World Piano Day (March 29th)
Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.
Tom Lehrer
If you’re a fan of classical music, then you assuredly know about the famous piano. Used in concerts everywhere, the piano has a long History of bringing music to life with its delicate sound and beautiful resonance. But did you know that there’s a holiday dedicated to pianos? That’s right, there’s a day all about the History and love for pianos. Read more to learn about the History of the piano and about how you can celebrate this amazing holiday.
Learn about World Piano Day
World Piano Day has been designed to celebrate this incredible instrument, which has brought many of us joy over the years. No matter whether you play the piano yourself or you have an appreciation for this sort of music, we can all appreciate that listening to a quality pianist is a joy.
If you don’t know much about the piano, today is a great day to explore further. The main thing you obviously need to familiarise yourself with is the keys. After all, the keyboard is the most important part of your learning. If you look at the keyboard, you will see white and black keys that run from left to white. They do not alternative white-black-white-black. There is actually a pattern that is made of five black keys and seven white keys in a certain order. An interval is formed from the beginning of one set of keys and the ending, which is at the beginning of the next set. This is called an ‘octave’, which is simply a type of interval; an interval being the musical distance between two sounds.
In addition to this, it is important to note that the highest keys are on the right and the lowest on the left. If you start on the left side, every key is a half step higher than the one before it. Therefore, you need to go up or down two half steps to make a full step. You simply need to practice a bit to get to grips with these intervals. You should then try other intervals so you can hear the difference in sound.
History of Piano Day
The invention of the piano began through its predecessors, mainly through medieval times as a dulcimer, a fretted string instrument with three or four strings attached. From there it developed into the clavichord, the spinet, virginal, clavecin, gravicembalo, and finally, the harpsichord in the 15th century.
The harpsichord was invented by Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori and the harpsichord is considered to be to the closest predecessor to what modern-day people know as the piano because of the keyboards that activated the strings. From there, the harpsichord developed further over the next 300 years into what we know as the modern piano.
Piano Day began as an idea by the German pianist/composer/producer Nils Frahm. Nils Frahm composes classical piano music with electronic music, reforming piano music with an unconventional approach. He launched the holiday back in 2015. When Frahm was asked why the world needs a Piano Day, Frahm replied back “…mostly, because it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the piano and everything around it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, movers and most important, the listener.”
Since then, the holiday expanded as people held concerts, recitals, lectures, and demonstrations. An official website, Pianoday.org, lists all the concerts and events you can go to all over the world to help celebrate the beauty of the piano.
How to celebrate Piano Day
If you love hearing classical music, then listen to some beautiful classical music on your favorite device. If you’re wanting a fun night out, then attend a concert at your local theater. If you’re really adventurous then take some piano lessons at your local colleges or through online courses. While listening or playing amazing piano music, use the hashtag #worldpianoday on through your social media devices and let everyone know that this day is all about the beautiful piano.
If you have never played the piano before, you may feel at a little bit of a loss regarding what you should be looking for in an online course. But, don’t fret, as we have some top tips to help you out. The first thing you need to do is make sure that the website providing the piano lessons is right for your level.
Some websites start at the very beginning and are designed for those who don’t have a clue about playing the piano. Therefore, they will teach you how to read music and so on. However, there are other websites that have lessons for those who already have experience and are seeking more advanced lessons so that they have something to aim towards. In addition to this, you should take the time to read reviews that have been left by people and experts that have already used the website in question. This will save you a lot of time.
If you come across a lot of negative reviews from people saying that the lesson was too difficult to follow for beginners, for example, then you know to look elsewhere. Finally, you need to decide if you want to opt for free or paid lessons. In the beginning, it is worth looking into free resources. If you are then struggling to find something that matches your needs, consider a paid version, but do extensive research before spending your cash.
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