New Course - Learn to Play Keyboard for Beginners
When: Commencing Term 3, (23 July) 2026 - Thursdays - 10.30 am to 11.50 am
Where: Room 15, U3A Manningham, The Pines Learning Centre, VIC 3109
Capacity: 16 Students maximum
Cost: Free to U3A Manningham members
Booking: Reserve your place via the U3A website. Non-members can join here
Objectives
Learn to play your keyboard, synthesiser or piano using fun traditional, classical and pop songs. Start your musical journey with fellow beginners in Term 3. Great for mind and spirit.
1. Introduction to the Keyboard and Basic Hand Techniques
2. Understanding Musical Notation and Rhythm
3. Playing Simple Melodies
4. Introduction to Scales and Chords
5. Exploring Different Musical Styles
6. Building Repertoire: Learning Popular Tunes
7. Basic Accompaniment Techniques
8. Method for learning songs you want to play
Practice between classes will significantly boost your progress.
Get Your Course Workbook
The course is based on the highly acclaimed:
Adult Piano Adventures All-in-One Lesson Book 1
by Nancy & Randall Faber
You will need your own copy to bring to each lesson, and for practice between lessons. Available at many good music stores and currently on sale at both Amazon and Booktopia.
NB: Faber publish a large number of piano books so make sure you buy the correct one.
BYO Keyboard
To get the most out of the course, you should own your own keyboard to enable practice between each lesson.
Bring your keyboard to class. If the class is well subscribed then students will share a keyboard (due to space restrictions). No more than 2 people will share a keyboard to ensure plenty of practice time.
If you don't have a keyboard and are looking to buy one, then please contact me to discuss the best keyboard for your situation. Some criteria and suggestions are below.
In general, I recommend a keyboard:
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With 61 full-size keys (or more).
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Light enough to carry easily (around 5kg works well).
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With the option of being either mains or battery powered. Battery power is preferred for classroom use as it is faster to setup, easier to transport and safer (no cables to trip over).
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With a headphones socket.
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Which has built-in speakers that sound good.
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With built-in, realistic sounds, including a good piano sound.
Piano at home - If you have a piano at home, which is obviously too heavy to transport to class, then let me know and I'll try to arrange a shared keyboard with another student (limited availability). All students require headphones (see What Accessories MUST I Have? below). In addition you will need to provide a splitter cable so that you, and the person you are sharing with, can both share the headphone output on the keyboard. This example splitter cable assumes the keyboard and your headphones both use 3.5mm jacks. Wait until after the first class to buy one in case this assumption is incorrect.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Feel free to Contact Me with any Questions