How to play piano: how to set the goal.

How to play piano artistically is not the real goal of learning to play music, just as the ability to act on stage is not the reason we learn to read. Recitals, instrumental contests, and achieving the level of grooming prodigies, are not going to help us to learn how to play piano reluctantly.

How to play piano by sight-reading music is a goal of music education. Person who knows how to play piano first has to have the ability to read music notation and to produce multiple sounds aloud on piano while using the ten fingers of both hands or while playing them inside the mind. Using any of the other instruments is a PLUS, of course, but the piano is the true voice of music literacy.

How to play piano: what exactly should we learn in music class?

Majority of music educators do not consider (or just do not realize) the difference between prospects of music education. However, there are three main major avenues in learning how to play piano:

1) Secluded music making, when a person sings or plays music instrument for oneself without any listeners for personal enjoyment,

2) Joint music making for friendly emotional communication with others (learning how to play piano with other instruments or singing in ensemble)

3) Public music making. The goal of such a performance is to impact on inner emotions and spiritual conditions of other people - listeners.

How to play piano in the first two avenues of learning have incomparably more sense for personal spiritual and intellectual growth of any person. The joint music making by this means is more powerful then public solo - and secluded music making is more powerful then joint performance.

The goal of our learning how to play piano should be rather ability to make music for one self. Public performances are for professionals. Only very advanced players get to master the trade of how to play piano artistically in specially created for this purpose music environments. However, professional musicians have to pass stages of secluded and joint music making and to master skills of fluent and thoughtful music reading before they become artists.

How to play piano without getting hurt. When teachers or/and parents try to make a concert player from any beginner, who just wants to learn how to play piano - this is not harmless extravagance, but a harmful educational mistake. By making an artistic playing a goal in music learning we force a child to memorize music piece for future performances and make him/her try to repeat the same music over and over again instead of reading something new and truly learn how to play piano for oneself and enjoy it.

How to play piano for children. You have to sight-read tons of music pieces to play piano with sheet music. Otherwise, beginners won’t read music fluently, but would be able to reproduce something by drills. The child also would be under a lot of pressure to demonstrate passionate ‘feelings’ during the performance -this supposedly enhance music making with ‘expressiveness’ and evidencing an 'exceptional talent'.

How to play piano thoughtfully. What would you say if after graduating public school your child would not be able to read any literature, but recite memorized poems and chapters from novels instead? Most likely, you would say, that your child remained illiterate. But it happens in music classes all the time, when majority of music educators want to teach our children to recite without teaching them to make music for their personal enjoyment or jointly with others for their personal pleasure. It is no music literacy could be without teaching kids elementary skills to read and write music.

How to play piano successfully. Successful learning of how to play piano supposed to be laid on this very foundation. Our Soft Way to Mozart computerized curriculum and interactive Gentle Piano System give every beginner all necessary components in learning piano: ability to see the notes and piano keys and their connection from the very start, interactivity and healthy balance of coordination and sight-reading development.