It may seem absurd, but practicing the piano without a live instrument is actually very beneficial. Practice your fingers by tapping them on the table as if you were pressing piano keys. While tapping your fingers, do finger rhythm exercises or play a whole song. If you need to memorize a piece of music, study the bars on the score individually and tap your hands on the table. Gradually, start increasing the number of notes and timeframes until you have successfully completed one song. It doesn't matter whether you are at an advanced level or a beginner, you can also try some useful practice apps.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Train Your Fingers
Step 1. Practice correct hand form
When playing the piano, the hands should be round and curved and not stiff. Try holding the ball or placing both hands on your kneecaps. See how your fingers curl. Practice keeping your fingers shaped like that.
When your fingers are in the correct shape for playing the piano, they will not bend or strain. In this form, the three knuckles on each finger can still be seen. Make sure your wrists are relaxed too
Step 2. Practice the scale on a table surface
Practice finger coordination by playing scales on a table surface as if it were a real piano. As you move up a scale with your right hand, try crossing your thumbs to play all four notes. After that, go down a scale and try crossing your middle fingers to play the sixth note.
As you go up a scale with your left hand, cross your middle fingers to play the sixth note. When descending with your left hand, play the third note with your thumb
Step 3. Do finger rhythm exercises
Starting with the thumb and ending with the little finger, tap all five fingers as if you were pressing the keys of a piano from middle C to G. Tap harder every three beats to emphasize the rhythm.
Go up and down the scale, or tap from thumb to pinky, then pinky to thumb. Beat as fast as you can while maintaining the rhythmic pressure. Swap stressed intervals and add combinations, such as stressing every second or fourth beat
Step 4. Try a combination beat
Write the numbers 1 through 5 on your fingers, from thumb to little finger. Choose a combination of numbers, such as 1, 2, and 5. Practice tapping with your thumb, index finger and little finger in this order.
Swap combinations for more complicated ones. Try to tap as fast as you can without making any mistakes
Step 5. Spend more time working your non-dominant hand
Practicing scales and rhythmic exercises with your non-dominant hand can help improve coordination and hand dexterity. Apart from practicing, you can also try brushing your teeth, combing your hair, and doing other things with your non-dominant hand.
Step 6. Play a song on a tabletop as if it were a piano
You can practice playing songs on a tabletop either by reading musical notation or from memory. Try to imagine playing it as real as possible. Try to hear each note and feel your fingers pressing on the piano keys.
Playing on a tabletop is very good for memory. Even if you're not sitting at the piano, you're still training your fingers to follow the rhythm of the song
Step 7. Practice using online guide videos
If you don't have a piano, watch and practice through the guide videos. You can practice finger dexterity, relearn notes, scales, and other basic lessons, or get expert instruction for more advanced techniques.
Berklee School of Music provides very useful free video lessons for beginners:
Method 2 of 3: Memorizing Music Notation
Step 1. Learn the score with the bar and hands one by one
Start by reading the melody for the right hand on the first bar of the song. Study it carefully, then play it on a table surface if you're sure you've memorized it.
If you need scores, a quick search on the internet will bring up sites and apps that provide scores of tens of thousands of songs. You can also buy printed or digital sheet music online or at a music store
Step 2. Play the melody bar for the right hand
After learning the first bar for the right hand, start playing it on the table as if it were a piano. Try playing the part 4 or 5 times without looking at the score. As you practice, try to imagine as best you can the melody sounds and how it feels like your fingers pressing on the piano keys.
Step 3. Train the bar section for the left hand
Switch to left-handed chords or melodies when you're confident with the first bar of the right-hand side. Study the scores carefully, then practice playing with your left hand from memory.
Step 4. Combine both hands and slowly add bar by bar
When you're comfortable with your left hand, try practicing with both hands at the same time. Repeat this process to remember the next bar, then slowly start increasing the number of notes and steps until you have completed one song.
Step 5. Check the score to make sure you are playing the correct notes
Every now and then, read the scores as you play the song to make sure you've memorized the notes correctly. Don't accidentally remember the wrong notes.
Step 6. Imagine the sound you want to create
Imagine what kind of sound you want the piano to sound like and what shape you give each phrase. This type of mental practice can actually improve your approach to the piano and help provide a compelling or unique understanding of interpreting a piece of music.
Mental training without physical movement can be very useful for intermediate or advanced players
Method 3 of 3: Using the Piano Practice App
Step 1. Try using an app that teaches basic piano skills
If you're just getting started playing the piano, try using a free app for beginners, such as JoyTunes Piano Maestro. Features of this application include exercises and interactive games. The app tracks your progress and provides feedback based on your play.
Step 2. Download the sight reading app
Sight reading, or reading songs and playing scores that have never been seen before, is an important skill, but can be very difficult to master. Try apps like Read Ahead and SightRead4Piano to practice your sight reading skills. Both apps are available in free practice demo versions, but you have to pay to get access to the next level.
Step 3. Watch the virtual piano play musical notes note by note
For less familiar or complicated musical notation, it can be useful to see how the keys are played on a complex rhythm. The Plern Piano app offers features for uploading music and creating representations of the keys played during a song.
