that you get to practice for at least a few minutes, every alternate day of the week. If you allocate 45 minutes a day for piano practice, splitting it into three 15 minute long sessions can increase your efficiency, and keep your concentration level at its peak. Regular practice sessions of a shorter duration are far more beneficial than hour-long practice sessions for only one or two days a week.
Improving your sense of rhythm by playing duets with your piano instructor
By engaging in fun-filled duets with more advanced pianists, you can easily conquer new dimensions of playing! Playing duets with your instructor can be a fantastic way of enhancing your note reading skills and improving your rhythm.
Pep up your learning sessions with musical pieces of your choice
Take some time for shortlisting a few musical pieces, which you find extremely appealing. Try breaking the monotony of learning pieces from a tutor book, by requesting your teacher to accommodate the songs of your choice in your piano lessons. On arousing your interest, these pieces help in making the learning process quicker, and a lot more enjoyable! Depending on your unique preferences, you can exclusively stick to classical, jazz or blues, and look for a guide with expertise in your selected domain.
Focusing on improvisation techniques for a more rewarding experience
Be steady and patient in your approach, and learn to set realistic, achievable targets in order to avoid unnecessary frustration or disorientation. Experiment with chords and scales, and keep a sharp eye for spotting harmonies and patterns.
Improvisation techniques are not only genuine and obvious fun but also play a vital role in helping you figure out the building blocks, as you learn to assimilate groups of musical notes in chord patterns and scales. It is also essential to identify your problem areas, get those rectified with corrective measures learned from an expert, and follow it up with repeated practice.
Piano lessons for adult beginners can be a very interesting affair since they have more options to choose from, such as chord-based learning methods which can be mastered in a remarkably shorter span of time. Adults also enjoy a lot of flexibility with respect to lesson content and schedules.
Featured Image: Image Credit
Learning how to play piano by playing our songs. Can ya guess what song it is? pic.twitter.com/1sOwRczxO0
— Calum Hood (@Kalum5SOS_) December 14, 2016
Here are some great ways to tell someone they are talented.
For example: “Diego was born to play the piano.” #vocab #idioms #talent #ELT pic.twitter.com/T560Pkzs2D— BBC Learning English (@bbcle) December 13, 2016
Related Articles:
9 Helpful Tips for Teaching Adult Music Students
The beauty of teaching adult music students is no one is forcing them to take lessons. Unlike kids, their parents aren’t requiring it, or breathing down their necks to practice. (At least we hope not!)
Eager to learn and challenge themselves, adult students can be a true pleasure to teach.
Much of the advice below applies to students of any age, but may resonate in particular with preparing and managing expectations for your adult music students.
1. Be flexible and patient.
Adults have very real, high-stake responsibilities that can keep them from practicing or attending lessons regularly. For this reason, leniency is a must.
Acknowledging this in advance can help manage your—and your student’s— expectations for how quickly they progress. Via Piano Power
The beauty of teaching adult music students is no one is forcing them to take lessons. Unlike kids, their parents aren’t requiring it, or breathing down their necks to practice. (At least we hope not!)
Best Way to Learn Piano for Adults
Some adults may be thinking right now that they won’t be able to play the piano in their entire life. However, they can’t be farther from the truth. It is never too late to learn to play the piano even for adults. As long as they know the best way to learn piano, then they should be able to play the said musical instrument with practice.
If you are interested in adult piano lessons in New York City, then you have to get an idea on how you should go about it. What is the best way for you to learn piano as an adult? Here are some of the best tips that you can go by for you to learn how to play the piano even when you are already an adult. Via Bob Song Music
Some adults may be thinking right now that they won’t be able to play the piano in their entire life. However, they can’t be farther from the truth. It is never too late to learn to play the piano even for adults. As long as they know the best way to learn piano, then they should be able to play the said musical instrument with practice.
How to learn adult piano lessons
Quite often many of the adult piano students are heard saying that they wish they had learned to play piano earlier during their childhood. Many of them fail to learn piano and give up just because they believe that they are too old to learn to play piano. Although it is not true and there is no definite age limit for learning music or any other instrument. Even when you learn piano as an adult, you will more often find it much rewarding than learning it at an age where you are not mature enough to understand the technicalities related to this musical instrument. Adults do have a lot of advantages when they learn piano at a mature age in comparison to learning piano in childhood. Via Best Digital Piano Guides
Quite often many of the adult piano students are heard saying that they wish they had learned to play piano earlier during their childhood. Many of them fail to learn piano and give up just because they believe that they are too old to learn to play piano. Although it is not true and there is no definite age limit for learning music or any other instrument. Even when you learn piano as an adult, you will more often find it much rewarding than learning it at an age where you are not mature enough to understand the technicalities related to this musical instrument. Adults do have a lot of advantages when they learn piano at a mature age in comparison to learning piano in childhood.