<p>Anyone know if it's possible to play <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/nick_perrin/Pianofiles/BSPianoSolo.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.freewebs.com/nick_perrin/Pianofiles/BSPianoSolo.pdf</a> on an electric keyboard rather than a grand piano? I'm interested in playing that, Moonlight Sonata, and Rhapsody in Blue. Also, I've never taken a piano lesson before and I want to learn in college, so would I be able to play those pieces after nine months of weekly lessons and daily practice? Or at least after 4 years of college?</p>
<p>I'm gunna make this more specific: My keyboard has 61 keys rather than 88, so is that fine to practice on/learn the piece I linked?
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I'm guessing that this is the place that will have the most people who are able to answer.</p>
<p>Unless you are a phenomenally quick learner, it is not likely that you are going to be able to play pieces like the Moonlight Sonata, Rhapsody in Blue or the Cohen piece you linked to after one year of piano lessons. You may be able to do a halfway decent job on the slow movement of the Beethoven in that time, but you would normally not see material of that difficulty until you have had at least a couple years of lessons under your belt. The first year in particular is about learning proper mechanics and fingerings and you should not be neglecting those lessons in order to rush into playing difficult or showy-sounding material.</p>
<p>Four years of weekly lessons and dedicated daily practice can take you a long way. The answer to your last question depends a lot on your teacher and your own commitment.</p>
<p>The 61-key keyboard is going to be an issue. Some piano teachers will let their students start on an electronic instrument and some will insist on an actual piano. The feel of the keyboard can be quite different from that of a piano and being able to use the mechanics of the instrument to produce different tones is an important part of learning how to play piano. You will definitely run out of keys on the pieces you mentioned - they go both above and below the range of the standard 61-key arrangement.</p>
<p>Wow thanks a lot for the response! It really helped me out, and I need all of the help I can get lol. I would actually prefer to learn on a real piano, but my family already has an electric keyboard. I'll see if I can get an 88-key keyboard for my birthday and bring that to college with me so I can practice in my dorm. Also, thanks for the reality check on the songs. I wasn't too sure about how long it would take me to learn them, seeing as I have like no knowledge of music.</p>
<p>BassDad is right. The range of the piece in the PDF is around 6 octaves, well over the reach of a 61-key piano. In other words, it will be physically impossible to play. Also, it seems to require extensive use of the pedal - not all electric keyboards have this feature, it is best to look in that as well.</p>
<p>"...thanks for the reality check on the songs."</p>
<p>To save you from potential embarrassment in your first lessons, they are not 'songs'. Musicians, particularly classical musicians, and famously fickle about this. Better start getting into the habit of calling them 'pieces' or 'compositions', unless they actually have a part for a solo singer in the music.</p>
<p>I don't think it's feasible to learn the Moonlight sonata or the Cohen piece, and most certainly not the Rhapsody, in one year. Just in terms of the notes to be played, the Cohen piece and the slow movement of the Moonlight sonata are not that difficult from a purely technical (meaning which keys the fingers press and when they press them) standpoint. However, the amount of musicality (meaning understanding and shaping of phrases, dynamics; what parts of the musical line to bring out; how to 'connect' one note to the next; etc) required, particularly in such a frequently played piece as the Beethoven, is something that can't really be taught through lessons or straight practice. Instead, it comes from extensive experience and knowledge of the music, something that can only come with time. Youtube, for example, is filled with terrible performances of people attempting to play the moonlight sonata, and unknowingly butchering what is relatively an easy piece, because they possess the former (technical) ability to play all the notes at the right times, but lack the latter (musical) and more important ability.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your feedback:). So in addition to dynamics, does musicality deal with tempo, how long a note is held, and the pianist's overall interpretation of the piece?</p>
<p>If you are brand new at keyboard, the goal should not be to play the splashiest thing possible in the shortest amount of time. The first year is really about learning to read notes with increasing difficulty. If you set yourself the goal of playing Clementi or some easier Minuets by the end of one year, you can probably achieve that. </p>
<p>There are loads of people who "think" they can play any number of pieces (Steph is right--Youtube is filled with awful renditions of almost any common piece you can think of), and the trick is to play something, even quite easy by many technical standards, beautifully, lyrically and musically. A piece doesn't have to be "hard" in order to be beautifully played. In order to play the Moonlight or Rhapsody well, from a technical and musicality standpoint, I think you'd need several years or practice and play.</p>
<p>I think some aspects of musicality are innate, because there are some excellent players with fabulous technique who lack inherent musicality. They can be technically perfect, or near perfect, but lack deep emotion or connection to the music, beyond notes on the page. Music is more than notes! I have heard people improve musicality a lot through practice, but even young players who are not yet that experienced can have innate feel for music and musicality. </p>
<p>Finally, I would try to get a full size keyboard with weighted keys and a pedal. I don't know anyone who can progress beyond a certain point with a small keyboard. It is just too limiting. Eventually, most people who want to advance further will need to invest in a real piano, because the action for subtleties etc cannot be achieved with a keyboard.</p>
<p>Trust me, I'm not interested in learning just so I can play those pieces. I want to learn because the piano can play so many different things in so many different ways and it's a really practical instrument. The reason that I listed those pieces specifically is because they are the ones that prompted my interest in piano. Do you think that it would be fine to practice on a keyboard and take classes on a regular piano for the first few years of learning? Sorry for all of the constant questions!</p>
<p>Most colleges have at least some pianos that you may be able to use. Before spending a bunch of money on a keyboard, you may want to find out the following:</p>
<p>Does the school that you will be attending have pianos for use by non-keyboard majors?</p>
<p>If so, are they kept in tune and sufficiently maintained?</p>
<p>Is there a charge to use them?</p>
<p>Additionally, some teachers will let you practice on keyboards and others will not. You may want to contact the piano teachers at the school you plan to attend and ask them both about their policy and the general availability of pianos there.</p>
<p>That's a really good idea. I'll be visiting Seattle University at the end of the month and I can ask while I'm up there. I saw on their faculty page that there's someone who teaches private piano lessons, so I'll send them an email too.</p>