Hey everybody, welcome back! I want to start off by saying that this blog is pretty fast paced, and those of you with absolutely no prior musical experience may be finding it difficult to keep up with all the information that I am throwing at you. If you are serious about becoming a skilled pianist, I would suggest investing in some beginner level piano course books. That way you will have piano lessons readily available whenever you want and you will be able to progress at your own pace. I have personal experience with several different piano course series, and my favorite brand is Hal Leonard, which you can find by clicking on the following button and scrolling down:
I have found that this series is more helpful than others for beginner pianists because it is better organized and presents the material in a helpful way. Also, it is highly rated among many piano teachers for beginner piano players. Even if you get one of these books, you should still stay up to date with this blog because I will probably allow you to progress faster than if you just use the books, plus this blog will become a lot more fun in the future that I have planned for it!
So, the topic of this post will be proper piano playing posture and key signatures. When it comes to posture, I can not explain it any better than Robert Estrin, whose video you can find by clicking on the following button:
So, the topic of this post will be proper piano playing posture and key signatures. When it comes to posture, I can not explain it any better than Robert Estrin, whose video you can find by clicking on the following button:
For information on Robert, click on the following button (he knows what he is talking about):
As Robert states in his video, having the correct posture can really help with your overall sound. You will be much better off if you pay close attention to your posture whenever you sit down to play at a piano. As beginners, most of the songs that you will be playing for a while will be based around the octave directly above and directly below middle C. To make playing these songs easier, there is a home position that you should almost always put your hands at for the beginning of each song. With your right hand, you should put your thumb on middle C and put each adjacent finger on each adjacent white key. With your left hand, you should put your pinkie finger on the C below middle C and designate one white key per finger just like the right hand. When you are in home position, your hands should look like this:
As the above picture suggests, your fingers can be labelled as numbers. On each hand, your thumb is number 1, your index finger is 2, your middle finger is 3, your ring finger is 4, and your pinkie finger is 5. Sometimes you will see a number from 1-5 either above or below a note on a piece of sheet music. This number is the suggested finger for you to use when you play the note.
What is this all leading up to? These are all helpful tips to learning key signatures and scales. For now, lets just focus on key signatures and what they are. Key signatures are sharps and flats that are designated next to the time signature that show which notes are sharps and which notes are flats throughout the entire song. The different types of key signatures look like this:
What is this all leading up to? These are all helpful tips to learning key signatures and scales. For now, lets just focus on key signatures and what they are. Key signatures are sharps and flats that are designated next to the time signature that show which notes are sharps and which notes are flats throughout the entire song. The different types of key signatures look like this:
And on an actual piece of sheet music, it may look like this:
The above image is in an F# major key signature, which is very complicated, but you could probably work out each of the notes if you were given enough time. The role of the key signature is to show which keys should automatically be given as a sharp or as a flat for the entire song. In this key signature, there are sharp symbols on the keys of A, C, D, E, F, and G, so whenever there is one of these keys in the song, you should automatically play its respective sharp key. So in this case, you would play an A# where ever there is an A, a C# where ever there is a C, and so on.
If there is a natural sign in front of a note, the sharp is cancelled for that note. If there is a natural sign on one note, that note will automatically have a natural sign attached to it for the rest of that measure, but in the next measure the note will return to the rule of the key signature unless there is another natural sign. In the music pictured above, there are many natural signs to cancel the key signature for that note for the rest of the measure, but for many of the notes there is a sharp sign that is added in on a note after the note with the natural sign, so the sharp sign thus reinstates the key signature for that note for the rest of the measure. Each measure bar resets any previous sharps, flats, or naturals, so it is as if you are starting the song over again with the original key signature when you begin each measure.
Key signatures can be a lot to take in and they can look very intimidating, but it is rare to find any music that is as complicated as the music pictured above. I only used it because it has a good representation of what a key signature does as well as what sharp signs and natural signs do within the music. More often, you will find simpler key signatures with only one or two sharps or flats such as this one:
If there is a natural sign in front of a note, the sharp is cancelled for that note. If there is a natural sign on one note, that note will automatically have a natural sign attached to it for the rest of that measure, but in the next measure the note will return to the rule of the key signature unless there is another natural sign. In the music pictured above, there are many natural signs to cancel the key signature for that note for the rest of the measure, but for many of the notes there is a sharp sign that is added in on a note after the note with the natural sign, so the sharp sign thus reinstates the key signature for that note for the rest of the measure. Each measure bar resets any previous sharps, flats, or naturals, so it is as if you are starting the song over again with the original key signature when you begin each measure.
Key signatures can be a lot to take in and they can look very intimidating, but it is rare to find any music that is as complicated as the music pictured above. I only used it because it has a good representation of what a key signature does as well as what sharp signs and natural signs do within the music. More often, you will find simpler key signatures with only one or two sharps or flats such as this one:
In the beginning, even the simplest of key signatures can be difficult. This is where scales come in. Playing a scale is playing each note of a certain time signature from the bottom of an octave to the top and back down again. In scales, hand and finger placement is very important, and this will greatly help with your finger dexterity when it comes to playing an actual song. Let us start with the simplest key signature: C major, which does not have any sharps or flats. First, put your right hand in home position. To play the scale, play each note in ascending order starting with middle C, and use the finger order of 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. For example, you will play middle C with finger 1, D with finger 2, E with finger 3, F with finger 1, and so on. Now put your left hand in home position. With your left hand, do the same thing but with the finger order of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1. When you have each hand down, try to combine the two. Here are some visual aids for the finger order of a C major scale:
And here is a video of a person playing a C major scale:
Now that is the simplest scale that you will find, and as you add more sharps or flats the scale will become more difficult. Most scales will use the same fingering format with starting at either your pinkie or your thumb, depending on the hand, but some scales require different fingering positions. The following button has the fingering positions for all major scales, which are scales with sharps in them:
And the following button shows the fingering positions for all of the minor scales, which are the scales with flats in them:
I would suggest practicing each of these scales, maybe starting a new one each week. They are invaluable to piano playing, and they really help you to learn the different key signatures well. The more you practice, the better you become; the more you practice scales, the faster you become better.
In these past three posts, I have thrown at you a lot of information that I find to be either extremely helpful or necessary for becoming a skillful pianist. For most of you, it will take quite some time to be able to remember, understand, and use all of this information, but I truly believe I am putting you in the right direction. Now that I have shown you all of the basics to piano playing, I can help you to reinforce good habits and to keep progressing as a pianist. My plans for the future of this blog are to have some fun posts in which I will help you learn a song, and to have some constructive posts in which I help you with topics I have already covered or teach you some more tips or tricks. The sky is the limit with this blog!
Since these last three posts have been loaded with information, my next post will be a fun one in which I help you learn a song. I am planning on making it a holiday season song since it is that time of year, so feel free to comment with any suggestions! See you soon!
In these past three posts, I have thrown at you a lot of information that I find to be either extremely helpful or necessary for becoming a skillful pianist. For most of you, it will take quite some time to be able to remember, understand, and use all of this information, but I truly believe I am putting you in the right direction. Now that I have shown you all of the basics to piano playing, I can help you to reinforce good habits and to keep progressing as a pianist. My plans for the future of this blog are to have some fun posts in which I will help you learn a song, and to have some constructive posts in which I help you with topics I have already covered or teach you some more tips or tricks. The sky is the limit with this blog!
Since these last three posts have been loaded with information, my next post will be a fun one in which I help you learn a song. I am planning on making it a holiday season song since it is that time of year, so feel free to comment with any suggestions! See you soon!
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