Why all musicians should start learning Piano

First off, Iʼm assuming your musical background isnʼt as a Pianist or Keyboardist. If it is, youʼll probably be aware (at least in part) of the things Iʼm going to go into here. If youʼre a not though, hereʼs a few ways that starting to learn piano can and will supercharge your efficiency as a musician. Since I started of as a guitarist itʼs still my go to instrument. Itʼs also the I understand the best, as well as my main source of income as a guitar tutor. Iʼve been at this for a while now and Iʼm relatively well versed in music theory and composition. but I often felt as though I was being held back by my refusal to branch out to other instruments until recently. It goes without saying that the more instruments you play, the bigger and better an understanding of Music youʼll have. But I feel like taking up piano in particular is by far one of the best choices you could make going forward. Growing up, I spent a lot of my time jamming with a neighbour and friend over at his familyʼs old farmhouse. While I was only really starting to take my guitar playing seriously at this point, he was an extremely accomplished multi instrumentalist with a great command of the guitar, piano, violin, drums etc.

Even though we were roughly the same age he seemed to already have a lot on me. ʼHow did you learn so much so quickly?ʼ I asked him. ‘I want to be able to do what you do, but where do I start?ʼ ‘I understand music pretty well.ʼ He said ‘Start with the building blocks. If you want to learn theory and get better at putting it all together, just learn piano.ʼ I asked him why piano specifically, and he elaborated: ‘All the notes are just there, in order. Itʼs not like the neck of your guitar, or my violin. Itʼs much more straightforward.ʼ I invested in a cheap keyboard not long after and set about brushing up on my theory. Iʼd already tried this on guitar but with very mixed results. Itʼs exactly as he put it. Straightforward.

Why It Works

Since the keys of a piano are lined up in a chromatic sequence (unlike the strings of a guitar, which are generally tuned a perfect 4th apart). Learning

scales, chords, keys and generally interacting with the underlying processes of the music that youʼre making becomes quicker and easier in a heartbeat. In short, when learning any kind of theory concepts on piano, you get a more sequence based approach to your learning. The whole process is more compartmentalised and easier to break down. Check out my article- Music Theory For Piano- The Beginners Guide for more on this. Itʼs difficult to explain in writing alone.

And Reading Music?

Then thereʼs concepts like music and sight reading. As you might know, thereʼs no piano TAB like there is for guitar. The only way to compose for, and perform music on a great many instruments is to learn to read. This was what I had to do, and before long I had a pretty flexible command of pitch, rhythm, the notes of all 12 keys, and each of the chords within them. Iʼd class neither of these as a strength of mine, but I understand how to do both, as well as how to teach them to others. This means Iʼm able to teach twice as many topics to twice as many students, as well make twice as much music in twice as many ways. In short, I know more than I did yesterday.

Ok cool, but...

Of course youʼd be able to do this with a guitar (or any conventional instrument) but Iʼve found that starting off with more of a compartmentalised approach helps when youʼre getting to grips with the basics. Once I was comfortable with

laying all of it out on a keyboard I took what Iʼd learned and applied it to my guitar neck. Starting out the other way around just wasnʼt as expedient. Not for me at least. Iʼll no doubt get round to a basic theory breakdown for guitarists. If youʼre unwilling or unable to get your hands on a decent keyboard then you might prefer that. As for all of the above: This is not an overnight process. Your mileage may vary of course, but we do all learn at different rates and with different methods. This is just a method which was relayed to me, but it was nonetheless one that I have found extremely helpful and one that I have recommended to others with overwhelmingly positive results. I hope it can help you too. If you too are wanting to hit the high heights of a developed musical vocabulary, please consider.