Learning Piano

[OG buckshot jr]

I used to fuck around on keyboards and bust random shit, I never learned properly. I just picked up an M-Audio Oxygen 61 (3rd Gen, latest one):

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Oxygen61.html

And installed a copy of Native Instruments Akoustik Piano:

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/akoustik-piano/

I'm starting to learn chords, properly this time, here:

http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/

I'm wondering if anyone has any tips/tricks to picking up how to play, or where to learn from, for free (Maybe later down the line, if I get good I'll drop some duckets on some shit).

I produce music (hip-hop/R&B, drum & bass and house) so I won't be learning to the extent (not yet, anyway) of playing some hardcore classical shit, rather just to complement my tracks...

Thanks in advance peoples, one love!

 

[mandy]

OH MY GOD! HERE'S SOMETHING I CAN FINALLY HELP YOU WITH!!!!

my advice, if from what i'm understnding is that you've only used keyboards in the past for small things like a one-handed melody here and there, then you might want to consider picking up a cheap preliminary theory booklet to build up the basic knowledge of the keys and whatnot.

if you already have that down pat, then what you're looking at right now is pretty decent. chords are easy to learn, it's how you decide to play them that makes the difference, and i don't mean just by selecting 3 or 4 chords that sound good. there's patterns to play with the rhythm of each hand, playing them solid or broken, etc, etc.

could you possibly tell more of what you're trying to accomplish?

 

[OG buckshot jr]

Wow, I fully understand your post - playing them solid or broken, I've already started to fuck around with that lol SICK!

I'm trying to learn how to play, impromptu. You're absolutely right by saying I used to play one-handed melodies n shit, so now I'm trying to learn with two hands, and much, much better...

Ultimately what I'm trying to accomplish is to lessen my use of samples out there (GREAT beats can be made from piano melodies) but I don't like to sample (as good as the beat turns out) and make my own shit... I much prefer my own creativity than just to chop a sample up, slap a hiphop drumbeat on it and brand it my own... fuck that.

 

[mandy]

you shouldn't rely too much on piano though. although you'd be creating your own piano melodies, the chord structures out there are almost all the same. so many songs feed off of the chords:

Amin, Fmaj, Cmaj, Gmaj

once you have your chord structure, the right hand usually incorporates a melody [like what you were doing before] while the left hand continues the original chord in broken form [or soild, depends on what style you want]. adding other intruments afterwards will be what actually creates the song; filling out every sound balanced between the bass and the treble.
you aren't far off. use that site you have to learn basic chords then take the time to sit there and fuck around with some melodies that pop into your mind.

it's more about patience then skill, although basic knowledge is needed.

also, give a listen to a few different songs that use piano in them. they don't need to be in the type of genre you're writing for.

21 Guns by Green Day has a very basic piano melody as well as Speechless by Lady GaGa [yeah, i know, nobody wants to hear her but it's got a sick groove to it]. you can easily change up the tempo or the feel of the song by slowing down the amount of times you vamp out a chord, that's usually what makes them slightly different from eachother. [hopefully this is what you mean because i'm still unsure. you just want to learn how to build your songs around a piano meoldy or you want to USE it in your song, or both?]

get back to me if this doesn't help

 

[Leroy]

One word.

Inagaddadavidda

 

[OG buckshot jr]

[quote1264217280=Mandy]
you shouldn't rely too much on piano though. although you'd be creating your own piano melodies, the chord structures out there are almost all the same. so many songs feed off of the chords:

Amin, Fmaj, Cmaj, Gmaj

once you have your chord structure, the right hand usually incorporates a melody [like what you were doing before] while the left hand continues the original chord in broken form [or soild, depends on what style you want]. adding other intruments afterwards will be what actually creates the song; filling out every sound balanced between the bass and the treble.
you aren't far off. use that site you have to learn basic chords then take the time to sit there and fuck around with some melodies that pop into your mind.

it's more about patience then skill, although basic knowledge is needed.

also, give a listen to a few different songs that use piano in them. they don't need to be in the type of genre you're writing for.

21 Guns by Green Day has a very basic piano melody as well as Speechless by Lady GaGa [yeah, i know, nobody wants to hear her but it's got a sick groove to it]. you can easily change up the tempo or the feel of the song by slowing down the amount of times you vamp out a chord, that's usually what makes them slightly different from eachother. [hopefully this is what you mean because i'm still unsure. you just want to learn how to build your songs around a piano meoldy or you want to USE it in your song, or both?]

get back to me if this doesn't help
[/quote1264217280]

Well thanks for the whole write up, but making music is nice n easy for me, I JUST need help learning the piano. For instance, you've clarified one huge thing for me - which hand plays the chords and which hand fucks with solos to accompany those chords - I was working with my right hand on those - I know, big mistake...

Thanks hommie!