Piano Ties

What are piano ties and why should you care? You should care because if you want to play the piano, you must know what a piano tie is. Ties deal with the notation in music. Every piece of music you will play has what is called bar lines. Bar lines open up a whole new world of exploration and allow you a much greater range of dynamics. In piano, there are whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes.

Piano Ties Are Important To Mastering The Musical Instrument

Syncopation is the process of playing offbeat, complex rhythms. You should remember that, as it is a key component of piano notation. When you emphasize the offbeat, it begins to sound like a little bit of ragtime. Ragtime was played in the late 19th century and into the early 20th century. It was a style of piano that was singled out by its ragged hand movement, hence being called “ragtime”. You typically saw it in saloons, clubs, and dance halls. It has influenced the jazz scene of today.

The easiest way to think of an offbeat is to have the knowledge of off and on beats. An on beat is a beat which is played on the exact count. For example, say the following numbers with a consistent pause in between. Each number should be 1 second: “1,2,3,4”. Ok good, now say this, “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and”. If you were to be playing on an “on” beat, you would press the keys down on the number part of the count. If you were playing on the “off” beat, you would be playing the keys when you say the word “and”. You are basically pressing down the keys in between beats.

You should keep practicing this in order to get really good at it. Try another exercise where you continue to clap or press the keys on the off section of the beat. Many piano songs are going to be using some form of syncopation. Do not let the long name fool you. Just remember that you have to play on the pause section of the rhythm, not the “on” section.