Lesson 1 - Piano Basics for Beginners

You can never find a musician or music enthusiast who does not know what a piano is. In fact, most music makers who play different instruments dream of playing the piano because it is the most versatile of all musical instruments. The popularity of the piano and the quality of sound it produces make it a mainstay in major musical shows, especially during classy events.

The piano, versatile as it is, has many types. The first piano, or the pianoforte as it was called for centuries up to recent times, is said to have been invented by B. Cristofori, a well-known Italian musician of the eighteenth century. The pianoforte then gave birth to the two basic kinds of pianos: the upright piano and the grand piano.

The upright piano is a multi-functional instrument, which became a standard piece of furniture in virtually every middle class home in the past, and is even in many homes today. It was almost compulsory for the young ladies of the house to learn to play, so that at every birthday party or Christmas gathering, they could entertain the guests through the piano. However, as compared to its cousin the grand piano, the upright piano compromises the quality of its sound for economy of space.

The grand piano, on the other hand, is meant for use in concert halls --- although professional musicians and affluent families also use the grand piano as a decorative piece of furniture in the home. Unlike the upright piano, the grand piano produces the best sound and is, therefore, a favorite of composers and professional musicians. When played, the notes of the grand piano are strong and loud in comparison to that of the upright piano. The major difference lies in the arrangement of the strings: vertical in upright piano, and horizontal in the grand piano.

With the advent of technology, piano manufacturers came up with a novel idea of developing a piano with built-in recording facility and stereo play-back, which allows the learner, as well as the professional, to play back or edit what they have just composed. Other brilliant innovations include the electric/electronic piano and the digital piano, which offer many new vistas for the performing artists on stage.

Both types of pianos (except sometimes the electronic and digital) share similar physical features, though may differ in appearance. The main components of a piano are

• the keyboard
• hammers
• strings
• pedals
• wooden cabinets

A full-sized piano has 88 keys in total. This can be a huge piece of equipment and also an expensive one. There are 36 black keys in the full-sized piano.
Spinet, the smaller version, is compact and has a total of 64 keys. Aside from its lower price, it has restricted space inside for maintenance and repair. If you are a beginner and don’t already own a piano, then this is a good buy. It appears that with the arrival of the electronic and digital pianos competing in price and size, these little versions are getting hard to find. However, if you want to practice the real and traditional piano techniques, the electronic pianos, which generally have multiple keyboards, are certainly not the ones to start with.

The Hammers are 88 felt padded pieces of wood, in the case of the full-size piano, with an elaborate assembly of levers connected individually to each of the keys. The pressing of each key would push the hammers to strike tautly drawn piano strings individually. The strings are made of steel, sometimes wound with copper wire to obtain the necessary vibrating frequency, tone and harmonics, and are drawn and fitted on a strong steel frame. It is said that in a standard grand piano, the strings exert total tension of approximately 16 tons! The pedals are built to dampen the vibrations, creating special effects in the sounds produced, and are foot operated. Made traditionally of polished wood, the cabinets feature standard finishes such as polished ebony, polished mahogany, polished dark American walnut, polished walnut, and also white.

A piano produces several octaves of musical notes, unlike in other musical instruments, giving it much versatility in the composition of music. An octave is, as you may already know, the seven basic frequencies of tones.

When you press a key of a piano, a hammer will strike the relevant string to produce a musical note. If you intend to play several notes, or pieces of music, or just wish to train your fingers, you must be comfortably and properly seated on a stool first. This tool is usually adjustable to your needs.

A copy of your training manual, or a music sheet, should be placed on the stand in front of you. Make sure you don’t have to stretch your hands or fingers to reach the keys. Your hands should be slightly away from your body while the arms, from the wrist to the elbows, should be straight. Take a deep breath and relax while keeping your fingers flexed and slightly curved. Your back must be kept upright.

Open the keyboard covers. Above this will be your music sheets. Just below your chin level, you will note that there will be the key hole of the cabinet keyboard cover. Straight ahead, you will see a white key which is termed the “middle C.” This key serves as a reference point to identify all the other keys on the key board.

All the keys to your left from this point denote low pitch, while those to your right are high pitched. Play each key on to your right with the index finger of the right hand and do the same thing with the left hand on the low-pitched keys.
Note how the notes progressively decrease in pitch to the left and progressively increase to the right. Go ahead and repeat the action with the black keys, as well, to experience the difference.

Now you are ready to learn some means of identification for these keys. There are at least 64 of them altogether. The keys are identified as A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. We will leave the Black keys alone for the time being.

You have already identified the middle “C.” Now what would be the key immediately to its left? Yes, that would be the key, or note, B (B major). Beyond that would be the key of note” A”, and then “G,” “F,” and so in descending order.
Similarly, the keys to the right of the middle “C” would be D, E, and F and G, in the same order but ascending.

Keep in mind that there is no key or note called H, I, and so on in Music.

Now that you have armed yourself with the piano basics, you should be confident enough to take on the more detailed courses in learning how to play the piano.