Mikes Music Room – Music Articles

Before selecting piano learning software, you have to check through a few things to ascertain that you are certainly purchasing the best one in the market. The world of the internet is filled with thousands and thousands of sites which sell good, competitively priced piano learning software belonging to various makes and covering all types of difficulty levels – from beginners, to intermediate to advanced.

You must select piano learning software that meets your target goal. For e.g. if you are just starting off, you have to settle for a beginners software that will teach you the basics and fundamentals of how to play a piano, how to read music from printed score, basic notations, scales, identification of tones by listening to music, playing by the ear, trills and drills, some interesting finger exercises which will improve the flexibility of your fingers and such things.

Advanced learners’ similarly should select a piano learning software that is geared towards teaching advanced tricks and skills to a student who has already mastered the basic skills and is moving towards becoming a pro. You must check to see that whatever level of piano learning software you choose, it should contain assessment and evaluation tests at the end of each lesson or each chapter to test the depth of your knowledge and skill. Sometimes these tests are given in the form of quizzes to make it more enjoyable.

Any piano learner will lose his or her enthusiasm in a few days if the lesson contained in the piano learning software is boring. The lessons, whether 16 or 60 or 223, must be peppy, interesting, written in a lucid and simple style which can be followed easily and comprehended without any hassle. It should offer exhaustive practice across a broad range of genres to familiarize you with the different genres and categories like classical western, country, jazz, retro, pop etc and so that you turn out to be an accomplished piano player.

Read my comprehensive reviews of the very best Piano Learning Software the internet has to offer.

About The Author
Mike Shaw
Mikes Music Room

Tags: finger exercises, fingers, How To Read Music, learning software, piano player, quizzes, Scales

As a piano player, there are various ways that you can learn new songs. You can use sheet music or you can use piano tablature. If you want to learn a new song quickly, the best way is to use piano tabs. This article will give you a simple introduction to piano tablature.

Piano tablature is a system of musical notation that uses letters and numbers. Letters that are lowercase denote the white keys, while uppercase letters denote the black keys.

The numbers used in piano tablature are used to denote the octave of the note. All octaves begin on the key of C. Octave 4 is used to indicate the middle C, which is the C that sits in the middle of the piano.

Now that you know the basic system of piano tablature, let’s use it to write out the notes of the D major scale. The D major scale consists of the notes D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D. In piano tablature, this would be d2-e2-F2-g2-a2-b2-C3-d3.

For the next example, we will write out the notes of the F major scale using piano tablature. In case you don’t already know, the F major scale consists of the notes F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F. Using the piano tab system, this would be written as f2-g2-a2-A2-c3-d3-e3-f3.

For our last example, we will use piano tablature to write out the notes of the Eb major scale. The Eb major scale consists of the notes Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C-D-Eb. In piano tablature, this would be D2-f2-g2-G2-A2-c3-d3-D3. This system is very simple once you become familiar with it.

Piano tablature is a great way to learn new songs quickly. There are many sites on the internet that use this system of musical notation. Some of these sites have an extremely large archive of piano tabs. Now that you know how to read piano tablature, you can use them to learn your favorite songs very easily.

If you would like to receive six free piano lessons, make sure you stop by http://www.supreme-piano.com today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D_Swain

Tags: middle c, musical notation, octave 4, octaves, piano player, piano tablature, piano tabs, tablature piano

There are dozens of piano scales in music. There are major, minor, pentatonic and a whole lot more. There are four important piano scales that every piano player should learn. This article will tell you what those scales are and how to play them.

Half Steps/Whole Steps

To learn how to play piano scales, you must first understand half and whole steps. A half-step is the distance from one note to the very next note. For example, the distance between E and F is a half step. The distance from F to F# is a half step. A whole step is simply two half steps combined. The distances from C to D and G to A are whole steps. In learning how to play the scales, we will refer to half steps with an H and whole steps will be referred to as a W.

Major

Major piano scales are the most common type of scales used in Western music. To play a major scale, you simply start on the root note and use the following formula: W-W-H-W-W-W-H. Using this formula, you will find that the notes of the C major scale are C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. The notes of the F major scale are F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F. You can use this formula to find the major scale of any key.

Natural Minor

Natural minor scales are also the most commonly used piano scales. To play a natural minor scale, you start on the root note and use the formula: W-H-W-W-H-W-W. Using this formula, you will see that the notes of the C natural minor scale are C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C. The notes of the F natural minor scale are F-G-Ab-Bb-C-Db-Eb-F.

Melodic Minor

The next set of piano scales to learn is the melodic minor scales. To play a melodic minor scale, you begin on the root note and use the following formula: W-H-W-W-W-W-H. By using the formula, you will see that the notes of the C melodic minor scale are C-D-Eb-F-G-A-B-C. The notes that make up the F melodic minor scale are F-G-Ab-Bb-C-D-E-F.

Harmonic Minor

The last set of piano scales that everyone should know is the harmonic minor scale. The only difference between the harmonic minor and the melodic minor scale is the sixth note. Instead of going up 1 whole step from the fifth note, you are supposed to go up 1 1/2 whole steps (3 half steps). Therefore, the notes that make up the C harmonic minor scale are C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-B-C. The F harmonic minor scale is made up of F-G-Ab-Bb-C-Db-E-F.

These are the most important piano scales to learn. You should pick a key and learn all four scales before moving on to the next key. Soon, you will be able to play all of the piano scales quickly and easily.

If you want to receive six free piano lessons, make sure you stop by http://www.supreme-piano.com today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D_Swain

Tags: c major scale, distances, eb, half steps, harmonic minor scale, major scales, melodic minor scales, minor pentatonic, piano music, piano player, piano scales, root note, whole steps