How Learning to Play the Piano Impacted My Life

Posted on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 in Related Music

Have you often dreamed of playing the piano, but feel it is a dream out of your reach? I was exactly like you before I stumbled upon some basic piano lessons which totally transformed my view. Not only did I learn to play the piano, but it had a true impact on my life.

Right from my very first lesson, the way I viewed the piano changed. I realized suddenly that the keys on the piano make a pattern and that pattern allows the keys to be separated into sections. When you break the piano down in such a manner it suddenly doesn’t seem so daunting or confusing. I never realized that the keys could be looked at individually rather than as a collective group.

With those first lessons, I was able to start practicing the basic principles of piano playing. I started clapping out rhythms, writing and playing individual notes, and eventually I was tapping out simple melodies. Each lessons taught me something new and I would practice over and over, later on testing myself on each new skill to see how far I had advanced.

I always thought learning the piano was a slow process because that is how children are often taught, but I discovered that moving at my own pace I could advance quite rapidly. That satisfied me enough to make room in my daily life for regular practice sessions. I found wiggle room in my work and home schedule to make this happen.

There came a time when I wanted to play music that was easy for me - music that I recognized rather than what I was writing out in my exercises. So, I went to the music store and bought two books. I chose an Easy Piano Book and a Fake Book, just as the lessons had suggested.

I went through the Easy Piano Book, learning to sight read without too much difficulty. That was when I began playing songs I had heard all my life. This particular Easy Piano Book was based on Broadway musicals. I knew most of the songs already, so it was great to be able to play them.

The Fake Book, on the other hand, was full of modern pop songs. I had read through the lessons and found out how to use a Fake Book, so I quickly began. I did not know all the chords, so I looked up the new ones before I tried to play each song.

Eventually, I found myself playing songs directly from the radio and my friends would have a blast singing along with me. Finally, I was playing real songs that I loved to sing and was creating a fun time for my friends.

Now that I know the basics of the piano I am a much happier person. I set out to learn something new and I accomplished it much faster than I imagined it would be possible. I will never be a professional performer and I am definitely not an expert on the piano, but I am a very content player who has taught herself something quite remarkable.