Hal Leonard Corp.

Learning to play the piano takes a lot of practice. For that practice to be productive, though, you need to make sure your hands are in the right place to get the notes you want and that you correctly translate musical terms and symbols.Common musical symbols and terms for playing the pianoWhen you’re learning to play the piano, or any instrument for that matter, it can be hard to remember all those different musical terms and symbols — base or treble clef, whole notes or half notes, confusing time signatures, and more.

When a singer needs a good intro, the pianist needs to be able to bring it. The audience has a tendency to talk between songs, so it’s your job to shut ’em up and announce the start of the new song. Playing a few bars of show-stopping, original material really gets things hopping and leaves them begging for more.

The band is building up to the final chord, and it’s time for the big finish. The singer belts the last lyric, and it’s up to you to drop the curtain. Quick! Grab a handful of these finales and you’re sure to receive an encore request.The “I Loved You, You Left Me” finaleThis finale is a simple but effective ending, perhaps even a tear-jerker when played with the right emotion.

If you’re not ready to hire a piano teacher, an excellent resource for the beginning musician is a good method book. A method book is an instructional book or series designed to teach you how to play a musical instrument in a strategic, proven, methodical manner. Countless volumes of these books exist, each featuring its own “method to the madness,” whether old-fashioned or new-and-improved.

Keys on a piano and each one's location on the keyboard can be difficult to remember when getting started playing piano. Print this page (the notes are large enough to see easily from a distance) and place it right above the keys on your piano or keyboard to help you instantly recall the note name for each key.

If there’s one particular music style that embraces all that the piano can do, it’s jazz. Celebrated by many as America’s greatest art form, jazz is king when it comes to interesting chord harmonies, changing rhythms, and improvisation. Legendary jazz pianists like Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Art Tatum, Bud Powell, and many others have taken these elements and added them to classic songs to make them jazzier.

Here, you discover how to maximize your piano practice time and make learning and growing more enjoyable. And if you get the itch to perform for your friends and loved ones or the world at large, there are also tips on preparing for your time in the spotlight. Also, check out these ten additional tips to make practicing easier.

On the piano, a trill occurs when you flutter your fingers very quickly between two notes that are close together, either a half-step or whole-step apart. So, what do you call fluttering between two notes that are farther apart? Well, you call it whatever you want, but the world of music calls it a tremolo. To play a tremolo, pick an interval — anything larger than a whole-step — and alternate playing the two notes as quickly as possible.

When you're learning to play the piano, or any instrument for that matter, it can be hard to remember all those different musical terms and symbols — base or treble clef, whole notes or half notes, confusing time signatures, and more. The following can help you keep all these music symbols and terms straight — and if you get stuck often, click here to print this sheet to use as a quick reference when you need it.