Category Archives: Piano

Piano History: The Victorian Era

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Victorians loved music to the core and piano was the main cause for it!

Victorians loved music to the core and piano was the main cause for it!

The Victorian Era was indeed a glorious period for music and it could be even called as the Romantic era. The role of piano was highly significant only during this period as chords and tones were given more importance. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that piano itself got developed during this era as it had so many advantages. First of all, the advent of British industrialization permitted the usage of heavy metals for instruments that gave better clarity of the tune. Piano was termed as ‘piano-forte’ in those times meaning piano-softly and forte-loudly.

As piano was designed to play so many notes at the same time, it became the prime instrument to be used in the Victorian Era making the musical band complete. Also, it was during this Romantic era, there was transition in the size of piano that the current smaller size came into existence. This made it affordable for even the middle class families to get one for their homes. Piano was a matter of common interest amongst the people that is even reflected in the novels of that time like Pride and Prejudice. For a woman, piano is the specialized area to show herself aloof from the rest of her group. Piano was an emblem of societal status and Victorians took pleasure in even composing tunes on their own using piano.

To put it in a nutshell, it would be appropriate to say that piano had a glorious period during the Victorian Era.

If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help! If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you! If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too!

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Piano: Performing Jetlag

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A talented pianist would feel the piano sheet of Jet Lag to be sufficient to perform!

A talented pianist would feel the piano sheet of Jet Lag to be sufficient to perform!

Piano is a versatile instrument and it has so many performing styles embedded in it. Let us see the way as how it plays an eminent part while performing with Jetlag too. Jetlag is a song that was performed by the Canadian Band named ‘Simple Plan’. Being the second song of their collection, this particular song has more fame. This song itself has four versions sung by four different people – namely Natasha Bedingfield, Marie-Mai, Kelly-Cha and Tantri. Each of these vocalists sang this same song in four different languages English, French, Chinese and Indonesian respectively. Now finding a way of performing Jetlag using piano is something new and interesting too.

However, playing this fast beat song using a piano is quite challenging for a pianist, and unless he or she is well versed with the intricate feats of piano, he could not play well. Also, vocal husky voices might suit for this song that is themed on the concept of long-distance relationships. But again when the song is played via piano, the pianist has to be very cautious in getting the same tone and rocking effect. There are many sites like Onlinepianist.com, Teeeepeeee.com, and many more sites that teach the step by step procedure for playing this song via piano. Also, using the sheets and online videos help, one could learn playing this piece of Jet lag easily. The detailed procedure of how to use single hand and both the hands are explained that makes playing Jet lag using piano easy.

If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help! If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you! If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too!

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How to Break Into Improv Piano

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Improvisation in piano needs sheer interest to discover more!

Improvisation in piano needs sheer interest to discover more!

Learning and practicing on the same concept is something monotonous and we tend to stagnate at some point. The same should not occur while learning piano and that is why improvisation is vital in the course of learning piano. To put it in better words, improvisation in terms of piano is to perform without preparation. In general, it is the jazz players who concentrate on improvisation. There are some simple steps to be followed for improving in piano playing. First of all, your versatility of the subject is vital. The more you know, the more you could improve easily. Learn in depth about the scales of piano like B major and other sharp notes.

Once you feel confident about the scales, jump into chords so that it would be easy for trying the quartals, triad chords and others. Having made yourself thorough about the basics, there are some good techniques to try your hand in improvisation. The first method is to have your left hand playing the background in the same key, while the right plays the melody. After two or three repetitions, once you are confident, switch between the keys and give the same tune a try. The second method is to play 4/4 piece getting a single chord in the left hand and try to improve the melody with the right. Then switch on to the second chord and do the same procedure. Repeat until you are confident.

So we see that the methods of improvisation in piano are vast and easy to comprehend. So, if you are interested in improvisation, it is high time to give it a try! If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help!

If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you! If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too!

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Piano: Beating Procrastination

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Determined to play it right now!

Determined to play it right now!

Procrastination is the act of substituting urgent tasks with the tasks of less urgency. In such an act, the person involved delays the urgent tasks due to the level of difficulty associated with them and prefers to do the tasks which are easy and less important. This phenomenon is quite natural with piano students. They prefer to practice the easier pieces of music and postpone the difficult pieces of music for practicing later on. However, it can be overcome by following some steps.

You must know the song completely and make sure you really want to play the song. You can also look for some alternative section to have the desired results of playing the song.

Following this, you must find out the sections which cause trouble to you or cause to stop you down during piano playing. Don’t try to leave the difficult sections and playing easier ones over and over again.

Then find out what the real problem is with playing the difficult sections such as note-reading, phrasing, timing, fingering etc. This will help you in sorting out the real problem.

Once the real problem is identified, you may ask for help from your piano teacher to sort out the problem.

You must also check other measures such as the place where you practice, your practice schedule etc. to find out if they are also suitable to your piano playing. Sometimes, such factors also induce the process of procrastination in pianists due to distractions or lack of interest.

Once all the issues have been solved, the act of procrastination in playing piano will improve automatically.

If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help! If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you!

If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too.

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Piano: Hobby or Career? How to Tell

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Learning piano for either hobby or career is not the issue. Passion is all that matters!

Learning piano for either hobby or career is not the issue. Passion is all that matters!

Playing piano could be either for hobby or for making some means of livelihood. Whatever might be the purpose, one has to be clear in explaining the role of piano in his or her life. While in the field of playing music, it is quiet natural to switch over from hobby to career or vice versa. Whatever the case may be, it is sheer enthusiasm that makes one to get involved into music. Piano is no exemption from this, but here, if hobby is converted into a monetizing aspect, the classes would be more passionate and interesting.

Of course, it does not mean that if any one takes up piano teaching as profession, it has to be hectic. But when it is learnt as a hobby, more of interest and enthuse would be poured to widen the knowledge horizons. So turning the same into profession would be much fascinating. In other words, while hobby is taken as a matter of interest, career is sometimes chosen under compulsion. In general, this is the point that makes the difference between a hobby and career. Is it not? Not necessary that every art you learn has to be monetized. Hobby is something related with mind and satiation of heart and so, if you are interested, you could channelize your talents via some weekend classes or webinars so that it would be refreshing for you too.

To sum it up, learning piano for either hobby or for the sake of career, it is up to the choice of the individual, but whatever might be the reason behind it, the learning process should be done whole-heartedly. If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help!

If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you! If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too!

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Piano in Old School Sitcoms

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Piano has a role to play in sitcoms!

Piano has a role to play in sitcoms!

Old school sitcoms like ‘Family Matters,’ ‘Step by Step,’ and others never leave our minds due to their fun and charming comedy. And now for the role of piano in these old school Sitcoms, apart from the piano music being used in these shows, piano as an instrument itself is found to play its role in the lives of many stand-up comedians. Zach Galifianakis is a notable person to be mentioned here, who is a stand-up comedian and a pianist too. No wonder, in his own sitcom named ‘Comedy Central Presents,’ a segment of piano is included.

Yet another comedian who loves piano is Doole. He was the staring comedian in ‘A bug’s life’ and many other movies. Though he was not a successful pianist, he regularly played in the local church that was least used in his career as a comedian. Last but not the least, a word or two has to be mentioned about Dooley Wilson, who had some interest for piano too. This African-American actor played piano in spite of rumors that he did not actually know how; and in Casablanca, the instrument which he played was empty and the music came from behind the scenes. Maybe even this would have been a ‘comedy’ for him! There are even other comedians like Jaleel White who could be mentioned for their knowledge in piano.

If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you! If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too!

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Benefits of Learning Piano in Adulthood

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Enjoying Piano in adulthood

Enjoying Piano in adulthood

Piano is an ageless magical instrument. You can learn it anywhere, anytime and at any age. It is the love and dedication towards the music that inspires one to learn piano. Usually, it is believed to be a good piano player you should start learning as early as possible. But there is no hard and fast rule to it. There is no age limit to learn anything it is the passion that drives a person and same goes with learning piano. No doubt there are ample benefits of learning since your childhood, but if you have the passion then even adulthood is no barrier to it.

Here are some benefits of learning piano in adulthood:

Easy Learning- Adults are better learners than kids. They can grasp things more easily and quickly. So, they can easily learn piano in lesser time as compared to kids. The adults can easily understand the tunes and notes whereas kids are little slow.

Breaks Monotony – Learning piano in adulthood gives you break from your monotonous routine. You learn something new and fresh in your life. This infuses new life in you and also it is a personal up-gradation.

Boost Confidence- Learning piano and then playing it in a gathering or family function will surprise your family and friends. It will help you to prove yourself and also boost your confidence.

Relaxes You- Playing piano is a stress releaser. It lightens and clears your mind. It helps you to forget your day to day tensions and enjoy music.
We wish you happy piano playing.

If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help! If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you!

If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too

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Learning Piano on a Budget

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Tool for affordable learning!

Tool for affordable learning!

You may be passionate about learning to play piano. You may wish to do so just for the sake of self-expression, creativity, or as a hobby. To learn playing piano, you would need help of an expert and certified piano teacher. However, you may be short of money. But as is well-known that piano teachers charge considerable amount of money for teaching piano, therefore you may find it difficult to learn piano playing from a piano teacher. But there are some ways to learn piano on a budget.

Purchase a keyboard- The thing required to start learning to play piano is the instrument itself. However, piano is an expensive instrument, therefore you may not afford to buy it. In such a situation, you can get a keyboard. It is advisable to buy a branded piano touch keyboard such as from Yamaha. They give the real feeling of piano playing.

Internet- It is the best, affordable and most accessible form of mode to learn piano playing within the limits of your budget. Large numbers of YouTube videos can be found over the internet which teach the basics of piano playing. You can also opt for online piano classes. The fee charged by these classes is significantly less as compared to in-person classes. Therefore, you can easily learn piano through these classes.

Piano book- It is the best way to learn. The only thing to be taken care of with a piano book is to use it regularly for practice. It is because in the piano book instructions are given step by step. If you practice regularly, you automatically move to the higher levels of piano playing with the passage of time.

If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help! If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you!

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Spilled Water on Your Piano? What to Do

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Handle with care!

Handle with care!

Possessing an expensive piano is a great thing. When your fingers produce the magic of music on the piano, you may feel at the top of the world. But how would you feel if your favorite instrument gets wet? This may have been done due to carelessness or by mistake. But there is no need to panic about it. Have patience and follow some steps to clean your piano.

The most important part of a piano which can get damaged due to spilling of water is its keyboard. So first of all clean the upper surface of the piano keyboard with a dry cloth. You must clean it softly so that the water is dried and no scratches are made on the keys. Clean it in such a way that water doesn’t go down the keys.

Then try to clean the inner surface of keys by pressing them gently one by one. You can also use a soaking paper to do this as it will absorb even the minute drops of water.

Let the keyboard in an open space to dry any water drops in the interior side of keyboard. If possible, you can try to open the keyboard very carefully and let its inner parts get dried.

After three or four hours, you can reassemble the keyboard and try out all its keys for proper functioning. If you feel it is working finely, then you may go ahead playing it. In case, you think that there is some problem with the sound of keys, try to fine tune them. If problem still persists; then call a professional and get your piano properly repaired.

If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help! If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you!

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Spotlight: Reggae Piano

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It's all about reggae world of music!

It’s all about reggae world of music!

Reggae refers to the type of music which developed initially in Jamaica in the late 1960s. It is used to refer to the earlier type of music of ska and rocksteady. So Reggae piano means the piano used in the creation of such music types. Often an acoustic piano was used as a reggae piano in the creation of such music. However, with the passage of time and advancement of technology, the acoustic piano faded away from the scene and in their place an upright piano was used on the stage or in studios to create reggae piano sound. Even a baby grand piano was also used by some of the studios such as Channel One in Jamaica as a reggae piano. The reggae piano remained in the mainstream from 1960s to 1990s after which its popularity started to diminish.

The foremost reggae piano was used as a part of the rhythm segment in association with reggae guitar to make the sound substantial and give a feeling of replication to the sound. A special technique known as ‘Bang’ which is usually linked with the reggae piano was used to create reggae music. Some of the examples of music in which reggae piano was used are music of the Toots, Skatalites, Maytals and Wailers.

At present, any renowned make of piano such as Steinway, Bechstein, Steingraeber, Bosendorfer, Yamaha or Bluthner can be used as a reggae piano. The reggae piano can be used to add fills to the music which is done by using the right hand while the left hand is used to perform the bang. The renowned players of reggae piano are Jackie Mittoo, Monty Alexander, Earl Lindo from the Wailers, and Ibo Cooper from Third World.

If you’d like to get more into piano, we can help! If you’re in the New York City area, check out the piano classes and instructors on HeyKiki and find the perfect piano training for you. If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you!

If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too.

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