I'm a bit confused about playing the piano. As an adult beginner I would like to know if I should be learning to play EXACTLY as the sheet music reads or should I be learning as many chords as possible and improvising by ear. My favourites would be Beatles, Gilbert O'Sullivan and Abba but the sheet music I've bought for their pieces sound nothing like what they actually play. Can someone enlighten me, please.

Hi Gilbert

As an Adult beginner, if you are learning to read music then you will have to learn to play it exactly as notated...experimenting would be down the line...just wondering do you have a teacher?

If you want to learn to play by ear then thats a different approach (one where you wouldn't be using sheet music at all)...I've learned how to play by ear (couldn't do it for the life of me in the beginning) and Mike at pianomagic teaches it the best (IMHO)


regards


Lee

Hi Gilbert,

You mentioned (1) playing fully scored music (which shows, on treble and bass clef, every note to be played), and (2) playing by ear (which usually means playing without sheet music at all). There's a third approach, which is (3) playing from lead sheets (fake books), where the melody only is scored and the chords are written above each measure, leaving you to create the accompaniment.

(1) and (3), which both involve written music, are completely different in approach. Some people can do both, but a lot of folks can do only one but not the other. To play classical music, (1) is the only game in town. To play jazz, (3) is the norm. Pop music goes both ways, but a lot of people who try to play pop from fully-scored music find, as you did, that the renditions are not very satisfying.

The challenge in playing from lead sheets is that you are serving as your own arranger, as you play.

I have returned to the piano after a long break (1969 to be precise). I can read music of the sheet with some studying. I can work my way through quite a lot of pieces but find it easier to mix the chords with the melody line. My teacher is taking me down the chord piano route but I'm not sure that it appeals to me as it is very hit and miss!

you can learn both ways, and you always have a choice to play either from sheet music or improvise accompanying part, depending on music.

i choose to play classical music the way it is, but i also learned some theory and chord progression and could write some simple LH accompaniment myself.