Learning the piano is all about mastering the instrument in order to create wonderful music. The road to getting there is practice...followed by more practice...and then a bit more. If you are currently learning by following a course of piano online lessons, practice will be an essential weapon in your armoury if you are to successfully master the instrument. This may seem a bit of a chore, but there are a couple of easy practice exercises you can try which may help make it a little more fun.
Firstly, try this. Your fingers are numbered 1 to 5 - with the thumb being number 1. With your right hand, place your thumb on middle C, and play the following pattern on the white keys:
1 2 1 2 1 2 1, 1 3 1 3 1 3 1,1 4 1 4 1 4 1, 1 5 1 5 1 5 1
Play it smoothly, with the notes connected (i.e. legato). Play slowly and carefully at first, and gradually speed up. See how fast you can go.
Now repeat the exercise with your left hand, with your thumb placed at the first C below middle C.
Finally, play the exercise with left and right hand simultaneously. It really helps to loosen up those fingers before tackling a piece of music.
As you progress with your piano online lessons, you would expect to become gradually more accurate in your playing. This second exercise is designed to help you push your accuracy levels up.
Choose a piece of music you want to play right through, without mistakes, from beginning to end. This could be anything from a basic exercise contained in your piano course, or a full song on sheet music - dependent on your level.
Now take 5 playing cards and place them all face down on a flat surface nearby. If you make a mistake (by playing a wrong note, or stepping out of rhythm, for example) turn one card over. Start the piece again, and try to complete it without a mistake - turning a further card over if you do.
Once you can complete the piece within 5 cards, try to do the same again within 4 cards, and so on. Finally, when you can play it straight through accurately with no cards turned over - see if you can play the piece again 2 more times.
Setting yourself targets this way is not only fun, but also builds discipline, as well as accuracy. If you keep putting this type of simple practice in on a regular basis, you will find that you are better prepared to meet new challenges piano online lessons will throw at you. No one should tell you that learning the piano is easy - it requires dedication and no little effort. But the rewards are tremendous, and consistent practice will pay off in the end.
More information
Discover how easy it is to play the piano - online lessons can show you the methods the professionals use to learn. Check out http://www.pianoonlinelessons.info for more information.
