Any tips for learning how to play the piano?

Question:I'd love to learn how to play the piano. I have a piano in my house, but it's just sitting there unused.

For the meantime, what can I do to help myself to learn how to play it? Thanks everyone!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I'd love to learn how to play the piano. I have a piano in my house, but it's just sitting there unused.

For the meantime, what can I do to help myself to learn how to play it? Thanks everyone!

the best way of course to learn how to play an instrument is to get lessons, but if you don't want to pay the money, this site is pretty useful http://www.gopiano.com/ also this one is pretty cool http://www.frontiernet.net/~imaging/play... and also this one http://pianoeducation.org/pnolearn.html

How to Play a 5-Note Scale Going Up And Down With the Right Hand
To start off how a piano feels to the very beginner,
assuming that you have a piano, let's play a C major scale with only 5 notes--C, D, E, F, and G.

The pattern is a scale going up and down (C D E F G F E D C).

We are going to use the right hand only for this.
Before we start, we need to know what the fingering
is for the scale, so that starts with the naming of the 5 fingers for the right hand:

1st finger--the thumb
2nd finger--the one next to the thumb
(also known as the "index finger")
3rd finger--the one two fingers away from thumb
(the longest)
4th finger--the one three fingers away from the
thumb
5th finger--the one four fingers away from the thumb
(also known as the "pinkie finger")

The good news is that the scale is on the white keys only. Don't worry about playing on the black
keys.

Here is how the scale should be played.

Start with playing the 1st finger on the note C, which is at the left of the group of 2 black keys.

Then, lift the 1st finger and at the same time
touch the 2nd finger on the note D, which is at the middle of the group of 2 black keys.

Then, lift the 2nd finger and at the same time touch the 3rd finger on the note E, which is at the middle of the group of 2 black keys.

Then, lift the 3rd finger and at the same time touch the 4th finger on the note F, which is at the left of the group of the 3 black keys.

Then, lift the 4th finger and at the same time
touch the 5th finger on the note G, which is between
the 1st and 2nd black keys in the group of 3 black keys.

Now, you will go down starting from G.

Release the 5th finger and at the same time touch the 4th finger on the note F, which is at the left of the group of the 3 black keys.

Then, lift the 4th finger and at the same time
touch the 3rd finger on the note E, which is at the middle of the group of 2 black keys.

Then, lift the 3rd finger and at the same time
touch the 2nd finger on the note D, which is at the middle of the group of 2 black keys

Then, lift the 2nd finger and at the same time touch the 1st finger on the note C, which is at the
left of the group of the 2 black keys---AND YOU ARE FINALLY HOME WHERE YOU STARTED---THE NOTE C!

Some little pointers:
Try your best to prepare the right-hand fingers for the scale.
Before playing, try to keep the 1st finger on C,
the 2nd finger on D, the 3rd on E, the 4th on F, and the 5th on G, without touching it. That is, you need to feel the keys before you actually strike them.

Try to keep the fingers curved for this exercise.
If you can't keep the fingers curved (this is called
playing with "flat fingers"), that's all right.

And try to keep the fingers close to the keys so that the fingers are ready to play the notes indicated.

Learn where the middle C note is , & go from there. Dont give up, stay w/it every day if at all possible. Dont hit the keys with the whole finger, use them as a smoothe ballet dancer dances & it makes such a difference from a hard sound to a sweet sound.

Lessons, lessons, lessons! I would also try to become familiar with it, first, as well. Treat it like a new friend; learn how each note sounds and how they sound together. In the end, all the technique in the world leads to that intimacy.

It depends on how you want to learn. Do you want to play piano by ear? Or do you want to learn to play by sight reading. If you want to play by ear it is just a matter of practice. Listen to a simple song, then try to play the melody with your right hand. Keep doing this for as many songs as you like. Then eventually you will want to learn how to improvise with your left hand. The left hand usually just does chords. As I said, to play by ear is definitely a matter of practice.

To learn how to sight read you will need to get a beginners book on piano (that is if you don't want a teacher.) Get one that teaches you how to sight read. Sight reading is the best way to play piano for starters. The more you practice, and the better you get, the more you will be able to play by ear. But if you can, try to get a book or a teacher that will help you learn how to read music.

probably the best and easiest way to learn is to take lessons. but until you get that figured out, find someone who can tune your piano for you; you can usually go into a music store and ask for a refferal.

Chords is what you need to learn....You can play any song with 3 chords. Get a book at the music store with cords and practice it. If you need to play in the key of C...learn 3 cords. C,F,and G
and this applies for the other keys you play in....learn the 3 cords that are of the key you want to play in.