Nathan Cheng
How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons, Norman Monath
Though basic, with the information I learned in the last four lessons, I can begin to dabble in songs and pieces. Monath says, "My purpose in starting you that way was... to let you prove to yourself that you had the dexterity to necessary to play chords and melodies together; to help you learn how to read the treble clef notes in a more musically satisfying way than would have been the case if you just played notes with your right hand; and to let you see for yourself how even the simplest of piano arrangement can result in beautiful sounds" (Monath 55). Monath summarizes the objectives of the last four lessons, and begins to bridge them to each other.
Monath introduces chromatic scales-- scales that ascend/descend in half-step intervals (Monath 56). A better way to grasp chromatic scales are that they are scales that alternate from flat note to natural note and from sharp note to natural note respectively.
 |
| A chromatic scale |
 |
| I had originally planned to upload a video of the song, but the audio quality of my recording was shoddy |
 |
| Sheet music used |
Monath, Norman. How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons. Simon & Schuster, 1994.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Nathan! I really like the simplicity yet educational approach you took when explaining piano. Personally, I can definitely relate to the importance of learning chromatic scales, as they allow you to practice runs and glissandos at faster tempos as well as understand differences in key signatures and their major and minor variants. To answer your question, I believe that the new skills I've learned through blogging, drawing, have definitely impacted me greatly in that I now have a newfound understanding of the visual world around me, and I will continue to do it. And to you, how has learning the fundamentals to piano translated to you? Do you think these skills will translate for you even into more complex and difficult pieces?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input David! I think for the most part, you're right. For example, when we're tuning in chords in band, I can more clearly tell when I or someone is out of tune because I'm familiar with what the chord sounds like on the piano. I also hope to take my newfound skills and continue to develop them by finding new pieces of music to play in my free time.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete