PRACTICE GUIDELINES

Please practice as long and as often as you like. I am not going to recommend a particular practice schedule for anyone. You will find your own pace. Sometimes people ask me how long it will take to learn to Play Piano Now. I simply answer with question of how much time are you willing to put into it on a daily basis. Since this is an introductory piano course for beginners, I think it would be very effective to work at 30 to 45 minute intervals on a daily basis. The longer you put in, more quickly you will learn and progress. However, your mind needs a while to 'soak up' information and will work best when you have some hours or a day or so in between practice sessions. The main thing is to make up a schedule and stick to it! The longest journey begins with first step! MUSICAL TERMS

Let's begin our musical study with a review of main musical terms you will need to be familiar with to proceed with your music education.

BAR LINE - A vertical line which separates notes into groups

DOUBLE BAR LINE - A set of two (2) vertical lines which stand for end of a piece of music

REPEAT SIGN - Double bar with two dots at end of a section or piece of music which indicates that section is to be played twice.

MEASURE - The distance between two bar lines.

TREBLE CLEF - The S-shaped symbol which stands for notes played with right hand.

BASS CLEF - The reversed C-shaped symbol which stand for notes played with left hand.

STAFF - The five lines and four spaces of both bass and treble clefs.

QUARTER NOTE - Musical symbol with solid note head and stem which gets one count.

QUARTER REST - Musical symbol resembling a sideways W which gets one count.

HALF NOTE - Musical symbol with hollow note head and stem which gets two counts.

HALF REST - Solid half block sitting on third line of staff which gets two counts of silence.

DOTTED HALF NOTE - Musical symbol with hollow note head, dot and stem which gets three counts.

WHOLE NOTE - Musical symbol resembling a circle on staff which gets four counts.

WHOLE REST - Solid half block hanging from second line on staff which gets four counts of silence.

CHORD - Two or more notes played together.

BLOCKED CHORD - Two or more notes played at same time

BROKEN CHORD - Two or more notes from same chord played in sequence

INTERVAL - The distance between two notes on musical staff

Now that you have had an introduction to musical terms, you are ready to take next step in your musical education.

All best in music, Jan Durrant, Publisher http://www.MakingMusicNow.com

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