How to Sit on the Piano Lesson # 1
_Sit with your back straight, but somewhat relaxed. Sit so that your
elbows are by your side, but somewhat in front of you. Hold your wrists
so that they are level with, or slightly higher than the top(back) of
your hands. Curl your fingers so that the thumb is almost in line with
your fingers on the keys.
How to Hold your Fingers
_As stated above, curl your fingers so that your thumbs are almost in
line with your fingers on the keys. Your fingers should be shaped like
you are holding a ball. This is the basis of how to play the piano
properly. Do not lay your fingers flat on the keys! Place each
fingertip and the side of your thumb of each hand on five adjacent keys.
Each finger has its own key to play. (More on this in the "Five Finger
Position.")What it looks like from your angle:
Finger Numbers
_On both the left and right hands, the thumbs are #1, index fingers are
#2, the middle fingers are #3, the ring fingers are #4, and the pinky
fingers are #5.
The Five Finger Position and what it implies
_Before we discuss the five finger position, let's review the finger numbers:On
both the left and right hands, the thumbs are #1, index fingers are #2,
the middle fingers are #3, the ring fingers are #4, and the pinky
fingers are #5.
What The Finger Numbers Imply
The finger numbers in a piece of music tell you
1. What finger is playing a particular note.
2. What five-finger position your hand will be in.
For example, if the music says to put your right hand first finger (thumb) on "A", then from that it is implied that your second finger is on "B," your third finger is on "C," your fourth finger is on "D," and your fifth finger will play "E."
The key signature must be taken into consideration. If in the previous example, the music is the key of "Bb," then your right hand second finger would play "Bb" instead of "B," and your fifth finger would play "Eb" instead of "E."
Sometimes the music requires you to change hand positions. For example, you may be in the "A" five finger position as stated above, but a musical phrase has the note "F" below that "A." If the phrase works best starting with the first finger on the "F," (because the notes move up) then often times no number will be given; because it is the most obvious choice for fingering. The same works for reaching up to a higher note outside of the position, and the fifth finger is the obvious choice (because the notes move down).
What The Finger Numbers Imply
The finger numbers in a piece of music tell you
1. What finger is playing a particular note.
2. What five-finger position your hand will be in.
For example, if the music says to put your right hand first finger (thumb) on "A", then from that it is implied that your second finger is on "B," your third finger is on "C," your fourth finger is on "D," and your fifth finger will play "E."
The key signature must be taken into consideration. If in the previous example, the music is the key of "Bb," then your right hand second finger would play "Bb" instead of "B," and your fifth finger would play "Eb" instead of "E."
Sometimes the music requires you to change hand positions. For example, you may be in the "A" five finger position as stated above, but a musical phrase has the note "F" below that "A." If the phrase works best starting with the first finger on the "F," (because the notes move up) then often times no number will be given; because it is the most obvious choice for fingering. The same works for reaching up to a higher note outside of the position, and the fifth finger is the obvious choice (because the notes move down).
The C Major Five Finger Position
_This is the position that most beginning pianists start in. In The C
major five-finger position, both hands will play notes C, D, E, F and G.
Right hand #1 (thumb) is on "C", and #5 ("pinky") is on "G." Left hand
is the opposite: left hand #1 (thumb) is on "G", and #5 ("pinky") is on
"C." Here's how it looks on the staff:
Fingering Patterns For Scales
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Practice the scales slowly and with an even beat. Try the scales with each hand individually at first. When you get comfortable with them, then try both hands together. Try to make all of the notes sound with the same volume. Play the scales "legato," an Italian term that means to play the notes smoothly and connected.
After you've learned the proper way for fingering the C scale, try some other scales. Many of the white key notes will have the same number pattern for fingering scales.
Practice the scales slowly and with an even beat. Try the scales with each hand individually at first. When you get comfortable with them, then try both hands together. Try to make all of the notes sound with the same volume. Play the scales "legato," an Italian term that means to play the notes smoothly and connected.
After you've learned the proper way for fingering the C scale, try some other scales. Many of the white key notes will have the same number pattern for fingering scales.
C Major Scale Fingering
_The C major scale is simply the white keys played from "C" to "C."
Though you may have never played a "major scale," I'm sure you know what
it sounds like: "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La ,Ti, Do."
Other Scales with the same Fingering Pattern
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Fingering scales: Here are some other major scales that use the same finger pattern:R.H. = 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
L.H. = 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
G Major : G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
D Major : D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
A Major : A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A
E Major : E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E
B Major : B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B
For B Major, the R.H. is the same as above, (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
The L.H. is : 4, 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1.
F Major : F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F
For F Major, the L.H. is the same as above, (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1)
The R.H. is : 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.
L.H. = 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
G Major : G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
D Major : D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
A Major : A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A
E Major : E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E
B Major : B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B
For B Major, the R.H. is the same as above, (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
The L.H. is : 4, 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1.
F Major : F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F
For F Major, the L.H. is the same as above, (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1)
The R.H. is : 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.
How to Read Music! (Lesson # 2)
_The Notes on the Piano Staff and Keys
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To learn how to read music, first you need to know what you are reading! This diagram shows where the notes on the staff are located on the piano keyboard.The
top staff, known as the "treble" or "G" clef represents the notes
played by the right hand. The bottom staff, known as the "bass" clef or
"F" clef represents the notes played by the left hand. Middle "C" is the
"C" closest to the middle of the keyboard, and is also known as "middle
C" because it is the note that is the middle line between both staves.
The two staves together are known as the "grandstaff."
The Elements of the Piano Grandstaff
_As stated above, the G clef denotes the staff of music
played by the right hand. It is called the "G" clef because it is shaped
like an medieval style letter "G." Notice that it forms a "cross" over
the "g" line. The "G" clef is also called the "treble" clef.
The left hand plays the notes on the F clef, also known as the "bass" clef. It is shaped like a medieval style letter "F." Its' two dots are on top and below the "F" line.
The brace connects the two staves together to create one piano "grandstaff."
The key signature is the sharps, flats or lack of that tell us the key the music is written in. Shown here is one flat, Bb, which is the signature for the key of "F."
The time signature is the two stacked numbers at the beginning of a piece of music. The top number is the number of beats per measure, and the bottom number tells us what each beat is worth. Here, 4/4 means 4 beats per measure, and each beat is worth a quarter note.
The barline divides the staff vertically into easy to read sections called measures. Shown above is a double barline which denotes the end of a piece of music.
The left hand plays the notes on the F clef, also known as the "bass" clef. It is shaped like a medieval style letter "F." Its' two dots are on top and below the "F" line.
The brace connects the two staves together to create one piano "grandstaff."
The key signature is the sharps, flats or lack of that tell us the key the music is written in. Shown here is one flat, Bb, which is the signature for the key of "F."
The time signature is the two stacked numbers at the beginning of a piece of music. The top number is the number of beats per measure, and the bottom number tells us what each beat is worth. Here, 4/4 means 4 beats per measure, and each beat is worth a quarter note.
The barline divides the staff vertically into easy to read sections called measures. Shown above is a double barline which denotes the end of a piece of music.
Time Values of Notes and Rests
To begin your quest on how to read music and understand musical notation, you will need to know the time value of the notes you are reading, as well as what pitch the notes represent.The whole note is held for the "whole" measure, which is four counts or beats in a musical piece with a 4/4 time signature. It is sometimes used to fill a whole measure in 3/4 time, which would be 3 counts or beats.
The half note gets half the measure in 4/4, or two beats or counts.
The quarter note gets one beat or count in any music that has "4" as the lower number in the time signature.
The eighth note gets one half of a beat or count in any music that has "4" as the lower number in the time signature.
The sixteenth note gets one quarter of a beat or count in any music that has "4" as the lower number in the time signature.
Rest Values Rest Values are the same as the note values listed above. Rest represent "no music" or "silence" for the duration of the rest.
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_The quarter rest and eighth rest are distinctive enough to make them easy to recognize. The whole rest and half rest
are easily confused, though. One way to remember is that the whole rest
looks like a "hole" in the ground, and the half rest looks like a hat.
Also, the whole hangs from the second line from the top of the staff, and the half sits on the middle line.