Rocket Piano!

166 Pages·2008·3.13 MB·English

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You will use The Rocket Piano series, Chordinator, Keycelerator, Perfect Your Pitch Pro,
Jayde Musica, Advanced Learning Techniques for Piano and other Rock Star Recipes Ltd
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Rock Star Recipes Ltd. retains all rights to these products.
Copyright, © 2004 Rock Star Recipes Ltd.
Acknowledgments.
The Rocket Piano series was created on behalf of Rock Star Recipes LTD.

Author & Music: Asheigh Southam.
Multimedia Content: Rock Star Recipes Studios
Publisher: Rock Star Recipes LTD
Welcome to Rocket Piano!
A Personal Message from Me
Welcome to Rocket Piano, the ultimate guide for learning to play the piano! In this book
you’re going to get everything you need to know, from hand placements to harmony. You’re
going to learn about keys, chords, scales, rhythm, tempo, dynamics, and arpeggios. In
short, by the end of this book you’ll be able to understand music inside and out, all in a
fun, easy-to-understand format.
My name is Ruth, and ever since I was young I’ve been mad about everything to do with
music. It wasn’t long before I decided I wanted to be a pianist and began learning songs
even before I had any lessons! I honed my skills as a pianist and am now a professional
musician!
All that practice paid off for me, and it can for you, too! I know exactly what works and
what doesn’t in teaching the piano. I’ve seen most of the piano books out there, and
they’re way too dry and serious. Learning to play the piano should be fun, cool, and
cutting edge! Why learn the piano like people did fifty years ago when today you’ve got
options like MIDI keyboards?
Whether you want to play the keyboard in a band or learn how to use that old piano stuck
in the corner of the living room, this book is for you. You may want to become a famous
pianist or just be the one that everyone asks to play a song. With the techniques you’ll
learn here, you’ll be able to play any sheet music, including your favorite pop songs!
Better yet, you’ll have over EIGHTY original songs to practice on! That’s right … just for
this book I’ve composed over 80 original compositions designed to take you from piano
novice to piano player. Forget about old folk songs and ditties that everyone knows.
These are real songs for real people!
I’ve also included the New Rocket Piano Progress Tracker so that you can have a checklist
of all the things you can expect to learn in the course. But right now let’s see what you know
about the piano already. Turn the page to take a quiz on fun facts about the instrument
you’re going to learn to play.
Ruth
Listen to a personal
01
message from Ruth.
Page 
Piano Facts Quiz
1. When was the first piano invented?
a. 100
b. 1425
c. 1550
d. 1700
2. How many keys are on an average piano?
a. 64
b. 88
c. 100
d. 142
. How many strings are in an average piano?
a. 88
b. 100
c. 200
d. 00
4. The combined tension on the strings in a concert grand piano can be how high?
a. 100 pounds
b. 100 kilos
c. 1000 pounds
d. 20 tons
5. Most domestic pianos require tuning:
a. every two weeks
b. every six months
c. every year
d. every five years
6. The year 2000 marked what anniversary of piano manufacturing?
a. 250
b. 00
c. 450
d. 500
Page 4
Quiz Answers
1. (d)
In roughly 1700, Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-
171) invented the piano in Florence, Italy, as
an attempt to improve on the harpsichord. He
was instrument maker to the court of Ferdinand
de Medici and an expert on the harpsichord.
The problem that he was trying to solve was
how to vary the volume of sound produced by a
harpsichord merely by means of touch. He did
so by swapping the plucking of strings for the
hitting of them. In his design, a jack caused a
hammer to hit a taut string, causing it to vibrate.
The hammer swings back again immediately,
enabling the string to continue vibrating until
the key is released. His invention was a revolutionary achievement and succeeded in
attaining his goal: the piano, which unlike the harpsichord, could play both softly AND
loudly. Cristofori eventually added two hand stops equivalent to the left and right pedals
of grand pianos today. Three of his original pianos (dating from the 1720s) remain.
2. (b)
There are 88 keys on the modern piano (7-1/ octaves, from A0 to C7), although older
pianos may have only 85 keys. (Even older pianos, as in over 150 years old, can have
even fewer keys, down to 5 octaves!)
. (c)
Most pianos have over 200 strings. Why? Each time you depress a key, you don’t just set
one string vibrating. You set a group of strings vibrating. There may be anywhere from
one to three strings vibrating for any single note! (That’s three for the middle notes, two
for the high notes, and one for the low notes). This creates layers of natural harmonics in
the tone, an effect impossible to achieve with digital pianos.
4. (d)
Twenty tons. That’s right! The enormous pressure is one reason that metal components
were incorporated into wooden pianos, culminating in the 100% iron frame invented in
1825 in Boston by Alpheus Babcock. By 1840, the company at which he was employed,
Chickering, was producing grand pianos with iron frames.
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5. (b)
Every six months. A piano is tuned by adjusting the tension in each of its strings. You
should always tune a piano before a performance, and pianos used in concert halls will
be tuned much more frequently. You can minimize the need for tuning by regulating the
humidity around the piano.
6. (b)
If you got #1 right, you’ll know the answer to this one! The millennium celebrated the
00th anniversary of the piano.
Page 6
Table Of Contents
Welcome to Rocket Piano! ......................................3
A Personal Message from Me .................................3
01
Piano Facts Quiz .....................................................4
Quiz Answers ...........................................................5
Every time you see this
Rocket Piano Progress Tracker .............................10
button, play the indicated
track!
Chapter 1. Piano Facts and History ..................13
Did You Know? ......................................................13
How a Piano Works ...............................................15
What a Piano is Made of .......................................16 01
Types of Pianos .....................................................16
Every time you see this
Chapter 2. Learning the Basics .........................18
button, play the relevant
Sitting at the Piano ................................................18
video!
The Hands Have It .................................................19
Perfect Hand Posture ............................................19
Caring for Your Hands ...........................................19
How the Hands are Used in Playing Piano ............20
The Piano Keyboard ..............................................21 Each example is extensively illus-
Using the Fingering System ..................................22 trated to show you exactly how to
Reading Music .......................................................24 play the notes!
Rhythm ..................................................................24
The Quarter Note ...................................................25
The Half Note ........................................................26
Whole Note ............................................................27 Each chapter has piles of tunes for
Dynamic Signs .......................................................28 you to play, from simple one-handed
ditties to duets that you can play
Chapter 3. The Musical Alphabet ......................29 along with a pre-recorded track!
Middle C Hand Position .........................................30
Time Signatures ....................................................31
Chapter 4. The Musical Staff .............................35
The Bass Clef Staff ................................................35
The Treble Clef Staff ..............................................37
Memorizing the Notes on a Staff ...........................38
The Grand Staff .....................................................39
C Hand Position .....................................................40
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Chapter 5. Musical Intervals .............................43 Chapter 12. Taking Steps ...................................90
The 2nd .................................................................43 The Middle D Position ...........................................90
The 3rd ..................................................................44 On and Off Beats ...................................................92
Melodic and Harmonic Intervals ............................45 Half Steps ..............................................................94
The Chromatic Scale .............................................95
Chapter 6. Both Hands Together .......................48 Whole Steps ..........................................................96
Ties and Rests .......................................................48 Review of Whole Steps & Half Steps ....................97
A New Time Signature ...........................................49
What’s a Slur? .......................................................49 Chapter 13. Playing Scales ................................98
Using Your Left & Right Hand Together .................51 Hand Movement #1: Thumb Under .......................99
Bringing It All Together ...........................................52 Hand Movement #2: Hand Over ..........................100
The G Major Scale ...............................................102
Chapter 7. New Intervals ....................................54 G Major Key Signature ........................................102
The 4th ..................................................................54 Jam Track Two ....................................................106
The 5th ..................................................................56
Chapter 14. Tempo Revisited and a New Interval ...108
Chapter 8. Sharps and Flats ..............................58 The 6th ................................................................108
Incomplete Measures ............................................58 Legato..................................................................110
Two New Dynamic Signs .......................................58 Allegretto .............................................................111
The Black Keys ......................................................61 Dotted Notes ........................................................112
The Sharp Sign ......................................................61 Poco ....................................................................113
The Flat Sign .........................................................64 Lento....................................................................114
Jam Track Three ..................................................115
Chapter 9. The G Hand Position ........................67
The Accent Sign ....................................................68 Chapter 15. Two New Scales ...........................116
A New Dynamic Sign: Staccato .............................69 The F Major Scale ...............................................116
Revision Test: Part One ........................................72 The 7th ................................................................118
Revision Test: Part One continued.. ......................73 The D Major Scale ...............................................121
Revision Test Answers ...........................................74 Accidentals ..........................................................123
The 8th or Octave ................................................124
Chapter 10. More About Rhythm .......................75 Accelerando .........................................................125
The Eighth Note .....................................................75 Repeat with D.S. al fine .......................................126
Another New Time Signature.................................78 Fortissimo: Making it Loud ...................................127
Tempo Marks .........................................................79 Jam Track Four ....................................................128
Fermata Sign .........................................................79
More Tempo Markings ...........................................81 Chapter 16. Metronomes and More .................129
Jam Track One ......................................................83 The Metronome ...................................................129
The Sixteenth Note ..............................................130
Chapter 11. Technical Wizardry .........................84 Scale in Contrary Motion .....................................132
Repeating It Over and Over ...................................86 Reading Notes Above/Below Lines .....................133
1st and 2nd Time Endings .....................................87
Page 8
Chapter 17. Chords ..........................................134
Primary Triads .....................................................136
Chord Progression ...............................................137
2nd Inversions .....................................................138
Primary Triads in G major ....................................140
Primary Triads in F major ....................................142
Primary Triads in D major ....................................144
Block and Broken Chords ....................................146

Chapter 18. Minors ...........................................147
The Natural Minor Scale ......................................147
The Harmonic Minor Scale ..................................148
The Melodic Minor ...............................................148
Minor Intervals .....................................................149
The Perfect 5th ....................................................150
Minor Triads .........................................................150
Primary Chords in Minor Keys .............................151
D Minor ................................................................153
Primary Chords in D Harmonic Minor ..................154
Chapter 19. Arpeggios .....................................156
Arpeggios with Chord Progression ......................158
Jam Track Five ....................................................161
Revision Test: Part Two .......................................163
Revision Test Part Two continued.. .....................164
Revision Test Part Two: Answers ........................165
Conclusion .........................................................166
Page 
Rocket Piano Progress Tracker
Everything you learn in this Rocket Piano course is incredibly valuable and it is important not
to lose track of the concepts and techniques you have worked so hard to understand!
This Progress Tracker has been specifically designed for you to keep a record of each
individual skill, concept and technique that you learn so that by the end of this book
you can pin point exactly how far you’ve progressed in becoming a skilled pianist and a
knowledgeable musician.
With this record of your learning you can recall the skills you’ve mastered without having
to go through the whole course just to find the specific skill you’re looking for! It can also
be used as a practice schedule.
Once you have mastered a lesson or skill tick it off on the Progress Tracker, and move on
to the next lesson! Commit yourself to ticking off the skills you learn as you go and see
your improvement instantly!
“I __________________am making the commitment to myself, to work through the Rocket
Piano Course at my own speed, and absorbing all the information, and mastering all the
skills I can, to enable me to play the piano like a true professional.”
Signed:______________________________ Date: _____________________

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