Thinking of maybe starting to learn to play some keyboards on my own

[Rustie]

First just for fun and then mayne in the future I can play some keyboards/piano on my own. I'm not going to take lessons from a teacher. Mainly because I can't afford to.

 

I've occasionally been fooling around with the old Casio (yeah, laugh all you want ) I got from my cousin. I figured how to play Neil Young's Like A Hurricane pretty quickly but haven't done much anything since. My first instrument is guitar so it's been helping me a little when trying to figure out some of the chords on the keyboard.

 

So what should I do next? Is there a good online site for beginners? Maybe someone knows a webpage with notation of some simple tunes?

 

Sorry if I sound all retarded and {censored} but I'm a poor boy from a cold northern country. Have some mercy.

[TrancedelicBlues]

we are struck dumb by the beauty of your sincerity

 

just go for it, man

[keyman_sam]

if you can afford it, get some books from amazon.com, get some Hannons, learn sight reading and start practicing scales.

 

You'll do good.

[Rustie]

Uhhh... yeah, maybe I'll get some books from the library.

[Chicken Monkey]

I, too, am a guitar player who is realizing there are too many guitar players in the world. My practice routines include:

 

Transferring simple chord progressions from the guitar to the keyboard. I focus on the 3-4 chord songs, and work on playing them in all 12 keys. Just the triads with color tones, either with both hands or with the bass note on the left hand.

 

Playing the scales in all 12 keys with both hands, then playing the scales simultaneously with each hand, with the hands an interval apart. For example, I play the standard scale with the left hand, then play the scale with the right hand starting on the 3rd note of the scale. This takes a while, but really develops the two-hands-doing-different-things thing.

 

Playing an arpeggiated chord progression on the left hand, and playing simple melody lines with the right.

 

If you are the library type, Keyboard Player Magazine occasionally has helpful articles--I made a lot of use of thier cover story on Ray Charles about a year ago. Good luck--it's quite a switch from guitar to keys. A don't be embarrassed by that Casio.

[Chicken Monkey]

 

Originally posted by eximious 6. Honestly, you don't need scales and arpeggios when you're just starting out, but keep in mind that you're going to have to know them for more advanced play. -Eric

 

 

I should clarify--my intent in learning keyboards was to be able to jam/improvise on keyboards, in which case I stand by the importance of scales and arpeggios. If you want to learn to read music, or otherwise play pre-arranged pieces of music, then eximious is absolutely right.

 

If your keyboard has a pedal jack, you can get the sound, if not the feel, of a pedal by just attaching a momentary-on switch to a bit of cord and a 1/4" jack. The pedals that they sell for electric keyboards are basically just "on" switches. I had the parts sitting around, and needed a trigger for an effect pedal, so I wired it up for free. Works like a charm. I don't know how much the real ones cost, it might be that buying the parts (about $6) isn't much less than a real pedal.