✍ Scribed by Adam Perlmutter
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Started with Piano
Chapter 1 Preparing to Play a Piano
Knowing Why the Piano Is So Special
Advantages to playing the piano
Advantages to studying music at the piano
A skill and an art
Understanding Why People Take Piano Lessons(And Why They Often Quit)
Getting to Know Your Instrument
Comprehending the Language of Music
Developing an ear for horizontal and vertical music
Getting to know musical forms and styles
Starting to Play the Best Way
Being Aware of What You Already Know about Playing the Piano
Chapter 2 Meeting the Keyboard Family
Looking at the Acoustic Ones
Pianos
Harpsichords
Pipe organs
Identifying the Electric Ones
The nuts and bolts of electronic sound
Synthesizers
Digital keyboards
Chapter 3 Finding the Perfect Keyboard
To Hum or Not to Hum: Electric or Acoustic (Or Both)?
Buying an acoustic
Buying a digital
Buying a hybrid
Picking the Perfect Acoustic Piano
Taking location into account
Getting all the pedals you deserve
Finding good buys (and avoiding scams)
If you’ve heard one, you haven’t heard them all
Looking at some specific piano brands
Selecting a Digital Keyboard That Lasts
Digital pianos and organs
Arrangers
Stage pianos
Workstations
Synthesizers
Avoiding obsolescence
Knowing the digital features you want
Browsing some specific keyboard brands
Other electric keyboards
Before You Drive It Off the Lot: Sealing the Deal at the Store
Taking it for a spin
Loving and leaving it
Refusing to pay the sticker price
Shopping online
The MIDI Places You Can Go
A MIDI primer
Keyboard to computer
Keyboard to keyboard
MIDI and music notation
Chapter 4 Taking Good Care of Your Keyboard
Providing a Good Place to Live
Making It Shine: Cleaning Your Keyboard
Calling In a Pro for General Checkups and Serious Repairs
Tuning acoustic keyboards
Keeping digital keyboards happy
Dealing with serious keyboard problems
Taking the Worry Out of Moving Your Acoustic Piano
Chapter 5 Eighty-Eight Keys, Three Pedals, Ten Fingers, and Two Feet
Finding the Keys, Easy Peasy
The white keys
The black keys
Discovering What Your Parents Never Told You about Posture
To sit or not to sit: That’s the real question
Sitting down: Chairs versus benches
Using stands and racks
Paying Attention to Hand Positioning
Arch those hands and fingers
Fingering
Giving your hands and fingers a rest
Pedal Power: Getting Your Feet in on the Action
Piano pedals
Digital keyboard pedals
Part 2 Deciphering Squiggles on Paper to Create Sound
Chapter 6 Reading Lines and Spaces
Your Guide to a Piano Score
Employing a staff of five lines
Hanging from a clef
Double Your Staff, Double Your Fun
Grand staff and ledger lines
Climbing up the staff and beyond
An octave above, an octave below
Punctuating Music: Bar Lines
Continuing to Read: Don’t Stop
Chapter 7 Joining the Rhythm Nation
Eyeing Tempo: The Beat Goes On
Measuring the beat using tempo
Grouping beats in measures
Serving Some Musical Pie: Basic Note Values
Quarter notes: One piece at a time
Half notes: Half the pie
Whole notes: The whole pie
Counting all the pieces
Faster Rhythms, Same Tempo
Eighth notes
Sixteenth notes and more
Listening for the Sound of Silence: Rests
Whole and half rests
Quarter rests and more
Counting Out Common Time Signatures
Common time: 4/4 meter
Waltz time: 3/4 meter
March time: 2/4 meter
6/8 time
Playing Songs in Familiar Time Signatures
Chapter 8 Changing the Beaten Path
Getting a Jump on the Start: Pickup Beats and Measures
Adding Time to Your Notes with Ties and Dots
Linking notes using ties
Extending notes using dots
Playing Offbeat Rhythms
Triplets love chocolate
Swing and shuffle time
Syncopation
Playing Songs with Challenging Rhythms
Part 3 One Hand at a Time
Chapter 9 Playing a Melody
Let Your Fingers Do the Walking
Getting into the Right Position
C position
G position
Shifting your hand position as you play
Crossing Your Fingers and Hoping It Works
Crossing over your thumb
Passing your thumb under
Playing Melodies in the Right Hand
Chapter 10 Scaling to New Heights
Building a Scale, Step by Step
Stepping Up to the Majors
Understanding major scales
Trying a major scale exercise
Exploring Minor Variations
Natural minor scales
Harmonic minor scales
Melodic minor scales
Trying minor scale exercises
Showing Your Rebellious Side with Blues Scales
Playing Songs Made of Scales
Chapter 11 Hey, Don’t Forget Lefty!
Exploring the Keyboard’s West Side
Moving into position
Getting used to the new neighborhood
Tackling Some Left-Hand Melodies
Practicing Some South-Paw Scales
C, G, and F major
A, E, and D natural minor
A harmonic and melodic minor
Trying Accompaniment Patterns
Three-note patterns
Four-note patterns
Adding the Left Hand to the Right Hand
Sharing the melody in both hands
Melody plus one note
Melody plus three-note accompaniment pattern
Melody in unison octaves
Playing Songs with Both Hands
Part 4 Living in Perfect Harmony
Chapter 12 The Building Blocks of Harmony
Measuring Melodic Intervals
Interval shorthand
Seconds
Thirds
Fourths and fifths
Sixths and sevenths
Octaves
Combining Notes for Harmonic Intervals
Playing two notes together
Adding intervals to the melody
Harmonizing with the left hand
Playing Songs with More Harmony
Chapter 13 Understanding Keys
Homing In on Home Key
A whole ring of keys
Using keys to play music
Reading key signatures
Leaving and returning to the “home” key
Playing Songs with Key Signatures
Chapter 14 Filling Out Your Sound with Chords
Tapping into the Power of Chords
Dissecting the Anatomy of a Triad
Starting Out with Major Chords
Branching Out with Minor Chords
Exploring Other Types of Chords
Tweaking the fifth: Augmented and diminished chords
Waiting for resolution: Suspended chords
Adding the Seventh
Reading Chord Symbols
Playing with Chord Inversions
Putting inversions to work
Flipping the notes fantastic
Playing Songs with Chords
Part 5 Technique Counts for Everything
Chapter 15 Dressing Up Your Music
Playing Dynamically
Starting with basic volume changes
Widening the range
Making gradual shifts in volume
Articulating the Positive
Interpreting articulation symbols
The power of articulation
Controlling the Tempo
Putting the Pedal to the Metal
Using the damper pedal
Getting the hard facts on soft-pedaling
Eyeing the middle pedal
Touching on Grace Notes
Tackling Trilling
Dazzling Your Audience: Gliss
Trembling Tremolos
Dressing Up Your Songs
Chapter 16 Great Grooves
Great Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns
Fixed and broken chords
Chord picking
Octave hammering
Bouncy rock patterns
Melodic bass lines
Applying Great Intros and Finales
The big entrance
Exit, stage left
Playing Songs with Left-Hand Grooves
Chapter 17 Perusing the Aisle of Style
Taking Aim at Classical Music
Playing the Blues
Clues for the blues
12-bar ditties
Changing it up
Rockin’ around the Keys
Rocking ingredients
Slamming and jamming
You’re a Little Bit Country
Country-style cooking
Finger-pickin’ good
Pop! Goes the Piano
Popular picks
Topping the charts
Soul Searching
Saving your soul
Motown sounds
Funky sounds goin’ round
All That Jazz
Jazzing it up
It’s up to you
Substituting chords
Playing Songs in Favorite Styles
Part 6 The Part of Tens
Chapter 18 Ten Ways to Improve Your Practice and Performance
Be Comfortable at All Times
Shut Off the Distractions
Make a Schedule and a List
Get into Deconstruction
Use a Metronome
Rehearse Your Dress Rehearsals
Know Your Performance Piano
If You Memorize . . .
Preempt Post-Performance Syndrome
Smile and Take a Bow
Chapter 19 Ten Ways to Supplement This Book
Working through Method Books
Using Reference Books
Buying Music to Play
Types of printed music
Arrangements and transcriptions
Fake books
Where to buy printed music
Gigging with Others
Piano duets
Chamber groups
Bands
Checking Out the Masters
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludwig van Beethoven
Johannes Brahms
Frederic Chopin
Franz Liszt
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Attending Live Concerts
Listening to Recordings
Perusing record stores
Shopping online
Visiting the library
Exchanging music with friends
Exploring Piano Sites on the Web
Enjoying Pianos on the Big Screen
Realizing You’re Not Alone
Chapter 20 Ten Questions to Ask Prospective Teachers
Whom Else Have You Taught?
How Long Have You Been Teaching and Playing?
How Much Do You Expect Me to Practice?
Would You Mind Playing Something for Me?
What Repertoire Do You Teach?
How Do You Feel about Wrong Notes, Mistakes, and Slow Learners?
What Methods Do You Use to Teach Piano?
Where Will the Lessons Take Place?
How Much Do You Charge?
Do You Have Student Recitals?
Appendix About the Website: Audio Tracks and Video Clips
Index
EULA
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