JUST started playing the keyboard....Where do I start

[rjthakid]

I've been playing the drums and the trumpet for years now, but now I'm ready to take on the keyboard.  I purchased a keyboard, stand, stool, and headphones for practice at home.  Now I'm asking you all (seeing as you have more experience than I)Where do I start?

I've heard some say that first you should repeat the scales until you've mastered them all.  Others say you Master one scale, then the chords in that scale before you move on to another one.  Yet others say you should begin with the circle of 5ths.

Tell me, from step one, what I should be doing.  Your help is Very much appreciated!

[T-Block]

Well, here is what I suggest:

1.  Learn and know all your keys; every black key and every white key.

2.  Learn as much theory as you can: scales & how to form them, chords & how to form them, Circle of 5ths/4ths, progressions, key signatures, how to read and write sheet music, etc.

2.  Start with the key of C and apply all the theory from step 2 to this key

3.  One by one, apply all the theory from step 2 to the other 11 keys

4.  Listen to as much different genres of music as possible: gospel, jazz, classical, R&B, etc.  Notice I said music, and not words.  Music is the key here.

5.  Try to apply the theory from step 2 into learning music from step 4.

*As you move from step to step, use the previous step as a building block, then add bricks of musical knowledge on to it for the future steps.

[rjthakid]

Thanks man!  But I have one more question......

How long do you think it will be before I can start playing simple songs?  I'm practicing for at least a half-hour every day, usually an hour.  Obviously alot depends on how quickly I pick it up, but generally speaking, about when should I expect to be able to play simple songs?

[musician2005]

The keyboard is really simple, and catching on to it is even easier. Just practice simple worship songs, and instead of using single left hand chords, and the basic chords in the right hand, add notes to your right hand and chord left hand single notes, and play single notes in a run which would be in the hype or a calm point in the song. Tis is how I learned to teach myself to play by ear, and every chord that you come up with, write it down that way you will have it for practice when you get ready to perfect it or take it to another level

[T-Block]

You can start learning and playing simple songs right now, or whenever u want to.  Just don't pick any complicated songs, cuz u will get frustrated and want to quit.  Trust me, it has happened to me.  And, no matter how much u practice, the first few times u play in front of people, u may get really nervous and scared, but u gotta keep going.  My first time, my hands was shaking so bad, I could hardly play.  

Also, u have to define the word "simple."  All you need is 3 chords to play a simple song: 1, 4, and 5.  Using only those three chords you can play hundreds of songs.  Now, if you want to play in church, u might want to to know more than just those three chords, and that's where knowing those progressions come in.  What's your idea of a simple song?  The only song I knew when i started playing in church 3 years ago was "Now Behold The Lamb", and i had to learn that from sheet music.  I didn't know anything about progressions.  So, yall musicians on this site that is just starting out is in a better position than I was.

[rjthakid]

My ultimate goal is to be able to play by ear.  What's the best way to learn how to play by ear.  It's one thing to practice a song until you master it(and obviously that's the only thing I can do right now) but I've seen a singer get up to sing a song the keyboardist NEVER HEARD BEFORE, and watched him pick it up and play like he composed the thing!  As my church's drummer, it's much easier to do this on the drums, but how do you develop that kind of freedom on the keyboard?  

How much of that is having complete freedom, and how much of it is memorizing different progressions and patterns?

[T-Block]

rjthakid wrote:

How much of that is having complete freedom, and how much of it is memorizing different progressions and patterns?

Those two concepts are both one in the same.  The only way to have complete freedom is to know what u doing. And memorizing your chord patterns and progressions enable u to know exactly what u doing, thus give you freedom to change it if you want to.  You can't fully have one without the other.  First comes the memorization which is the hard work, then comes the freedom.  When I say memorization, u first got to get in your mind, cuz playing the keyboard is a mind game.  If you ain't got it upstairs, u definitely won't get it downstairs.  Once u get in your head, your fingers will translate what u want to play.  You think people just get up and play anything automatically?  No sir, they listen to what the singer is singing, run it through in they head first, then translate it to the keyboard.  Your brain does all the work, then your fingers produce what's in the brain.  Does that make sense?

[RWILLIAMS3000]

can i ask something while on this subject??? can you break down the steps that you use when first hearing a song to learn it??? i know some people say they learn the bass first and i've heard others say they learn the melody!!! me i have trouble after i learn the melody i can never ad the correct chords!!!

[T-Block]

Here are the basic steps I go through to learn a new song:

1. Find the key
2.  Figure out the bassline
3.  Figure out the melody
4.  Fill-in the middle

As I am listening to songs, I listen for familiar chords, progressions, runs, scales, basically anything that I have heard before.  When I hear a part or the song or chords that sound familiar, I start right there. Don't matter if it's at the beginning, middle, or at the end of a song.  You got to have somewhere to start.  It's just like a math problem, first u write down what u know, then figure out what u don't know.  You will rarely run into a song where nothing sounds familiar.  There will always be something you have heard before cuz music is universal.  I have gotten to the point where I don't really need to write stuff down anymore, cuz I do the work in my head.  But, for beginners or anybody, I suggest writing it down on paper.  

A lot of people don't realize it, but there are no short cuts to learning music.  It takes hours and hours of going over the same boring stuff.  Major scales, progressions, chords, basslines, etc. even I get tired of playing them, but i keep doing it.  It will get easier, trust me.  If you need help with a particular song, then just let me know and I will do my best to assist you.

[RWILLIAMS3000]

ok well right now im workin on the song Have Your Way by Joe Pace its off the Shake the Foundation cd and i already got the melody figured out and written down and the key and im working on the bass line but i cant really figured out the middle!!! question would the bass line also be the low note to the right hand chord and the melody the high note???  or is that totally wrong???

[T-Block]

Usually the bass note is the root of the chord, unless it's an inversion.  The melody note is usually the note at the top of the chord. If not, it is found somewhere in the chord.

[musician2005]

different songs bring about different keys, and differentt keys, bring about different changes, or the same change but a different way, when learning to play by ear, listen to the song, and learn the basics before you try to jazz it up, once you get the basics down, you can do whatever you want to do, fill free to email me at: vbonham2@yahoo.com.