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C D E F G A B (Basic Notes)

Learning The Piano

Finding basic information is not a problem at all as there is so much stuff floating around on the internet that you should be able to start on your own initially. The most obvious topic to start with will be to know the notes on a Piano. It is very important to know how the various keys on the piano are named, since there are so many of them. Besides, there are white as well as black keys so you need to learn how to differentiate them.

So you have decided to learn the piano/keyboard but not sure whether you want to go to a music teacher yet. This is a dilemma which most of us face as beginners and it is understandable to an extent. Before committing money/efforts on books and teachers it is good to get an idea of what is involved in learning the piano. It will in fact help you later when you decide to go to a teacher since you would have an understanding of the various topics that you would be supposed to learn.

The thing is though it looks daunting, there is basically a pattern to it. Basically there are only seven Notes - C D E F G A B. This same set then gets repeated throughout the keyboard from left to the right. All the white keys are named this way. And what about the Black keys? Those are derived from the white key, you need to add a "Sharp" or a "Flat" to the name of the white key.

Once you know the names of the notes on the piano, you will also need to learn how to recognize them on written music. The keyboard of a piano is basically depicted on written music by using Clefs - basically the Treble clef and the Bass clef. The various notes of the song are then depicted on the sheet music which you will need to recognize and play on the piano.

Tarantula - Acoustic Stairway to Heaven

Little did I know that the big secret really isn't about composing - it's about being able to trust your own intuition and let it lead you instead of the other way around. It took a long while before I was able to just let go and allow the music to flow out. But once I could do this, the idea of capturing an idea didn't seem to matter so much. No. It was more important for me to let it all go.

Many people who want to compose their own music have problems because they believe that the musical idea they are working on is holy. They don't understand that there are literally millions of ideas waiting to be born. If they loosened their grip slightly they would be able to gently notate that idea and see where it would lead them. An entirely different approach and one that allows for so called errors, mistakes, etc.

The Secret to Composition

When I first started out playing piano and trying to compose, I couldn't figure out how someone could get his or her inspiration down on paper.

It was very frustrating to look at and listen to other artists who seemed to know the "secret" to composition.

For me, the secret to composing is not knowing how to capture a musical idea. It's being able to open up to the limitless ideas within and allowing them to express naturally through improvisation.

It also occurred to me that the more I tried to "capture" an idea, the harder it was to get down. Another artistic irony that's proved itself over the years.