Piano lessons for adults

In this lesson you will learn to play the melody to a popular Christmas song without the use of sheet music. You will also learn to play three easy chords together with the melody. Let us start!
O Christmas Tree is a Christmas carol of German origin. O Tannenbaum is its original name in German.
A Tannenbaum is German for a fir tree or Christmas tree. The melody to this Christmas song is an old folk tune and the best known lyrics comes from a Leipzig organist and teacher named Ernst Anschutz in 1824.
Here is the first verse in the English version:
O Christmas Tree O, Christmas Tree
Your branches green delight us!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
Your branches green delight us!
They’re green when summer days are bright
They’re green when winter snow is white
O, Christmas Tree, O, Christmas Tree
Your branches green delight us!
The first thing we will do is to locate the middle C on your keyboard. On an ordinary piano keyboard it is located in the middle of the keyboard sometimes near the keyhole if there is one.
On a common piano keyboard you will find that the notes C-B are repeated along the keys. One such row of notes are called an octave and since the middle C is located in the fourth octave on an piano it is sometimes called C4.
Even if your keyboard is smaller with less octaves middle C is still called C4.
We will now take a look at the melody to O Christmas Tree and the chords you can play with your left hand. We will begin with the melody together with the lyrics:
O (F)Christmas Tree O, Christmas Tree
C4 (F)F4 F4 F4 G4 G4 G4 G4
The (F) in the lyrics and melody indicate that you shall play an F-major chord with your left hand together with the note after the chord. How then do you play an F-major chord?
There are many ways to play an F chord but here is an easy example for your left hand:
F: C3 F3 A3
C3 means that you play a C in the octave to the left of the C4. Play the three notes in the chord together as you play the following right hand note.
Time for the next line:
Your (C7)branches green de(F)light us
A4 (C7)G4 A4 Bb4 E4 (C)G4 F4
The note Bb is the black key immediately to the left of B.
As you can see it is time for a new chord, C7. Here is a suggestion for that piano chord:
C7: C3 E3 Bb3
Now you have to repeat the previous lines before we proceed with the next part:
They’re (F)green when summer (C7)days are bright
C5 (F)C5 A4 D5 C5 (C7)C5 Bb4 Bb4
C5 is the C in the octave to the right of C4.
Time for the next line:
They’re (C7)green when winter (F)snow is white
Bb4 (C7)Bb4 G4 C5 Bb4 (F)Bb4 A4 A4
Now we only have to repeat the first two lines and we are done!
O (F)Christmas Tree O, Christmas Tree
C4 (F)F4 F4 F4 G4 G4 G4 G4
Your (C7)branches green de(F)light us
A4 (C7)G4 A4 Bb4 E4 (C)G4 F4
I suggest that you learn this little song by heart one line at a time. Practice every line first with your right hand melody until you master it. Then it is time to add your left hand chords. When you know a line by heart with melody and chords it is time to proceed with the next line.
Before you know it you have completed the song and can contribute to the Christmas spirit in a new setting!

The pleasure of being able to play a song on the piano is something that must be experienced. And playing piano does not have to be difficult — there are methods for easy piano that get you started with just 3 or 4 simple chords.
Repetitive songs are great for beginners to get used to the keys while still being able to create a pleasant melody. Beginning piano players often start out with easy piano classics, such as “Chopsticks,” which is a great building block for more complex arrangements.
The first and easiest piano song to learn, for kids and adults alike, is “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” This song is a simple three-note tune that allows beginners to practice the key and get used to where their hands and fingers go. This song acts as a stepping stone for more complicated piano classics.
Other songs that are great for kids and beginners are “Jingle Bells,” “Ode to Joy,” and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” These easy piano classics require little or no knowledge of piano keys and don’t entail the player to be able to read sheet music.
A great way for adults to get started quickly on the piano is to take an online course such as “How To Play Chord Piano” that teaches 3 or 4 chords and shows how to play a simple melody with the right hand while harmonizing it with those 3 or 4 chords.
Learning to Play Easy Piano Classics
The idea of playing Bach can seem unrealistic for new students who are learning to play piano, but in truth, Bach offers simple compositions that prepare students for more complicated songs. The same is true of Chopin and Beethoven songs. Seek easy arrangements for classic piano favorites, and you may surprise yourself with the types of songs you can play.
Timeless Piano Classics
If you are drawn in by the timeless piano tunes that have been around for centuries, some easy classics to start with include “Ave Maria,” “The Wedding March,” “The Emperor Waltz,” “Swan Lake,” and “Sweet Low, Sweet Chariot.” A collection of piano songs that include one or more of these titles will feature timeless music that never goes out of style. The nice thing about learning these types of songs is that they are appropriate to play for almost any occasion.
Easy Contemporary Songs
In addition to timeless classics, beginners enjoy learning to play contemporary songs on the piano. There are equally as many contemporary collections of piano music available as well.
Some contemporary titles for piano to look for are “When I Fall in Love,” “My Heart Will Go On,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Terms of Endearment,” “You Light Up My Life,” “The Way We Were,” “Somewhere Out There,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Unchained Melody,” and “What a Wonderful World.” Obviously this is just a small sampling of what is available. Collections are available based on movie titles, specific decades, children’s movie hits, easy listening, jazz, rock, and more.
Where to Find Easy Piano Classics
Many collections of classic piano songs exist, and there are plenty of places to find them. The format of music you choose will depend on how you intend to learn the easy piano classics.
1. Online: Popular classic piano music is widely available for free download on the Internet. Learning to play piano for free is possible with the help of piano websites.
2. CDs: Easy classics for piano are also available on CD. CDs are nice because they offer a collection of similar melodies and are all at the same level of difficulty to play. A simple online search will provide hundreds of listings for music CDs available that feature piano classics.
3. Sheet music: Easy classic music for piano, of course, can still be found in the basic form of sheet music. You can find sheet music through websites, music stores, and any place that sells pianos or offers piano lessons.

Easy piano lessons to get you started on the piano! If you have just started learning the piano and that too on your own, you need to plan your lessons. It is always better to keep practicing regularly and choose your beginner piano lessons in such a way so that the complexity of the lessons increases gradually. Doing a full bang approach where in you try to learn all the aspects at one go is not a great idea, though you will be tempted to do so occasionally.

It is always better to plan your practice sessions else you will be tempted to play songs each time you sit to practice. You should ideally be starting with some finger exercises for a few minutes, then revise the lessons which you recently learnt and then move on to learn new lessons / songs. You should be able to manage all these in a 30 min slot, which is something you should be able to devote for a practice session.

Initially, you will need to plan your easy piano lessons so that you can grasp the important topics, some of which are listed below; each of these lessons build up on the earlier lessons.

Notes on piano – Getting started with the Basics

Staff, Clef, and Ledger lines – How the notes are written

Treble clef Notes

Bass clef Notes

Accidentals – Learn the Sharps and Flats

Learn about Arpeggios

Note Types / Rests – The duration of the various types

Whole Notes, Half Notes, Crotchet, Quaver, Semi-Quavers

Knowing the above topics and to be able to use them in your playing should be on your agenda for the first few months. These are the easy piano lessons which you should plan to learn at the earliest.

Suresh

http://www.piano-education.org/easy-piano-lessons.html

http://www.know-your-keyboard-piano.com/