{"id":2955,"date":"2021-03-12T08:05:14","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T16:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/?p=2955"},"modified":"2023-01-16T14:12:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T22:12:49","slug":"learn-songs-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/learn-songs-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Things To Start Practicing To Learn A Song Fast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sometimes the hardest part about practicing the piano is just knowing what (and how) to practice. This lesson focuses on 3 things you should be practicing to learn a song quickly and easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you follow these simple steps: you\u2019ll improve your technique, you\u2019re going to have fun doing it, and you <i>will<\/i> get better at playing songs on the piano! \ud83d\ude4c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First things first&#8211; you\u2019ve got to know what you want to play! For example\u2019s sake, I\u2019ve picked out <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Coldplay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Coldplay<\/a>\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Yellow_(Coldplay_song)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yellow<\/a>\u201d to show off what I want to teach you, but you can choose whatever you see fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/1317494084\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1317494084?et=3QLHQJPrSrlLsLZpF4MsDA&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=dDfiezCplMq32ko8FBTLbFygYSzuFBNfakCOX6XVIcY=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><b><u><a href=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/3%20Things%20You%20Should%20Practice\/Cold%20Play%20Yellow%20.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">If you\u2019re excited to learn \u201cYellow\u201d, then we\u2019ve already got the chord chart for you here<\/a><\/u><\/b>! \u2b05\ufe0f\u2b05\ufe0f\u2b05\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And to learn something new, what you\u2019re going to want to know is the chords of the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>Just type it into Google:<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><video playsinline=\"\u201c\u201d\" autoplay=\"\u201c\u201d\" src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/3%20Things%20You%20Should%20Practice\/google%20scroll.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"blue-text-block\">\ud83d\udd25\ud83c\udfb9<i><b> Hot Tip!<\/b><\/i> There are countless resources for chord charts on the internet, and you can use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimate-guitar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guitar chord charts<\/a> in the same way you would one written for the piano.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, now let&#8217;s get started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>1) Practice the chords and their inversions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First things first: let\u2019s get to know the chords!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To simplify things as a beginner, all you\u2019ve got to keep in mind is the root position of the chord. If you\u2019re not familiar or confident with more advanced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/how-to-play-piano-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chording <\/a>techniques, then disregard any intimidating <a href=\"\/blog\/sus-piano-chords-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2019sus\u2019 chords<\/a> or those <a href=\"\/blog\/understanding-7ths\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dreamy \u20187ths\u2019<\/a> for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you see something like a &#8220;Dsus4&#8221;, you can choose to play the simpler &#8216;D&#8217; chord. We&#8217;ll touch base on &#8216;sus&#8217; chords in step 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/3%20Things%20You%20Should%20Practice\/what%20is%20a%20sus%20chords.png\" alt=\"3 things you should practice to learn songs fast\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you\u2019re comfortable with the basic chords, you can work on their <a href=\"\/blog\/how-to-practice-chord-inversions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inversions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inversions are the same notes you would play in the root position of a chord, just in a different order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"blue-text-block\"><i><b>\ud83d\udd25\ud83c\udfb9 Hot Tip!<\/b> Take a moment with each chord in your song to practice its inversions. Inversions allow you to play chords easier by reducing the space between reaches and jumps. Check out our free pack on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/chord-hacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chord Hacks<\/a>\u201d to boost your chording knowledge!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>2) Left hand patterns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most common struggles I hear time and time again as a piano teacher is that of the left hand. All it really needs is a little more time and attention though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So take some time to practice those left hand patterns! This is going to build dexterity and confidence in your playing, <i>plus<\/i> it\u2019s going to give you something amazing that you can use when you are building accompaniments to your songs. \ud83e\udd29<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my favorite patterns simply uses the root note, the fifth, and an octave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><video playsinline=\"\u201c\u201d\" autoplay=\"\u201c\u201d\" src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/3%20Things%20You%20Should%20Practice\/root%20fifth%20root.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t be afraid to get creative&#8211; try out different rhythms and rearrange the order of things\u2026 you\u2019ll be amazed at the depth of sound you\u2019re able to create!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve got some fun options for you to follow along with on the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"blue-text-block\"><i><b>\ud83d\udd25\ud83c\udfb9 Hot Tip!<\/b> If you\u2019re looking to take your left hand technique to the next level, check out our awesome pack on \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/destupefy-your-left-hand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De-Stupefying Your Left Hand<\/a>\u201d.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>3) Use fills and \u2018sus\u2019 chords<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fills are going to take your piano playing to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a lot you can build off of when you\u2019re playing the chords of a song, and we have some <a href=\"\/blog\/right-hand-fills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-depth lessons<\/a> to get you playing like a pro&#8211; but for now, we\u2019re just going to focus on a few quick tips you can use to add some extra interest to you playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternating between your main triads and different \u2018sus\u2019 chords allows you to create powerful changes to your playing just by moving one finger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can learn more about \u2018sus\u2019 chords <a href=\"\/blog\/sus-piano-chords-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you\u2019ve spent some time getting to know these substitutions you can try rolling your finger through them to ramp up to your main chords, or walking back down to bring some interesting rhythms to your playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"blue-text-block\"><i><b>\ud83d\udd25\ud83c\udfb9 Hot Tip!<\/b> You can get the full rundown and learn all kinds of fancy fingerwork to make you sounds like a pro with our special pack: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/riffs-and-fills\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Riffs &amp; Fills<\/a>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>Put it all together<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Practice these 3 things and I can guarantee you are going to get better at playing piano and learning to play the songs you love. The important part is going to be to utilize all 3 in a way that builds on your knowledge, improves your technique, and gets you excited about the time you spend at the piano!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember to take your time, and to be patient with yourself. Start slow on a new song and work through it step-by-step, gradually ramping up speed and complexity as you go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>it won&#8217;t be long before you <i>look at the stars, and how they shine for you, and all the things you do&#8230;<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy practicing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are the 3 things you should be practicing if you want to learn a song fast. We will focus on technique and chord tricks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":2959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1108,1112,509],"tags":[1086],"class_list":["post-2955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musicianship","category-practice-musicianship","category-technique","tag-l3s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2955"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8603,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions\/8603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}