Hello and welcome back!
This past week, I have been exploring learning the piano. I began by testing out what I could remember from the several times I have attempted to learn the keyboard. All I could remember was a C chord, which definitely humbled me, but I have since recovered. I was reminded of a time when I labelled the notes on a section of a piano when I was younger to help me remember where they were, thus I took green masking tape and a Sharpie to label my keyboard as such:
I found this to be very useful and would recommend it to other beginners.
To warm up, I simply messed around. I just wanted to have a little bit of fun.
I then decided I wanted to learn the song Exile by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver. This led me to search online for a tutorial and I landed on this one from Bitesize Piano:
I spent about an hour learning and practicing the song and I was very proud of my abilities. I was able to pause and slow down the video where necessary and I found the instructions easy to follow. I would say the video was beginner-friendly and perfect for people who are familiar with the basics of piano. I could actually tell what song I was supposed to be playing which was a big moment for me. I even FaceTimed my brother to show him my newfound passion for the keyboard and he gave me a solid 8/10, which is a win in my books.
Something I have yet to master and will continue to work on this week is playing different chords with my left vs right hand at the same time. I was definitely stumbling over this concept, but I am a beginner! I knew I would not immediately be able to play the piano like Beethoven (though I held out a little hope).
Materials/Set-up
I use a Necktar Impact LX49+ USB MIDI Keyboard and I plug it into my Macbook to use GarageBand. I received the keyboard for free from my mom’s coworker, thus I did zero research and am learning all the features as I go!
Here is a link to the keyboard for all those interested:
Thanks for tuning in this week and see you next week!
