Make sure you stick around to the end - the LAST part is the most important BY FAR, and also makes the first 4 way easier... 00:00 Intro 00:39 How to Learn Songs WAY Faster (WithOUT Sheet Music) 02:38 Easy Way to Master Hands Together Coordination 03:56 The “Play By Ear” Test 08:04 Using “Song Mapping” To Learn 10X Faster 11:13 Solve Weak Pinkie Syndrome Instantly And here's the links to ALL the extra resources we talked about in the video: 1. Learn Songs Using Chord Shapes ua-cam.com/video/7WS_wasGBxA/v-deo.html 2. Hands Together Coordination Exercises ua-cam.com/video/G78DQpEDDWE/v-deo.html 3. Play by Ear Exercises www.bestpianoclass.com/dashboard/the-best-piano-theory-course-for-beginners/playing-by-ear-lesson-1-psh/ 4. Song Mapping Chart Download www.bestpianoclass.com/5thingsbonus 5. Technique Training & Exercises ua-cam.com/video/4AUaZBn0uWQ/v-deo.html Happy practicing!! -Zach
I'm mentally retarded and I understand what you're trying to do I'm all for new learning but do you plan to make a book do you plan to make some kind of system out there that people can follow are you willing to go against colleges and professors and people who write sheet music to prove that your system is better for your piano I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong but it's nothing wrong with a little bit of music theory it helps a little bit
I like the song mapping chart! Question: Is it better to do the entire first column first, then the second, etc., or can one do the first row first, then the second, etc,? Also, could there be potential issues with the transitions between the song sections? Since you’ve drilled in each section in isolation, could it cause issues when trying to play the entire song because you never learned to play the song as a continuous piece? How do we prevent this from happening?
You DO start off reading one letter at a time when you learn to read, until you practice enough and you start to see words from afar. Thing is, you don't start off by reading entire books. That's why beginner pieces are short. Learning chords is one way, but honestly a *completely* different approach and different genre than what someone who wants to learn classical (or as you called it, "outdated"!?) music wants to learn! I don't have a problem with people who just want to play their favourite songs, but by playing chords without ever having learned anything about theory or technique, it will always stay at very watered down, all-sound-the-same playalongs. And I believe you're perfectly aware that things aren't just as simple as bringing 3 notes into the right order. Sheet music is the key to have access to all sorts of music, without having to remember patterns or having to translate them first. With chords only you're stuck at a very low level. But I suppose telling people it's "super easy" probably just sells better on UA-cam. Learning like this will get you stuck at your skill level within a year or two!
I disagree. I never took lessons and don’t know how to read music, but I can play all kinds of songs. Classical like Black Keys[1], songs I call “fun” classical - Yiruma n such- that aren’t to challenge or improve skill wise but are still fun to play around with, to the songs I or a loved one likes. [1]Side note: Though I should admit for the Black Keys song in particular, Im still working on mastering it; I _can_ play it, but it doesn’t sound great. it’s a bit mechanical and meh atm. I haven’t had much time to practice it since learning it tho, so I think I’ll be able to play it well in time. Claire de Lune ig would be a better example, but I digress haha Anyways my point is, not everyone’s skill level will be capped. Especially if you have a good ear and a good intuitive sense of music (if that makes sense?). don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t recommend learning how I did at all. I wish Id been taught about finger placement and technique and the math behind music and everything when I was learning. I’ve always wanted to go learn to read sheet music and music theory and all that, and to some people it’s invaluable. I agree w u that saying it’s an outdated way of learning is just wrong and frankly ridiculous - it’s like saying reading is outdated bc we have Netflix and audiobooks now. But like.. that doesn’t mean we don’t still need literacy. *But* I also think not everyone needs that to be a good pianist. It’s good to have that in your foundation but not essential. Sometimes, all the technicalities will make the player into.. idk, someone who’s playing right _technically_ but sounds just like everyone else, or who can play but has no emotion or style or anything behind it. For me, i think it would’ve been hard for me to push past the technical side and find myself and how I express myself (& my style, wtv) if I’d learned piano the traditional route. I think it depends a lot on the person. sorry for the super long response omfg haha TLDR: I think there’s pros and cons to either way of learning. I don’t believe learning theory and technique is essential to everyone
I gave up many times learning piano the traditional way. The only thing that has unblocked my learning curve is that I decided to learn it like i did guitar. Learning guitar was wayyy easier, learn a hand full of chords. Play songs right away. Granted I was playing simple versions of the songs I wanted to learn. But I could play them. As time went on I added new skills to my repertoire. Learning chord shapes on piano has finally gotten me to keep going with it for the same reason I liked guitar. I can play simple versions of songs by knowing 5-6 chords. I'm way more motivated to learn how to read sheet music and all the other techniques that come with piano then I ever was.
The way is not always the goal....I think in this context DIDACTICS should be based on the goal. If you intend to get a professional pianist you can't avoid getting classical trained. To admit it, I'm not mad about having had classical guitar lessons. They gave me a solid foundation in knowledge of music theory (and some remnants of it are still retrievable ;-)). But this kind of learning to play a musical instrument is another approach and enables faster succsess....By the way: in fact, there are also different methods of reading acquisition. Even if it is not very common, some children are tought it in a holistic approach - not in the form of entire books, but word by word...
Your point doesn't bear scrutiny well when it comes to adult learning. You DO start off reading one letter at a time WHEN YOU'RE A TODDLER, but NOT as an adult. Though you learnt your mother tongue that way, that's not how you'd learn French or German is it? As adults learning music, people do not want to start at a 'toddler' level. They want to play music! Yes, it means they get good at BASICALLY playing, but that's better than being NO GOOD at trying to play really well. And it's definitely better than giving up, which is what happens to the majority of adults who attempt to learn the piano. Think about that - the MAJORITY give up, so doesn't that indicate the established way of teaching and learning doesn't work? If you had a factory where the majority of products came off the production line broken, you'd change the process wouldn't you? So I'm all in favour of a piano-learning method that ENGAGES people and creates a lot more people who can PLAY, rather than a few people who can play very well. Because, let's face it, the ones with a natural talent will excel _no matter how they begin_ whereas the average player (the majority) will only succeed if they don't give up because they're enjoying early success.
I like this advice, but I'd say don't give up on reading music too - learn both. I memorised a set of classical guitar pieces over the years, but now I can't remember any of them, and can't read guitar music well enough to play them any more. Sure I could get them back painfully slowly, but meanwhile I've been practicing my piano reading just a bit a day over 2.5 years, and there is already a huge number of intermediate pieces I can now read after just a couple of goes...So I'd say do both, don't just memorise. Sure it's quick and easier, but imagine reading your favourite songs straight off as effortlessly as you are reading these words now... Thats 'really great too, you just have to not expect yourself to be able to do it overnight, you are literally changing your brain :).
I agree. If you are a beginner, then following his advice is actually very helpful. But as you become a little more advanced, you should start to introduce the traditional way in between. This is going to ensure that at the very least you don’t get frustrated in the beginning but as you get better and better, you start to do it the professional way
@@MichaelOrtega I’d say the first bit of advice is fantastic for both beginners and advanced players, although I would go a step higher and suggest not only understanding chord shapes but also its harmonic function. Sightreading becomes sooo much faster once you have a basic grasp of harmony.
I actually have never been able to read sheet music for any instrument, ive always learned by ear or playing over and over. I hear the note i know the note
No body tells u this most especially when u go to learn piano from traditional teachers. They start with sheet music that ends up getting u frustrated but piano becomes easier if u understand the aesthetics of cords and various voice types....the moment i discovered this, it was easier to play any song... thanks great video
Yea a big reason is this stuff is pretty new. Nowadays you can lookup the chords to any popular song free on Google, and there are sites with giant databases of almost every song. So a lot of teachers never learned this method of learning songs and hence don't teach it. So glad you liked the video 👌
If your goal is to play easy songs then yes. But if your goal is to play virtuosic, difficult, long pieces, then you need to learn note reading. Just like there are no shortcuts to learning/reading any language, there are no shortcuts to being an good musician.
@@aritina8379 i strongly believe in understanding how things works before delving into big things. Piano goals are different to individuals but the main goal to evryone is to be able to play songs and if u are a producer like me, u get to understand that all i need is my chord , inversions, scales, harmony and melodies once i can put this together, then am good to go in modern pop music. The major challenge with many musicians is they get lost in too much piano pieces and as a result they are unable to be better musicians. Because there is too much to learn at thesame time and that slows u down...but when things are broken in smaller steps, u get to understand and get things right easily. Piano is a weirdo instrument the more advanced u get the more critical it gets .. so am a fan of playing by ears and also know the basics of music theory. Then i can break the rules ...
Learning by cords has for sure helped me more then learning sheet music. I started for about a day a long long time ago, and I felt overwhelmed with reading sheet music. I gave up right away this also when i was around 17. Im now 37 and decided to pick up playing again. I followed your cords video and felt it connected with me.
Hi, I'm a teacher from Jamaica, our students start by ear from age three. A pattern from a tune we wrote for 5 notes,starting in c, then we go to other keys up. Then add in left hand 5,1 , then 1,3, chords then add 1,3,5 going into all keys... We also use Mary's Lamb tune, that's how we learn to speak, listening... Great job...
I see much push back against your ideas here, but I happen to think it's a genius way to approach the Piano. You can always go back and learn to read after grounding yourself in chord patterns first. I think it's a much more enjoyable way to not becoming too frustrated in the beginning and ultimately quitting. We all learn how to talk before we start understanding how to read so what's the difference? I wish I would've been told this when I started years ago. I could've saved a lot of frustrating hours and down time due to boredom. Great video and advice!! Keep up the good work.
WOW This explains why Im very proficient in learning a song by ear. I isolate the melody and try to listen to what the harmonic chords sound like. However the part I disagree with is when it comes to classical music you actually have to learn every single note on the sheet music and play the music as written. But other than that wonderful insight to learning to play piano. 😎
I would love to learn the music that plays in Rydon Tower, in Dragon Quest VIII. Not sure if the melody would intrude on that. It's just finding the right chords to play it. I just playing the beginning of, "What are we made of", by Brian May. I fell in love with it when it was in '96's Pinnochio.
Self teaching 60 year old , it’s been 9 months , I am studying music theory books and doing the lessons , and using Hal Leonard super easy books left hand chords right hand melody , I was able to play basic Christmas songs over the holidays for family and doing scales to learn time signatures etc , I have been able to add intros and outros , by using these also , I know I will never get to a level 4 or 5 even in my life , but to play a few classical songs some day , and in the meantime play some Beatles and Queen from my easy books is making me happy at level prepatory or level 1 whatever I am at .
I like that "weak pinky syndrome" solution. It is so frustrating moving that small finger around and not be able to reach. That's amazing explanation, thank you sir.
Don't believe a word of it. You have to train your fingers to become strong so all fingers play at the same volume and strength. Do this with finger exercises. There's no other way.
@Grace Jackson was about to just comment the same thing. My pinky finger is a stud, but my ring finger feels like it’s not even part of my body sometimes, if my pinky and middle finger are also engaged. I know what I want it to do, but it just feels crippled.
ok, this "solution" is a whole other issue. Sometimes, people just have weak pinkies, and depends on someones own preferences. Like if you have good typing skills, and you just have more strength in you pinkie's, maybe doing this exercise could work really well! But if you have lower strength in you pinkie generally, this may not work out as well. Tbh though, I think a good solution is to practise the fur elise opening part, you can adapt much faster when doing that. Hope this could help someone out.
I have played guitar for 58 years and have decided now to learn piano. I have one and noodle on it, I do know basic music notation and chord theory from years of guitar. Also studied classical flute for a few years. My point here is that if a student can achieve playing a few songs they like in a rewarding and easy way, it gives them confidence to try more and to want to learn more. I love your approach here and look forward to your other lessons. For people new to any instrument, though, I would definitely recommend a fundamentals of music course taken at the same time. No need to memorize a lot of it but just concepts at first. Because without that basic knowledge, even this lesson will not make as much sense.
It all depends on what your goals are. You just want to play along with one of your favorite songs? Impress your friends like at one of those pianos set out where anyone can play? Sure. This is great advice. However, do you want to pick up any piece of sheet music and play a song without ever having heard it? The advice in this video isn't going to help you. Don't get me wrong; playing by ear is a skill, just like any other. Some of us were born with a musical ear, so we don't really need to practice. But this is great advice if you just want to quickly figure out a song. However, there is value in learning how to read music; you can just sit down and play something you've never heard before. The analogy of learning to read a book was given here; you can memorize a speech if you hear it enough times, sure. But learning to read allows you to read speeches you have never heard before. The same is true with learning to read sheet music. In my opinion, developing a musical ear is just as important as learning to read; don't throw away the value of reading sheet music out with the bath water.
Totally agree.I think that if someone interested in learning songs they've never heard before can really benefit if they learn to "read" the piano tutorials here on UA-cam (the falling notes style ones). People hate on those tutorial videos so much, but they really allow for anyone to learn the notes, rhythms, and expression of a song in a easier and much more digestible fashion than sheet music.
@draugn I know how to read sheet music, but it's something you really need to practice for it to become useful. It's an effort you have to be willing to put in. Also, it's more difficult to grasp the structure and harmony of a musical piece out of sheet music, regardless of its genre.
Reading sheet music is a big advantage for sure. But you can't rely on it each time you want to play a new song. Ears must be developed if you want to play in a band or church setup.
As a guy who's been playing the piano for the majority of his life, I can confirm that these things are useful. Especially the first one mentioned - knowing chords, as well as the last one - technique. All in all, this video is just representing the fundamentals - the base knowledge that helps make learning songs a heck of a lot easier. Props for being able to fit all that into a video less than 15 minutes long 👏.
God i wanna cry, i dont even know what to say how to thank you. Dude you saved my life. I was drowning in my ignorance and by the time passed i had a huge distance between me and my piano. Cause i didnt wanna handle failing all the time. I reaally appreciate your work hope you can reach out to more people like me and achieve whatever you had in your head nowadays
In grade eight band, I played the clarinet. Our music teacher taught us notes little by little and I can play a few songs using those notes. It is incredibly important to learn sheet music because the notes are so much easier to associate with the sheet music. It's also a helpful skill to have and I tell you, when you recognize a musical piece and play it right it is one of the best feelings ever! Please, if you are learning any instrument, learn sheet music. You won't regret it.
Sir is a Christmas miracle!🎄 Do to my parents divorce I stopped taking piano lessons at 9yrs old. By then I already knew how to read and write music 🎼 . Fast forward now I’m 39 and I look at those music sheets and they look like gibberish, I lost all hope and I found this channel today on Xmas 2021. You make it so easy to understand that I don’t feel frustrated. Thanks for your channel… now on to the next challenge, keeping the consistency of practice.
Test #1: 1,2,3,2,1 Test #3: 3,3,2,2,2,3,2,1 Got it! Been playing by ear since I was young, but wanting to go to next stage with sheet music etc. This video really helped and motivated me! Thank you! 🎹
For every single person who wants to play a Beethoven solo, there are 10,000 who just want to play their favorite songs! Paradoxically, for those who sing, playing strict melody just gets in the way 🤨
@@NeedsMoreTriangle It sounds like you just want to play the chords, and you don't need sheet music or piano tutorials for that. You just need to learn the chord shapes and inversions and look up a song's chords. You play the bass of the note on the left hand and the entire chord in the right hand and sing on top. With time you naturally learn arpeggios and other neat tricks, but if you only want to accompany yourself singing that should be a good start!
its just how it is, you need to learn sheet music if you want to play classical properly, classical is still to this day, the test for virtuosity and skill on a classical instrument, its what all competitions test on, but for people who just want to play their favorite songs, simply learning their chords will do wonders.
I just started playing piano and my first piece is Moonlight sonata. I didn’t want to learn piano so I could play 3 chord songs. Everyone has different desires and expectations.
I had 6 years piano lessons when I was a teen. Now trying to pick it up again. But it is hard. But these tips are awsome. Because you want to play a song instead of practice old school.
I learned piano by ear and totally abandoned note reading. While I have some satisfaction in what I do, so are most of those who listens to me. I wish I had the DISCIPLINE to go through the process, so I could not just play music but write them so I dont have to be always guessing and improvising my way to get by. These are really good for those who like to get started, but I envy those who took the pain and enjoyed the benefits of it long term.
Yeah, it's really funny to me that this video is "5 things I wish I'd known" and he goes off explaining that you _shouldn't_ know sheet music for arbitrary reasons
Hands together coordination: after playing hand percussion (congas) for years, coming back to doodling on piano is so much more fun -- it's like I did hand-independent coordination exercises for years, and it really made a difference.
this is very helpuf because when i was 14 i saw a video on how to play 100 songs with 4 chords, and that's how i learned to play the basics and now 10 years later I can confidently say that I'm a pro at guitar. Learning is much more fun when you can actually play songs that you like. I'm starting on piano and i can do alot by ear, combining that and the sheet of the chords that you provided with my knoledge of guitar chords on every song. i can easily start to play some songs, and it's awesome!! thank you!!
Learning by chord shapes isn't mutually exclusive with reading classical or more intricate music. I teach students to do both and to use the chords to learn the logic behind the song. The melody will be mostly the notes from the chord in any given bar.
Exactly with #1, I actually learned this on my own while all other classes where always about note reading. It just shut me down, turned my interest away from piano. What I love!
Am very happy to see your video. Is like a confirm for me. I did learn on same way to start with accords coz I need happiness to learn. I Never learned an can't read notes until now. But I got a talent as gift - my sounds of music is in my head and I only try to transform it with my fingers on piano. Am on right way and am pushed every day more. Thanks so much for more accords to learn. I wish us all happiness for this way to play ❤️ thx so much be blessed
Great tip my friend. I just started to learn piano by myself, this makes way more sense than learning notes. I learned notes for the first 3 weeks now. My sister has given me a few pointers, she is a piano teacher for over 25 years. She learned the old way. Now I can learn the new way. This is going to blow my sister’s mind. Thank you very very much.
Whaaat???! I was 34 years old when I learned tthese- I've been struggling with everything the hard way, no joke, until Now! Been teaching and the "weak pinkie syndrome" has become an issue, until last night it stopped me continuing as the person I was teaching had very bad habits I could NOT break! This technique is exactly what I'm going to try next. Thank you alot for sharing this!
Honestly, as someone that knows piano pretty good know - this is all true and great advice IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PLAY CLASSICAL MUSIC OR COMPOSE! This is all great if you just wanna play your favourite songs, which are all really simple and you can easily play them by ear or just use a lead sheet, but if you want to play something more than The Queen, Anime songs, rap, or pop you really need to invest a lot of your time and actually get a teacher.
Another mistake is putting stickers on the keys and writing the name of the note on them. If you do this, one day you'll come across a piano/keyboard that doesn't have those stickers and you'll have to concentrate on remembering where the keys are and that will take away some of your concentration for that specific task. The stickers become a sleeping pad and that is not good. I found out about this myself literally about an hour prior to an exam. :)
I'm just starting to learn and I think stickers are good to start with. My plan is to use them for a week or two and then start removing them one by one (probably starting with middle C) over the course of days or weeks. My thinking is that it'll reduce the early frustration and speed up getting acquainted with the keyboard/notes. By removing them one by one from early on, I'll learn the keys/notes in a more manageable way. I find it less stressful and, as we all know, stress hinders the learning process. Might not work for everyone but it suits my learning style.
As a newbie, this is the single most important video I have watched on how to play the piano by ear, getting it done thing right, and fast from the get go. Thanks 😊
THANKS ❣️ I've watched several of your videos today, and printed out all your awesome bonus cheats! I've learned so much! In fact more than I have for years. I've been basically a beginner since I taught myself to play and read the old fashioned way at age 30. I'm now 64 and still feel like a beginner but these lessons have pushed me farther still. THEY ARE FOR BEGINNERS AND SOMEONE WHOSE PRACTICED OFF AND ON FOR 30 YEARS. Thanks Again! I can't wait to apply THESE simplifying techniques. I'm so excited.
I've always played by ear. Can confirm these tips, exactly what I do too. I didn't know the pinky tip though! Playing by ear also helps you read music because you already know what patterns are likely. Then it's fun to learn that using unlikely patterns is what makes classical and jazz fascinating.
I’m eventually going to introduce myself to this method but I really think being able to read sheet music is the key to being able to play everything you ever wanted. I’m in the first 2 months, it hasn’t been easy but I have to know why I’m doing what I’m doing and the traditional way is how you do that. I think if you teach yourself to read you can go through the sheet music and identify chords to help. I believe you can learn this method really easily after learning to read sheet music. I think you would find it more difficult to learn chords and then go to sheet music. I think most would be so frustrated they would give up and just stick with the chords and limit themselves drastically. You won’t play Claire de lune using the chord method.
@@recuerdos2457 oh no! I’m definitely not playing Claire de Lune lol. I can play the first line from memory/imitation. But my point was if you only learn the chord method, someone puts Clair de Lune in front of you, you won’t be able to play it correctly if at all.
@@recuerdos2457 I’m now almost 10 months in but I still can’t play very much. My teacher is very technical and wants me to have full control over my hands before we dive into pieces like that. I’m ok at Czerny exercises but that’s about it lol
This is exactly how I started, I had related myself from every lesson you just taught. Thank you for solving my problems on how to complete a full song, and my weaky pinky ♥
Thank you honestly, I’m currently learning classical music which I love but I want to speed things along and learn songs that I enjoy. I love having sheet music and always will because it allows me to have a cushion while I’m playing, say if I stuck I know right where I’m at. It also easily demonstrates where your fingers are moving whether up or down, which is especially useful if playing scales. The MOST helpful thing about sheet music is rhythm because of time signatures and dynamic symbols as well as the notes which helps with how many beats you are playing. With all that said, as you can tell I very much admire sheet music and all its advantages, but I’ve always been wanting to go at a faster pace. These techniques that you’ve shared definitely will help. Not only that, but playing by ear is very impressive and I’ve always wanted to learn. I truly believe that learning both techniques is very useful, but it all depends on the person and there preferences on what allows them to learn the easiest and efficiently. So, thank you again for browsing my understanding of the piano.:)
I recommend this to all piano beginners out there. I exactly did this since I was 11-12 years old. This method really helped me when I was a piano beginner, and couple years later... Today I'm 15 years old who already learned "Rondo alla Turca" (well... I learned this when I was 13 yo). This is a good method to play a piano for beginners.
These are things u should use if you want to show off some basic skills to impress a bit. Nobody will say: "wooow you can play realy good".... If you want to learn piano properly u shouldnt use shortcuts or "easy learning tips"! take your time... start at your level of skill... and never forget to learn the theory behind playing the piano
I learned a new word. Pinkie! 🤣 I never thought about the english terms for fingers before. What a lovely name for it. Thank you so much for the input, just started playing the piano.
Ufff the second tip! great start, when I bought my first piano I decide learn by ear at the start because I hate read sheets and was excited to play at least 5 notes with solid rhythms, still learning but yeah, can't Imagine play piano and not being able to play with just using your ear.
How do you get the rhythm from chord charts? It seems like chord charts or knowing only chords works for jazz musicians (improv) or if you wanna play in a rock band or learn a simple short song! But if your goal is to play Beethoven’s opus 111, how on earth do you do that without reading notes? Also with students (I’m a teacher), if you teach them to play before you teach them to read, they basically get this instant gratification and you’ll never convince them that reading notes is important! I’ve had so many parents tell me: “we dropped our last teacher coz he/she never taught the kids to read sheet music! And that’s like learning a language without being able to read it!” It’s ok for a 4 year old, but if you wanna speak beyond the level of a 4 year old, you need to learn to read! Same with music! You can’t ever learn a 20 page difficult piece just by chord analysis! Summarily, it depends how far you’d like to go with your piano playing! If all you wanna do is play pop songs, then I guess chords is all you need; but if you want to play well, play long, difficult pieces, learning to read notes is a must. And it’s so easy once you understand intervalic reading combined with note reading! I have 5 year old students who can do it! It isn’t all that difficult.
Hey Ari. good to hear from you. So yes, the chord chart method works with most contemporary music styes (pop, rock, country, jazz, oldies, etc) but for classical, yes, you're going to have to learn to read music. But most of the people who watch my channel aren't that interested in classical (I've done many surveys haha), and would much rather just play their favorite songs from the radio. And it's MUCH easier to do that using chords than sheet music. I get this feedback a lot, and I think it's just a matter of having different goals. Most piano teachers were brought up in the classical world, where the goal is to learn complex, difficult sonatas or concertos etc. But for most students who come to me, they don't really care about that, and this is a much easier way for them to learn their favorite songs. I think if someone's only goal is to play really difficult classical pieces, they should probably get a teacher and not be learning off UA-cam anyways. Hope that makes sense! -Zach
I 💯 agree. I’m 2-3 months in trying to teach myself and I will not even look at this method until I am familiar with sheet music. I know myself and if I learn to play chords before notes, I will find it extremely difficult to go to sheet music if I can just give up and play something with chords instead and I’ll never learn how to play Claire de lune.
Happy 2022. Knowing how to play the piano is a powerful gift - a two-edged sword. Every good and perfect gift [in reality] comes from the Father of Lights. He invites us to learn of Himself for He is meek and lowly of heart. Studying His life daily, Let His love to fill your heart daily. Blessings
I love you so much! Your advice is always spot on. You really have the gift of teaching and when I apply your tips and tricks I can see the progress right away!
I began learning piano with a video for a week and first, I learned the different hand positions and then the coordination and stuff and later I got better by learning pieces with YT tutorials instead of sheet music
i have just one thing to say about this, in the play by ear test i think (maybe this is just me) that if you didnt tell me that c d e were the 3 notes i would not have known which notes you were playing and i think and i think having perfect pitch or well developed pitch does have a major role in playing by ear especially when hearing chords or complex melodies but decent advice none the less
i learned with this amazing guy over lock down - i learned more and warp speed than i had in twenty five years of on off learning TRYNG to incorporate reading music ! please follow and participate in his lessons hes a brilliant teacher
Love your videos, I am happy to discover I am learning the right way. I was worried about all the sheet music stuff ....but hey , here is a guy telling me the way I learned, using chord shapes, is ok....very reassuring. I will follow all your tips from now on. And by the way, I can already play many songs.
You know what helps me a bit is turning sheet notes 90 degrees clockwise. I just wish there was some easier to read notation. You can't just instantly read the classic one without having years and years of experience especially when they put lots of ### in the beginning on different lines and you always have to scan back to check if it applies to the current note or not. I dunno maybe im too noobish but this is what hinders my progress and the will to learn.
Yea, sheet music is notorious for being really hard to learn. It's similar to learning a new language, but IMO even harder because you can't just pause if you forget something. Unless you're learning classical music, I don't think it's necessary to learn to read music, and you can learn much faster playing by chords or by ear. Thanks for the comment!!
@@barbaramilone2800 Yea, this style works with pretty much any style, except classical. But for most people watching this channel, they're much more interested in playing their favorite songs from the radio than learning complex classical music, and this is MUCH easier path to that go. Thanks for the comment!
Sheet music isn't hard to read, atleast not for me. I learned the acronyms for the right and left hand. I write the sharps and flats at the top of each page so I know what applies. I don't know if you know this so for the right hand, notes on the line are Every Good Boy Does Fine ( E, G, B, D, F) between the lines for the right hand is FACE (F, A, C, E) left hand on the lines Good, Boys, Do, Fine, Always (G, B, D, F, A) between the lines All, Cows, Eat, Grass (A, C, E, G) I would write my little cheater notes above each note and after a while, like memorizing your times tables, you see a note and you know what it is without having to think about it. Yes it can be tedious and frustrating learning notes but once you know them it's awesome.
@@barbaramilone2800 Chopin and every composer uses chord progressions no matter what the genre of music is. Either is pop/rock, classical,jazz,transitional or oriental. It is just that in songs or in a popular famous melody, he chord progression has to be kind of a basic(popular) one. For example take nearly any popular classical composition and add the chord symbols to the left hand . Just for the popular part of it we all know and can sing along the melody. Yes, these are the chord progressions also used in popular songs.
I am soooo excited I found you! Your methods and the way you explain things just makes so much sense!! I've been playing for a few years, but feeling stuck and wanting to take my playing to the next level. All of your videos have helped tremendously! Wow! Can't thank you enough for this amazing content!!
This is great for introducing this method to my grandson who has autism. Playing for fun at first. As for me, I hate and can not remember sheet music. I learn a piece of music then play by ear. This is fabulous so thank you 🤗
Hey man I gave up using my brain to learn piano. And I have been cavemaning this by just using synthesia and muscle memory. This worked for me so far. I heard on some forum learning the squiggly music stuff is a must. Is it really the case or are they just being snobbish to us cavemen people.
Hey man - so basically there are a bunch of different ways to learn music. You can read notes, learn with Synthesia tutorials, play by ear, or play using chords. If you want to learn classical music, you're going to have to learn to read music. But if you want to learn pop songs, it isn't really necessary. You can continue doing synthesia tutorials, you can def learn songs but the downside is every song you have to memorize everything note by note instead of using chords to simplify a bunch of notes into a few chords. If you're interested in the Chord method (for pop songs I think it's by far the easiest way to get started) this video will give you a rundown: ua-cam.com/video/7WS_wasGBxA/v-deo.html Hope that helps! -Zach
Introduce both chord maps and notation early on at the same time. Check the end of the comment for why. Also, when learning, learn a super easy piece and a hard piece for your level. The easy piece, like a four-chord pop piece or for guitar, CCR's Down on the Corner, etc, gets you that sweet hit of feeling like a bad mama-jamma on the instrument, while the hard piece, for your level, teaches and practices difficult techniques, and once you get it down, you feel like an absolute champ. Also, embrace the failure and treat the failures as amusing. Fake that until you start to believe it Ok, so I learned guitar by ear and chord shapes. I, for almost seven years at this point, partially due to lack of practice, have been stuck a plateau of being the guy who can jam out on most rhythm style playing and blues. However, unless someone is with me teaching me the specifics, I really struggle to learn new music, especially if I haven't heard it or it is not your typically structured song. I am completely reliant on listening to others playing it. However, my buddy, who is teaching me notation for guitar, has been playing for less than three years, and anyone can hand him a piece of sheet music, and he can play it at half speed and has it down in 5 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, it might take an hour for me to understand the piece if it is particularly difficult. He has an extra tool in his box that is universal to almost all music. Music notation is quite amazing. When I play my euphonium, I can get a piece mostly down in the same amount of time as he does on the guitar because I can read bass clef. As frustrating as learning an instrument can be, nothing is worse than being stuck in psuedo-sucking purgatory for a long time because of not understanding something as simple as music notation.
thank you for this information, Im still a beginner and this helped me solve the problems I had before watching this video, especially the "weak pinky syndrome"
Great video! I started out with sheet music too but am playing off chord charts now from my guitar/ukulele music library. Identifying chords on the staff is going to be a challenge but I just need to see them as shapes, like you said.
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You did the right thing. Learning to see chord shapes on the staff is just a matter of reading the intervals. Also if you have the understanding of the harmonic function of the chords, use that to help you predict what chords will follow in the progression since a lot of Western popular music share similar harmonic qualities.
It helps if you learn the chords by number. Most common chords are I, IV, and V. You can play a I with the seventh note added right before you transition from a I to a IV. Wherever you're playing V, it also sounds better to add a seventh. If there's an accidental, it's likely to use a II chord with a seventh added. If there's a minor, most of the time it will be a iv chord. If you play a scale in the key the song is being played in, the I chord will be do, the IV fa, the V sol, and so on. Most songs start on I and end on V. Knowing these basic rules of thumb make it so much easier to learn new songs.
What a great video! Can confirm every single point. I played piano for... 23 years. Ignoring all of the things mentioned here, basically playing solely from sheet music. Now I will have to put much effort in to correct this. :.(
During the pandemic I bought a simple keyboard, so I could play for my 2 kids. 6 years of lessons as kid came back, like riding a bike, some 30 YEARS LTR!! My grams & music teacher were right... it was a gift I'd have forever #RIPGrammy 😊🙏😊 Thanks for these tips. I'm going to rock out Christmas Eve as we wait for Santa.😘 #HappyHolidaysALL
Yesssss you freaking ROCK!!! This is how I predominantly play... Chord progressions, etc! I have also taught peple some of the basics... They are always amazed!! They FINALLY see that they CAN play even after previous " failures"... I do the same when I used to teach adult guitar. Great job looking forward to improving my skills
What is funny. I just got a keyboard for Christmas and I immediately picked up on this with the notes and chords. Like when I was younger it was like an ancient forgotten language and that keyboard broke. But years later, and hours of guitar playing. It just clicked for me. Couldn't help but giggle as I was playing piano for the first time. Like not just pressing keys but actually playing. Of course not incredibly but I understood the assignment so to speak. So watching this video is bringing back that "Ah-hah!" moment. I am still lightyears away in fluidity and such but I love piano. I wish I learned it as a kid but better late than never.
The point about not reading a book one letter at a time and therefore not necessarily reading each note individually really made sense to me. When I started learning a 2nd language, I didn't do it 1 letter at a time and sometimes not 1 word at a time. Sometimes you need to learn things in groups (e.g. 'either - or' either you do xyz or zxy will happen. In this context, the 'either' on its own makes the sentence make no sense at all). It *helps* in learning a language and Zach's point about not reading 1 note at a time is a game changer for me.
AWESOME. THIS IS THE PROCESS BEING USED AND THIS CHART SPECIFIES AND MAKES THE PROCESS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE REPRODUCED AND TRAINED. GREAT JOB ZACH. GREAT JOB.
I’ve always thought the same thing. I took lessons for 6 years but when playing in church or with a band…ALL guitar chords. But I also prefer playing by ear, and I’ve learned that’s something very few people can do. They can’t pick the melody and ain’t got no rhythm. But there’s negatives too. You can’t play in any environment where a uniformed melody and coordinated timing is critical, like an orchestra. And some of the classics that heavily rooted in note are too complex to hear, so no reading proficiently is a setback.
The biggest mistake you can do is to think that learning an instrument is quick. If you honestly think that then you will be a professional beginner forever. Most people will get bored of such simple playing if they don't challenge themselves. There's nothing wrong of course with playing chords and simple melodies all of your life, especially if you're a singer. Not learning basic piano and basic music skills is like learning to speak language but not to read or write it. If you're the 1% of creative geniuses then it may work out, but most people are not, they need to practice and stimulate their brain. Some things you said may be useful but not in the right context. I would say it's a good tip to read the sheet music by figuring out the chord when you first learn a new piece. It goes faster to memorize it. However, you still need to learn to read them. Knowing some music theory and which key you're playing in is also super useful. Next, learning each hand one by one - that might be useful when you're figuring out the technique to play with, but it's actually impossible to think about your two hands at the same point. My tip would be play it very very slowly but do both hands together. Your brain will register the right movement and memorize it. You will play it fast in no time. I want to add a comment about the last tip - good technique is literally the first thing a piano teacher will teach you. Not only your wrist but all the way to your shoulders. I'm surprised to read in the comments that they don't teach that.
I love to play pop, jazz, ragtime, classical, kid’s songs theme songs, country songs just about all the different genres. Sometimes I play by ear other times I read music. Let me tell you, not learning how to play music is like learning how to speak a new language. DON’T just learn the chords! That would be like only learning the words for yes, no, water, food, and bathroom. You could get by on vacation, but if you want to be fluent learn all of it, starting with the BASICS. Learn how to read sheet music one thing at a time: Notes (what type of notes too!), time signature, etc.
great review- My personal road to lear to lear hao to play piano was learning all the chords and inverted musical chords which belong to every agreement I never wanted learn a music of other but I play only my music
I'd say you need to divide people into groups. If you are learning as an adult, you are probably learning to play for fun. If it's a child learning, kids don't know something is difficult until we tell them its difficult. Robert X mentions learning both by ear and sight reading. I agree. Your method may work well for piano and maybe guitar but for wind instruments traditional learning works better in my opinion. Nothing against people who only play by ear but over the last 40 years of performing I've meet dozens of people that ended up missing out on opportunities because they couldn't read music.
Another way to learn chords without the sheet is looking up chord patterns. Major chords are 3:2, minor chords are 2:3, etc... Made it really easy to learn chords!
@@goldeneddie So for instance, 3:2. That is a major chord pattern. So if I want to play A major, I'll play the A key count 3 keys (including the black keys) then push the next key (Db or C#) then count two key and push the next key (E) in total I would be playing A, C#, and E all at the same time and that would be A major. Minor is just reversed. You would play your first key count 2 play the next key, then count three and play the next key. Aminor would be A, C, and E. ua-cam.com/video/-pP81ZTfW0U/v-deo.html this video explains it better :)
I’m learning as an visual artist picking up music and like it’s helping me memorize specific chords because they look 👁 like the visual key version of the golden ratio Phi, 1.618 divine proportion that us seen a lot in nature and artwork, so like, the majors it seems have divine proportions that relate to Fibonacci sequence. So visually that’s the first thing I noticed and it makes it rly easy when I think of it like phi and reverse phi various keys lol seems alot of math is present and relevant to what sounds good
learning chords is an easy way to simplify many beginner-intermediate songs without reading every note, and an easy route for playing if you're playing casually, without complex melodies and other things. You don't need to be a master at piano to play simple songs. But if you're a more advanced pianist, it's essential, as you can use both things + ear in conjunction to be more efficient. I definitely couldn't learn advanced pieces (many classical composers) by ear or by simplifying them into chords, but they can help you understand the piece easier, with reading. For classical, you can't make too many careless mistakes, and learning to read sheet music vigorously can determine whether you play those songs without too many mistakes. For more modern music, (e.g. pop) it's fine to make mistakes as long as you get to your goal and it sounds how you want it. It depends on what you're trying to play.
Learning chord progressions is very important and makes every song easy. Start with using numbers on C major key. Then when you finish getting that. Just shift your hand or finger to a different “1”. Its the same pattern
Sheet music reading is the reason I quit piano lessons when I was 12. It was so boring, and the melodies were things like Mary had a little lamb. I'm just now getting into music again, and I'm in my 30s now! I know it's never too late though!
for #2 what i've found to work for me regarding rhythm is playing the parts 7x or until i can play the parts easily without thinking about what i am doing with my hands and then focus on the rhythm once I am able to actually play the parts, helps with things that aren't played at the same time
I have been doing this for the past months without looking at your video. I use the chords list of the songs I found on guitar sites and then find the melody on my own, or by ears like you mention. It does make me seem like I can play piano, which of course for me is not really since I still can't read music sheet and I don't think I'll ever do. But yeah, it's just for fun. 😂
As a guy who plays piano by ear and uaing only chords for almost 4 years. I suggest we should really balance sight reading and hearing at the same time. I'm still struggling to read sheet music as if today. This video is so Informative Btw it's 12321
Dude, this was awesome! I just started learning like a few weeks ago and I've only been doing an hour or so a few times a week and this is getting me excited to go practice right now lol
Practice every night before bed. Just 10 minutes. Nothing wrong with doing an hour, just do it every day. You’re literally building pathways in your brain so the frequency is the most important thing!
Oh my God. That first tip will save me so much time TYSM! EDIT: THAT LAST TIP. THE SOLUTION IS SO EASY! Damn it and I was here brute forcing for years-
The first one was soo good i bought a baseball bat and told my sister to where a piano suit and then i smashed her The first one got my wholefamily dying hearing that:)
Sheet music is definately important to learn in piano, all instruments use it, if you want to learn more than just piano you do have to be able to read music, it's definately frusterating at first but as you practice it gets easier. . just like most things! yes learn the chords and chord shapes but also learn how to read music.
You need basic understanding if you don’t know where middle C is then you need learn that, If you don’t understand the root note or what key a song is than you need music theory. Basic chord structure is 1,3,5 of any scale also with any of the notes in the scales most scales repeat themselves any way G scale has F and C so does the C and F scale. so if learn C scale you already have the root notes for those other scales of F and G. does a note always have to have 1,3,5 nope it can be 1,5,7 you also can drop notes just because C is the root note you can play 3,5 two note chord it’s still fits the scale and root note. The fist scale everyone should learn with both hands is full harmonic scale playing all the white and black keys up and down the piano or keyboard while practicing crossover. The basics are Notes, Scales, Chords and music theory. Pop music isn’t the best for leaning music theory because you can take anyone 1,3,5 and play a 4 chord progression and will sound like a pop song that doesn’t give you music theory at all. You need to learn the difference between Major and Minor scale while also knowing theory of Pentatonic, Blues, Jazz scales which all come from classical music no matter what music you play the theory came from classical even pop music. If you really want to see real genius on piano study James Booker dude played everything in his music it was Classical, Jazz, Blues, and especially Boogie Woogie also was able to play any song backwards while also playing melodies and lead which pissed if a lot great musicians because he had perfect pitch and only needed one time to listen to song.
![6 Concepts Beginners Must Know To Learn Fast [CRITICAL]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HwnQ04H-YnU/mqdefault.jpg)
Make sure you stick around to the end - the LAST part is the most important BY FAR, and also makes the first 4 way easier...
00:00 Intro
00:39 How to Learn Songs WAY Faster (WithOUT Sheet Music)
02:38 Easy Way to Master Hands Together Coordination
03:56 The “Play By Ear” Test
08:04 Using “Song Mapping” To Learn 10X Faster
11:13 Solve Weak Pinkie Syndrome Instantly
And here's the links to ALL the extra resources we talked about in the video:
1. Learn Songs Using Chord Shapes
ua-cam.com/video/7WS_wasGBxA/v-deo.html
2. Hands Together Coordination Exercises
ua-cam.com/video/G78DQpEDDWE/v-deo.html
3. Play by Ear Exercises
www.bestpianoclass.com/dashboard/the-best-piano-theory-course-for-beginners/playing-by-ear-lesson-1-psh/
4. Song Mapping Chart Download
www.bestpianoclass.com/5thingsbonus
5. Technique Training & Exercises
ua-cam.com/video/4AUaZBn0uWQ/v-deo.html
Happy practicing!!
-Zach
I'm mentally retarded and I understand what you're trying to do I'm all for new learning but do you plan to make a book do you plan to make some kind of system out there that people can follow are you willing to go against colleges and professors and people who write sheet music to prove that your system is better for your piano I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong but it's nothing wrong with a little bit of music theory it helps a little bit
Thank you
I like the song mapping chart! Question: Is it better to do the entire first column first, then the second, etc., or can one do the first row first, then the second, etc,? Also, could there be potential issues with the transitions between the song sections? Since you’ve drilled in each section in isolation, could it cause issues when trying to play the entire song because you never learned to play the song as a continuous piece? How do we prevent this from happening?
Then why not put it up first.?
It's not a lot of help
You DO start off reading one letter at a time when you learn to read, until you practice enough and you start to see words from afar. Thing is, you don't start off by reading entire books. That's why beginner pieces are short. Learning chords is one way, but honestly a *completely* different approach and different genre than what someone who wants to learn classical (or as you called it, "outdated"!?) music wants to learn! I don't have a problem with people who just want to play their favourite songs, but by playing chords without ever having learned anything about theory or technique, it will always stay at very watered down, all-sound-the-same playalongs. And I believe you're perfectly aware that things aren't just as simple as bringing 3 notes into the right order. Sheet music is the key to have access to all sorts of music, without having to remember patterns or having to translate them first. With chords only you're stuck at a very low level. But I suppose telling people it's "super easy" probably just sells better on UA-cam. Learning like this will get you stuck at your skill level within a year or two!
I disagree. I never took lessons and don’t know how to read music, but I can play all kinds of songs. Classical like Black Keys[1], songs I call “fun” classical - Yiruma n such- that aren’t to challenge or improve skill wise but are still fun to play around with, to the songs I or a loved one likes.
[1]Side note: Though I should admit for the Black Keys song in particular, Im still working on mastering it; I _can_ play it, but it doesn’t sound great. it’s a bit mechanical and meh atm. I haven’t had much time to practice it since learning it tho, so I think I’ll be able to play it well in time. Claire de Lune ig would be a better example, but I digress haha
Anyways my point is, not everyone’s skill level will be capped. Especially if you have a good ear and a good intuitive sense of music (if that makes sense?). don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t recommend learning how I did at all. I wish Id been taught about finger placement and technique and the math behind music and everything when I was learning. I’ve always wanted to go learn to read sheet music and music theory and all that, and to some people it’s invaluable.
I agree w u that saying it’s an outdated way of learning is just wrong and frankly ridiculous - it’s like saying reading is outdated bc we have Netflix and audiobooks now. But like.. that doesn’t mean we don’t still need literacy.
*But* I also think not everyone needs that to be a good pianist. It’s good to have that in your foundation but not essential. Sometimes, all the technicalities will make the player into.. idk, someone who’s playing right _technically_ but sounds just like everyone else, or who can play but has no emotion or style or anything behind it.
For me, i think it would’ve been hard for me to push past the technical side and find myself and how I express myself (& my style, wtv) if I’d learned piano the traditional route. I think it depends a lot on the person.
sorry for the super long response omfg haha
TLDR: I think there’s pros and cons to either way of learning. I don’t believe learning theory and technique is essential to everyone
I gave up many times learning piano the traditional way. The only thing that has unblocked my learning curve is that I decided to learn it like i did guitar. Learning guitar was wayyy easier, learn a hand full of chords. Play songs right away. Granted I was playing simple versions of the songs I wanted to learn. But I could play them. As time went on I added new skills to my repertoire. Learning chord shapes on piano has finally gotten me to keep going with it for the same reason I liked guitar. I can play simple versions of songs by knowing 5-6 chords. I'm way more motivated to learn how to read sheet music and all the other techniques that come with piano then I ever was.
100% agree
The way is not always the goal....I think in this context DIDACTICS should be based on the goal. If you intend to get a professional pianist you can't avoid getting classical trained. To admit it, I'm not mad about having had classical guitar lessons. They gave me a solid foundation in knowledge of music theory (and some remnants of it are still retrievable ;-)). But this kind of learning to play a musical instrument is another approach and enables faster succsess....By the way: in fact, there are also different methods of reading acquisition. Even if it is not very common, some children are tought it in a holistic approach - not in the form of entire books, but word by word...
Your point doesn't bear scrutiny well when it comes to adult learning. You DO start off reading one letter at a time WHEN YOU'RE A TODDLER, but NOT as an adult. Though you learnt your mother tongue that way, that's not how you'd learn French or German is it?
As adults learning music, people do not want to start at a 'toddler' level. They want to play music! Yes, it means they get good at BASICALLY playing, but that's better than being NO GOOD at trying to play really well. And it's definitely better than giving up, which is what happens to the majority of adults who attempt to learn the piano. Think about that - the MAJORITY give up, so doesn't that indicate the established way of teaching and learning doesn't work? If you had a factory where the majority of products came off the production line broken, you'd change the process wouldn't you?
So I'm all in favour of a piano-learning method that ENGAGES people and creates a lot more people who can PLAY, rather than a few people who can play very well. Because, let's face it, the ones with a natural talent will excel _no matter how they begin_ whereas the average player (the majority) will only succeed if they don't give up because they're enjoying early success.
00:48, in case anyone is wondering, the piece shown here is Liszt Sonetto 104 del Petrarca.
I like this advice, but I'd say don't give up on reading music too - learn both. I memorised a set of classical guitar pieces over the years, but now I can't remember any of them, and can't read guitar music well enough to play them any more. Sure I could get them back painfully slowly, but meanwhile I've been practicing my piano reading just a bit a day over 2.5 years, and there is already a huge number of intermediate pieces I can now read after just a couple of goes...So I'd say do both, don't just memorise. Sure it's quick and easier, but imagine reading your favourite songs straight off as effortlessly as you are reading these words now... Thats 'really great too, you just have to not expect yourself to be able to do it overnight, you are literally changing your brain :).
I agree. If you are a beginner, then following his advice is actually very helpful. But as you become a little more advanced, you should start to introduce the traditional way in between. This is going to ensure that at the very least you don’t get frustrated in the beginning but as you get better and better, you start to do it the professional way
@@MichaelOrtega I’d say the first bit of advice is fantastic for both beginners and advanced players, although I would go a step higher and suggest not only understanding chord shapes but also its harmonic function. Sightreading becomes sooo much faster once you have a basic grasp of harmony.
ues
I actually have never been able to read sheet music for any instrument, ive always learned by ear or playing over and over. I hear the note i know the note
@@btat16 got some resources for me
I’m a piano teacher for 20 yrs here. This video is awesome! I think this video is even more relevant to teachers in helping them how to teach.
No body tells u this most especially when u go to learn piano from traditional teachers. They start with sheet music that ends up getting u frustrated but piano becomes easier if u understand the aesthetics of cords and various voice types....the moment i discovered this, it was easier to play any song... thanks great video
Yea a big reason is this stuff is pretty new. Nowadays you can lookup the chords to any popular song free on Google, and there are sites with giant databases of almost every song. So a lot of teachers never learned this method of learning songs and hence don't teach it.
So glad you liked the video 👌
@@becomeapianosuperhuman6765 ur are very right sir
If your goal is to play easy songs then yes. But if your goal is to play virtuosic, difficult, long pieces, then you need to learn note reading. Just like there are no shortcuts to learning/reading any language, there are no shortcuts to being an good musician.
@@aritina8379 i strongly believe in understanding how things works before delving into big things. Piano goals are different to individuals but the main goal to evryone is to be able to play songs and if u are a producer like me, u get to understand that all i need is my chord , inversions, scales, harmony and melodies once i can put this together, then am good to go in modern pop music. The major challenge with many musicians is they get lost in too much piano pieces and as a result they are unable to be better musicians. Because there is too much to learn at thesame time and that slows u down...but when things are broken in smaller steps, u get to understand and get things right easily. Piano is a weirdo instrument the more advanced u get the more critical it gets .. so am a fan of playing by ears and also know the basics of music theory. Then i can break the rules ...
@@onimisilovesonmusic4548 I couldn't have said it better myself 👌
Learning by cords has for sure helped me more then learning sheet music. I started for about a day a long long time ago, and I felt overwhelmed with reading sheet music. I gave up right away this also when i was around 17. Im now 37 and decided to pick up playing again. I followed your cords video and felt it connected with me.
Awesome Dan. Glad you found the video helpful! 🎹
Hi, I'm a teacher from Jamaica, our students start by ear from age three. A pattern from a tune we wrote for 5 notes,starting in c, then we go to other keys up. Then add in left hand 5,1 , then 1,3, chords then add 1,3,5 going into all keys... We also use Mary's Lamb tune, that's how we learn to speak, listening... Great job...
Awesome, love that! Thanks for the comment :)
I come Jamaica can u teach
I see much push back against your ideas here, but I happen to think it's a genius way to approach the Piano.
You can always go back and learn to read after grounding yourself in chord patterns first. I think it's a much more enjoyable way to not becoming too frustrated in the beginning and ultimately quitting.
We all learn how to talk before we start understanding how to read so what's the difference? I wish I would've been told this when I started years ago. I could've saved a lot of frustrating hours and down time due to boredom. Great video and advice!! Keep up the good work.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the video! 🎹
WOW This explains why Im very proficient in learning a song by ear. I isolate the melody and try to listen to what the harmonic chords sound like. However the part I disagree with is when it comes to classical music you actually have to learn every single note on the sheet music and play the music as written. But other than that wonderful insight to learning to play piano. 😎
I would love to learn the music that plays in Rydon Tower, in Dragon Quest VIII. Not sure if the melody would intrude on that. It's just finding the right chords to play it. I just playing the beginning of, "What are we made of", by Brian May. I fell in love with it when it was in '96's Pinnochio.
@@Joe_334 if you want to learn it:
1)Listen
2) Find the notes on the keyboard
3) Repeat until done
You don't have to learn every note on the music sheet. You only have to read it. Learn the right way to play right.
Self teaching 60 year old , it’s been 9 months , I am studying music theory books and doing the lessons , and using Hal Leonard super easy books left hand chords right hand melody , I was able to play basic Christmas songs over the holidays for family and doing scales to learn time signatures etc , I have been able to add intros and outros , by using these also , I know I will never get to a level 4 or 5 even in my life , but to play a few classical songs some day , and in the meantime play some Beatles and Queen from my easy books is making me happy at level prepatory or level 1 whatever I am at .
Great attitude Dee. Keep up the great work! 🎹
I like that "weak pinky syndrome" solution. It is so frustrating moving that small finger around and not be able to reach. That's amazing explanation, thank you sir.
Not exactly so. Unfortunately somebody on UA-cam knows the most about finger technique?
Wow…. It’s free, so everyone follows this ad ice.
Sad.
Don't believe a word of it. You have to train your fingers to become strong so all fingers play at the same volume and strength. Do this with finger exercises. There's no other way.
@Grace Jackson was about to just comment the same thing. My pinky finger is a stud, but my ring finger feels like it’s not even part of my body sometimes, if my pinky and middle finger are also engaged. I know what I want it to do, but it just feels crippled.
ok, this "solution" is a whole other issue. Sometimes, people just have weak pinkies, and depends on someones own preferences. Like if you have good typing skills, and you just have more strength in you pinkie's, maybe doing this exercise could work really well! But if you have lower strength in you pinkie generally, this may not work out as well. Tbh though, I think a good solution is to practise the fur elise opening part, you can adapt much faster when doing that. Hope this could help someone out.
me... short hands and finger,.. need shorter gaps keyboard haha,.. but I am innovating which also makes my learning to takes time...
I have played guitar for 58 years and have decided now to learn piano. I have one and noodle on it, I do know basic music notation and chord theory from years of guitar. Also studied classical flute for a few years. My point here is that if a student can achieve playing a few songs they like in a rewarding and easy way, it gives them confidence to try more and to want to learn more. I love your approach here and look forward to your other lessons. For people new to any instrument, though, I would definitely recommend a fundamentals of music course taken at the same time. No need to memorize a lot of it but just concepts at first. Because without that basic knowledge, even this lesson will not make as much sense.
It all depends on what your goals are. You just want to play along with one of your favorite songs? Impress your friends like at one of those pianos set out where anyone can play? Sure. This is great advice.
However, do you want to pick up any piece of sheet music and play a song without ever having heard it? The advice in this video isn't going to help you.
Don't get me wrong; playing by ear is a skill, just like any other. Some of us were born with a musical ear, so we don't really need to practice. But this is great advice if you just want to quickly figure out a song. However, there is value in learning how to read music; you can just sit down and play something you've never heard before.
The analogy of learning to read a book was given here; you can memorize a speech if you hear it enough times, sure. But learning to read allows you to read speeches you have never heard before. The same is true with learning to read sheet music. In my opinion, developing a musical ear is just as important as learning to read; don't throw away the value of reading sheet music out with the bath water.
Totally agree.I think that if someone interested in learning songs they've never heard before can really benefit if they learn to "read" the piano tutorials here on UA-cam (the falling notes style ones). People hate on those tutorial videos so much, but they really allow for anyone to learn the notes, rhythms, and expression of a song in a easier and much more digestible fashion than sheet music.
I’m lazy and just want to play and sing 🎤 can’t read but can play by ear
@draugn I know how to read sheet music, but it's something you really need to practice for it to become useful. It's an effort you have to be willing to put in. Also, it's more difficult to grasp the structure and harmony of a musical piece out of sheet music, regardless of its genre.
Reading sheet music is a big advantage for sure. But you can't rely on it each time you want to play a new song. Ears must be developed if you want to play in a band or church setup.
As a guy who's been playing the piano for the majority of his life, I can confirm that these things are useful. Especially the first one mentioned - knowing chords, as well as the last one - technique. All in all, this video is just representing the fundamentals - the base knowledge that helps make learning songs a heck of a lot easier.
Props for being able to fit all that into a video less than 15 minutes long 👏.
God i wanna cry, i dont even know what to say how to thank you. Dude you saved my life. I was drowning in my ignorance and by the time passed i had a huge distance between me and my piano. Cause i didnt wanna handle failing all the time. I reaally appreciate your work hope you can reach out to more people like me and achieve whatever you had in your head nowadays
In grade eight band, I played the clarinet. Our music teacher taught us notes little by little and I can play a few songs using those notes. It is incredibly important to learn sheet music because the notes are so much easier to associate with the sheet music. It's also a helpful skill to have and I tell you, when you recognize a musical piece and play it right it is one of the best feelings ever! Please, if you are learning any instrument, learn sheet music. You won't regret it.
Sir is a Christmas miracle!🎄 Do to my parents divorce I stopped taking piano lessons at 9yrs old. By then I already knew how to read and write music 🎼 . Fast forward now I’m 39 and I look at those music sheets and they look like gibberish, I lost all hope and I found this channel today on Xmas 2021. You make it so easy to understand that I don’t feel frustrated. Thanks for your channel… now on to the next challenge, keeping the consistency of practice.
Best of luck on your journey!
It's never too late to pick up on something you are interested in.
We're not gonna talk about how cool that mashup was?
I'm 2:50 in and I already appreciate the effort and time you put into this video. You just got yourself a new subscriber
Test #1: 1,2,3,2,1
Test #3: 3,3,2,2,2,3,2,1
Got it! Been playing by ear since I was young, but wanting to go to next stage with sheet music etc. This video really helped and motivated me! Thank you! 🎹
This is exactly me
For every single person who wants to play a Beethoven solo, there are 10,000 who just want to play their favorite songs! Paradoxically, for those who sing, playing strict melody just gets in the way 🤨
So true, couldn't have said it better myself
So true, I get tired of trying to find music that's an accompaniment to vocals, it's always left hand rhythm and right hand melody!
@@NeedsMoreTriangle It sounds like you just want to play the chords, and you don't need sheet music or piano tutorials for that. You just need to learn the chord shapes and inversions and look up a song's chords. You play the bass of the note on the left hand and the entire chord in the right hand and sing on top. With time you naturally learn arpeggios and other neat tricks, but if you only want to accompany yourself singing that should be a good start!
its just how it is, you need to learn sheet music if you want to play classical properly, classical is still to this day, the test for virtuosity and skill on a classical instrument, its what all competitions test on, but for people who just want to play their favorite songs, simply learning their chords will do wonders.
I just started playing piano and my first piece is Moonlight sonata. I didn’t want to learn piano so I could play 3 chord songs. Everyone has different desires and expectations.
At 3:17 I really thought he was gonna say "it's way easier to use a baseball bat" lol I would have died.
Hahaha
I had 6 years piano lessons when I was a teen. Now trying to pick it up again. But it is hard. But these tips are awsome. Because you want to play a song instead of practice old school.
Great to hear you're back at it!!
I learned piano by ear and totally abandoned note reading. While I have some satisfaction in what I do, so are most of those who listens to me. I wish I had the DISCIPLINE to go through the process, so I could not just play music but write them so I dont have to be always guessing and improvising my way to get by. These are really good for those who like to get started, but I envy those who took the pain and enjoyed the benefits of it long term.
Yeah, it's really funny to me that this video is "5 things I wish I'd known" and he goes off explaining that you _shouldn't_ know sheet music for arbitrary reasons
Hands together coordination: after playing hand percussion (congas) for years, coming back to doodling on piano is so much more fun -- it's like I did hand-independent coordination exercises for years, and it really made a difference.
this is very helpuf because when i was 14 i saw a video on how to play 100 songs with 4 chords, and that's how i learned to play the basics and now 10 years later I can confidently say that I'm a pro at guitar. Learning is much more fun when you can actually play songs that you like. I'm starting on piano and i can do alot by ear, combining that and the sheet of the chords that you provided with my knoledge of guitar chords on every song. i can easily start to play some songs, and it's awesome!! thank you!!
Learning by chord shapes isn't mutually exclusive with reading classical or more intricate music. I teach students to do both and to use the chords to learn the logic behind the song. The melody will be mostly the notes from the chord in any given bar.
Exactly with #1, I actually learned this on my own while all other classes where always about note reading. It just shut me down, turned my interest away from piano. What I love!
Glad you enjoyed the video! 🎹
Love the playing by ear exercise. Nice job making it so approachable!
Glad you liked it Nicolas!
Did not get correct pattern. maybe don't have super ears.
Am very happy to see your video. Is like a confirm for me. I did learn on same way to start with accords coz I need happiness to learn. I Never learned an can't read notes until now. But I got a talent as gift - my sounds of music is in my head and I only try to transform it with my fingers on piano. Am on right way and am pushed every day more. Thanks so much for more accords to learn. I wish us all happiness for this way to play ❤️ thx so much be blessed
Great tip my friend. I just started to learn piano by myself, this makes way more sense than learning notes. I learned notes for the first 3 weeks now. My sister has given me a few pointers, she is a piano teacher for over 25 years. She learned the old way. Now I can learn the new way. This is going to blow my sister’s mind. Thank you very very much.
Whaaat???! I was 34 years old when I learned tthese- I've been struggling with everything the hard way, no joke, until Now!
Been teaching and the "weak pinkie syndrome" has become an issue, until last night it stopped me continuing as the person I was teaching had very bad habits I could NOT break! This technique is exactly what I'm going to try next. Thank you alot for sharing this!
Don't try this, and this is not a technique. Just play the fifth finger, it's enough.
You just blew my mind with step one, man. I am a learning adult and this is a game-changer for me.
Honestly, as someone that knows piano pretty good know - this is all true and great advice IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PLAY CLASSICAL MUSIC OR COMPOSE! This is all great if you just wanna play your favourite songs, which are all really simple and you can easily play them by ear or just use a lead sheet, but if you want to play something more than The Queen, Anime songs, rap, or pop you really need to invest a lot of your time and actually get a teacher.
Another mistake is putting stickers on the keys and writing the name of the note on them.
If you do this, one day you'll come across a piano/keyboard that doesn't have those stickers and you'll have to concentrate on remembering where the keys are and that will take away some of your concentration for that specific task. The stickers become a sleeping pad and that is not good.
I found out about this myself literally about an hour prior to an exam. :)
Thanks for this I actually put sticker for notes 😂
I'm just starting to learn and I think stickers are good to start with. My plan is to use them for a week or two and then start removing them one by one (probably starting with middle C) over the course of days or weeks. My thinking is that it'll reduce the early frustration and speed up getting acquainted with the keyboard/notes. By removing them one by one from early on, I'll learn the keys/notes in a more manageable way. I find it less stressful and, as we all know, stress hinders the learning process. Might not work for everyone but it suits my learning style.
I literally just put the stickers on my keyboard an hour ago!😂
You’re not supposed to leave them on for that long more than a few months!
As a newbie, this is the single most important video I have watched on how to play the piano by ear, getting it done thing right, and fast from the get go. Thanks 😊
THANKS ❣️ I've watched several of your videos today, and printed out all your awesome bonus cheats! I've learned so much! In fact more than I have for years. I've been basically a beginner since I taught myself to play and read the old fashioned way at age 30. I'm now 64 and still feel like a beginner but these lessons have pushed me farther still. THEY ARE FOR BEGINNERS AND SOMEONE WHOSE PRACTICED OFF AND ON FOR 30 YEARS. Thanks Again! I can't wait to apply THESE simplifying techniques. I'm so excited.
I've always played by ear. Can confirm these tips, exactly what I do too. I didn't know the pinky tip though! Playing by ear also helps you read music because you already know what patterns are likely. Then it's fun to learn that using unlikely patterns is what makes classical and jazz fascinating.
I’m eventually going to introduce myself to this method but I really think being able to read sheet music is the key to being able to play everything you ever wanted. I’m in the first 2 months, it hasn’t been easy but I have to know why I’m doing what I’m doing and the traditional way is how you do that. I think if you teach yourself to read you can go through the sheet music and identify chords to help. I believe you can learn this method really easily after learning to read sheet music. I think you would find it more difficult to learn chords and then go to sheet music. I think most would be so frustrated they would give up and just stick with the chords and limit themselves drastically. You won’t play Claire de lune using the chord method.
You re playing Claire de lune in 2 mounts… I m very impressed, keep up the good work 👍
@@recuerdos2457 oh no! I’m definitely not playing Claire de Lune lol. I can play the first line from memory/imitation. But my point was if you only learn the chord method, someone puts Clair de Lune in front of you, you won’t be able to play it correctly if at all.
@@recuerdos2457 I’m now almost 10 months in but I still can’t play very much. My teacher is very technical and wants me to have full control over my hands before we dive into pieces like that. I’m ok at Czerny exercises but that’s about it lol
Great value vid. Thanks mate! Subbed
Thanks Mike. Glad you liked the video! 🎹
This is exactly how I started, I had related myself from every lesson you just taught. Thank you for solving my problems on how to complete a full song, and my weaky pinky ♥
Thank you honestly, I’m currently learning classical music which I love but I want to speed things along and learn songs that I enjoy. I love having sheet music and always will because it allows me to have a cushion while I’m playing, say if I stuck I know right where I’m at. It also easily demonstrates where your fingers are moving whether up or down, which is especially useful if playing scales. The MOST helpful thing about sheet music is rhythm because of time signatures and dynamic symbols as well as the notes which helps with how many beats you are playing. With all that said, as you can tell I very much admire sheet music and all its advantages, but I’ve always been wanting to go at a faster pace. These techniques that you’ve shared definitely will help. Not only that, but playing by ear is very impressive and I’ve always wanted to learn. I truly believe that learning both techniques is very useful, but it all depends on the person and there preferences on what allows them to learn the easiest and efficiently. So, thank you again for browsing my understanding of the piano.:)
I recommend this to all piano beginners out there. I exactly did this since I was 11-12 years old. This method really helped me when I was a piano beginner, and couple years later... Today I'm 15 years old who already learned "Rondo alla Turca" (well... I learned this when I was 13 yo). This is a good method to play a piano for beginners.
These are things u should use if you want to show off some basic skills to impress a bit. Nobody will say: "wooow you can play realy good".... If you want to learn piano properly u shouldnt use shortcuts or "easy learning tips"! take your time... start at your level of skill... and never forget to learn the theory behind playing the piano
I learned a new word. Pinkie! 🤣 I never thought about the english terms for fingers before. What a lovely name for it. Thank you so much for the input, just started playing the piano.
Lol It’s funny to know that you’ve never heard it called that before. 😂
Damn, should have watched before I broke my piano with a sledgehammer
Thanks!!! A modern approach of teaching with the fun attitude of minecrafters and the brilliance of an experienced piano teacher!
Ufff the second tip! great start, when I bought my first piano I decide learn by ear at the start because I hate read sheets and was excited to play at least 5 notes with solid rhythms, still learning but yeah, can't Imagine play piano and not being able to play with just using your ear.
How do you get the rhythm from chord charts? It seems like chord charts or knowing only chords works for jazz musicians (improv) or if you wanna play in a rock band or learn a simple short song! But if your goal is to play Beethoven’s opus 111, how on earth do you do that without reading notes?
Also with students (I’m a teacher), if you teach them to play before you teach them to read, they basically get this instant gratification and you’ll never convince them that reading notes is important! I’ve had so many parents tell me: “we dropped our last teacher coz he/she never taught the kids to read sheet music! And that’s like learning a language without being able to read it!”
It’s ok for a 4 year old, but if you wanna speak beyond the level of a 4 year old, you need to learn to read! Same with music! You can’t ever learn a 20 page difficult piece just by chord analysis! Summarily, it depends how far you’d like to go with your piano playing! If all you wanna do is play pop songs, then I guess chords is all you need; but if you want to play well, play long, difficult pieces, learning to read notes is a must. And it’s so easy once you understand intervalic reading combined with note reading! I have 5 year old students who can do it! It isn’t all that difficult.
Hey Ari. good to hear from you. So yes, the chord chart method works with most contemporary music styes (pop, rock, country, jazz, oldies, etc) but for classical, yes, you're going to have to learn to read music. But most of the people who watch my channel aren't that interested in classical (I've done many surveys haha), and would much rather just play their favorite songs from the radio. And it's MUCH easier to do that using chords than sheet music.
I get this feedback a lot, and I think it's just a matter of having different goals. Most piano teachers were brought up in the classical world, where the goal is to learn complex, difficult sonatas or concertos etc. But for most students who come to me, they don't really care about that, and this is a much easier way for them to learn their favorite songs.
I think if someone's only goal is to play really difficult classical pieces, they should probably get a teacher and not be learning off UA-cam anyways.
Hope that makes sense!
-Zach
Reading sheet music doesn't necessarily mean you're good. They're both hard
I 💯 agree. I’m 2-3 months in trying to teach myself and I will not even look at this method until I am familiar with sheet music. I know myself and if I learn to play chords before notes, I will find it extremely difficult to go to sheet music if I can just give up and play something with chords instead and I’ll never learn how to play Claire de lune.
Happy 2022. Knowing how to play the piano is a powerful gift - a two-edged sword. Every good and perfect gift [in reality] comes from the Father of Lights. He invites us to learn of Himself for He is meek and lowly of heart. Studying His life daily, Let His love to fill your heart daily. Blessings
I love you so much! Your advice is always spot on. You really have the gift of teaching and when I apply your tips and tricks I can see the progress right away!
So glad you're enjoying the lessons!
I began learning piano with a video for a week and first, I learned the different hand positions and then the coordination and stuff and later I got better by learning pieces with YT tutorials instead of sheet music
i have just one thing to say about this, in the play by ear test i think (maybe this is just me) that if you didnt tell me that c d e were the 3 notes i would not have known which notes you were playing and i think and i think having perfect pitch or well developed pitch does have a major role in playing by ear especially when hearing chords or complex melodies but decent advice none the less
Yeah I can’t name notes by their sound either but I don’t think that is what he was pointing out. I think you just had to identify higher or lower.
Yep it does help a lot
Braaaaahhhh!!!!!! I am BLOWN AWAY N IN UTTER SHOCK!!! WOW. Wish i knew that years ago!!
Great video Zak. Nice and steady. Great to be able to work at a comfortable pace
Thanks Gary, so glad you enjoyed it
i learned with this amazing guy over lock down - i learned more and warp speed than i had in twenty five years of on off learning TRYNG to incorporate reading music ! please follow and participate in his lessons hes a brilliant teacher
Love your videos, I am happy to discover I am learning the right way. I was worried about all the sheet music stuff ....but hey , here is a guy telling me the way I learned, using chord shapes, is ok....very reassuring. I will follow all your tips from now on. And by the way, I can already play many songs.
I'm going to slowly work my way through all your videos. Thank you very much again. So very kind of you for making these videos.
You know what helps me a bit is turning sheet notes 90 degrees clockwise. I just wish there was some easier to read notation. You can't just instantly read the classic one without having years and years of experience especially when they put lots of ### in the beginning on different lines and you always have to scan back to check if it applies to the current note or not. I dunno maybe im too noobish but this is what hinders my progress and the will to learn.
Yea, sheet music is notorious for being really hard to learn. It's similar to learning a new language, but IMO even harder because you can't just pause if you forget something. Unless you're learning classical music, I don't think it's necessary to learn to read music, and you can learn much faster playing by chords or by ear.
Thanks for the comment!!
@@barbaramilone2800 Yea, this style works with pretty much any style, except classical. But for most people watching this channel, they're much more interested in playing their favorite songs from the radio than learning complex classical music, and this is MUCH easier path to that go.
Thanks for the comment!
Sheet music isn't hard to read, atleast not for me. I learned the acronyms for the right and left hand. I write the sharps and flats at the top of each page so I know what applies. I don't know if you know this so for the right hand, notes on the line are Every Good Boy Does Fine ( E, G, B, D, F) between the lines for the right hand is FACE (F, A, C, E) left hand on the lines Good, Boys, Do, Fine, Always (G, B, D, F, A) between the lines All, Cows, Eat, Grass (A, C, E, G)
I would write my little cheater notes above each note and after a while, like memorizing your times tables, you see a note and you know what it is without having to think about it. Yes it can be tedious and frustrating learning notes but once you know them it's awesome.
@@barbaramilone2800 Chopin and every composer uses chord progressions no matter what the genre of music is. Either is pop/rock, classical,jazz,transitional or oriental. It is just that in songs or in a popular famous melody, he chord progression has to be kind of a basic(popular) one. For example take nearly any popular classical composition and add the chord symbols to the left hand . Just for the popular part of it we all know and can sing along the melody. Yes, these are the chord progressions also used in popular songs.
I am soooo excited I found you! Your methods and the way you explain things just makes so much sense!! I've been playing for a few years, but feeling stuck and wanting to take my playing to the next level. All of your videos have helped tremendously! Wow! Can't thank you enough for this amazing content!!
I always played by ear and learned many chordswith zero instruction. After watching this, I feel like a musical genius. 😉
Is the feeling more satisfying than reality ?
This is great for introducing this method to my grandson who has autism. Playing for fun at first. As for me, I hate and can not remember sheet music. I learn a piece of music then play by ear. This is fabulous so thank you 🤗
Hey man I gave up using my brain to learn piano. And I have been cavemaning this by just using synthesia and muscle memory. This worked for me so far. I heard on some forum learning the squiggly music stuff is a must. Is it really the case or are they just being snobbish to us cavemen people.
Hey man - so basically there are a bunch of different ways to learn music. You can read notes, learn with Synthesia tutorials, play by ear, or play using chords. If you want to learn classical music, you're going to have to learn to read music. But if you want to learn pop songs, it isn't really necessary.
You can continue doing synthesia tutorials, you can def learn songs but the downside is every song you have to memorize everything note by note instead of using chords to simplify a bunch of notes into a few chords. If you're interested in the Chord method (for pop songs I think it's by far the easiest way to get started) this video will give you a rundown: ua-cam.com/video/7WS_wasGBxA/v-deo.html
Hope that helps!
-Zach
'Squiggly music stuff'? I love it, fellow caveman. I always use(d) the expression 'pissed spider stuff' myself.
OMG!! YOU can even sing. Great voice. Gawd! I'd be happy if I can play even one song. Looks like I will with these tutorials
Introduce both chord maps and notation early on at the same time. Check the end of the comment for why.
Also, when learning, learn a super easy piece and a hard piece for your level. The easy piece, like a four-chord pop piece or for guitar, CCR's Down on the Corner, etc, gets you that sweet hit of feeling like a bad mama-jamma on the instrument, while the hard piece, for your level, teaches and practices difficult techniques, and once you get it down, you feel like an absolute champ. Also, embrace the failure and treat the failures as amusing. Fake that until you start to believe it
Ok, so I learned guitar by ear and chord shapes. I, for almost seven years at this point, partially due to lack of practice, have been stuck a plateau of being the guy who can jam out on most rhythm style playing and blues. However, unless someone is with me teaching me the specifics, I really struggle to learn new music, especially if I haven't heard it or it is not your typically structured song. I am completely reliant on listening to others playing it. However, my buddy, who is teaching me notation for guitar, has been playing for less than three years, and anyone can hand him a piece of sheet music, and he can play it at half speed and has it down in 5 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, it might take an hour for me to understand the piece if it is particularly difficult. He has an extra tool in his box that is universal to almost all music. Music notation is quite amazing. When I play my euphonium, I can get a piece mostly down in the same amount of time as he does on the guitar because I can read bass clef.
As frustrating as learning an instrument can be, nothing is worse than being stuck in psuedo-sucking purgatory for a long time because of not understanding something as simple as music notation.
thank you for this information, Im still a beginner and this helped me solve the problems I had before watching this video, especially the "weak pinky syndrome"
Great video! I started out with sheet music too but am playing off chord charts now from my guitar/ukulele music library. Identifying chords on the staff is going to be a challenge but I just need to see them as shapes, like you said.
Exactly, it's a great starting point!
Hello, how are you today, and how is the weather condition there. I hope you are safe and sounds with your family! I was going through my page when I found your adorable profile. I'm new on due to the pandemic and I would love to have as a friend, can we be friends if you do not mind? Please send me a friend
request. Thank you! 🌹Mar God has saved you from the corona ...
You did the right thing. Learning to see chord shapes on the staff is just a matter of reading the intervals. Also if you have the understanding of the harmonic function of the chords, use that to help you predict what chords will follow in the progression since a lot of Western popular music share similar harmonic qualities.
It helps if you learn the chords by number. Most common chords are I, IV, and V. You can play a I with the seventh note added right before you transition from a I to a IV. Wherever you're playing V, it also sounds better to add a seventh. If there's an accidental, it's likely to use a II chord with a seventh added. If there's a minor, most of the time it will be a iv chord. If you play a scale in the key the song is being played in, the I chord will be do, the IV fa, the V sol, and so on. Most songs start on I and end on V. Knowing these basic rules of thumb make it so much easier to learn new songs.
What a great video! Can confirm every single point. I played piano for... 23 years. Ignoring all of the things mentioned here, basically playing solely from sheet music. Now I will have to put much effort in to correct this. :.(
During the pandemic I bought a simple keyboard, so I could play for my 2 kids. 6 years of lessons as kid came back, like riding a bike, some 30 YEARS LTR!! My grams & music teacher were right... it was a gift I'd have forever #RIPGrammy 😊🙏😊 Thanks for these tips. I'm going to rock out Christmas Eve as we wait for Santa.😘 #HappyHolidaysALL
Yesssss you freaking ROCK!!!
This is how I predominantly play... Chord progressions, etc! I have also taught peple some of the basics... They are always amazed!! They FINALLY see that they CAN play even after previous " failures"... I do the same when I used to teach adult guitar. Great job looking forward to improving my skills
Zach - You are a genius ! Thank you so much. I love that - it really works :-)
Thanks Zsolt!!
What is funny. I just got a keyboard for Christmas and I immediately picked up on this with the notes and chords. Like when I was younger it was like an ancient forgotten language and that keyboard broke. But years later, and hours of guitar playing. It just clicked for me. Couldn't help but giggle as I was playing piano for the first time. Like not just pressing keys but actually playing. Of course not incredibly but I understood the assignment so to speak. So watching this video is bringing back that "Ah-hah!" moment. I am still lightyears away in fluidity and such but I love piano. I wish I learned it as a kid but better late than never.
Awesome! Keep up the great work! 🎹
Wow I love the way you teach, you are a good tutor, thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️
The point about not reading a book one letter at a time and therefore not necessarily reading each note individually really made sense to me. When I started learning a 2nd language, I didn't do it 1 letter at a time and sometimes not 1 word at a time. Sometimes you need to learn things in groups (e.g. 'either - or' either you do xyz or zxy will happen. In this context, the 'either' on its own makes the sentence make no sense at all). It *helps* in learning a language and Zach's point about not reading 1 note at a time is a game changer for me.
AWESOME. THIS IS THE PROCESS BEING USED AND THIS CHART SPECIFIES AND MAKES THE PROCESS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE REPRODUCED AND TRAINED. GREAT JOB ZACH. GREAT JOB.
So glad you liked it Javita!!
I’ve always thought the same thing. I took lessons for 6 years but when playing in church or with a band…ALL guitar chords. But I also prefer playing by ear, and I’ve learned that’s something very few people can do. They can’t pick the melody and ain’t got no rhythm. But there’s negatives too. You can’t play in any environment where a uniformed melody and coordinated timing is critical, like an orchestra. And some of the classics that heavily rooted in note are too complex to hear, so no reading proficiently is a setback.
0:26 😄 🤣 😂 😆
I can tell you: Peter Buka is my favorite. His fingers are dancing and he plays with so much feeling looked forward in his videos really you will be 😮
And for rule no1: as I agree that playing chords is very usefull that with all the respect - you didn't play a song, you just played chords.
The biggest mistake you can do is to think that learning an instrument is quick. If you honestly think that then you will be a professional beginner forever. Most people will get bored of such simple playing if they don't challenge themselves. There's nothing wrong of course with playing chords and simple melodies all of your life, especially if you're a singer. Not learning basic piano and basic music skills is like learning to speak language but not to read or write it. If you're the 1% of creative geniuses then it may work out, but most people are not, they need to practice and stimulate their brain.
Some things you said may be useful but not in the right context. I would say it's a good tip to read the sheet music by figuring out the chord when you first learn a new piece. It goes faster to memorize it. However, you still need to learn to read them. Knowing some music theory and which key you're playing in is also super useful. Next, learning each hand one by one - that might be useful when you're figuring out the technique to play with, but it's actually impossible to think about your two hands at the same point. My tip would be play it very very slowly but do both hands together. Your brain will register the right movement and memorize it. You will play it fast in no time.
I want to add a comment about the last tip - good technique is literally the first thing a piano teacher will teach you. Not only your wrist but all the way to your shoulders. I'm surprised to read in the comments that they don't teach that.
Thank you so much for the tips! I have played violin for 11 years and now I want to take up piano, wish me luck!
I love to play pop, jazz, ragtime, classical, kid’s songs theme songs, country songs just about all the different genres. Sometimes I play by ear other times I read music. Let me tell you, not learning how to play music is like learning how to speak a new language. DON’T just learn the chords! That would be like only learning the words for yes, no, water, food, and bathroom. You could get by on vacation, but if you want to be fluent learn all of it, starting with the BASICS. Learn how to read sheet music one thing at a time: Notes (what type of notes too!), time signature, etc.
great review- My personal road to lear to lear hao to play piano was learning all the chords and inverted musical chords which belong to every agreement I never wanted learn a music of other but I play only my music
I'd say you need to divide people into groups. If you are learning as an adult, you are probably learning to play for fun. If it's a child learning, kids don't know something is difficult until we tell them its difficult. Robert X mentions learning both by ear and sight reading. I agree. Your method may work well for piano and maybe guitar but for wind instruments traditional learning works better in my opinion. Nothing against people who only play by ear but over the last 40 years of performing I've meet dozens of people that ended up missing out on opportunities because they couldn't read music.
Another way to learn chords without the sheet is looking up chord patterns. Major chords are 3:2, minor chords are 2:3, etc... Made it really easy to learn chords!
Could you explain what you mean by those numbers please? 3:2? 3rd note? 3rd finger?
@@goldeneddie So for instance, 3:2. That is a major chord pattern. So if I want to play A major, I'll play the A key count 3 keys (including the black keys) then push the next key (Db or C#) then count two key and push the next key (E) in total I would be playing A, C#, and E all at the same time and that would be A major. Minor is just reversed. You would play your first key count 2 play the next key, then count three and play the next key. Aminor would be A, C, and E. ua-cam.com/video/-pP81ZTfW0U/v-deo.html this video explains it better :)
I’m learning as an visual artist picking up music and like it’s helping me memorize specific chords because they look 👁 like the visual key version of the golden ratio Phi, 1.618 divine proportion that us seen a lot in nature and artwork, so like, the majors it seems have divine proportions that relate to Fibonacci sequence. So visually that’s the first thing I noticed and it makes it rly easy when I think of it like phi and reverse phi various keys lol seems alot of math is present and relevant to what sounds good
learning chords is an easy way to simplify many beginner-intermediate songs without reading every note, and an easy route for playing if you're playing casually, without complex melodies and other things. You don't need to be a master at piano to play simple songs. But if you're a more advanced pianist, it's essential, as you can use both things + ear in conjunction to be more efficient. I definitely couldn't learn advanced pieces (many classical composers) by ear or by simplifying them into chords, but they can help you understand the piece easier, with reading. For classical, you can't make too many careless mistakes, and learning to read sheet music vigorously can determine whether you play those songs without too many mistakes. For more modern music, (e.g. pop) it's fine to make mistakes as long as you get to your goal and it sounds how you want it. It depends on what you're trying to play.
Learning chord progressions is very important and makes every song easy. Start with using numbers on C major key. Then when you finish getting that. Just shift your hand or finger to a different “1”. Its the same pattern
Sheet music reading is the reason I quit piano lessons when I was 12. It was so boring, and the melodies were things like Mary had a little lamb. I'm just now getting into music again, and I'm in my 30s now! I know it's never too late though!
for #2 what i've found to work for me regarding rhythm is playing the parts 7x or until i can play the parts easily without thinking about what i am doing with my hands and then focus on the rhythm once I am able to actually play the parts, helps with things that aren't played at the same time
Have been Learning piano but I decided to learn online to know better
I am 8years old . I am so happy I have the opportunity to learn piano
Awesome, keep up the great work! 🎹
I have been doing this for the past months without looking at your video. I use the chords list of the songs I found on guitar sites and then find the melody on my own, or by ears like you mention. It does make me seem like I can play piano, which of course for me is not really since I still can't read music sheet and I don't think I'll ever do. But yeah, it's just for fun. 😂
Wow that's the best! Forget about beginning learner but as u say note to note but not chord but u show chords to note wow
As a guy who plays piano by ear and uaing only chords for almost 4 years.
I suggest we should really balance sight reading and hearing at the same time.
I'm still struggling to read sheet music as if today.
This video is so Informative
Btw it's 12321
Dude, this was awesome! I just started learning like a few weeks ago and I've only been doing an hour or so a few times a week and this is getting me excited to go practice right now lol
Practice every night before bed. Just 10 minutes. Nothing wrong with doing an hour, just do it every day. You’re literally building pathways in your brain so the frequency is the most important thing!
Oh my God. That first tip will save me so much time TYSM!
EDIT: THAT LAST TIP. THE SOLUTION IS SO EASY! Damn it and I was here brute forcing for years-
Glad you found the video helpful! 🎹
The first one was soo good i bought a baseball bat and told my sister to where a piano suit and then i smashed her
The first one got my wholefamily dying hearing that:)
Sheet music is definately important to learn in piano, all instruments use it, if you want to learn more than just piano you do have to be able to read music, it's definately frusterating at first but as you practice it gets easier. . just like most things! yes learn the chords and chord shapes but also learn how to read music.
You need basic understanding if you don’t know where middle C is then you need learn that, If you don’t understand the root note or what key a song is than you need music theory. Basic chord structure is 1,3,5 of any scale also with any of the notes in the scales most scales repeat themselves any way G scale has F and C so does the C and F scale. so if learn C scale you already have the root notes for those other scales of F and G. does a note always have to have 1,3,5 nope it can be 1,5,7 you also can drop notes just because C is the root note you can play 3,5 two note chord it’s still fits the scale and root note. The fist scale everyone should learn with both hands is full harmonic scale playing all the white and black keys up and down the piano or keyboard while practicing crossover. The basics are Notes, Scales, Chords and music theory. Pop music isn’t the best for leaning music theory because you can take anyone 1,3,5 and play a 4 chord progression and will sound like a pop song that doesn’t give you music theory at all. You need to learn the difference between Major and Minor scale while also knowing theory of Pentatonic, Blues, Jazz scales which all come from classical music no matter what music you play the theory came from classical even pop music. If you really want to see real genius on piano study James Booker dude played everything in his music it was Classical, Jazz, Blues, and especially Boogie Woogie also was able to play any song backwards while also playing melodies and lead which pissed if a lot great musicians because he had perfect pitch and only needed one time to listen to song.