Some people are born musical.  Some aspire to musicality.  And some have musicality thrust upon them. 

Being the middle child, I fall into the middle category.  I was not born musical.  And I never had musicality thrust upon me.  Growing up, I had no musical education except the standard stuff we learned in music classes in the public school I went to.  But when I was eleven, I decided to teach myself to play the guitar.  And I have been aspiring to musicality ever since.

Several weeks ago, I decided to learn how to play piano songs.  If you have been following these pages, you know that ever since then I have regaled you with my adventures in piano for beginners.  I have been doing the free six-lesson course from Rocket Piano and blogging about it.  I didn’t mean to be obnoxious.  You know how some people brag about things that are not exactly brag-worthy?  But I just kept getting a kick out of it.  Hey, I could play Mary Had A Little Lamb!  Hey, I could play Merrily We Roll Along!

Well, guess what?  Hey, I can play Amazing Grace!  How sweet the sound!  Well, I’m not suggesting the neighbors think that it’s such a sweet sound.

But, man, I love knowing how to play piano songs.  I learned Mary Had A Little Lamb in the first lesson.  I went on to Merrily We Roll Along in the second lesson.  Then I added Deck the Halls and wound up with Amazing Grace.  Four songs in six lessons. 

And notice what we didn’t learn how to play.  We didn’t learn how to play scales.  We didn’t learn how to play dull, boring exercises that could have been repeated by a metronome.  We didn’t learn how to play one note with one finger over and over.

Now, I admit that I got bogged down with Lesson Three.  We studied harmonic and melodic intervals and chords.  It was . . . dry.  But I attacked it just so that I could move along to Lesson Four, the lesson of Deck the Halls.  (It reminds me of my good friend, Elaine, who as a child always ate the much-loathed lima beans first to get them off her plate so that she could enjoy the rest of her dinner.  But I digress. . . )

And six lessons later, hey!  I know how to play piano songs.

I also know how to read music now.  When you sign up for the free six-lesson course with Rocket Piano, you get a free download called Jayde Musica.  Jayde Musica is an interactive game designed to teach the video-game generation how to read music.  I am not a member of the video-game generation, but I have to say that Jayde Musica is fun.  And a great learning tool.  Playing it helped me learn to read music fast.

This is how it works: When the game starts, you see notes on small portions of a musical staff that move from right to left across the screen.  You need to identify the note and click on the right button on the screen before the moving staff completes the trip across the screen.  Then you go on to the next note following right after it.  You score points for correct responses and progress from beginner to more advanced levels as your scores improve.  It’s just like a video game that way. 

But this game is sneaky.  You don’t waste time doing it.  You learn to read music!  You have to keep alert because you have to respond actively to the note as it passes in front of you. 
You have to commit by pressing the button.  None of this, “Let’s see, I guess it’s a G.  Yeah, that’s right, I was going to say that it’s an A.”  You have to know your stuff.  And it continues to challenge you, because the patterns of notes will get more complicated and they will pass on the screen faster as you score higher.

Why, that free download alone is more than worth the price of the free six-lesson course!  Hah!

So, having accomplished the free six-lesson course, I am now moving along to the full, paid course.  And you needn’t worry.  I’ll be blogging about it as I go on.  Lucky you!

Do you want to learn how to play piano songs, too?  If you do, you can start your own blog and brag about your progress.  Just sign up with Rocket Piano.  If you don’t want to commit, try out the free six-lesson course.  But if you know you want to learn how to play piano songs, take the plunge and get the full course.  This program is good.

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Music is an element of learning for kids even before they learn to read.  In fact, recent studies show that kids who learn how to play piano songs have better grades and higher SAT scores.  Schools that once were failing have improved their performance for their kids when they add a serious music program.  In Hungary, under the influence of Zoltan Kodaly, kids are taught to sing in elementary school.  By third grade, Hungarian pupils sing well and on pitch and throughout their academic careers, they score high in math and science. 

Learning music has been shown to enhance abilities to learn both math and language. Researchers think this is due to improved spatial-temporal reasoning.  In fact, when a student learns how to play piano songs, she engages both the left and the right hemispheres of the brain.  When she hears a melody, or tries to replicate it by ear, she relies on the right hemisphere.  When she learns to read music and follow the progression of notes, she uses the left hemisphere.

In addition to cognitive functions of the brain, learning music enhances emotional growth and interpersonal maturity.  Music can be both an individual and a group activity.  When you learn that you start to play when another instrument has gotten to a certain part of the score, you learn skills in collaboration that carry over into other activities.  When you learn that playing all the right notes is only the first step of playing music, and that making the music beautiful requires an emotional contribution from the musician, you start to learn about the importance of emotional intelligence.

Music also enhances emotional maturity by teaching both discipline and reward.  You learn discipline because you cannot fake it.  You need to practice and prepare in order to play the right notes on the right beats.  And, conversely, if you put in the practice and preparation, you will make progress and start to excel and will learn how to play piano songs, getting the right notes on the right beats.

Learning music also has the quality of providing cultural richness.  You don’t need to be able to speak the same language in order to play music with someone or to enjoy a musician’s work.  Music cuts across racial, educational, cultural and linguistic divides and offers the musician a glimpse of another period of history or another part of the world.  Learning music can illuminate studies in literature, history and geography.

And lastly, learning music is beautiful.  Music is an incomparable gift that we can give our children.  We may wish to do so in order for them to excel in other areas.  But the gift carries with it the unabashed gift of music itself.

Do you wish to learn to play piano?  Or do you have a child who does?  Find out more about Rocket Piano.

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Learn how to play piano songs with step-by-step piano lessons supported by video and audio files. Rocket Piano is organized into 3 high quality books taking you on a journey from piano for beginners to advanced piano playing.

Learn to Play Piano Now

These video lessons are amazing.  They have been professionally recorded and edited and are guaranteed to be more stylish and useful than anything you will find. There is no substitute for seeing and hearing how something is supposed to be played. You’ll discover the most effective ways to practice so that you master new material quickly, without developing bad habits. Learn how to play piano songs smoothly and flawlessly, while cutting your learning time in half!

Discover how you can train your ear to identify all the various piano notes, simply by playing the revolutionary new computer game called “Perfect Your Pitch Pro”. Training your ear by playing “Perfect Your Pitch Pro”, is not only fun, it will fast track you to playing your favorite songs by ear!

Discover how to master impressive skills, such as the various fingering techniques, how to play piano songs by ear, arpeggios, including how to play Gospel, Jazz and much much more!

Learn to Play Piano Now

You WILL NOT waste hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on expensive piano lessons. You will learn all of the tips and tricks you need to learn how to play piano songs. You even get sounds files (AND video) so you can play along. And, unlike a piano teacher, you can repeat each song or riff over and over again until you get it correct and professional sounding.

Discover how to perform the trickiest of piano skills. That’s over ten years worth of expensive and hard won information in a simple and easy to follow format – Comprehensive knowledge at your finger tips! Learn the one thing you must do to ensure that your piano playing sounds as perfect and well practiced as professional pianists!

Learn with an advanced piano learning technique, developed by a university psychologist (originally for guitarists, and adapted successfully for pianists), for training your fingers to automatically remember all the chord shapes, in 1/3 the time! And, you’ll learn all about how your brain processes information, and how to maximise your piano practice time… (nine out of ten people are absolutely floored by this secret!)

Learn to Play Piano Now

Learn how to play with exceptional speed and timing by using our cutting edge Metronome. Find out how to decide whether you should learn to play piano on an actual piano, or whether you should use an electric keyboard.

Play ” JaydeMusica”, a fun game included which is designed to help you learn how to read music, with Rocket Piano for your enjoyment.

Discover how to play jazz piano, step-by-step with a specialist how to play jazz piano book! This book is part of the Rocket Piano package.  In it you’ll gain a comprehensive grounding in jazz, including history, distinctive rhythms, underlying qualities, rhythmic movements, common jazz chords (and how to play them in different jazz arrangements), how to break jazz songs down and play them and much much more! For those of you who are particularly interested in jazz piano, this book is the best place to start!

Rocket Piano is THE BEST piano course on the market. You need Rocket Piano.

Don’t Miss Out.  Sign Up For Your Free Six-Lesson Trial!

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