TLDR: What are some good songs that sound impressive to play but are great for beginners to learn? No happy birthday, or twinkle twinkle little star… Real songs that sound good, and sound like real songs, but are deceptively easy.
Hey, so this is a thread that has absolutely nothing to do with the game… But that’s ok. It’s a general discussion within the community that I share.
So, I want to learn how to play the piano/keyboard and am looking for suggestions on what songs I should learn.
I’m looking for something that either is, or can be modified to be super easy for a beginner, but sound impressive.
I’m not looking for twinkle twinkle little star, or happy birthday or anything like that.
The first one I found is actually “Misty Mountain Cold” from the Hobbit movies. I found a few versions that start easy and get progressively more complicated. It’ll sound like a real song, but won’t be too daunting to try for a new player.
Ps. I currently play drums, and bass guitar. I know how to read music, I know about time signatures (which as a beginner I won’t be messing with too much outside of 4/4, or possibly 3/4… We’ll see) and how to keep time. That stuff I’m already ahead on, and am currently looking up how to read piano sheet music. (which doesn’t look too bad. O.o)
It’s definitely Liszt’s La Campanella.
Seriously, try Beethoven’s Für Elise. It looks harder than it actually is, and it’s a song that most people will recognize.
3 Likes
Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s “The Three Fates”.
1 Like
If you don’t know how to play the Piano you should rename yourself to “Someniscience”.
If you had Omniscience you would know how to play the piano 
1 Like
Learn music theory. Start with major/minor keys. Get associated with what keys go with each key. Write your own stuff. Playing other people’s stuff is cool, but nothing like writing original songs from the heart. Even if your songs suck at first ( and they will ), at least they’ll be yours.
2 Likes
Sure, but learning HOW to play should be my first step, rather than just jumping into composing an entire piece. lol.
I need to learn the basics (which I will) but I enjoy learning by doing. I was taught how to play the drums, and learned how to play bass and guitar by myself. I just found music that I enjoyed and found easy parts and started playing. I learned how to read the scales, and figured it out.
That’s what I’m trying to do with the piano, except I don’t know any good songs to start. That’s why I’m here asking for help on what to start with. (There’s no a whole ton of Keyboards/Piano in rock music, and what there is, is above my pay grade right now.)
1 Like
Here’s how I learned. I got a DAW ( FLStudio, but it was called Fruity Loops back in the day ), and I played in the piano roll. I would do this for hours and hours a day. I taught myself how to play and compose. Everyone’s journey will be different. I’m sure you will receive a lot of different feedback. Choose which feels most comfortable to you.
2 Likes
I learned Bon Jovi Runaway just by messing around when I was a lot younger. It was a little impressive at the time.
1 Like
I can’t help you, but I will say that I bought an electronic keyboard that came with some software, threw on a filter, and suddenly even the most rudimentary flailing of the keys sounded like something competent and 10x more complex than what I was actually doing. Digital crap is fun.
1 Like
I’ve been playing the piano for 25 years… I agree with learning theory first.
Echoing Voice
"Defending your Honor … "
1 Like
Well, not everyone learns the same way, and I don’t learn well by sitting down and grinding over theory and scales.
Hence why I’m asking for help to learn my way. The way that’s already been proven to work for me.
I’m not asking for classical training lessons here. I’m simply asking for easy songs that sound good.
You may look down on me for that, and that’s fine. I’m not here to try to impress you. If you feel I’m “lesser” because you have 25 years under your belt and learned to play “the proper way” than that’s an issue all on it’s own, and something you may want to think about when trying to help someone who wants to learn a new craft.
General Discussion of WoW and WoW related topics. You want something like reddit or perhaps some music related forums for a topic of this nature.
1 Like
When I learned guitar, I never learned the right way. I just tried to copy the songs I liked (Tab was a huge help in the 80s).
Honestly, take a look at the video I posted above. Yeah its a comedy video, but its amazing what % of popular songs use the same 4 chords. Learn those 4 chords and you can cover a LOT of songs.
1 Like
I appreciate the help. I did watch it, and I saved it to my music favourites. I’ll check it out again once I find a decent (but still cheap) keyboard.
Wow you completely overreacted to my post and your response is uncalled for. Learning BASIC music theory will help you learn BASIC and EASY songs unless you want to follow along with a keyboard that lights up so you can memorize the pattern.
1 Like
Learn the chords, start with the key of C.
C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C = the notes you play in the key of C. They’re all white keys—you don’t play any of the black ones in this key because every note is natural (so, not sharp and not flat).
C major chord = C, E, G
D minor chord = D, F, A
E minor chord = E, G, B
F major chord = F, A, C
G major chord = G, B, D
A minor chord = A, C, E
B diminished chord = B, D, F
Learn all those. Choose one of those chords. Now start playing it from the lowest point you can on the piano and play it over and over really fast while moving up the piano, until you reach the end. Add some feeling. Ez pz impressive, and it ain’t even hard.
1 Like