I just started to learn to read music a few days ago...

[mattaio26]

What are some good songs to start with? I only play piano... thanks!

[Tnspieler1012]

As far coldplay is concerned, the most popular picks are...

A. Clocks( simple riff, but remember to play it with both hands, good finger exercise ;))

B. Trouble (Great song, never gets old for me)

C. Speed of Sound (Good practice, start with the right hand melody and then incorporate the left hand, it's trickier than it sounds, also good practice.)

D. The Scientist (easy song, but it's worth knowing for a coldplay fan.

E. Politik (The bridge is beautiful to play)

If you want something more difficult then simple riffs and chords...

 

F. Amsterdam/Life is For Living (both songs feature similar chords, and are some of my faves)

G. Postcards from far away (might be tough for beginners, but it's addictive to play)

H. A Ghost (lesser known unreleased coldplay song, but features a haunting melody)

----------------------------------------------------------------

as for non-coldplay songs....

 

1. Sonata no.14 mvt. 1 (moonlight sonata): Beethoven's most famous. While it takes a while to learn, it's not particularly difficult to play. The key is just learning and memorizing the music. Needless to say it's a beautiful song that is great for beginners to aspire to.

 

2. Fur Elise: Another famous Beethoven bit, most people don't learn the more than the main part, but just the basic riff is great to play.

 

free sheets and you-tube tutorials are available for most of these songs online. But let us know if you need anything.

[dakalaka7]

You may find it difficult but the only truly proven way to get good at reading music is to start at the very basics. You can either: 1) (the more difficult/cheap way) go to your local music store and buy beginners piano lesson books (they are generally part of a series...1,2,3 ect. The higher the number the higher skill level required) and teach yourself, or 2.) (the expensive/easier method) Get piano lessons.

 

The truth is, as i learned, you can never really learn to play the piano, or any instrument well by playing songs you enjoy or want to play. The reason I started taking lessons was so I could play all my favorite songs on the radio. I lacked motivation to actually learn the music my teacher gave me and instead id only practice these difficult pieces. The result, i didnt get any better.

 

Whether you teach yourself or have a teacher teach you, no matter what, practice the songs even if it is twinkle twinkle little star. They are there for a reason.

 

If you do this, you'll become very good, very quickly, and before you know it you will not only be reading and playing music like coldplay's, but you will be able to write your own.

 

So no matter what you do dont get ahead of yourself like i did. The best songs to learn are the most basic songs. Then you work your way up ;)

 

Hope this helps

 

cheers

[mattaio26]

Awesome, thanks.

 

and i have begun to play postcards, it's awesome!

[annabelle]

I can't really add much as you've received a lot of good advice already.

 

I taught myself to read music and to play various instruments. There are lots of good books available, which I found really useful, and if you have a music store nearby, they'll be only too happy to help you. The main thing is to keep practicing! Have fun!

[sp★rkle]

Yay! Congrats to you :dance:

[zeoir]

You may find it difficult but the only truly proven way to get good at reading music is to start at the very basics. You can either: 1) (the more difficult/cheap way) go to your local music store and buy beginners piano lesson books (they are generally part of a series...1,2,3 ect. The higher the number the higher skill level required) and teach yourself, or 2.) (the expensive/easier method) Get piano lessons.

 

The truth is, as i learned, you can never really learn to play the piano, or any instrument well by playing songs you enjoy or want to play. The reason I started taking lessons was so I could play all my favorite songs on the radio. I lacked motivation to actually learn the music my teacher gave me and instead id only practice these difficult pieces. The result, i didnt get any better.

 

Whether you teach yourself or have a teacher teach you, no matter what, practice the songs even if it is twinkle twinkle little star. They are there for a reason.

 

If you do this, you'll become very good, very quickly, and before you know it you will not only be reading and playing music like coldplay's, but you will be able to write your own.

 

So no matter what you do dont get ahead of yourself like i did. The best songs to learn are the most basic songs. Then you work your way up ;)

 

Hope this helps

 

cheers

 

Seconded. You should start with something really simple and then move on to harder songs little by little.

[dorffy]

"The truth is, as i learned, you can never really learn to play the piano, or any instrument well by playing songs you enjoy or want to play"

 

This is the most stupid thing i have heard in a long time.

 

They way i learned to play guitar was by playing music i enjoy listening to. Why shouldn't you do that? This is what kept me going while my fingers were hurting.

[ez2plz]

I agree with Trouble for the beginner, but I would also add See You Soon (definitely not the key of c, but once you get used to the C#minor (Key of E) -let me know if you can't find the sheet music, or figure this one out by ear.) I also have to say Prospekts March is pretty damn easy on piano, really. These would be the 3 I would recommend to the aspiring player. Let us know if we can help.

 

Are you singing these, as well?

[TheBigC]

"The truth is, as i learned, you can never really learn to play the piano, or any instrument well by playing songs you enjoy or want to play"

 

This is the most stupid thing i have heard in a long time.

 

They way i learned to play guitar was by playing music i enjoy listening to. Why shouldn't you do that? This is what kept me going while my fingers were hurting.

 

I'll second that, I only started getting good when i started playing what I wanted to.

 

I practiced harder when i did so and learned to love the piano more than almost anything.

[ez2plz]

The truth is, as i learned, you can never really learn to play the piano, or any instrument well by playing songs you enjoy or want to play. The reason I started taking lessons was so I could play all my favorite songs on the radio. I lacked motivation to actually learn the music my teacher gave me and instead id only practice these difficult pieces. The result, i didnt get any better.

 

I can relate to this statement and at the same time I also relate to those that would feel contrary to this. I think what DAK is saying is that while they WERE TAKING LESSONS, they should have given the lessons the same work ethic as the favorite song on the radio, but that bach from the suzuki book is not as fun or rewarding as say, uh.... clocks. Well that's just obvious, isn't it. No seriously, the theory, the structure, the scales, the learning of patterns that seem unnatural and take hours to get right. Well it is true, I initially hated lessons and wound up breaking away and just playing by ear what i wanted to. I wound up getting serious and going back to lessons years later, because there is only so much you can do on your own.

 

If you aren't taking lessons, then that's completely different. Then you are going to be mostly playing things you want to learn.

 

Now I know Chris has a vocal coach/tutor, because of the album credits, but does anyone know if he is still taking piano lessons? If I had double digit millions and a wee bit of spare time during the year, I know I would be. :)

[Tnspieler1012]

Yeah, I don't think Dakalaka meant that the act of learning your favorite songs will make you a worse pianist. If you're taking a lessons, the priority should be the assigned material, but as long as you focus on fundamentals and don't run into bad habits, play what you like.

[ez2plz]

something i didn't think of...

 

a piano teacher hellbent on teaching nothing but coldplay & radiohead, and who shouts at you like Gordon Ramsay when you hit a wrong note, "You Donkey!"

[Tnspieler1012]

Lol. Or just a lesson with Chris. They held an auction for one of those actually, needless to say, none of us simple folk could afford it.

[dakalaka7]

Alright, first of all. I dont know why you have to say " asjdfhd that was the stupidest thing ive everrrr hearddd i3j82ro ...

 

Let me clarify.

 

I meant if you dont know how to play the piano (NOT GUITAR) and you are at your beginning stages, if you jump into songs like coldplay's (which can be hard for beginners) you will not be able to learn the basics of theory, time, ect. to your full potential. This is what i meant by you will not get good by learning the songs you want to learn. You may get better at...say...navigating the keyboard, BUT, there is a reason piano teachers start you off with basic easy songs.

 

If you tought yourself theory, time and everything else you need to read music with, for example, a coldplay song book...GOOD FOR YOU, thats quite an accomplishment. I doubt you'll ever be as good as somebody that pulled out all the stops to learn to read music fluently.

 

One last thing, if you want to try to learn songs you want to play, why not? I wasnt saying you couldn't. I wouldnt have been able to keep going if i couldnt have played those songs either. It took me a long time to learn them but it presented a challenge.

 

My point was, dont skip the neccesary parts of the learning process.

 

I hope that clarifies things.

[TheBigC]

Alright, first of all. I dont know why you have to say " asjdfhd that was the stupidest thing ive everrrr hearddd i3j82ro ...

 

Let me clarify.

 

I meant if you dont know how to play the piano (NOT GUITAR) and you are at your beginning stages, if you jump into songs like coldplay's (which can be hard for beginners) you will not be able to learn the basics of theory, time, ect. to your full potential. This is what i meant by you will not get good by learning the songs you want to learn. You may get better at...say...navigating the keyboard, BUT, there is a reason piano teachers start you off with basic easy songs.

 

If you tought yourself theory, time and everything else you need to read music with, for example, a coldplay song book...GOOD FOR YOU, thats quite an accomplishment. I doubt you'll ever be as good as somebody that pulled out all the stops to learn to read music fluently.

 

One last thing, if you want to try to learn songs you want to play, why not? I wasnt saying you couldn't. I wouldnt have been able to keep going if i couldnt have played those songs either. It took me a long time to learn them but it presented a challenge.

 

My point was, dont skip the neccesary parts of the learning process.

 

I hope that clarifies things.

 

 

 

I agree with that. Piano lessons are definitely necessary if you want to get anywhere.

 

And when you explore new songs on your own, It makes it so much more satisfying.

[sbomb]

i cant afford piano lessons, or a piano, i use the university one and started learning on my own, been learning for 2 months now using a piano book and learning coldplay songs, can play pretty much all of robtth, vlv and parachutes spot on, save a few which are clearly either not right or dont sound right on the sheets (im looking at you green eyes). I was told when a member of the music society overheard me playing that i was a "natural" so i kind of resent people saying i cant learn the piano this way, i can read music, my timing is fine (i do have a metronome from my guitar tuner i use) in terms of sight reading im getting better and have made alot of progress

 

Just enjoy playing mate, do it for the joy of doing it

[sbomb]

the book i learned from is piano for dummies btw if anyone was interested, good book

[dakalaka7]

i cant afford piano lessons, or a piano, i use the university one and started learning on my own, been learning for 2 months now using a piano book and learning coldplay songs, can play pretty much all of robtth, vlv and parachutes spot on, save a few which are clearly either not right or dont sound right on the sheets (im looking at you green eyes). I was told when a member of the music society overheard me playing that i was a "natural" so i kind of resent people saying i cant learn the piano this way, i can read music, my timing is fine (i do have a metronome from my guitar tuner i use) in terms of sight reading im getting better and have made alot of progress

 

Just enjoy playing mate, do it for the joy of doing it

 

Great. Im glad for you. I mostly play my guitar nowadays. It started when i picked up my sisters guitar a couple years back and now I can play literally anything presented in front of me.

 

...and hey, Maybe you'll become the next big thing in piano and become rich and famous. :wink3:

[sbomb]

Great. Im glad for you. I mostly play my guitar nowadays. It started when i picked up my sisters guitar a couple years back and now I can play literally anything presented in front of me.

 

...and hey, Maybe you'll become the next big thing in piano and become rich and famous. :wink3:

 

Haha no chance, nor would i want to, i do it because it makes me happy, honestly if i could afford lessons id take them but i cant and for the forseeable future i wont be able to so i do resent the fact that i cant learn the piano no my own, i work very hard

[PianoRocker]

Reading music is pretty easy if you know how it works.

If you know that the top line is the F, middle line B and bottom line is E you can find the other lines.

And for the F key it's all 2 lines(halves!) lower.

[splintercell37]

You may find it difficult but the only truly proven way to get good at reading music is to start at the very basics. You can either: 1) (the more difficult/cheap way) go to your local music store and buy beginners piano lesson books (they are generally part of a series...1,2,3 ect. The higher the number the higher skill level required) and teach yourself, or 2.) (the expensive/easier method) Get piano lessons.

 

The truth is, as i learned, you can never really learn to play the piano, or any instrument well by playing songs you enjoy or want to play. The reason I started taking lessons was so I could play all my favorite songs on the radio. I lacked motivation to actually learn the music my teacher gave me and instead id only practice these difficult pieces. The result, i didnt get any better.

 

Whether you teach yourself or have a teacher teach you, no matter what, practice the songs even if it is twinkle twinkle little star. They are there for a reason.

 

If you do this, you'll become very good, very quickly, and before you know it you will not only be reading and playing music like coldplay's, but you will be able to write your own.

 

So no matter what you do dont get ahead of yourself like i did. The best songs to learn are the most basic songs. Then you work your way up ;)

 

Hope this helps

 

cheers

 

 

QFT.

 

But it's a double thing.

 

Being a learned pianist myself, I was always mildly annoyed that my teacher never taught any interesting songs. So I tried to play Coldplay. Jumping straight in the deep end left me struggling to read it, but it helped my sightreading tremendously for my lessons, and I enjoyed what I was doing.

 

Truth is, I didn't become the pianist I am by playing For He's a Jolly Good Fellow, nor by playing Lovers in Japan. I got skill by playing both. And practicing. Lots of practice. The easy songs like Jolly Good Fellow taught me how to read music, how to play something correctly which I've never heard before. But playing Coldplay helped me to understand what I was hearing with what I was playing, because I knew the song off by heart, and I could emulate the rhythm without needing to read the rests. After a while I began to appreciate music as an art, not just entertainment, and I didn't have a problem with playing the songs I didn't know.

 

At the end of the day it boils down to practice. Take sbomb for example. Different folks, different strokes. But I'd definitely recommend starting easy. Don't jump ahead of yourself or you're likely to get frustrated and stop working at it.

 

That said, Lovers in Japan is fun to play and pretty easy. ;)

[PianoRocker]

^Very well said!! :)

 

It's the best to start with easier Coldplay songs.

Like: Fix You, The Scientist.

 

Lovers in Japan aint that easy for beginners! But not as hard as Daylight.

Daylight sounds pretty easy but to play the whole song with the exact correct rhythm needs some skills.

[PianoRocker]

I'm currently learning Shiver on piano, the bass part with left hand and electric+acoustic guitar part with the right hand.

I re-created the whole song to fit on piano that's sounds pretty cool :D

 

But now my left pinky won't help(pain:S)