Learn To Play The Piano - Your Five Step Checklist

You may never be able to rival the best of the best as a pianist, but anybody with the real desire to learn the piano will be able to indulge their passion to some level that will satisfy them. All it takes is an appropriate time commitment and the determination to keep at it.

Here's a handy checklist of five key ingredients to keep in mind as you endeavor to master this beautiful instrument:

ONE

Make sure you have access to your own piano or keyboard. You need to be able to practice whenever you want to and are able to. Restricting yourself to your teacher's piano at the weekly lesson, isn't going to be good enough. The piano is not an easy instrument to learn so ideally you should aim to practice for at least 30 minutes every day. You can't do this if you don't have easy access to an instrument. An electronic keyboard - ideally with at least 61 keys - will be ok if you can't get a real piano. All of the synthesizer-type keyboards will usually have at least one pretty good piano emulation setting.

TWO

You're going to need some form of tuition. In an ideal world you will have a personal piano teacher who is able to coach you in the style of music you wish to play. If this isn't possible, there are plenty of excellent multimedia tuition materials available these days such as books with accompanying CDs and DVDs and even interactive computer software.

THREE

Seek out advice from people who've gone there before you. Try to go along to piano recitals etc. in your local area and endeavor to speak to the performers and ask them for any tips and tricks that helped them along the way. This is not as daunting as it may seem because you'll generally find musicians to be a friendly bunch who are only too pleased when someone shows a real interest in what they do and they'll usually be only too happy to offer what advice they can.

FOUR

Practice, practice, practice. Practice for as long and often as you can. Repetition is the prelude to being able to play well without even thinking about it. There really is no substitute for regular practice.

FIVE

Don't overstretch yourself to begin with. At whatever stage you're at with your playing, don't try to tackle a piece of music that is totally beyond you. It is vitally important that you maintain your interest and enthusiasm and nothing is guaranteed to dampen this more than totally over-stretching yourself and becoming frustrated as a result. Make sure that you build up the difficulty levels on a gradual basis.

There you have it. Five key things to keep in mind as you learn to play piano. You'll also want to make sure you have a piano lamp to illuminate your music and keys. Playing a musical instrument is a wonderful skill to possess so make sure to keep at it.