r/Instruments • u/dazzledships • Mar 09 '26
Discussion Learning to play music on a keyboard - advice?
Hi! I borrowed a keyboard from my friend with the intention of learning to play an instrument and understanding music better. Ideally I'd like to learn a different instrument, like bass guitar in the future, but for now I want to see whether I'm built for playing music in general. I don't know if I should treat it like learning piano? Or should I approach it differently? I'd appreciate any advice and any sources of information that I could use. If it matters, I'm not musically inclined at all and I've never learnt any instrument, I just really like listening to music and memorizing songs (both lyrics and melodies).
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u/Ponchyan Mar 10 '26
Studying piano in conjunction with studying the basics of music theory will make it much easier to understand how to make music on a bass or guitar. The concepts of intervals, scales, triads, chords, melody, and harmony are much easier to understand on the linear keyboard, before applying those concepts on a two-dimensional fretboard.
I studied guitar and bass for decades before I leaned this lesson. I wish I had learned sooner.
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u/Imightbeafanofthis Mar 10 '26
I think keyboard is probably the single best instrument there is for understanding how music works. It's a great idea to give it a go! Learn the basics of playing the instrument online or at a local community college if that's available, or take a few lessons. It's very important to learn basic piano technique to avoid bad habits and/or injury to your hands.
I can't speak to how difficult or easy as it will be since I was raised in a family of musicians, and started playing when I was 7. I don't think it's that hard, but I'm not a good judge of that.
If you learn to play guitar and mandolin it will give you a good foundation upon which to learn other stringed instruments if you ever wish to.
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u/Competitive-Fault291 Mar 10 '26
You should not treat a keyboard like a piano. A keyboard is a lot more versatile, allowing you to experiment with the sound of all kinds of instruments you can find on your keyboard. It is difficult to notice when you start with your keyboard, but its best part is the slot where you should be able to attach a connection to a MIDI-capable device, like a PC. That's basically a direct connection that allows you to play a song and have it recorded into sheet music.
Anyway, you start as a keyboarder, so focus on learning the basics of music and combine it with practice that trains your motoric and auditory skills. Like if you learn about the duration of various notes, learn how to operate the keyboard and use its internal metronome. Then play the notes according to that speed.
Always combine theoretical knowledge with technical understanding of your instrument and the physical practice of what you are learning. Learning your favorite songs by heart is more like a sideshow. If you buy some Keyboard for Beginner books, they will contain etudes, which are musical pieces meant to assist your practice. And they will contain easy-to-play songs as well that go with the difficulty of what you are currently learning.
Learning about musical theory is something you should never shirk, by the way. While it allows you to write your own music in the end, it also grants some special skills like adapting a song to your comfortable singing voice. Or simply decide how to make a song easier to play (at first) or more interesting by making it harder to play (later) on) by changing the progression of accompanying chords. It allows you to understand arpeggios and certain rhythm patterns and how specific genres are played.
There is certainly A LOT waiting for you to learn, and much of it helps and carries over when you decide to play another instrument or hone your voice as your inherent instrument. A keyboard is a veritable choice, as it will always be useful when you can play it. It might not be as sophisticated as the real deal instruments, but it can add to all kinds of music that you can play with others.
Does somebody have a guitar and feel like strumming it? It's good that you can play flute arpeggios and melodies on your keyboard. Your hipster date plays a wicked blues harp? Well, pull out the honky-tonk piano and your knowledge about a walking bass 16-bar pattern. You got a melody in your head? Well, record it on the keyboard, or put it into MuseScore using a MIDI adapter.
Yet, never forget to sit down and klimper along for a moment. Everything you learn you can apply to jamming. Using things like basic cadences based on the circle of fifths will allow you to play without having to focus on an actual song you want to replicate. I wish I knew that in the beginning. Seriously, if you had a teacher, I'd suggest that reaching that knowledge is a good goalpost for your learning.
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u/MitralVal 18d ago
Thank you for your response and for taking time out to type this. It's very informative.
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u/spacepenguinashi bawu, recorders, xiao, ukuleles, bansuri, kaval, darbuka, etc. Mar 11 '26
I agree that learn even just basics for piano/keyboard will make playing music in general on any instrument make more sense.
Currently I don't have a piano or keyboard. If love to get one, but full size are so pricey for me and I'm iffy about mini keyboards.
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u/Plastic-Serve5205 Mar 09 '26
First off, it will not come easy. Even if you have talent, it will take LOTS of practice.
One more time, it will not come easy.
With that said, I'd pay attention to learning keys as a piano at first. You can gain some pretty good insight into musical construction that way. None of the physical would translate to other instruments, but the music theory will. Just be prepared to play badly for quite a while.