Finding and Choosing Music to Play

Source:Internet    Posted by:Learntopianoonline.com   Date:2009-12-29   Click:

You can learn and enjoy yourself by playing music you make up and write, or make up
and improvise on the spot. Sooner or later, you will want to find some sheet music or
songbooks for more music. You can get music in music stores or online easily, but it
may not be the music you want to try and play.

You need to find music that suits your level of play. The best way to do this is to just
look at the music. If you are buying in a store, you can examine the books or sheet
music thoroughly before you buy.

One thing you can look at is how many sharps or flats the songs in the songbook tend
to have. A song that uses too many of the black keys is harder to play when you are
first starting out. Also, for some reason, many people find the sharp key signatures
more difficult to manage than the flat key signatures.

Look, too, at the difficulty of the chords. If the chords are clusters of many notes, you
will know that the chords will not be as easy as simple triads. Take note of whether
there are chords of four or five notes together on both left and right hands. You can
learn these if you want to, but be prepared to work a little bit.

Look for difficult rhythms. You might see a lot of dotted notes or notes with different
values mixed together to make up a measure. Again, you can take your time and learn
these songs. You can clap out the rhythms until you have them down before you play.
However, if you are looking for some quick success, look for more even and simple
note values.

Besides looking at sheet music and songbooks that are already printed, there is
another way to buy music in a music store now. Many stores have a special computer
set aside for making copies of music. You choose the song you want from a list. If you
only know a few words, you may still be able to find the song if the search tools are
good enough.

After you have selected your song, you get the opportunity to look at the music. You
can look at the music from beginning to end, but you cannot copy it until you agree to
buy it. The artists are protected in this way because the store pays the royalties from
your payment when you buy the copies. You should expect the copies to be high
quality, and on good paper.

You can also get sheet music online. When you buy online, you usually do not get as
good of a look at the music you are about to buy. You are more likely to get a small
sample to give you an idea of what the music is like.

The online companies do not like to show too much because it is too easy for people to
steal work that is printed on the internet. They will send you your choices by mail or by
download as soon as you pay.

No matter how you get your music, be sure that you get the music you like and you will
be able to play in the near future. There is no need to stockpile music for that someday
when you will suddenly be playing like a pro. Instead, get songbooks and sheet music
that you are ready to use right away.