Week 3:

I feel like I have really improved over the last two week and I am finally starting to understand how playing piano works.  This week I have been focused on playing songs in the intermediate level book. In the beginner book it was mostly just short exercises, but I am really happy because I am starting to play some real songs!

In the book I am learning to play from, after every other song it introduces something complete new. So far I have learned some chord names, what the first and last notes are notes on a scale are called, and different a few different pentacles on the piano. That might seem like a lot so I will try to break it down.
 If you do not know what a scale is I put a picture of  a C-scale down below. For lack of better words, here is the Wikipedia definition of a scale - "A scale is any set of musical notes ordered by a fundamental frequency or pitch". Scales can vary based on if there is a flat note or a sharp note that is part of it. Pentacles are basically the first five notes in the scale. Depending on what pentacle you are playing, you have to change the position of you hands on the piano. For example: if you were playing on the C pentacle you would have to put your thumb on the c note. If you were playing the on the D  pentacle, however, you would have to start on the note d. Sometimes during songs you have to switch scales or octaves (the same notes at a higher pitch). I had a bit of trouble with this at first, but I am getting the hang of it.

 The names of chords depend on what degrees are being played, or certain notes on the piano. For example: the I chord is composed of the 1st, 3rd and 5th note on the scale. Or the 1st, 2nd, and 5th fingers. Each three notes in an I chord will be two notes apart. The 1st chord of the scale will be called a tonic note and the last one will be called a dominant note.

Anyways, like I said above, I am really excited to be able to start playing some real songs. I have been practicing quite a bit this week so I could get a few under my fingers. Each song I have been practicing has took some time because I first try to play them slow, to get all of the right notes, then as I am getting the hang of it, I will speed-up. So far, I have played I few folk and traditional songs, a classical piece and a few songs I think the authors of the piano book made-up. They are not too complicated, but complex enough to where I feel I am making leaps and bounds.  My favorite one is called Rustic Dance:



   



That's all I have for this week. This up coming week I will continue to work on learning more scales, and learn some new songs. I am very happy with the progress I have made so far, and I hope I continue to improve as I have been!


                       

Week Two:

Week one of playing the piano has gone very well! I finished the first book: Piano Adventures: Primer Level, and today I just started looking at the second book. The first book taught the notes on the piano and where to place your fingers. Once I learned all the notes I worked on trying to improve my speed. As I expected, I had a bit of a hard time recognizing the notes on bass clef, but I eventually memorized them. The songs in the first book are quite simple- thank goodness! However, I had a fun time learning them.  

I downloaded an app that can record sounds; below I put a song from the Beginner book called “Grandmother”: The second book is much harder than the first, and is what I would call a huge leap. All the sudden the songs are about five times as long, they have sharp notes and chords that have three notes at one time. The first book did not have these things, so I was a bit surprised when I saw them with no introduction in the second. Anyway, the first song in it is the Star Spangled Banner (though probably a watered down version). This is what I will be working on the next few days. I put a short clip it below:

At first I thought I would practice piano every other day, but I have realized that I am at such a beginning level, if I don't practice for a day I will end up forgetting every thing I learned. This week I will have to make sure I play every single day, even if it is only for about fifteen minutes. I am so glad I have gotten as far as I have, but I will be very happy when I get to some more exiting songs!

Week 1: Shark Tank Pitch and Planning

    For the Shark Tank Pitch I had no problem picking a topic. I have wanted to learn how to play the piano for a long time, but I had never got around to doing it. This genius project is giving me a great opportunity to finally learn how to play! Besides loving music, I think piano will be a great way to help me understand music theory better.

   

    When deciding what would determine my success, I knew as long as I continued to improve, I would be happy with myself. However, I had not come up with a clear plan of how many hours I was going to put aside to study, as well as I how I was going to get some beginner piano books. I basically did a mental check of when I would have to time play, and how much time I was willing to put aside. As for the books- I knew I could have got some from the music library at school, but I ended up borrowing some from my brother. The books are for little kids- there’s drawing of ducks and animals and toys on all the pages- but they will get the job done any way.

In the planner, I outlined where I wanted to be in the piano books at each week. I looked through the books and wrote down the pages I thought I could learn in a week. As I wrote the planner, I was sure that once I actually started playing the piano, I would move at a different pace than what I had wrote down. It will be interesting to see if I end up being better or worse that I anticipated I would be in eight weeks. So far, I have practiced a bit and it is going quite well!