Learning Piano

[Manic Cinq]

I'm starting to teach myself piano, and I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions as to some videogame songs that might be easy to learn.

Right now I'm guessing that the final fantasy prelude will be simple to play.

[Rexy]

Prelude is a good place to start given that all of its notes are white, however I do hope that you are confident with dealing with the four-octave arpeggios at the beginning. That would mean crossing your hands a fair amount, a technique that isn't commonly learnt at the start of piano performing.

I think Eyes on Me is an easier track to deal with; less crossing, and like with Prelude there's not a lot of black notes. It is a longer song, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem if you can get focused with it.

[chokst~1.bat]

Many of the first songs I learned to play on piano were from Lemmings. Just seemed easy and fun to learn at the time I guess.

[zylance]

The first VG song I learned on piano was the Mario 64 water theme (dire dire docks). The melody is simple, and the bass line is just fifths.

And prelude? It isn't all white keys, is it? I learned it in c, and once you go down to the g# m7th arpeggio it's nearly all black keys! Well, not to mention its a quick tune, almost like an exercise like cannon.

[Ichitootah]

First VG song I ever learned for piano was the song of time, it's kind of a fun right hand part if you can figure it out right, and you can make the left hand as easy or hard as you want it.

[OverCoat]

First songs I learned were FF6 songs... very easy to figure out by ear.

Actually, wait, it was the DK Hammer song. LOL?

[-RK-]

EVERY single song on here is relatively easy to play. At least, I learned them all when I was starting out fairly quickly.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mankow84/link.html

A great place to start for begginner VG Sheets.

Practice up!

[Ghetto Lee Lewis]

I'm starting to teach myself piano, and I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions as to some videogame songs that might be easy to learn.

Right now I'm guessing that the final fantasy prelude will be simple to play.

The first two chords are easy; after that it gets more difficult. You probably won't get very far until you learn to read music and acquire some sheet music. I doubt if you can pick up on inverted chord arpeggios (and extended chord arpeggios) by ear.

The best way to learn piano definitely is to take lessons. However, lessons can get very expensive. If you insist on teaching yourself, focus on chord theory. It shouldn't be that difficult to pick up on.

Learn the different letter names, learn what accidentals are, learn what keys are, learn what chords are. In other words, it's like reading music but also being able to name and identify patterns.

Here are the Prelude chords if you get that far into chord theory: I, vi (repeat), IV (add 9, inverted), V (add 9, inverted), flat VI M7, flat VII M7.

I'm not sure if I'm naming all these correctly. If you're the key of C, then it's: C, A minor, F major add 9, G major add 9, A flat major 7, B flat major 7 (and the F and G chords are inverted, that is, the F chord starts on A, and the G chord starts on B, I think)

Once you get the patterns figured out it's easy. And crossing over your hands isn't that difficult. It's when you play all the arpeggios with your left hand and the melody with the right hand that it gets tricky.

[Manic Cinq]

Thanks for the link, Ross Kmet. Galbadia Hotel has some sheets. I got the prelude there (from FFVII).

The beggining of the prelude is easy, and then it gets a little more complicated.

Last summer I had a friend teaching me how to read. My weak reading skills are slowing me down,

but I already know basic music theory. I've played bass for about 6 years, so I'm new to the piano, not music.

[Ghetto Lee Lewis]

Definitely buy Hanon the Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises (from your local music store). Pace yourself through it (you should be able to get through it in about a year if you do one exercise each week), and your hands should be strong/fast/coordinated enough to play most of the moderately difficult classical music. Make sure you play the exercises every day so you get the most benefit from it. Overall, the book isn't really difficult to read, just as soon as you get the hang of the different patterns.

If you want to get into advanced technique for classical playing, I'd recommend practicing Chopins etudes (as many as you can, as much as you can; the "Revolutionary Etude" in C minor helped me tremendously with playing arpeggios and strengthening my left hand). If you really want to get serious about technique, consider Czerny's "The Art of Finger Dexterity". However, that book is insanely long, so good luck if you ever get through it. It's more difficult reading than Hanon also.

If you want to learn jazz or other genres there are some other good books out there, but it ALWAYS helps to be classically trained before you get into serious playing.

[Manic Cinq]

I'm already a Chopin fan. His etudes are great. My favourite being "Etude in C minor Op.25 No.12".

I don't know how to manage my time, so piano isn't high on my priority list, but I might pick up that Hanon book.

Thanks everyone-who-responded.

[Lostinthamusic]

I am also trying to learn piano.

It's alot harder to learn compared to guitar, IMO.

I also love Chopin, amazing music.

Thanks for the sheet music sites.

[tgfoo]

I am also trying to learn piano.

It's alot harder to learn compared to guitar, IMO.

Cause you have to know how to read music? Man, I know so many guitar players who are really good buy can't read an ounce of music

And Chopin is very good. Actually, I'm playing on of his waltzes (Op. 64 No. 2 in c-sharp minor). Speaking of which, I should probably practice so I don't get yelled at on thursday...

[the_nihilist]

http://members.aol.com/chang8828/contents.htm

Found this link quite a long, fascinating, useful read.