How to Avoid Bad Habits When Learning to Play Piano - A Beginners' Guide

Learning the piano is such a great hobby, but lots of people particularly if they are self taught slip into bad habits, and once you have these it is hard to shift them, so I'm going to point out five main bad habits that you need to break if you are currently doing them.

1. Try and look up at your music at all times, and train your brain into using its other senses to feel where the notes are. So many people look down at their hands and then wonder why they can't consistently play a piece of music from start to finish. So try and follow your score and look up. Imagine you are playing at a huge stadium and are performing to thousands of people!

2. Use the correct fingers. Do not slip into just using a couple of your stronger fingers, use your fingers as your note guide. This will also make your piece sound a lot smoother, and help strengthen up all your fingers so they become equal.

3. Make sure you sound your notes for their full length of time. Do not just hold it for one second if its suppose to be held for two! As your timing will be out and it won't sound as it should do. So make sure you learn to recognize the different note lengths!

4. Ensure your posture is correct. Bad posture can lead to back problems, and your playing not being as smooth as it could be. Always make sure your back is straight, your shoulders are nice and relaxed and your chair is the correct height for you.

5. My last point is to make sure your fingers are not tense, and they are relaxed and curled at all times when playing. So many people tense up when they are learning, but at the end of the day, you are learning because you want to so enjoy it!

It's important to avoid picking up bad habits when learning piano especially if you are self taught. Pick up some good habits by downloading the beginners' piano video at A.S.A.Piano!