Intermediate Studies

Lesson 10 - Section 1

Learning to Play a New Song

When you first begin to practice a song that has notes written for the left hand and for the right hand, there is a customary way to practice.

First, break the song up into smaller pieces (8 to 16 measures at a time). Some songs will have section markers or numbers such as A, B, C, and so on, every 8, 16, to 32 bars (bars and measures are the same thing).

In these smaller pieces, practice the left hand part first and then the right hand part. When you feel confident about playing each part alone, combine both parts and then play this small portion of the song with both hands.

Use this same method to go through the entire song.

When you are done, play the whole song through with both hands. When you run into a trouble spot, stop.

For trouble spots, rehearse the trouble spot until you feel it will no longer give you any more trouble. Then back up several measures and try playing from this earlier point in the song on through the trouble spot. Do this for each trouble spot you encounter.

When you are done practicing the song in this way, you will have learned to play the song. This is a standard rehearsal technique used by many musicians and conductors.

Lesson 10 - Section 2

No.1

No.2

No.3

Three Practice Songs

Time to put all that Left Hand Chording practice to work. Look at each of the three practice songs in the image for this section. In the Bass Clef, a Left Hand chord pattern is shown based on the C Major chord. And, in the Treble Clef is a melody line for your Right Hand to play.

Play each mp3 audio file under the image and listen to each practice song No.1, No.2 and No.3.

As you listen, let your eyes read through the notes on the staff in each measure.

When you are done listening, stop the mp3 audio file player and play each practice song above beginning with No.1.

Spend 5-10 minutes practicing each song.

Lesson 10 - Section 3

Another star is born. Congratulations!

I am proud of you for coming this far. Please add this to your collection of gold star certificates. I applaud you. Good Job! You have now completed the Intermediate Studies portion of “Piano on the Net” at PianoNanny.com.

Click or tap on the image of the certificate to download the PDF for printing.

In Advanced Studies we will begin our study of Jazz. One of the defining factors in the genre of Jazz is improvisation. In improvisation, a new melody line is performed to the chords of a song; but using your mind’s ear to create this new melody line without ever having written it down first.

Basically, you listen to the chords and then play along with them using whatever new melody you hear in your head.

If you are interested in film score composing, I would recommend that you continue on into Advanced Studies. Many film score composers were Jazz musicians prior to becoming a film score composer. John Williams was once known as Johnny Williams and was an accomplished Jazz pianist. Improvising (creating music on the fly) is very useful in creating film scores. Accompanying a scene in a film is very similar to accompanying a Jazz soloist.

Advanced Studies >