Musical Basics for Novice Pianists

Piano is one of the most famous musical instruments since the old times. It has been a part of entertainment and education to individuals coming from all walks of life. To be a good pianist you need to start at the bottom line. Every learning procedure must follow certain steps that develop one’s skills, knowledge, and attitude. For this topic, we are to discuss different aspects in music, which are related to piano playing. Over all information will cover from musical rhythm and movement up to properties of melody and its dynamic level.

Rhythm is an important part of a melody because in every melody, there is always a rhythm. This particular element in the world of music is formed out from the duration of sounds, notes, and rests. The relationship of each note can be notable through time values. Most novice musician progress in their understanding of rhythm by listening, singing, moving, and playing. They can also learn some important aspect of a rhythm like note patterns, accent, dot, tie, fermata, and time signatures. What is a rhythmic pattern? This is the combination of long and short sounds, notes and rests.

What about rhythm grouping? This is where the music is fused into two patterns, the strong and the less strong beats. By calling the strongest beat “one” whenever it is played, you can easily follow it with the weaker beat. To play the beat you can do hand clapping, feet tapping, striking a drum, and tapping a rhythm sticks to simulate and feel the basic pulsation of the music. You can practice rhythm grouping by accompanying your favorite song with a beat.

What is a melody? This refers to the line or tone of music that moves up and down.  The movement of the melody (up and down) is called pitch. As the pitch increases the sound will get thinner, and when the pitch decreases the sound will tend to get thicker (Bass like sound). The character of the melody is determined through the pitch line, its curve, profile, descending and ascending tone, profile, and shape. The duration of a played melody determines the rhythm, while the contour of the pitch will determine its effect (smooth or hard tone).

The different aspect of a melody will add to the improvement of tonal and rhythmic descriptions. In a melody, we have what we called the tonal center or key tone. The key tone will adjust during a song composition but the melody will remain related to a key in a piano. Within that key, the melody can move in relation to a scale or chord. The movement of the melody is played through a certain arrangement of a particular series of notes. With this system, the twelve chromatic scale can be arranged in any order to create a basic idea of the composition.

Any form of composition is sung or played with an appropriate degree of loudness and softness. There will be no musical tone if there is no degree of volume either from its actual production or from a direct hearing sense. The overall effect of a piece of music is greatly influenced by its varied dynamic levels at which it is performed. What are pitch names? These are names of the corresponding lines and spaces of the staff. Each line and spaces have a matching tone. Initially, there are five lines and four spaces within a staff. What about the melodic pattern? This refers to the mixture of recurring, related and divergent figures, motive and phrases.

What is a melodic interval? This refers to the distance of a piano’s key or tone from each other. In a keyboard, the white and the black keys conclude the half and whole interval. Those keys that have whole step intervals are CD, DE, FG, GA, and AB. While the keys with half step intervals are EF and BC. What is a melodic progression? This refers to the arrangement of the notes or keys in a particular song. These given arrangements can be repeated in relation to the scale.  On the other hand, melodic contour refers to the upward and downward direction of a key or note. Through the use of lines within the staff allows you to, easily discover the contour of the melody.