How to Play Piano: Everything You Need to Know to Play the Piano

by Roger Evans

Overview

Learning to play the piano has never been easier. With easy-to-follow illustrations and fun practice pieces, this comprehensive step-by-step guide will have students well on your way to playing the music of your choice-even if they've never played a musical instrument. How to Play Piano covers basics like:

- Choosing the right piano
- Reading music
- Positioning fingers properly
- Playing chords and runs of notes
- Developing effective practice techniques and much more
- Practice pieces range from "Ode to Joy" and "Yellow Rose of Texas" to "Yankee Doodle," making learning simple, fast and enjoyable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312287085
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/10/2001
Series:	How to Play
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	116
Sales rank:	1,130,360
Product dimensions:	7.32(w) x 9.13(h) x 0.34(d)

About the Author

Roger Evans has helped nearly half a million readers learn to play an instrument on their own. His other books include How to Play Guitar and How to Play Keyboards.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	7
	About the Piano	8
	How a piano works	10
	Checking your piano	12
	Having your piano tuned	13
	Finding a good piano tuner	13
	Taking care of your piano	14
	The best place for your piano	16
	Moving a piano	16
	Buying a piano	17
	Starting to play	23
	Playing with a beat	27
	Starting to play tunes	28
	Playing with all your fingers	31
	Training your fingers	32
	How to practise	35
	Starting to read music	36
	Starting to play chords	43
	More about music
	Time Signatures	46
	Dotted Notes	46
	Tied Notes and Slurs	47
	More interesting left-hand parts	48
	Rests	54
	More notes to play	56
	Are you playing correctly?	57
	Notes for both hands	58
	More advanced music
	Eighth Notes and Sixteenth Notes	62
	Dotted Quarter Notes and Eighth Notes	62
	Eighth Note and Sixteenth Note Rests	63
	Playing runs of notes	70
	Notes on the Black Keys
	Sharps ([musicl sharp])	76
	Flats ([muscial flat])	80
	Natural Signs ([musical natural])	81
	Music in different Keys
	Key Signatures	86
	How to become a better pianist	96
	Learning to play new music	99
	How to read Sheet Music	100
	Playing to an audience	102
	Note Directory	103
	Music in this book	104

Editorial Reviews

...the book for people who really want to learn, for people who are not afraid of starting right from scratch...

Jazz Now