Six Steps to Learning a New Song on Piano & Keyboard

1. Figure out your hand position.

Use the finger numbers that are provided in the score and know exactly where each finger needs to be located on the keyboard.

2. Learn each hand separately.

Make sure you are comfortable with the notes and rhythms of each individual hand before attempting to play them together.

3. Proceed bit by bit.

When playing hands together, extract portions of the music. Looking at the whole piece of music can be overwhelming at first. Focus on the first few notes, and then when you master that, move on to the next.

4. Mark up your piece.

While we do not want to get into the habit of writing in every note name, write in a few note names on each line if you need a reminder. Occasionally writing the notes down—especially those you consistently forget—can be a great way to reinforce your memory.

5. Look for patterns.

When you encounter a new piece, break it down into smaller pieces by looking for thepatterns and repetition within.

• Are there chords in the left hand that repeat? Are there rhythms that are used throughout?
• Are there repeated melodies in the right hand part?
• Is there similar material—not an exact copy but close enough that you can relate it to another part?

There’s nothing quite as energizing as learning a piece and getting to a new spot and thinking, “Hey, I know this part already—I learned the same thing earlier in the piece!” While not every piece will work this way, 99% will!

6. Walk, don’t run . . . and win the race.

Play at a consistent and steady tempo. In any piece we learn, there are going to be easy spots and hard spots. Our tendency is to play the easy spots faster and the hard spots, of course, much slower. A metronome helps us to maintain a consistent tempo throughout, regardless of whether the spot is easy or tough.

• Download a free metronome app on a personal device (or find one online to use from your computer).
• Set the metronome to a slow tempo and begin your practice.
• Play the piece slowly at first, not moving to a faster tempo until you can play it perfectly.
• Once you get it right, try it again a few more times to make sure you really know it.
• Increase the tempo by two to three beats per minute (bpm), and try it again.
• Don’t increase the tempo until you can play it perfectly at the slower one. While your ears may not even hear the difference in a two to three bpm increase, your fingers and brain certainly will notice.
• Work your way up to the desired tempo gradually, increasing by only two to three bpm each time.

Be a tortoise, not a hare, in the race to learn a new piece of music. The tortoise, while slow, was consistent in his tempo while the hare ran at a fast tempo in some parts and then stopped to catch his breath.

The tortoise kept going—slow, steady, consistent. And we all remember who won the race in the end.