Lesson 2: Playing Melodies

Lesson 2: Playing Melodies

This lesson is only for those who cannot read the notes on the vocal lines of songs. If you can read those notes, skip this lesson and go right to the next.

Lesson 2.1: The Notes on the Staff

Vocal lines of songs are almost always written in the treble clef, sometimes called the G clef looks like this:

(Piano parts for the right hand are also usually written in this clef because the right hand plays higher notes than the left hand, and the treble clef conveniently designates the notes produced by the upper half of the keyboard.)

Clefs are the first symbols to appear on the musical staff, the staff being name for the five line and four spaces on which notes are written. The names for the notes that fill the spaces of the treble clef's staff spell the word "face":

The names for the notes on the lines result in an unpronounceable acronym, so various phrases have been used to serve as reminders. Every Good Boy Does Fine is the one I grew up with, and so I recommend it to you. You won't have to think about that phrase every time you see a note on a line because recognition will soon become automatic.

As you can see, the first space on the staff represents the note F. Which F? The keyboard has seven F's but the first space on the treble clef stands for the first F above middle C.

For the diagram above, you can see how the printed notes on the lines and spaces follow the piano keyboard. Also, the diagram shows how we can extend the lines and spaces both above and below the regular five-line staff in order to indicate notes that are higher and lower on the piano. Where we need a line we simply draw a small one, as in the case of middle C or the second A above middle C. Those extra lines are called leger lines.

Almost all the melodies you will be playing will fall between middle C and second F above it:

The reason is simply that the notes within that range are not only easy to read, but also best for the average human voice.

Lesson 1.2: Intervals

INTERVALS:

You know the names of all the keys on the piano. But here is one more thing you should know about the intervals, or distances, between the keys: All adjacent are considered to be one half-step (or semi-tone or half-tone) apart. In other words, the interval between C and C# is a half-step, just as the interval between E and F is a half-step. The fact that C and C# are a white and a black key while E and F are both white has no relevance in measuring intervals: Adjacent keys of any color are a half-step apart.


Similarly, the interval between C and D is a whole step (or whole tone), as is the interval between E and F#. From D to F is an interval of a tone and a half; the keys D and F# are two tones apart as are the keys C and E, and so on.


The concepts of intervals is something you should know about but not something you will have to keep in forefront of your consciousness. By understanding intervals, you will understand the logic of how the various chords are formed. But in order to play chords, you won't need to count intervals- you'll play them by sight.

Just as quickly as you can find middle C you will be able to strike a C chord, for example. That will become clear to you within a very few pages.

In closing this lesson, I would like to point out an interesting fact. If for some reason you were to stop reading this book right now and I didn't see a piano for the next ten years, I would be willing to bet anything that you would be able to name every note on the keyboard. All that you have learned up to now would be fresh in your mind.

So you see, learning to play the piano is not difficult. It is made up of many simple bits of information, once learned never forgotten.

How To Play Popular Piano In 10 Easy Lessons

Lesson 1: The Piano Keyboard

It would be helpful for you to know something about the construction of the piano keyboard, so I am going to assume you are seated in front of piano and don't know one note from another.

That is what you are looking at:

LESSON 1.1: BLACK KEYS AND WHITE KEYS:

The keyboard is a combination of black keys and white keys, the black ones forming a pattern of twos and threes, or twins and triplets, we might say. The pattern makes it easy for us to spot the various notes. For example, the white key immediately to the left of the twins in C and, following the sequence of the alphabet, the white one immediately to left of the triplets is F.

The standard keyboard has eight C's. The one in the middle (fourth one up from left) is called "middle C." You need only know the first seven letters of the alphabet to name the white keys, as you can see from the example above.

Although the piano keyboard looks quite large, it consists of a series of duplications. The same notes keep repeating themselves as you go from one end of piano to the other. The five different black keys and seven different white ones constitute all the twelve tones that have been used for centuries in the music of Western civilization as the basis for all the melodies and harmonies of all the symphonies and songs that you hear. Twelve different tones- that' all- and you can play anything by Batch, Beethoven or the Beatles.

Incidentally, none of this technical information is about the construction of piano keyboard is anything you will have to memorize or keep in mind while you are playing . It is only for your background information, but well worth a few paragraphs because it will put a lot of other important information in perspective for you. For example, if you were a foreigner inquiring about how to get from New York to Florida, my telling you about the difference in climate between the two states would not help you get there; but it would be useful to know that you shouldn't bother bringing a fur-lined overcoat with you. Similarly, knowing something about the mechanics of music will help you make subconcious judgement about the options you may have at any given time.

When referring to the keyboard, "up" means to the right, "down" means to the left.

If you are near a piano as you read this, you might try playing the twelve notes beginning with middle C, going from left to right or vice versa. You will notice that there is no difference between the sounds made by the white keys compared to the black keys. By this I mean that if you were to close your eyes and a friend were to play various notes, you would not be able to tell which were the result of black or white keys being struck (unless you had absolute pitch, meaning that you would know exactly which notes were being sounded). Therefore, you might well ask why we need black keys as well as white.

There are basically two reasons. If the piano consisted of all white keys, it would be half-again as wide. That's because the black keys are fitted between the white ones in such a way as not to take up any additional space. Imagine trying to fit a standard eighty-eight-key piano into your living room if it consisted only of standard-size white keys! And even if your living room could accommodate so wide a piano, imagine yourself trying to play it from one end to the other without a sliding stool!

The second reason for space-saving black keys is that it makes it possible for the average-size hand to stretch an octave; that is, from one C to the next one above, or one D to the next above. The interval of an octave is very important, since it enables you to double a particular tone. After learning to play melodies using one finger at a time with your right hand, you may find it much richer-sounding in some instances to play the melody in octaves. Also, within the comfortable span of the octave (which you usually play with your thumb and pinky) any of the eleven other tones at playable in between. This allows you to add one or more other tones that may be in keeping with the particular harmony of the tune. In discussing this now, I admit that I'm jumping ahead a bit. Therefore, if you don't quite understand the implications of adding harmonies with octaves, please don't be discouraged. All will become clear to you before you reach the end of this book.

At this point all you need to know are the designations of the white keys- C, D, E, etc. An excercise you might try is to strike white keys at random and see how quickly you can name them. You will be surprised at how soon recognition of the notes will become second nature to you.

Now we are ready to name the black keys. These actually take their names from their neighbouring white ones. For example, let's look at the "twins."

The first black key with the arrow pointing to it is between C and D. Therefore, it will take its name from the C or D on either side. Since it is higher in pitch than the white C (sharper, you might say), it can be called "C sharp." The symbol for a sharp is #, and so instead of spelling out the world, we simply write C#. On the other hand, the same black key in the example above is lower in pitch than its neighbouring D (flatter, you might say) and so it may be called "D flat," which is written as Db.

The second arrow in the illustration above points a further example of how a black note derives its designation from its surronding neighbours. In this case we are looking at the black key between D and E, which therefore may be called D# or Eb. The reason why we might choose one designation instead of the other is explained in the lesson five.

For the time being, learn to call black keys by either name, so that if I were to ask you to play C# or Db or Eb, you would have no hesitation in finding the key. Similarly, the black key between the white F and G may be called F# or Gb. The black keys, therefore, are:

The principle behind the above designations is this: To sharp any note simply play the note immediately to its right; to flat any note, play the note immediately to its left. Therefore, if you were to be asked to play E#, what would you play? Answer: the white F. What would Cb be? Answer: the white B. In popular music for the piano, however, you will probably never encounter a Cb or a B#. Instead you will see a B or Cb or a C for B# because it's much more direct. However, you should understand the principle involved in creating sharps and flats.

While on the subjects of sharps and flats, you should know there is such a thing as a double sharp and a double flat. The symbol for the first is x, not ##, although bb is the symbol for the latter. An F double sharp (Fx) is simply the note G. The rationale is that you are taking F# (a single sharp) and sharping it once again by moving up another half-step. Similarly, E double flat (Ebb) is the note D. Now that you know this, file and forget it. The double sharp and double flat are almost never used in popular music, but atleast you won't be shocked if you do see either of these symbols.

Once again I suggest that you try a simple excercise at the piano. Hit the black keys at random and see if you can name them quickly. At first, try thinking of them as sharps; then refer to them by their flat names. If it takes time for you to figure out the designations, don't be discouraged. When you start to play melodies, you will find that you have ample time to figure out the name of one note before playing another. Most melodies are very slow. For example, hum the first four notes of Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm," which is a fast song, relatively speaking. With your fingers, tap the four beats of those notes and you'll observe how surprisingly slow they seem to be in relation to how fast they sound when played by a band. That's because a band might include a drummer whose rat-tat-tat creates a illusion of speed that the melody alone doesn't actually have. Further, if the band also included violins playing tremolos, and clarinets playing high trills, the melody would appear to be going a hundred miles an hour. Now, here's a beautiful part: When you sit down at the piano and play the melody at two miles an hour, it will not be heard that way by you or anyone listening to you. Your ears will subconsciously hear all the fast orchestrations that have become associated with that song and it will sound like you are playing the notes much more quickly. (I resisted saying that you are playing at the speed of sound!)

The reason I've pointed out that tempo or speed is an illusion is that so much more of music performance is illusory. Too many people have been frightened away from trying to play because of the illusion rather than the reality. Piano playing can look and sound so much harder than it really is, just as a magic trick can appear to be impossible until you learn the surprisingly simple explanation.

How To Learn Playing Drum ?

This is the basic information for beginners in which they will come to know how to play drum. In this lesson you'll learn to speed quickly by laying down a basic beat. You can also learn playing drum without a drum set.
It is a favour for beginning drum students that they can start learning before purchasing their instrument or seeking out a practice space that already has one.
So if you don't have a drum set, you'll be playing drum with your hands and feet on a table and the ground. This practice won't make you a complete drummer, as there are a lot of basic lessons in using drumsticks and pedals, but it goes a long way at the start.
In the following short beginner drum lessons you are going to tap your right hand to simulate a hi-hat, your left hand to simulate a snare, and your right foot to simulate a bass drum. If you're left handed you may switch left and right. Also, if you do have a drum set and are looking for your very first drum beat lesson, just follow what's written here on your set.
Now, let's start with your first beginner drum lesson. Sit down comfortably, preferably at a desk or a counter-top, and start tapping continuously with your right hand. Now, start counting mentally or out loud as you tap "one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four...", where each number gets a tap. You don't have to keep counting, but for now at least keep in mind that we're going to do things in cycles of four.
Next, let's bring the snare drum in. For every count of three, tap your left hand. When you tap your left hand, tap it a bit harder than the right. You can also tap with the left hand finger nails, which make a sound more similar to a snare drum.
Now we're finally up to the bass drum. Keep both hands going, and at the same time tap your right foot for every count of one. The beat you're tapping is the most basic and common rock beat in 4/4 time.
As always, you should start practicing slowly and speed up as you gain more confidence in sustaining a steady beat.
The framed box below concisely shows how to do this beat using sounds and a drum tab diagram.

Basic 4/4 Rock Beat
Count:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Hi-Hat (Right Hand):
x x x x x x x x
Snare (Left Hand):
. . O . . . O .
Bass (Right Foot):
O . . . O . . .


The interesting thing about this beat is that it fits nearly every pop song out there, since most songs are written in 4/4 time. To have some fun, put on your favorite song, and see if you can count 1, 2, 3, 4... with the song's beat. Once you can do that, add the tapping beat you just learned drum, and play along.
After you feel comfortable with performing this beat, the thing which you can do is to switch hand and foot parts left to right, and practice the beat again. This way you'll work on ambidextrous drumming from the start.
We hoped you enjoyed this drum lesson and it helped you in playing drum. At this point, if you can easily play the basic drum beat, you are ready to add a little bit of complexity, and move on to the next landmark.

Drum set: Percussion instrument composed of a set of drums and cymbals.
Ride cymbal: Circular brass plate producing treble sounds.
Snare drum: Drum producing a sharp rattling sound.
Lug: Enable to adjust the membrane of the drum to a desired tension.
Bass drum: The biggest drum of the set, it produces a deep low sound.
Percussion sticks: Instruments used to hit the drums and cymbals to produce different sounds.
Tripod stand: Three-legged support.
Rack toms: Pair of drums.
High-hat cymbals: Pair of cymbals which produce a sound when operating a pedal that makes the upper cymbal hits the lower cymbal. The pedal also allows to modify a sound when the upper cymbal is hit with a percussion stick.
Tension post: Screw used to adjust the length of a sound.