PEDESTRIAN.TV has teamed up with Yamaha Music Australia, so you can pick up that instrument you learned how to play as a kid.
The year I stopped playing the piano was 2016. The era of reality stars — not musicians.
The day I quit, I was heading to my first high school party after piano practice. When I got there, one of the cool girls asked what I was up to earlier, and I physically couldn’t bring myself to answer truthfully. “Oh, you know, just watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians.” I quit that night, four years of practice going down the drain. (Or so I thought.)
10 years later, what a time its been for musicians. We had the Eras Tour, with Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter playing the piano and guitar together. (Talk about the ultimate collab.) Plus, Charli xcx made the brat summer all about music — special mention to our boy Troye Sivan for killing it in the Sweat Tour.
@thanky0uamy full video of piano surpise song/s for sydney n1 !!!! (So sorry for my sobbing LOL) #erastour #sydney #taylorswift #sabrinacarpenter #erastoursydney ♬ original sound – amy 🐥
Miss Charli literally inspired me to pick up an instrument again after seeing how cool she looked performing at her Boiler Room set in Ibiza. Talk about a full circle moment, tweenage me never would’ve said cool and musical instrument in the same sentence. It’s nice to be at a point in my adulthood where I want to be creative and try out new hobbies.
@boilerroomtv One time for the @Charli XCX 💚 Last night, the original brat brought her PARTYGIRL debauchery to @Amnesia Ibiza with some very major guests: @SHYGIRL, @Romy, @Alex Chapman & more. Bravo. #boilerroom #boilerroommoment #charlixcx #brat #ibiza #electronicmusic ♬ original sound – Boiler Room
Come with me as I try to learn the piano in a week as an adult, this would make my inner child so happy. Plus, my tips so you can play along at home. (If you don’t have a piano at home, you deserve an early Christmas gift.)
How To Learn Piano In Five Days For Beginners
Day one: Label piano keys and sheet music
On my first day, I couldn’t get over how good it felt to play piano again — it honestly felt like I was coming home. Even though I was only playing the first chords of Beethoven’s Fur Elise (that’s all I remember), it still counts.
Tips: If you want to learn piano, I’d recommend starting on an electric keyboard. Yamaha’s PSR-E383 labels the middle C note for you, so you don’t have to work out where to put your hands. Or, one with a pedal like Yamaha’s P-225, so you have more control over the way chords ring out. (I could actually hear the song I was trying to play this way, instead of it sounding like a mix of disjointed sounds.)
Now that you’ve got your keyboard, start by labelling the keys with a whiteboard marker. Otherwise, you’re just going to forget if you have a memory of a goldfish like moi.
All you need to know is that there are seven chords: C, D, E, F, G, A and B. To locate the C, find two black keys — the white key to the left is C. It’s that easy, and then you can label from there.
Next, you’ll need to find out which song you want to learn. Of course, I picked 360 by Charli xcx to be “bumpin’ that” at a party. Once you’ve got the sheet music, it’s time to translate the images you’re staring at blankly. I’ve put a cheat sheet for reading the notes below.
Now that our piano and sheet music are labelled, we can actually learn piano now.
Day two: Learn right-hand
Okay, I’m gonna be honest here — on day two, I combined hands because 360 only has a couple of keys. This way, I could learn the song bit by bit. Usually, though, you’d start with the right hand — so do as I say, not as I do. That way, you don’t become overwhelmed as you try to use multiple hands at once and end up feeling like an octopus.
Tips: The first thing you’re going to do is locate the right-hand symbol on your sheet music. It’s the symbol that looks like an ‘&’ at the top of your page. Then you’re going to move your hand to the right of middle C — and wham, you’re ready to play right-handed piano.
Even though I’ve played before, even I felt like I wasn’t doing it right — so don’t lose hope and keep practicing. Gosh, I’ve turned into my piano teacher, who always told me to practice, practice, practice.
Day three: Learn left-hand
By day three, I was feeling way more confident with my piano skills, watch out Mozart. Until I stumbled on my keys and realised why you’re supposed to learn hands separately — like you are.
Tips: Now that you’ve got your right hand down for the most part, it’s time for the left hand. The left-hand symbol is always below the right hand on the sheet music, and you’ll place your hand to the left of middle C. If it feels weird, don’t fret; it’s just because it’s not your dominant hand. Or if you’re left-handed, you’ll be right at home.
So you’ve done the right and left hand now, and it still feels off? My tip is to look up a YouTube tutorial online to see if your hand placement is correct or if you’re using a different key altogether.
Day four: Practice both hands separately
At the end of day three, I was up to the chorus — cliffhanger, right? So I had to continue playing, it was so cool to hear the 360 chorus on the piano.
Tips: Before you go rushing to combine both hands, this is where you can practice and perfect your left and right hands. Otherwise, it’s just going to sound weird combined — and you deserve a better reveal after all your hard work.
Day five: Combine both hands — you did it!
By day five, I definitely appreciated musicians more, as it took me almost a week to learn 30 seconds of music. It was all worth it, though, when I got to play the song for my co-workers after this.
Tips: The time has finally come to combine hands, which used to terrify me back in the day. Instead, frame it as you’re finally hearing what the song sounds like on the piano. You’re ready young Padawan.
Seeing if my co-workers can guess the song
Congrats on learning piano in a week! Try playing 360 next; I’ve put the YouTube tutorial I used below.
What instrument will you try next? You could try Yamaha’s Silent SLG200 Guitar, so you can practice as much as you want without disturbing your friends and family? Or maybe Yamaha’s DTX402 Series Drum Set so you can be like G Flip? Lucky Christmas is coming soon.
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