More Tips on How to Practice?

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ChadMar 29, 2019

Hello sir. I completed your course on piano for producers yesterday. Great job btw. The course was very helpful. Previously I had taken a bunch of courses on FlowKey and though they were helpful to get me started I couldn’t see how they would help me produce mainstream beats. Thank you for opening my eyes.

The only problem is that when I sat down in front of the piano to practice last night I wasn’t really sure what to do lol. What I did do was practice chords with both hands in C Major. I tried playing single notes with my right hand while playing chords with my left but I felt like I was just pressing keys with my right and nothing really made sense or sounded good.

All-in-all I didn’t feel like the time was productive so I stopped after about 30 minutes. Can you give me some more tips on how to have better, more productive practice sessions?

Also, if anyone else has things they do that they'd like to share please feel free to chime in!

Thanks!

Replies (1)

GratuiTousStaffMar 30, 2019

Hey Chad! - Thanks for taking the course!

To start off, I'd try finding 4 chords that sound good together. In your case of using C Major, Try: C, G, A, F - That's a really uplifting chord progression!

On the left hand, I usually just play the outside notes - not the middle as it can sound congested come music production time.

So with your left hand, you'd hit:

C + G
G + B
A + E
F + C

Now for your right hand, to start off, I'd try playing the first note of that chord.

Don't try and get too crazy - it's all about building muscle memory.

So you'd count:

1, 2, 3, 4

Then change the chord (G is the second one in our case).

You play the chord on the 1, count to 4, then change the chord.

Again, on the right hand, just play C, then G, then A, then F.

Keep doing that over and over, and you'll see you'll grasp where to place your hands on the keyboard.

Overtime you'll be able to add a few more notes on the right hand.

I've found the left hand was the trickiest when trying to play both hands at once.

Let me know how those suggestions work out for you, Chad!