Dear fellow elektronauts,
After having owned the Digitakt and Digitone for a few months I’ve come to the conclusion there’s only so much programming that can be done to make music.
I have a basic understanding of music theory and I think my music would benefit greatly from actually being able to play a keyboard.
My work and social schedule unfortunately don’t leave much room for live lessons.
Have any of you tought yourself to play the keys ? How ? Anyone have any useful tips ?
Should I look at those online learning apps ? Should I be trying to play songs I like ?
Not looking to become the next keyboard prodigy though. Just looking for a way to get started efficiently.
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I think for any instrument, learning to play entire songs is key (no pun intended). Emphasis on ENTIRE. That is a great way to explore different patterns, rythm, song structure, and develop different technique. It is super true for guitar (in my experience), I can only assume it is similar for keys (I never went very far with learning keys).
I think learning can always be helpful, if nothing else, to help you navigate the keyboard, transpose when needed, etc…
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I can only affirm that it’s super rewarding to learn atleast some basic keyboard skills as someone that makes music with synths. Your best bet for resources is an in-person teacher. Second best option is Youtube, where you’ll find hundreds of piano and keyboard teachers posting lesson videos for just about any skill level.
Learn a few easy pieces by JS Bach. I think Sting recommended this too. It teaches you most you need to know in an easy relaxed fashion. Its all there.Metre, Left hand right hand. And is quite beautiful.
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Learn some scales. Practice them and learn how to transpose them (play them) in different keys.
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This is exactly the approach in this book (a friend found it really helpful when he started learning).
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And then arpeggios and chord patterns as well, which are frankly more fun than scales
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I’d also second learning some Bach, he wrote lots of pieces that are for beginners. Also his lute pieces are great because the left hand bass part is easy 
sounds like a similar journey to mine. impatient teenager me took piano lessons a million years ago and didn’t stick with them. i now regret this.
over the past year, i’ve dabbled with some youtube lessons (like these), picked up the alfred’s basic adult piano course book, and have not consistently practiced that much. even the little bit here and there has made a difference. i’ll sometimes take a few minutes to practice scales before putting my kid to bed.
this year, i’m looking for a local teacher to help build in the practice/routine. check local colleges, if there any near you. sometimes schools offer cheap/affordable lessons as part of their continuing
ed. courses or music department offerings. you may also find local student who’d be able to tutor you.
good luck. there are lots of online resources, but a local in-person option may be the most helpful.
edit: i’ve heard good things about these courses and will probably go through their basics at some point.
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I have taught music (piano and guitar) off and on for 20 years. There are many approaches and everyone is drawn to different methods.
if I had to distill it all down to a couple things that I think are the most beneficial across the board it would be:
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learn songs. Any songs. Doesn’t matter at all what they are. Whatever you like. But learn them. And learn lots of them.
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keep some sort of technical exercises happening in the background. Bach has come up a few times. There’s basically nothing better than that for technical development. This doesn’t have to be the primary thing to be doing, but sprinkling it in each time you practice is wise.
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there are no shortcuts. At all. This is an art form that takes time. A lifetime. It’s beautiful and rewarding, but there’s no “learn piano in 15 minutes” like the click bait of the internet suggests. Stick with it. Love it.
It’s the best. Really.
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I recommend David Bennett‘s channel on YT. Lots of good insight in there. I’ve been upping my keyboard playing game myself and it’s helped a lot.
Definitely a life long journey!
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It’s also a priority of mine this coming no hardware year.
How often and for how long each time would you suggest practicing?
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That’s awesome! Great plan.
As much as you can. Go deep!
That’s a reason why I recommend learning songs. People tend to enjoy the process more when they’re developing with material they already enjoy. Because learning anything can have frustrations at every turn. Struggling with exercises that one doesn’t enjoy listening to in the first place adds an extra layer of difficulty for lots of folks.
Also, there is a period of warming up that always happens when we practice anything. So while it’s definitely better than nothing to practice 15-30 minutes a day, I think that it usually takes that long to warm up to the point where you sink into the world. So go deep.
It’s such a rewarding world to get into….at every phase of the thing.
Enjoy!
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#3 really needs to be heard but also it should be kept in mind there’s nothing more of a gas than that first time you play something hard through perfectly clean. Once the practice and the reward cycle gets going there’s no stopping you.
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Absolutely.
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A buddy of mine wanted to learn banjo in his 40s, I told him if he could do at least 30minutes a day 5 times a week, with solid focus, he’d progress well. He did that and two years later he leads a bluegrass group.
What you can’t do is leave the instrument untouched all week then makeup by hitting it hard on the weekend. It needs to be under your fingers as a regular thing.
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I started taking piano lessons online a few months ago - i didn’t think I could fit them in, or that learning online would be good.
It’s actually pretty great, the lessons take… the length of the lesson (no getting there, setting up, getting home). If time is an issue, if you can fit in time to practice, you can fit lessons over zoom in. Just a thought.
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Begin by clearly defining your objectives.
It’s a big world and your objectives can be very different to others, so there is no one approach to accomplishing those very different objectives. Define your objectives — finding methods to accomplish them comes from that.
I hesitate to lists options, to limit your exploration, but just to get you started, i’ve made this jumble.
- Performance, jazz trio, acoustic piano, comping, sight reading, swinging rhythms, playing from fake books.
- Personal enjoyment, melody with accompaniment, pop styles and rhythms, light synthesis.
- Singer songwriter, like XXXX.
- Composition, harmonic exploration, playing from ear, ear training, music in my fingers.
- Playing some simple songs for sing alongs, and small groups, party entertainment, synth piano.
- Start a band, prog rock with bass, drum, guitar and keys.
- Artistic expression, in pursuit of personal fulfillment, abstract and avant garde, electronic sounds.
- Write classical music, so developing enough keyboard skills to facilitate that sort of musical composition.
- I really have no idea, but I don’t want to waste time, so i’ll get started developing skills on an Osmose ( or whatever ) and check back to formalize my objectives in six months.
Write down your own objectives, and think about it, and explore those ideas for a week or more. Then you can move on to create your plan, perhaps with some help – a music coach / mentor ? – on how to follow that dream.
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Great thread. Now for the big question:
Will 49 keys be enough? For some of us, space is a premium so it all about what we can fit on a desk…
Best advice I can offer is to keep having fun and continue to explore. If you are not having fun you dont wanna play or you feel forced to play and that always sounds wrong in some way.
There is many ways to enjoy learning and to find enjoyment it really helps to know what you wanna play. And if you feel what you want its so much easier to find out which chords, melodies and rhythms that fit that style of music.
Since you are already into programming music it can be a lot of fun to just play and loop a nice chord progression and just try out scales on top. Or loop a bassline and try all kinds of chords.
Or try to play bach or a popsong you really enjoy.
When doing al this enjoy and put your soul into it. Keep honest as well about how it sounds as having a good tone will sound way better than being able to play all the hard chords and riffs without having a good tone.
Remember its a feeling and a story you are telling and that music is not about showcasing how good you are, but about sharing how much you are feeling.
I have seen great technical players on stage playing difficult songs and be boring as hell. And i have seen players that technically are still on a base level playing easy songs. But by playing what they can with so much passion they took the crowd for a magical performance.
I a sense its like learning a new language. And some people have nothing interesting to say even when being native speakers. Others hardly know the language but catch everybodies attention by how they communicate they few words they know in that language.
This doesnt meant that you shouldnt develop your technique. As having a great technique will always support telling your story better. But in the end its always still about the story.
So how do you start: well, pick something you like and start having fun with it. Wish you good luck on your road and keep sharing if you are getting stuck with certain pieces so we can advise you here to get out of your rut and keep progressing while having fun.
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