In this beginner piano lesson from Christie Peery we have some great tips for you on how to get started playing the piano. These are some great basic steps for beginner piano players and a cool refresher for those getting back into playing the piano. We'll cover three areas to get you started: how to sit at the piano, how much distance from the keys you should be, and posture. So take a deep breath, make sure you've streched, and let's get started. 

We'll begin with going over how to sit at the piano. So how do you sit at the piano? Sounds like an easy question to answer but overall it is actually the most important part of your piano practice. Many factors come into play for how to sit at the piano. Your height, length of your arms, whether your feet touch the floor or dangle in mid air - all these matter.

If you're sitting at the bench and your feet are dangling above the floor you need to make sure that your knees are directly over the edge of the bench regardless if your feet are dangling or are grounded to the floor. In the same way, your hips should be comfortably on the back side of the bench with a lot of weight on your backside. Be sure to sit up strong and centered.

Now that you are sitting comfortably and strong, the next step to go over is how to tell if you are the right distance from the keys. The answer is all in the elbows... 

If you put your hands on the keys and your elbows are straight out of your body, this is a good indication that you are too far away. So you'll want to move your bench closer and sit back centered with your posture straight. You want your elbows to be slightly in front of your body. If your arms are at a 90 degree angle then you are closer than you need to be. Just move back away from the keys to adjust yourself.

Now that you have adjusted and your elbows are slightly in front of your body, you've found your distance. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are tall you should sit closer to the edge of the bench and move your knees forward. The basic idea is to position yourself so that your elbows are barely in front of your body and you can lean forward slightly without losing your good posture.

Posture is very important when playing the piano, so take the time to develop good sitting habits. No matter how old or tall you are make sure you sit very straight and that your shoulders are back and not curved down. Keep a straight back and tall posture with a slight lean towards the piano... and that's it! Now you're ready to practice.

Check out more free piano tutorials at Christie's online piano school and learn more piano techniques today. This unique 24/7 online "virtual" school of Piano enables you to submit practice videos and get personalized feedback on your playing from Christie.  Learn more at www.PeeryPiano.com today.