5 Signs You’re Ready to Play Piano

Learning how to play the piano might seem daunting, but it’s really not that difficult if you find a good piano teacher and stick with it. There are a few signs that you’re ready to play, however, which can help you know when it’s time.

1. You Can Recognize the Musical Alphabet

There are five kinds of notes you’ll encounter, and you need to be able to distinguish them. These musical symbols are often called accidentals since they are added for special purposes. They are F#, G, A, C, and D. If you can distinguish these five when you see or hear them, you’re ready to play the piano. At SoCal Pianos in Ontario and Palm Desert, CA, we can rent you a piano to master the musical alphabet or find you the perfect piano teacher.

2. You Are Comfortable Moving Your Fingers Around on a Keyboard

You’ll be using your fingers to play the piano. This means that you need to be comfortable moving your fingers around on the keys. There are lots of different movement patterns to experiment with: touch, lift-stop-touch, and others. If you can accomplish the basic patterns, you’re ready to move on to playing songs.

3. You Can Read Music

You should be able to read music in order to play. You’ll want to practice the musical alphabet, note-naming, and note-reading until you can read music. The notes will be on a staff containing five lines and four spaces. There are also symbols that correspond to each note and tell you what to play with your fingers. This is called a piano key chart, and you will be using it to read music.

4. You Can Keep a Steady Beat

As a pianist, you’ll need to keep time to the music in order to play it correctly. Make sure that you can keep a steady beat. Keeping a beat requires knowing how to listen to the music, so be sure you can do that to know that you are ready to play the piano.

5. You Can Apply What You’ve Learned to Other Songs in a Similar Style

There are a lot of styles of music, from classical to rock and roll, which are completely different from each other yet can have some similar notes. For example, if you know the notes to a Chopin tune, you’ll be able to play a piece from Celtic music by simply playing the same notes.

In summary, you should be able to accomplish most of the above to play the piano. If you are in need of a piano or piano teacher in the Ontario or Palm Desert, CA area, we assist you in the right direction. We offer quality rentals at affordable prices. Contact us today!