Table of Contents
If you wish to play the piano like Ryan Gosling from La La Land, you’re in luck!
With an online coach like Skoove, you can learn to play the La La Land Soundtrack on the piano in a convenient way. If the Oscar-winning “Mia and Sebastian’s Theme” by Justin Hurwitz intrigues you, and you wish to play it yourself, check out Skoove.
When La La Land first came out in 2016, it took the world by storm. Winning a total of two hundred and forty two awards, the musical film made an impact that was felt around the world. These awards include not one or two, but six Oscars! Damien Chazelle won Best Director and Emma Stone got Best Actress, while Justin Hurwitz bagged two Oscars for the music in the movie.
Ryan Gosling’s Incredible Piano Skills in La La Land
There is no Oscar category for Extra Skill Achievements of actors as of yet. Otherwise, we are sure that Hollywood sweetheart Ryan Gosling would have most definitely also received an Oscar. Following La La Land’s motto ‘Here’s To The Fools Who Dream’, Mr. Gosling attained incredible piano skills for his role in the film in an incredibly short period of time.
As a piano novice, the actor spent only three months learning to play the instrument. However, this does not mean he did not commit to it – he put in two hours a day in front of the piano, six days a week! With profound dedication and commitment, he learned how to play the piano and mesmerize audiences around the world. Have a look at the performance for yourself below:
Do You Wish to Learn How To Play The Piano Like Ryan Gosling?
Mr. Gosling’s dedication to learning how to play the piano is commendable. It shows us that we, too, can be good at the keys if we just put in the effort. His impressive performance might inspire many of us who have been reluctant to finally pick up the keys.
However, many people get cold feet before they start to learn how to play the piano. There are many misconceptions and excuses that prevent people from making an effort to acquire the skill. We debunked many of these concerns in a myth busters article previously.
A more legitimate concern people have is that they do not simply have the time that Mr. Gosling put in to learn the piano. For these people, we have extremely good news! With the availability of Skoove, an excellent piano learning app, you can always learn how to play the piano on your own time.
Learn “Mia and Sebastian’s Theme” on Skoove
Skoove offers a streamlined classic piano course that teaches you the La La Land soundtrack. With easy to follow instructions and detailed hand movements, even people who have never played the keys before can learn the piano score! Let us talk you through the more hands-on details of the lesson on Skoove.
‘Mia & Sebastian’s Theme’ is taught in seven small sections. This guarantees a wide pool of Skoove learners to be able to learn this beautiful La La Land theme song with joy.
We arranged this soundtrack in a very easy to learn way. Although the arrangement is quite simple, it still retains the sweet and sentimental emotional impact of the original score.
You accompany the beautiful melody with broken chords. This makes it easy for you to learn playing with the left hand. It also improves the fine motor control in your fingers at the same time.
- The special thing about this song is that you will learn to play in the key of F# minor and in a 3/4 time-signature.
- Learning ‘Mia & Sebastian’s Theme’ of La La Land with Skoove improves your playing technique and gets you important tips on hand position changes.
- Finally, we have added chord symbols for you to be able to get creative and tune your own arrangement!
To aid you in the pursuit of emulating Mr. Gosling’s piano skills, here are six tips you should follow when practicing.
Six Tips to Playing the Piano Like Ryan Gosling From La La Land
1) 15 minutes a day
It is difficult to discipline yourself into practicing the piano, especially if you are just starting out. However, it is important that you schedule some practice time into your busy daily routine.
You can start with as little as 15 minutes on every second day. That will inevitably turn into longer periods of time, as you begin to get in the flow of playing and start to have fun. By allocating small chucks of time to practicing, you will associate piano learning with fun, as opposed to a chore.
You do not need to explicitly set a fixed time everyday for a tutor to come and teach you. With Skoove on your phone or PC, you always have a personal piano coach by your side whenever you need it. Simply fire up Skoove on your device whenever you find a few spare minutes and get straight to practicing the keys.
2) Goals, goals and more goals.
When you start out learning to play an instrument, you should set yourself some goals. A clear-cut set of goals go a long way to help keep you motivated to perfect your playing skills.
However, too optimisitic or unachievable of goals may actually affect your progress adversely. When you set unrealistic goals, you are more likely to lose patience and get frustrated. If you cannot achieve your goals in your set time period despite your best efforts, you might just end up quitting the piano in a fit of rage.
Thus, it is important that you set realistic goals that you are likely to achieve. When setting a timeline for your goal, account for the days you might not have time to play. Keeping some flexibility will allow you to achieve your goals within the time frame. When you do complete these goals, you will have a sense of achievement that gives you a boost in confidence. Additionally, if you end up completing the goals before the due date, it will only motivate you further.
Don’t just sit down to aimlessly play the same set of chords, as that won’t help you progress overall. Instead, pick a piece of music you love and resolve to learn it within a set period of time. Then, practice it until you get the piece right.
It is also helpful to sub-divide your main goal into smaller targets to be hit every week or so. A good place to start is by learning the first four lines in week one, the first page in week two and so on. Once you’ve achieved your first goal, move onto the next challenge.
3) Practice your patience
Learning to play any musical instrument is, while very exciting, also challenging. It takes time for your brain and muscles to work alongside with each other when you are syncing the playing with music reading. Just prepare yourself for some trial and error beforehand.
While Gosling’s performance in ‘La La Land’ might seem flawless, just remember how hard he had to work to get there. We can, without a doubt, say that he must have had to be very patient during the first few lessons. Learning the basics of the piano require a great deal of patience and perseverance.
A good way to maintain your patience is to spread out time between practice sessions. Keeping a recurring schedule for practicing the piano, like fifteen minutes each day, is useful for a number of reasons. If you are having a hard time with a particular technique or composition, keep your composure. Do not keep at it for hours on end – you just might end up quitting in exasperation. Instead, take a break. If you come across a particularly bothersome issue, just take a nap.
That’s right – a nap! Interestingly, researchers at Brown University found that sleeping between practices sped up the learning process. So if you’re getting frustrated, just hit the hay. Pick up where you left off the next day with a fresh mind instead.
More information about practice and sleep here.
4) Slowing down
Instead of rushing through practice to get yourself to the end of the piece, try playing slowly to avoid making any mistakes. Your brain (and fingers) will make mistakes more often if you have a frustrated ‘argh’ outburst, leading you to repeating them in the future.
Therefore, practice slowly, and feed your brain with correct and positive information. If you are making mistakes playing the composition at its native tempo, play at a slower tempo where you do not make mistakes. You can even use a metronome to keep your playing synchronized with time.
Practice at this pace until you can play it without any faults. As your fingers and your brain get used to playing the piano, you can gradually increase the tempo of your performance. With enough practice, you will become a piano virtuoso in no time.
5) See the finish line
Many athletes are taught this technique before an important sporting event. Their coach asks them to visualize themselves completing the race, crossing the finishing line and imagining how it would feel to win. The same logic can be applied to piano learning.
Imagine yourself playing the piece flawlessly, hitting all the right notes, with the perfect rhythm. Contextualize the actual piece in your mind. You will be surprised at how quickly your practicing improves once you use this technique. You might just even gain the confidence to perform in front of an audience, after using this technique.
6) Find a guru
As important as all of the above is, finding a good teacher is essential to learning the piano to a high standard. Even contemporary greats such as John Legend (and now Ryan Gosling) had teachers to get them on their way.
While private tuitions can be expensive and difficult to fit around a busy work/life schedule, there are other, more convenient options as well. You can subscribe to platforms like Skoove and learn piano with an app. Skoove will help you learn from the comforts of your own home. Simply sit down in front of a keyboard or piano and switch on your computer. Alternatively, you can download the iOS or Android app and practice with your phone or tablet instead of a computer.
Learning to play the piano, like acquiring any other skill, can bring about a learning plateau. You might get stuck in a rut and stop advancing in skill level after a while. If you can’t seem to get unstuck despite your best efforts, read this article on how to overcome learning plateaus.
Conclusion
The music in La La Land is a brilliant work of art by composer Justin Hurwitz. Furthermore, Ryan Gosling did incredible justice to the piece and delivered a spectacular and awe-inspiring performance in the movie as well.
After watching the movie, you might be tempted to learn Mr. Hurwitz’s composition for the movie. Alternatively, you might wish to learn to play the piano as smoothly and gallantly as Mr. Gosling did.
Whatever your end goals might be, you will be pleased to know that you can achieve them through Skoove. The only caveat here is that you must be willing to put in the effort to attain this level of piano mastery. Sign up for Skoove now and get a free 7-day trial with all premium features unlocked.
Try out your free trial of Skoove today!
