I can’t believe that we have made it to the end of the semester!
I started my journey with this learning project by setting a goal of being able to play “Piano Man” by Billy Joel on the piano. I believe that I have achieved that goal or am close to it at least.
This song was very hard and such an complex song. I had to make some modifications to be able to play it as well as I can today!
I have used technology to really grasp and understand how to play the piano and specifically how to play the song “Piano Man”.
The best resource I found was a YouTube Video. I have embedded that video below.
In this video, she explained how to play the chords correctly and really helped me learn how to play the intro perfectly with no mistakes. She spoke out each note while playing it which made my life a whole lot easier. She also talked about the order of the song and how it should be played which I took note of in my notes app called Notability.
Week 1: Introduction to the Learning Project
I started on my journey into playing the song “Piano Man” by Billy Joel on the piano by using 2 apps called Simply Piano and Skoove.
During this week, I spent my time going through modules on the 2 piano apps I downloaded the previous week. I learned about major and minor keys from a YouTube video. I learned the chords to the song by using a piano tutorial for “Piano Man” on YouTube. I slowed the video down to help me perfect the chords.
Week 3: Chords, Chords, Chords
During week 3, I spent my time learning the left handed chords and practicing stretching my hands out so I could play octave chords.
Week 4 is when I shared my progress with the EDTC 300 class. I used iMovie and YouTube to create and post a video so I could upload it to this blog. I really enjoyed using iMovie because it took all my videos and put them together to make the whole video flow well.
Week 5: Timing is Everything… Make it Count
During week 5, I fond myself learning the correct timing of the song. The song is actually played really fast so I had to modify it by cutting the timing in half. I spent time reading blog posts online on how to improve my timing. I found that everyone was saying to use a metronome so I downloaded a metronome app and it really helped me out!
Week 6 was a tough week for me. I spent my time practicing a particular part over and over again to get it right, and I eventually did get the notes right. I learned how to use correct hand posture during this week as well.
During week 7, I started putting the whole song together. I also made many modifications on how to play the song this week. I changed playing chords in certain parts as just single notes to make it easier on me and my timeline. I am happy with the modifications I made during this week.
Week 8: The Eighth Week Calls For New Surprises!
During my 8th week, I spent time singing and humming to the song to help me remember what parts to play next. Singing the song also helped me keep the timing of the song. I enjoyed being able to sing to something that I was actually playing.
This week, I used my iPhone camera to take a video of me playing the intro and the first few verses of the song. I posted the video to YouTube because I find it to be the easiest way to upload videos on my blog. I was very happy with the progress I made this week!
Week 10 was a very important week for me! I began learning the bridge of the song this week and started putting all the parts that I learned ALL TOGETHER. I started preparing for the next week during week 10. I started writing down the order of the verses on my notes app on my iPad to make it easier on myself for filming my end result.
Week 11: Final Learning Project Post
During this week, I filmed myself using my iPhone and put it all together iMovie once again. I posted the video on YouTube and made it unlisted so only people with the link can see it. I have embedded my “End Result” video below!
Overall, I have really enjoyed learning how to play the piano! I really pushed myself to learn the song “Piano Man” by Billy Joel and I am really happy with my final result.
Thank you for coming along this journey with me!