Learning to play the piano is an exciting experience but it can also be an intimidating one. From notes to scales and proper piano fingering, there’s a lot for a new pianist to learn! With so much to keep up with and remember, it’s only inevitable that beginning piano students will make some mistakes along the way. But to truly excel at the piano, a piano player must recognize what mistakes they’re making and learn to correct them. To keep new piano students from forming bad habits, Scottsdale Music Academy has compiled a list of the top three mistakes most beginning piano students make. Read them, remember them, and most important of all, try to avoid them!
- Playing With Flat Fingers
It may seem strange to non-music players, but the piano and keyboard should not be played with flat fingers. Why, you ask? Because playing with flat fingers actually limits a pianist’s control, speed, and accuracy. Instead, the proper way to play the piano is with rounded fingertips pressed lightly on the keys. This ensures that more power and movement come from the wrist and forearms instead of the fingers alone, making playing more smooth and efficient.
- Not Playing With A Metronome
Most beginning piano students suffer from two things: playing the notes too fast or playing them too slow. The fact is, when first learning to play the piano, it’s easy to play at an uneven tempo and not even realize it. That’s why using a metronome when you practice (whether on your own or during piano lessons) is absolutely essential, especially for beginning piano students. A metronome will help you to stay on tempo and be mindful of the rhythm. Once you begin to feel more confident in your playing and your ability to keep the proper pace of the song, the need for a metronome won’t be as critical.
- Playing But Not Practicing
Let’s face it: it’s easy to stay in our comfort zones and do only what we’re familiar with. Thus, beginning piano students will find that at some point or another, they’ll quit pushing themselves as hard and instead be content with the skills they’ve already developed. Usually, that means that “practicing” turns into an informal jam session in which the piano is played but the student does not challenge themselves to learn something new, so their skills remain the same. In order to combat this, many piano players find that piano lessons are the fix. Piano lessons give students the structure and push they need to take their skills to the next level. Piano lessons like the ones we teach at Scottsdale Music Academy to Phoenix and Scottsdale residents are specifically designed to help students reach their music goals by kicking practice sessions up a notch and equipping students with the tools and knowledge they need to grow as a musician.
If you’re new to the piano, be sure to keep these piano playing mistakes in mind and avoid them to the best of your ability. Your piano playing will be better off because of it!