Cry of the Pianist

[DoubleBlade]

well i have this fren of mine.he's really really into the guitar.once he started learning his scales for instance if ur a self taught guitarist , there are just some things which u would never EVER understand from a guitar guide book.now there's where the piano comes in.take for instance , a A minor harmonic scale , the 7th note of the scale is raised by one semitone.if u have no knowledge on the piano even for basic theory u might be wondering...WHAT IS A SEMITONE? WHAT 7TH NOTE IS RAISED? u would understand better with the help of a piano or maybe keyboard in terms of certain aspects of musical theory which i think could really prove useful for any musician.

 

[sanXp]

It would be outrageous to have a grand piano with a rock band, haha. It would be more practical to have a keyboard, because it's smaller, lighter, easier to set up, and more flexible in sound. But X-Japan had a grand piano, and their drummer Yoshiki played it, but only during solos if I'm not mistaken, he's good but he can't play drums AND the grand piano at the same time haha..

I did learn the piano when I was young, but I gave it up because it was boring and I sucked at it. In fact I hated it. Surprisingly though, when I started learning to play guitars a year ago, my 'background' helped me tremendously. I could play simple scales by ear. Slowly, though haha.. It also helped me with my tempo, I never had a problem playing at a consistent tempo alone or with a band. I've got many friends with that problem, and they make up for it with tapping their feet, counting in their head, etc.

But one thing.. I wish I told my parents I wanted to learn the guitar and drums instead when I was young, and not cringe in fear at their superiority and just give in. Even later on, I did not want to ask them because I'm afraid they would say "If like piano how? Learn halfway give up". Till today I have not told them I want to formally learn the guitar, but I'm learning myself, buying my own gear, showing that I am serious about it. Heh. My dad did tell me before though, that I should take up a course or something. I told him that I'll think about it 1st haha..

 

[Mr_KeyboardMan]

Actualy piano can be learnt by self taught too ... there is no rule that you should started out as playing classical when you are learning piano. In fact, you can started out by learning chord ... just as like when i first learn guitar he he he ... expand from there and then progress on by learning scaling and improvisations ... one of the pianist in my church did this ... he cant read notes so you have to sing out the songs to him he he he


Dont know if anyone else agrees with me ... a pianist picks up other instruments faster than other people ... a lot of multi-instrumentalists i know started out as pianists.

 

[DoubleBlade]

well for me i started off wif the classical guitar first before progressing to the piano so i can't say for sure whether a pianist picks up another instrument as fast as other average joes.it was when i started playing the piano when i began to learn music theory.during my guitar days , i juz played chords and scales without knowing anything about theory until i got started on the piano...

 

[Cheez]

Dont know if anyone else agrees with me ... a pianist picks up other instruments faster than other people ... a lot of multi-instrumentalists i know started out as pianists.

Interesting. May be right. My second instrument was the trumpet. Took exams for that but did not complete because of studies at that time. Then took up guitar. My guitar friends commented that I was playing the guitar like a piano - couldn't strum for nuts but I was able to pluck pretty well. I see the fretboard like a keyboard. Took me a long while to learn strumming - can't get the wrist to do what it is supposed to do. But my fingers can move pretty quickly. My piano background definitely helped a lot. After guitar, it took me even a shorter time to pick up the bass since it is similar to guitar (and again, keyboard bass playing helped a lot).

 

[DoubleBlade]

actually it's quite true cause i think i can pluck better on a guitar than strum even until now!!!! hahax

i heard one way to distinguish whether a person is a talented pianist or will one day become a talented pianist is to look at his fingers.a talented pianist usually has long fingers and when the fingers are suspended freely in air , their fingers naturally fall into a distinctive curl as if their fingers are on the keyboard but they are not.

 

[Silencer]

crap! my fingers are short and stubby, and fall into a non-distinctive (indescribable shape)!!! argh!!!help!

 

[DoubleBlade]

hey it's juz smth like a rumour , no one knows for sure whether it is true :?

 

[evenes]

It would be outrageous to have a grand piano with a rock band, haha. It would be more practical to have a keyboard, because it's smaller, lighter, easier to set up, and more flexible in sound. But X-Japan had a grand piano, and their drummer Yoshiki played it, but only during solos if I'm not mistaken, he's good but he can't play drums AND the grand piano at the same time haha..

GN'R did it too! they had piano on certain songs with axl rose playing it. anyone remember november rain? the part where slash walked and stood on top of the grand piano... damn that was a euphoric sight, piano + guitar... :supz:

 

[DoubleBlade]

yeah i love it!!!! especially the part when does some "scratching" technique on the piano during the ending riff of the song which goes "Your not the only one , Your not the only one!!!!" haha...i call it the cat scratching technique and basically i tried doing it about an hour ago and boyyy did my fingers sure hurt a lot.maybe because my piano is a "heavy piano" whereby the touch is very heavy.nonetheless it serves as an inspiration to me to think of crazy and other out of this world techniques on the piano!!!!

 

[BF109E]

The piano is an essential part of rock and roll, If you're watched some old videos of rock and roll bands that feature an acoustic piano, you would know that the piano really rocks. Likewise, the acoustic piano also plays a big part in blues, such as music from Dr John or in jazz, such as as our local Jeremy Monteiro. In rock, Jonathon Cain from Journey is a great piano player where many Journey hits such as Faithfully and Open Arms feature the acoustic piano as the lead instrument.

The trouble is many of our young pianists here lack exposure to other forms of acoustic piano playing. They seldom venture further than classical music and the occasional pop music pieces. What I noticed too is that often these young pianist are basically soloists and lack the know-how of playing in band situations with other instruments, such as keeping in sync with the rhythm. They also have a hard time playing chords or without any score or just improvising. I suppose it takes interest and support from parents for these young pianist to blossom beyond classical reaches.

I too taught myself to play piano although it's only chords. It's much easier to learn it this way as chord theory works both in guitar and in piano. I was particularly inspired to learn the piano by rock/pop stars such as Phil Collins, a drummer, and Paul Rodgers, a vocal and guitarist from Bad Company (and now the new frontman for Queen) who can all play the piano.

 

[iansoh]

yes.. i fully agree.

btw, i listened to mainly jonathan cain and journey music when i was first starting to move on to playing pop piano stuff after almost 12 years of classical piano. that, and a lot of blues. to me, it really helps the learning pianist to define and understand, on a basic foundation level, the role of the pianist in the band.

for those who're interested, i think this is a good way to start.

 

[Elvin-Seraphim]

Pianist are pretty awesome

Yo doubleblade, i'm a pianist too..and i know how u feel..

similarly, i have friends who are pretty close to me who started drifting away from our usual social get-togethers..cus they wanted to mix with their other friends who are rockers. Well, he prefers grunge rock, so do i. but well, my point is it's pple's preference what kinda music they like and enjoy. perhaps for pianists, u think it's confined to the halls. but well, haven't u heard of pop pianists? and besides, the piano is really one of the hardest instrument to master. how many people can really perform something like beethoven's or other great composers stuff man? speaking from classical and the ABRSM path i took, i merely was trained to listen and read notes better. perhaps it's the tutolage of my teachers. well, pianists, mostly are mama's boys, cus u practically start off with classical..which is very gentlemanly, don't u think? it's not so hip and trendy as the modern day music which many pple aren't tired off... not many pple actually enjoy classical music. especially in singapore. well, it's not really fair to say dat of course, cus, some prefer contemporary, jazz, rock or pop music. depends on what kinda audience u want if you're gonna perform rite? overall, if u wanna be good, u shud start of with clasical cus it trains ur techniques and finger movements very well..try bach and beethoven pieces. when u're good with those..hop to chopin and rachmaninoff..and then..u realise everything else would be pretty easier..cus ur scales by then..would be chicken feet..hehe..dat's wad i went thru tho.. ;P

 

[DoubleBlade]

whaooooooo i think u being too far sighted.haha...i've been playing for only 10 months and start working on bach? obviously i would love to play those songs but correctly me if i'm wrong but these classical pieces are for the more advance players like grade 6 onwards or smth rite?


for me i think jazz music is cool but i must first develop a stable foundation for my chords and chord transition. it's true dat it's best to start off wif classical before progressing to the other forms of music such as Jazz and Blues.one thing's for sure , modern music emphasises a lot on chords and scales.my teacher told me dat grade 1 jazz is equalivant to grade 3 classical....

 

[Frummer]

well i have this fren of mine.he's really really into the guitar.once he started learning his scales for instance if ur a self taught guitarist , there are just some things which u would never EVER understand from a guitar guide book.now there's where the piano comes in.take for instance , a A minor harmonic scale , the 7th note of the scale is raised by one semitone.if u have no knowledge on the piano even for basic theory u might be wondering...WHAT IS A SEMITONE? WHAT 7TH NOTE IS RAISED? u would understand better with the help of a piano or maybe keyboard in terms of certain aspects of musical theory which i think could really prove useful for any musician.

Or u cud join the school band...