Progress
It has been a great week of progress. I decided to learn the song "Ode to Joy," and started on the right hand, or melody. I have noticed that I was inclined to use both hands while attempting to complete it. I forced myself to only use my right hand, because I know that later on the chords or accompaniment will be played with the left hand. At first, I burned into my mind the first half of the melody. Slowly but surely, I built on that. Practice means perfect, and after hours of practice and watching tutorials, I was able to successfully play the melody to "Ode to Joy." I then commenced on mastering it. My goal was to play the melody to "Ode to Joy" blindfolded, and I did that. It took hours of practice and repetition, but I can now say positively that I have mastered it. Below is a video of that progress.
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Learning
After mastering the melody, I started on the left hand, or accompaniment. So far, I have really been struggling in getting this part down. Not only is it using my non-dominant hand, but memorizing multiple keys at once. For example, the "A7" chord requires four keys to be played at once. To help me switch between these keys, I have been taught to keep my hand in the root position. While keeping my thumb on the same key, I can switch between the A7 and D chord with much more ease.
Root position: the lowest note is the root (hence the name), but
other notes are the lowest in other inversions of the chord.
I have to invert my notes, because I am using a shrunken keyboard. The sounds are the same, but they are played in a different way.
I have to invert my notes, because I am using a shrunken keyboard. The sounds are the same, but they are played in a different way.
I have also color coded the keys. Blue is the A7 chord, and Pink is the D chord. Once I memorize these, I can move on to the two other chords that need to be memorized. Eventually, I will pair the chords and melody to play the full song.
Wow, playing piano blindfolded is really impressive. It seems like you're trying to learn songs off of your hearing. This is extremely hard, I would recommend that you get a piano book to learn some basic songs. One advantage I have found from playing from these basic books is that most people don't know the songs, so your audience doesn't know when you mess up. Also playing the piano is easier if you can read notes, and play the notes you are reading.
ReplyDeleteThat's super cool that you can now play a song blindfolded! I also think that you may want a piano book if you don't already have one, but you also seem very organized with the post-it notes and all, so I think you're on a good track. Back when I used to play piano, I used to pick an order of songs to learn based on key, so that you become familiar and can play multiple songs before you move to a new key. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered how hard it was to play with both hands. I don't think I have that coordination with both hands at once. Great job with the blindfold. We got the next Mozart here!
ReplyDeleteWhoa, I don't think I can play Ode to Joy blindfolded and I've played piano for some years now! My piano teacher always stressed the idea of trying to NOT look at your hands, because this exercises your ear more.
ReplyDeleteI think that if you are indeed looking to get a piano book, John Thompson books are great for beginners. If you don't possess one and don't want to buy one, I'm sure anyone in our class who's ever played piano can probably lend you one. Video tutorials are working really well, evidently, but reading off a book allows you go at your own pace more (in my opinion).
I'm excited to see your progress!