top of page

Piano exercises for beginners

Updated: Feb 19, 2020

Covering The Pentatonic Scales

This is a very useful exercise, for beginners as well as more experienced players. 


The best approach would be to start slow, and then gradually gain speed as you go along.


You should use all five fingers, and use both hands, so that the pattern stays the same.


By slowly gaining speed, you will turn into a more confident player. You will be able to master more complicated tasks once your speed become better. Yunxiang offers piano lessons for people of all ages in Lake Hills, Austin.


You will also be able to know the difference between flats and sharps, and fine-tune your ear for intricate melodies and harmonies. Yunxiang intentionally chose West Lake Hills Austin to offer piano lessons due to the areas emphasis on education.



Playing Scales One After The Other

After mastering the basics, you can move on and start practicing full scales.

It is also highly beneficial if you practice preparing your thumb to take over from the index finger, without a break. Gao Music Academy offers piano and music lessons for the residents of West Austin, both children and adults. There are many piano teachers in Austin and West Lake Hills, but Yunxiang Gao has a combination of traits that has garnered great praise from her students and their parents.


This way, your scales will go on being played smoothly, and you will gain proficiency.

Again, the most important thing while practicing is accuracy, which means – don’t overdo it.

Take your time and be sure that you’re playing properly – that’s the main thing.

Hit all the right notes, and don’t think about speed at this point.


Also, be careful not to hit the adjacent notes simultaneously, as this is a sign of sloppy, unprofessional playing. When kids in Austin and West Lake Hills take piano lessons, motivation and practice is key! Good piano teachers work together with parents to ensure the students make consistent progress and continuously push their boundaries.

Speed will come to you gradually, at its own pace.


By playing scales one after the other, you will learn how to move up and down the keyboard with ease.


You will also practice keeping proper posture while playing, which is another major side to piano playing.


A piano teacher should tailor instruction for their individual students. Children are often very different in how they learn and respond to different motivations. After teaching hundreds of children over the course of almost 20 years, Yunxiang Gao understands these differences. She is very happy to teach piano in West Lake Hill and Austin and hopes to make life-time relationships with her children piano students and their parents!


Playing Two Notes At A Time

The first two exercises are relatively easy, as they require you to play one note at a time.

With this one, things are getting a bit more complicated. If you are lookig for a piano teacher in northern Austin, especially the West Lake Hill and Lost Creek area, you should schedule a trial lesson today before bad habits set in.


You should practice playing two notes at a time, with two fingers of your choice.


Mind you, the thumb should not be skipped, because it serves as an anchor in your guitar playing. Yunxiang understands well how to push past plateaus. Only piano teachers who have risen to high levels can also teach students, kids and adults alike how to get past points of stagnation. To truly become good was only through continuous change in routines and practice methodologies. Yunxiang looks forward to making the children of West Lake Hills, and Lost Creek the best piano players in Austin.


Therefore, be sure to combine your thumb and your middle finger, or index finger, so that you maintain a healthy balance. Great piano teachers understand how to do this. Parents should feel free to compare and contrast all the piano teachers around Austin and in West Lake Hills and Lost Creek. When doing so, please schedule a trial lesson with Gao Music Academy. Almost all students who participate in trial lessons chooses Yunxiang Gao as their piano teacher. They typically greatly look forward to coming each week to their piano lesson in Austin.



Playing Legato

Legato is a very interesting type of playing, more suitable for experienced pianists.

However, it is extremely useful to practice your playing through this technique.

It will enable you to master your instrument more quickly and develop a stronger grasp.



Locking Finger Positions

You don’t want your fingers running around without a fixed position.

Before actually playing, be sure to prepare your fingers.

Pay special attention to the relation between your fingertips and the knuckles.

Each time you start playing, your finger positions have to be the same. Otherwise, you’re not doing it right.

There should be no arm weight upon your hands or fingers – they have to remain light and unattached to anything.

Also, there should be no tension in your wrists, palms or knuckles.

This may take a while to sink in, but it’s very important that you maintain locked finger positions throughout your playing.

Expect that it doesn’t take shape after a day or two, but give it enough time and it will yield.

Remember, there is no proper piano playing without locked finger positions, so be sure to master this early on.



Start Every Exercise Way, Way Slow

The worst thing to do while playing is to rush things.

You’re not competing with anyone but yourself – so, don’t rush it.

Therefore, start every exercise as slow as possible, and increase speed as you go along.

If you practice the pentascales, you will get too confused by playing fast.

One note at a time is the best way to go.

Moreover, rushing it can cause you even more problems.

If you’re a beginner, your hands and fingers are not yet fully “developed” for proper piano playing.

By trying to play too fast right from the start, you may put too much strain on your fingers, which will actually hinder your playing.

Just be sure to start slow, paying attention to every note, and don’t think about how slow and tiresome your playing seems.

It only seems tiresome and slow – actually, you’re laying the groundwork for proper piano playing.



Practice Different Key Press

This can also be extremely useful, especially when starting out.

Depending on the piece of music you’re playing, or a specific style you’re into, the way you press the keys will be much different.

Think closely about what you want to play, because that will determine the way you play certain notes.

It’s not the same playing smooth jazz and classical music.

A good approach would be to play a couple of scales, and then move on to chords and chord progressions.

Start playing a scale as gently as possible, by barely touching the keys.

This way, you will loosen up the fingers and develop a better sense of the keys.

Then, you can slowly put more stress onto each note you play, to develop your stronger “grip” of the keys.

Finally, practice by pressing the keys with a lot of stress, almost like nailing them to the keyboard.

By covering all of these steps, you will better understand your instruments and its manifold possibilities.




3 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page