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Logan Petlak

~ Lifelong Learner.

Logan Petlak

Tag Archives: learning project

Learning piano: Patience, hard work and connections that transcend time.

18 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 831, ECI 831 - Major Project - Learning Piano

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bloom's taxonomy, castle of glass, connect, connections, ECI 831, eci831, learning project, learningpiano, learningproject, music, music and language, open education, piano, piano chord, practice, teacher, universal language

General thoughts and reflections

In recent weeks, I have focused on playing piano using my full hand range (by practicicing the opening baseline of Castle of Glass by Linkin Park), maintaining proper posture and playing with my left hand in addition to my right simultaneously… but this is taking a long time to progress. The most important thing I’ve had to remind myself is patience. Not surprisingly, there are no short-cuts to success with physically playing the piano. Your body has to be taught the movements in order to experience success. In understanding terminology, tricks for learning can occur much like it would learning from a textbook in the classroom, but you still need to understand and apply aside from memorize (Bloom’s taxonomy). What are some things that have stood out for me?

14546646743_d46dc9e3c3_o

Key points that I’ve noticed in my development and tips you can use.

  • I still need to keep learning different chords and songs I enjoy. And play them to completion, not just the parts I like. But some parts of songs may teach certain things (chords or hand range).
  • A song I enjoy is so much easier to play (practice).
  • I’ve only scratched the surface of learning piano. Be patient.
  • I need to maintain and honour a regular schedule to keep playing regularly, it’s easy to get caught up in life and skip a day or two sometimes.
  • Some songs I am simply not ready to learn/play yet.
  • It isn’t easy to play piano while singing… but can be very rewarding when achieved, even if you can just hum it to start.
  • Playing with two hands can be done, but learn one hand at a time and then combine them together.
  • There is no limit to resources out there, but some may be different, find what’s accurate and works best for you.
  • Maintain good posture and consider getting an instructor to critique you for even a brief amount of time. I was fortunate to work with a music teacher in person, but many virtual piano courses are available.
  • It is so amazing to be listening to the radio, hear a song, and think: I bet I could play that.

It is so amazing to be listening to the radio, hear a song, and think: I bet I could play that.

 

Recommendations on resources to learners.

I really enjoyed using Synthesia. If you can drop thirty dollars (USD) to purchase it, I found it very useful used in combination with Free Midi. Searching on Google or on YouTube is an easy way to find tutorials on songs, terminology, or instructors/courses available on-line. Some of which are free for the frugal!

What’s next?

Did I achieve all of my goals? No. But learning is never complete and my journey with the piano is no exception to this idea. In addition to the goal of learning the four chord song one day, as I’ve made countless references to… this classic below by Johann Sebastian Bach looks like another goal to learn in the future. The video below is slowed down enough for me to follow along while I play (if I can’t find a midi). I considered learning classical at the start of the term, but just hadn’t got around to it yet. After reading about Bach, I was reminded about the universal language that is music. That a song that someone composed close to three hundred years ago can make my spine shiver and emotions echo that of an individual who lived in a world not as connected like mine. But this connection through music transcends time, worldview and language. This serves as a reminder of why patience and hard work is important in learning music… and while I believe that success will look different for all students, he did (apparently) provide this quote to close on:

Johann_Sebastian_Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach via Wikipedia

“I worked hard. Anyone who works as hard as I did can achieve the same results.”
Johann Sebastian Bach from BrainyQuotes

 


 

Have you been learning an instrument? Would you emphasize patience as well? Let me know below!

Logan Petlak

Piano injuries: movement retraining.

29 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 831, ECI 831 - Major Project - Learning Piano

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Alison M Sparrow, corner gas, davis quinton, ECI 831, eci831, Learn piano, learning project, teacher, wrist soreness

Learning chords and piano these days has been taking a toll on my wrists. I had to figure out why. Self-deprecatingly, I assumed I was either weak-wristed or doing something wrong. So I asked the internet, and so did Bradd Szonye, and his quote and question was similar to mine: “Do I need to do something different, or do I just need to build more strength?” It was the first… although after digging into comments, his problems ended up not being exactly similar to mine.

My search for the causes took me to PianoMap.com and it identified the possible causes of my pain, whether it was muscle or tendon-based, or both:

  1. Co=contraction – two muscles working simulatneously against one another.
  2. Awkward positions – this one is a no brainer. I’m the king of awkward positions, situations, and comments.
  3. Static muscular activity – repeating a similar motion of contraction can cause pain.
  4. Excessive force – playing piano doesn’t require much force, but “it is easy to fall into the habit of using more force than needed”. Yeah, I did that.

Solution to my pain?

“The person must learn to play the piano using non-stressful movements to perform the tasks that were formerly performed with stressful movements” – PianoMap.com

Summarized? Relax and stay in a position that keeps you relaxed. I need to “retrain” my “movement”, but how do I learn the right movement online? Is there a free online instructor? Hello, Youtube.

Alright Alison M Sparrow, what are some common mistakes, and what is proper movement and posture?

Knuckles, wrists, elbows in a line. Deal.I decided to confirm her credentials. She’s got ’em. I trust her and her 200,000 subscribers. She even offers a Skype lesson component for $40! AND AND AND! TWITTER AND A BBC SHERLOCK HOLMES PIANO TUTORIAL!

Sorry its late, but I have just uploaded and easy Sherlock Holmes Theme piano tutorial! https://t.co/mPTbUv5eHO

— Alison M Sparrow (@AlisonViolinist) March 29, 2016

So, moving forward, found some more resources, addressed my issue of wrist soreness, hopefully I can work on my movements!

 

Corner Gas short-cut?

I could’ve avoided all this research had I just listened to Davis Quinton (Lorne Cardinal) of Corner Gas’ advice: “When you play piano you have to keep your fingers loose, like bear paws”. Yes, I’m aware that Corner Gas isn’t a solution for everything (but show me evidence that tells me it isn’t). Shout out to humour for health to laugh at even tough situations, like me struggling to learn piano.

//gifs.com/embed/lYE50V

One_Piano_Four_Hands_Part_2 (1)

“Bear Paws” via MakeaGIF.com

 

SIDE NOTE: I once mentioned looking into how to do looping with my piano, and I don’t have a good enough piano for it or I need to buy a Boss RC-2 or RC-20 loop station… around $200. Unfortunate, but perhaps an investment to make in the future if I want to get more serious about this.
Tips, comments, feedback? Let me know!

Logan Petlak

Ps. Oh yeah, and: Bear Paws.

davis bear paws

“Bear Paws” from Corner Gas: One Piano, Four Hands via Youtube

Learnin’ piano on the go, bro!

20 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 831, ECI 831 - Major Project - Learning Piano

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

chords, ECI 831, eci831, Google Play, Learn piano chords, learning piano, learning project, open education, piano, Piano Companion, Piano Scales & Chords Free, Samsung Galaxy S5, scales

So, I’ve found that I’ve struggled to manage my time well and may not get as much piano practice in as I’d like… as a result, in addition to stepping my game up, I also considered that this poses a great opportunity, how can I learn piano while I’m always running around? Let’s learn piano chords on the go! Using my Samsung Galaxy S5, I downloaded some apps through the Google Play Store. And have been trying to use them to get a better idea of the chords… some I found are in the video below that I recorded using Zoom.us

Video details
In this video I explore a couple of apps for Android that I got for free from the Google Play Store.Specifically I look at learning some of the chords to play the 4 Chord Song.

Piano Scales & Chords Free
Review: Can play all notes simulatenously to get the proper sound of the chord. Thought it looked professional and user friendly enough and had games to help me learn, however the game is quite difficult to master. Has the names of all keys on the piano screen!
UPDATE: HAS INCORRECT CHORDS! – I thought my C# minor was off and it was… I was in fact playing a C# Major

Learn Piano Chords
Review: Simple view with large text. Cannot play all notes simultaneously on my phone. Has the names of all keys on the piano screen! Incomplete, only has beginner chords (okay for me in the short term).

Piano Companion
They also have a twitter to connect to!
Review: Most professional looking and has a large database. Cannot play all notes simultaneously on my phone. Has the names of all keys on the piano screen!

Screenshot_2016-03-19-17-51-40
Screenshot taken with Samsung Galaxy S5 via Piano Scales & Chords Free.
Closing
For all of the apps, they don’t teach the posture or finger dexterity required to play piano, but they do give me the visual of learning which keys to play for a particular chord. Most importantly, they are all free and extend my opportunities to play piano. And for you iPhone users out there. Piano Scales & Chords and Piano Companion are both available from the App Store… in addition to many other apps! I will continue to practice and keep you posted, but thus far, learning chords even just four of them has been a slow process!

Comments or suggestion of other apps? Let me know! Thanks!
– Logan Petlak

Logan Petlak

Incredible day! Photo courtesy Julia and Lucas Photography

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