At some time in our life,
we often get the bug to do something different. A 65-year old friend of
mine took up skin diving last year and has limited his travels to the coastline—any
place there’s diveable water. A month ago he was in Baja and last week
he called from the Florida Keys. Another friend of mine, Sarah, who just
hit the 70-year old mark, decided she wanted to learn how to use a computer.
She bought a laptop, sat down at the
keyboard and began to teach herself
how it worked. That was less than a year ago. Today, she’s online, e-mails
her family and friends regularly, runs software and is the local expert.
If you’re having a problem with your computer or software and live in her
neighborh, just ask for help. She’s even amazed herself.
What’s your desire? Do you want
to learn how to do the tango, how to create sculptures out of soft drink
cans?
Have you always wanted to juggle
or learn to speak French? Have you ever wanted to learn how to play the
piano? There are numerous hobbies
you can take up regardless of your age. I hit 68 last year and started
learning how to play the piano.
I can’t afford a $5,000, 800-pound, 88-key piano in a polished wood case
so I
opted for something a litte more
affordable...an electronic piano keyboard.
One of the neatest gadgets to come
out of the electronic revolution is the electronic keyboard—a piano
look-alike that feels and sounds
like a piano but costs far less (from $100 and up) and weighs just a fraction
of
what a real piano weighs. They
take up less space than a real piano, you can buy them with as many keys
as you
like (49, 61, 76 or 88, depending
on your budget), and when you’re not playing, you can stand it up in the
closet. It takes up no more space than a small, folding ironing board.
Almost all keyboards come with a headphone jack, so you can practice without
bothering anybody and many have features that make you sound a lot better
than you actually are. This comes in handy (as I found out) when you’re
getting bored with your progress and you need some electronic help to sound
better and maintain your enthusiasm. Some models even allow you to record
your progress...or lack of it.
Keyboards are made by a variety
of manufacturers including Yamaha, Roothers and what you’ll spend will
depend on the features. I got the
play-the-piano bug about a year ago and started out with a Casio WK-1350.
I’ve improved over the months and recently moved up to a WK-1800 76, full-size
keys with 232 tones, an assortment of drum rhythms and a disc drive so
I can load and save some of the music I created. At under $500, I’m getting
thousands of dollars worth of fun out of this thing and, believe it or
not, I can actually play something. This keyboard plugs in the AC wall
socket or runs on a some D batteries while I’m outside enjoying the Florida
sun. It weighs less than my stack of prescriptions (well, almost) and I
can sit it on my lap, the table or use a folding stand. With headphones
I can fumble along while my wife watches TV or reads. All portable keyboards
like this have a built-in amplifier and speakers, so they’re completely
self-contained. Regardless of how many keys are on the keyboard, you can
still practice reading music and scales and eventually work your way up
to a competent player.
Once you own a keyboard, there are
several systems for learning how to play the piano. The original method
was a thing called "piano lessons", taught by a little old lady with a
bun on the back of her head who lived down the street and charged 25-cents
a lesson. Of course, that was back in the 30s and 40s and since there are
few piano-teaching little old ladies around anymore and you can’t get anything
for 25-cents an hour nowadays,
scratch that. The second method
is do-it-yourself. You sit down at the keyboard and start hitting keys
until you
come up with something that sounds
like music. You should always wear the headphones when you’re doing this
for obvious reasons. Surprisingly, many professional piano players today
are self-taught and basically all it takes is a good ear (so you know the
difference between good sounds and bad) and patience. With the electronic
enhancement features that come with today’s keyboards, you can progress
a lot faster than you can on a real piano. If you don’t have that necessary
ear/patience combination, you can learn from a book. Visit any music store
and you’ll find a wide selection of how-to-play books for beginners. Ask
the clerk for a recommendation. The book options range from learning by
reading notes (those little black things with tails you see on sheet music)
to learning how to play chords with one hand and numbers for the melody
with the other (no little black things).
Regardless of what method you choose,
you have to be patience. Learning how to play the piano takes time but
it’s well worth the effort. Learning
how to play well is like doing a triple Lutz in ice skating competition.
You
have to fall down a few times before
you get it right. But if you put the right fingers here and over there,
you’ll
actually start playing music. With
all of the new electronics available on keyboard you can get some once
you get help and become the life of the party. If you’re like me and hate
parties, you can play for your own enjoyment. If you live near Sarah, the
computer lady, you can hook your keyboard into her computer and make beautiful
music together.
When you’re ready to buy a keyboard,
check local music stores. I can highly recommend the Casio models for
beginners and advance players.
The enhancement features are the best and you can use them to turn basic
playing into something more pleasant to the ear. You can get a free Casio
catalog by calling 973-252-7570, writing Casio, 570 Mount Pleasant Avenue,
Dover NJ 07801 or going to www.casio.com if you’re online.
