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If you’ve ever wondered about starting to learn the home keyboard or piano then you’re probably wanting to know just how easy it is to get started, and where to start. I’ve been selling them for the past 40 years and this should explain all the factors to get you on the right track.
Music is available in many versions, some steer you away from the traditional learning method to help you progress quicker, you might miss out on some of the rudiments taught by the traditional teachers, but in a world of fast-tracking- this will definitely get you better results quicker and make playing a more pleasing experience faster.
Modern-day music notation, has been used for many years and comprises of a “stave” of lines for each hand to follow- and each stave consists of 5 horizontal, equally spaced lines.
Each line on the stave represents a different note in the scale of music, though it can be “sharpened” or “flattened” to make it represent a bit higher or lower tone
So this is the stave with a “treble clef” symbol at the beginning, the clef is aimed to resemble the letter G, and the way you can work out where the notes on the stave ar positioned is that the centre of the curly G is the G note.
The rest of the notes follow up in steps using the spaces and the lines to represent different notes – and the musical notes available only go from A up to G from our alphabet.
Here is the stave with all notes shown.
Now there are 3 symbols which can be next to a note to show on this stave which might show up in music, made to specify which note.
And there are different styles of notes to enable you to know how long to hold them down for.
So, all this is my quick guide to reading music, but when playing the piano you have a second stave underneath which has a different set of notes for the left hand, so you need to learn a separate set of notes for the spaces and lines needed in the left hand – known as the bass clef.
And on this clef, the blob in the symbol if on the line for F, and shaped a bit like the letter F.
Playing a keyboard can be much easier, as you don’t need to learn the notes from the F Clef stave, it’s all covered by the name of a chord printed above the stave, and this chord can be played quite simply by holding down the note with the same name.
So “easy to play music” or “EZ play music” for keyboard can be as easy as this, names of notes -inside the notes, chords in boxes above and different style notes to show how long to hold them on for- even the words to help you know where you are.
So here are a few facts to realise about keyboards to buy.
Most portable keyboards are 5 octaves (61 notes) or 6¼ octaves (76 notes)
Most portable keyboards like these give you many sounds (voices), lots of backings (styles) and recording facilities, these will help you progress faster as they have automatic features that will supplement what you play and make it a more interesting experience.
There are some keyboards that focus more on being like a small piano with the simplest of features, these are more suited to playing mainly piano music and don’t give you so many features.
For those who just want to play piano style music, then this kind of keyboard will be more than ample, and there are options with and without the heavier feel “weighted keys” more like the feel of a real piano (which will add to it’s weight, but make the playing experience more like a standard “real” piano).
Portable home keyboards are certainly more portable than pianos as the keys in a digital piano are weighted, manufacturers aim to make the experience as close to that of playing an upright or grand piano- so each key on a digital piano has a weight inside it to copy the feel of resistance you get from one with hammers and strings in. Due to technology, the digital pianos are outselling “real” strung pianos, mainly due to their facilities and their ability to be moved a bit easier.
Yamaha are the top-selling digital pianos on the market and offer the most versatile range. They give you the choice of portable pianos, slimline pianos or even upright and grand-style digital pianos. Hence, loads of versions to choose from- of course, the large ones have room for better mechanical key actions, making the experience much better, whereas the portable ones make the experience possible within the space of their case.
My next chapter will explain which keyboards suit who, and i’ll cover music books to select for your chosen style of learning.
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These items are sold on behalf of Yamaha, and are sent to us on a per-order basis, typically within 5-7 working days, unless an ETA is otherwise stated.
We'll contact you the moment your purchase arrives with us to organise delivery, based on your selected option.
Example products: Yamaha DGX670, Yamaha P-525, Yamaha YDP-S55, Yamaha Clavinova.
These items must be sent with a heavy-goods courier (typically APC or FedEx). On occasion, depending on which is fastest, we will drop-ship directly from Yamaha to your address via Dachser.
Tracking will be provided by the haulier, with a typical arrival time of 1-2 working days.
*If you have included the optional £180 "Yamaha Premium Service" home delivery & setup option offered on selected products, we will contact you regarding arrangements after purchase.
**The Yamaha CSP Series, Yamaha CVP905 & CVP909, Yamaha CLP875, 885 & 895GP, and Yamaha NU1Xa are all sold on behalf of Yamaha and arrive with us on a per-order basis. As soon as your piano has arrived, we will contact you to organise the appropriate dispatch method. ETA for stock is shown on the product page for those items.
***If you have included the optional £99 home delivery & setup option offered on selected products, we will send your details direct to the installation team, who will contact you within 48 hours to make arrangements.
Depending on which option is most appropriate, we will either contact you to discuss a bespoke ePianos delivery surcharge for goods we can’t package for a 3rd party courier, or otherwise dispatch goods via FedEx or APC.
If a courier is used, tracking will be provided by them directly, with a typical arrival time of 1-2 working days.
Example products: Yamaha PSR-SX920, Yamaha P-225, Yamaha NP-15.
These items will be sent via courier (typically APC or FedEx). On occasion, depending on which is fastest, we will drop-ship directly from Yamaha to your address via UPS or Parcelforce.
Tracking will be provided by the courier, with a typical arrival time of 1-2 working days.
Smaller items, such as books, discs, etc, will be dispatched via Royal Mail second class.
After purchase, you can download the file either from the order confirmation page or the "Downloads" tab in "My Account".
If you have selected the option to receive a pre-loaded USB stick, then this will be dispatched via Royal Mail.
We will contact you regarding any pre-ordered items, and let you know when they arrive so as to arrange delivery with you at a convenient time.
Used items can also be purchased using either of the following options (minimum loan amount of £250 after deposit):
Total amount payable: £893.32
Available finance options are displayed at checkout. Alternatively, please get in touch and we’ll be happy to discuss the options, or email a finance application to you. Find out more by clicking here
Our seasonal opening hours are as follows:
We are closed on all bank holidays, therefore the processing of sales and deliveries will be delayed.
For orders of any stock displaying a 7-10 day lead time, we will contact you as soon as the item arrives with us to schedule a delivery with you.
Occasionally, there may be availability issues with our suppliers, in which case we'll get in touch with you to see if you're happy to wait, or if you'd like to cancel the order and receive a full refund.
This is a special order "agency" item, and comes to us directly from Yamaha on a per-order basis.
It typically takes 7-10 days for this item to arrive with us, whereupon we'll contact you to discuss the arrangement of delivery.
For any pre-orders, we will contact you as soon as the item arrives with us to schedule a delivery with you, and update you with an ETA.
Occasionally, there may be availability issues with our suppliers, in which case we'll get in touch with you to see if you're happy to wait, or if you'd like to cancel the order and receive a full refund.
*Cashback amount varies product to product, as indicated.
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