Learning keyboard (the musical type) - resources

Madpanda

I want to start learning to play keyboard, mainly popular songs and jazz stuff. I'd like to be able to play the piano portion of life on mars. I am looking for recommended books or preferably internet resources to help in this.

I picked up a cheap casio to mess around with, it has shorter keys than the one I had as a kid and in the future I might upgrade to something like http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Z40S2G/ref=olp_product_details/183-2795883-8640801?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

I am aware it takes years of practice to get good at a musical instrument. This is something I've wanted to try for some time now so I am just looking for help in getting started without paying for lessons or taking a class. I might do that in the future.

Sir Landshark

At a bare minimum I would recommend getting something with full-size, weighted keys. Otherwise you run the very real risk of developing bad habits that can be a real pain to deal with later. This is doubly true if you intend to learn on your own without a teacher. If finances are an issue and you are a student there are likely practice facilities on your campus where you can practice for free.

Can't really help you with online resources as I've always taught from books.

Madpanda

Oh I do plan on upgrading to a better model within the next few months. Its full size with touch sensitive keys. Weighted seem to get really pricey for something I am not sure if I will stick with just yet.

Books are fine also i f you can recommend anything.

wonderpug

Sir Landshark wrote: »

At a bare minimum I would recommend getting something with full-size, weighted keys.

I second that, and would also say that if you can swing the cost and size of something with a full 88 keys, it will be well worth your while.

Madpanda

If i stick with it I will look into those. To find something with 88 keys and weighted though the cheapest I saw on amazon was around $400.

This is something I am trying out as a hobby, the old casio i got was free. If i am sticking with it the first upgrade I am looking at is around $150 for the thing I linked the first post.

$400+ is out of my price range for a hobby I might not keep up with.

In the past I have made the mistake of getting interested in something and immediately going out and spending a bunch of money up front on the medium/highest end tools/products/whatever for it. Just to drop the hobby in 6 months. I am trying to start slow with this one.

Sir Landshark

This is my personal favorite book for teaching adult beginners (worked fairly well for my wife):

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&gs_mss=alfred+piano+books+f&tok=CLm18v51ySjwukbqe3vKDA&pq=alfred+piano+books&cp=25&gs_id=2d&xhr=t&q=alfred+piano+books+for+adults&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=994&bih=537&wrapid=tljp1337191612004048&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=6126767579423685277&sa=X&ei=wuyzT_iqEYqc2QXN_8zqCA&sqi=2&ved=0CLIBEPMCMAQ#

If you do decide to pursue this seriously I will likely be moving to Naperville at some point over the next year and could potentially stop in and give you a few pointers (no charge). Provided you aren't a serial killer/rapist of course.

wonderpug

Madpanda wrote: »

If i stick with it I will look into those. To find something with 88 keys and weighted though the cheapest I saw on amazon was around $400.

...

$400+ is out of my price range for a hobby I might not keep up with.

Yeah, $400 sounds about right for the low end.

You're fully and completely justified in the viewpoint of not throwing too much money at a hobby you're not sure you like, but there's also the evil twist of you being more likely not to like it if you don't throw enough money at it.

For a compromise, how about after you learn a few melodies or two-handed songs on your free keyboard, you at least go to a store (bring your sheet music) and try playing the songs you know on an unweighted keyboard, a weighted one, and on a real piano, just to get a better sense for how much the feel does or doesn't matter to you.

I only push the point because I honestly feel I personally wouldn't have stuck with piano if I hadn't had access to 88 keys that felt nice to play. You're interested in different genres of music than I was, though, so maybe it's not as important to you. Hope you like whatever you end up with, though!

MrTLicious

Do you know any other instruments/music theory?

You said you had a keyboard as a kid. How long ago was that/how much experience did you have playing it?

Khavall

In order of importance, I would say go for the following when looking at keyboards:

1: Full-sized keys, touch-response keys. This is unbelievably important. Imagine learning to type on a tiny netbook-style computer keyboard and then trying to type fast on a normal computer keyboard. Your fingers will get used to the size of the keys and where they go when doing anything that takes you out of a basic position. Hopefully this shouldn't raise the price all that much.

2: Weighted keys. This is super important if you decide you like it for pretty much any more than a week. Non-weighted keys will screw up your playing in a lot of ways, mostly leading to a much higher tendency to "mash" at the keys. With non-weighted keys, you lose the tactile response as you hit harder, so if you then switch to a real piano or a very good keyboard, you'll sound incredibly clunky and harsh.

3: 88-keys. This is... really not as important as people will say for a good long while. Yes, there are some songs that you'll not be able to play correctly, and yes if you decide to get serious about it you'll eventually need a full 88-key keyboard. However, if you were to go a year or two without it, from starting at a most basic level, I'd say it's probably ok that you don't have full 88.

4: Hammer-action. Not important until you're, like, 5-6 years into learning the instrument. Makes a world of difference when you have it, but you won't have the understanding of how different it feels until your hands are a little more trained.


Also, if you're self-teaching, weighted keys moves up to being reeeeeally important. The less you have someone there to say "Hey! You're doing it wrong!", the more important it is that you don't give yourself as many opportunities to do it wrong in the first place. On a real piano or a fantastic keyboard, getting a piano to actually make noise takes a surprising amount of force when you consider what muscles you're using to push them down. When you add in the ridiculous amount of times you'll be doing it just even practicing for 20-30 minutes a day, it's very important that you aren't doing it in a way that might hurt you. Also, tone is surprisingly malleable on piano, you can actually change the basic sound of hte instrument with the way you approach the keys, and if you learn wrong, it's very easy to sound horrible on an actual instrument.


Yes, it's going to be a little annoyingly expensive, but also I would say if you're not willing to drop the minimum to get a keyboard with full-sized, weighted keys, then I would stay with the keyboard you have now until you are willing to drop the extra cash. Upgrading to a still pretty bad keyboard is not really going to be worth it in the long run.

Madpanda

I effectively have 0 piano training/musical theory. I had the keyboard when I was 5 and never had lessons or could really play it beyond very basic stuff. I played cornet for a few years in high school but that was about 15 years ago and I don't remember any of it. Might come back to me as I learn though.


I'll see if I can find something with full sized weighted touch response keys on craigslist. These tiny keys are already getting on my nerves.