Learn To Play The Keyboard
Hello all,
This article is designed to cover a wide variety of issues dealing with how a person can learn to play the keyboard. From deciding to take up playing, to selecting a keyboard, to lessons and learning we’ll take a look at some of the key areas that are often asked about by the new player.
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that you’ve gotten bitten by the ‘play keyboard bug.’ You’re ready to ‘rock and roll’ and get started. But before we do, first I would like to muse a bit about keyboard selection so if you already have one you might want to skip this section an jump to the how to section.
Or if you’re really anxious to get started immediately and learn to play the keyboard you might want to jump right into one of our favorite recommendations you might want to jump over to Rocket Piano and get started right away.
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There is so much information out there about keyboards that someone new to the idea can be overwhelmed VERY quickly. Walk into a showroom and you’ll get caught up in the sales ‘schtick’ of the smooth talking sales guy whose job it is to play piano all day long in an attempt to get people to buy the latest ‘Cosmo Mixulator Synthe-Master’ model. He/she knows all the tricks and sounds, as the old commercial used to say he/she is…Mahvelous…simply MAHVELOUS. If you’re not careful you find yourself back in your living room with one of the gizmos knowing absolutely nothing about how to play it. It might not even be what you need….but it sure sounded good in the showroom!
OK, enter common sense and the sanity patrol. Maybe before you learn to play the keyboard you might want to make some early decisions. So, prior to you going to look at keyboards you need to define WHAT you are going to use it for. Are you wanting an electronic or digital piano or something that plays a wicked Christian Muller pipe organ sound-a-like?
Do you want self contained speakers? How about sound effects and backup features? Maybe midi too?
I think you begin to get the idea. You need to FIRST decide what you want to do then pick the type that corresponds. Otherwise you’ll likely end up with a white elephant.
Let’s take a look at some of the more popular possibilities:
Workstations are your typical electronic keyboards that everyone thinks of when you say keyboard. They are typically what a lot of people use to learn to play the keyboard. They can range from inexpensive beginner versions to top of the line high technology models that professional musicians tour with. A workstation is sort of a one stop shop instrument that has multiple capabilities. They are the frequently used on stage because they are easy to operate once the musician learns how to use them. They come with lots of different sounds ranging from several different versions of pianos sounds and organs to synthesizer sounds and More. In most cases a sample is recorded from a real piano or electronic one and then it is stored onboard the keyboard giving the user many different possibilities. Some of these models give the musician even more control by allowing them to design their own sounds.
A synthesizer is even more versatile in allowing the user to design (most people don’t start out and learn to play the keyboard with this model.) This allows almost any sound to be modified. In these models you can find options like voicing and drum machines. Almost all of these allow the user to run a peripheral device, such as a drum machine, through them to give some mixing capability to the user. These are often used to mimic other voicing and are frequently used to fill in the gaps in music.
Digital pianos and organs were developed primarily as a substitute for their real world counterparts. They also serve very well in helping you learn to play the keyboard. You can very quickly see why when you contemplate the idea of taking a Christian Muller organ on tour! Not gonna happen.
These digital ‘little brothers’ are the practical solution. Not many bands carry around full Steinway Grand Pianos on tour. Especially when you can get very respectable and similar sounds (especially on the more expensive models) from an instrument weighting 60 pounds instead of the 800 of a grand piano. YIKES!
A MIDI keyboard or controller is one that is computer based. It is typically used for recording and allows the performer to record backup sequences and save them to a hard drive and then bring them along on a ‘gig’ and have a ‘canned’ program to use for backup. It brings a whole new meaning to the title “one man band” because there are no limits on the number of midi tracks a musician may elect to record and use. It is, however, probably has more capability that a person who merely wants to learn to play the keyboard needs to start off with.
With this keyboard the musician could elect to have an entire backup orchestra of him or herself freeing him/her up to just play the melody line during the performance. Software packages such as Band in a Box help with this.
Other things to consider:
- Number of keys. Keyboards come in all shapes, sizes, and numbers of keys. Typically these are of one of the following variations; 48, 61, 72, or 88. The 88 key version is a full size keyboard.
My first keyboard was a Yamaha DX-9 synthesizer which has 61 keys. (I still have it by the way) The last one I purchased was a Yamaha digital piano with 88 keys. Let me do a quick comparison of the two (well actually there isn’t much to compare because the DP is a vastly superior instrument ) but something I would point out is the difference in keys. The 5 octaves that the DX-9 covers has a key spread of approximately 32 inches. The digital piano has a key spread of approximately 33 inches.
What that means is this. The keys on the 61 key synthesizer are just a bit smaller. When you learn to play keyboard on one of these then when you go to a full sized keyboard you find yourself coming up ‘short’ when you go for notes. If you transition from an acoustic piano to the synthesizer the keys don’t feel right to you…and until you adjust you often get ‘glancing’ notes. That means you go for the “B-natural” and glance off the “C-natural” and at the same time sound BOTH notes….EEK…. producing a sound on two notes a half step apart which sounds more like a train horn than music.
- Key Action. As long as we’re discussing keys another issue to consider is realism. An acoustic piano is a percussive instrument. By that I mean the note is produced when a hammer hits a set of strings. The harder you hit the key on a piano the louder the resulting tone. There is no piano ‘feel’ to it; on or off. This causes the music to sound computer-like. If you learn to play the keyboard on this style you won’t develop that ‘piano player touch’ easily.
Early keyboards, and my old DX-9, have keys that are merely on/off switches. You hit the key and they play one volume, period, end of discussion. My digital piano, on the other hand, is a fully weighted piano hammer action keyboard. What this means is that it feels remarkably like its acoustic counterpart. When you hit the key harder it plays louder. This gives you much more control and allows a piano player ‘touch’ which permits certain notes of a chord to be slightly favored to make a better sounding and more balanced chord. This one feature alone brings back that musical quality that was missing in the non-weighted key variations. So if you learn to play keyboard on this one you learn that ‘piano touch’ we talked about earlier.
There are even versions of digital pianos available with a hammer action which is a fully weighted set of keys with a hammer system similar to acoustic pianos.
Which you choose is, of course, up to you. The more realistic the action the more expensive is the rule of thumb. If you’re sure you’re only going to use it in a synthesizer mode where ‘feel’ isn’t as important then save yourself some money and go with non-weighted. If you want that piano feel you need to look into weighted.
I started my kids out playing my old DX-9 which was fine for about a month. Once I saw they were serious I opted for an acoustic to get them used to it. My feeling was they will grow accustomed to whichever one I have them playing on. It will be the one they always feel most comfortable with because they ‘grew up’ and ‘cut their teeth’ on it. I wanted them to learn to play the keyboard on a full sized keyboard.
- Sound output. Most keyboards designed for the home have a small set of speakers built into the keyboard. These are sufficient for a typical sized room in a home. Keyboards that are used on stage will generally have jacks that are connectable to an external amplifier. Also both types usually have headphone jacks which allow for personal practice without having to use speakers. More and more top of the line units feature digital outputs which connect to a digital mixer or computer.
- Onboard Sounds
For a beginner, too many ‘toys’ built into a keyboard can be distracting – to the point that they fool around with the ‘bells and whistles’ more than they play music. This is one case where more is not necessarily better. For example, how many different piano sounds do you REALLY need? Can you tell the difference between a digitally sampled Yamaha and a digitally sampled Kawai?
A lot of people get caught up in all the bells and whistles and miss a very important aspect as they learn to play the keyboard. Did the manufacturer spend more time and resources on gadgets than was spent on great sound? Remember to focus on what’s important to you. That showroom guru will dazzle you with all the sounds this little baby can make. Will you need them? Or would you prefer a rich, full, professional sound?
If, on the other hand, you need to use sounds many manufacturers build their keyboards with expandability in mind. You can buy additional circuit boards with on-board sound capability. So, if you want to sound like the New York Philharmonic, you just plug in the module and you’re a one person symphony with horns, strings and percussion to go along with your one finger melody line!
For more on HOW to learn to play the keyboard check out our Online Piano Lessons and Learn Piano Online articles.
If on the other hand you’ve already been there, done that and would like to check out some of the best options available for online training have a look at our reviews of Rocket Piano and Piano For All for starters.
If you would like information on basic chord progression mastery then our reviews of Power Piano Chords and Chord Piano Fast are a good bet.
If you’re looking for beginner lessons for children then have a peek at our review of Piano Is Fun.
I think you’ll find, depending on your focus and needs, the courses listed above are excellent primers for the best way to learn to play the keyboard and make your own music and tunes.