A Beginners Guide To Piano & Keyboard

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PianoBasics-EssentialThingsEveryBeginnerNeedsToKnowAboutThePianoKeyboard
Asabeginneroncemyselfmanyyearsago,andfromexperienceofteachingpeople,Ihaveputtogetherasheet,
whichisgoingtogiveyouatourofthePianoKeyboard,andexplaintoyoueverythingyouneedtoknowbefore
youstartlearningtoplaysongs.ThiswillgiveyouanunderstandingabouttheNotes,whattheymean,howto
workoutwhereMiddleCis,asthisisusedfrequentlyasareferencenote,andsomeotherimportanttopicsIfeel
shouldbecovered:
The First thing I am going to explain to you is about the repetitive note pattern that occurs on a Piano or
Keyboard...
You have 7 WHITE notes which repeat all the way up the piano, so when you first look at your Keyboard you
mightinitiallythinkdoeseverynoteonhererepresentadifferentnote?Wellitdoesn'titjustRepeats,soonce
yougetanunderstandingofthis,itwillallbecomealoteasierforyoutounderstand.TheNotesonthePianoare
AB CDEF G, sothe first 7 notesof the Alphabet.Becauseof various different sizedKeyboards, and how the
patternswork,agoodwaytorememberthispatternistostartitonC,soCDEFGABC.ThesmallerKeyboards
willstartonaCasopposedtoanA,andCisacommonusednotetorefertoo,sotryandgetitmemorisedthis
wayifyoucan.
Youthenhave5BLACKnotesonthepiano,whichagainrepeat.ThesehowevermaybecalledeitheraSHARPora
FLAT,dependingonwhichdirectionyouaretravellingupthePianoandwhatKEYSIGNATUREyourmusicisin.Ifit
readasSHARPS,theywillbeC#D#F#G#A#,andifreadasFLATStheywillbeDbEbGbAbBb.
IfyourmusicasksyoutofindaSHARP,thenalwaysrememberthatSHARPSaretotheRIGHTofawhiteNote.If
yourmusicasksyoutofindaFLAT,thenalwaysrememberthatFLATSaretotheLEFTofawhiteNote.
SeeBelowasmallkeyboard,whichwillhelpyouunderstandwhatIhavetalkedaboutabove.




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You can see from the keyboard above, how the notes repeat, and this will happen on whatever size Piano or
Keyboard you may have, as you get various sizes. A way to always find a C, is to remember that it is the note
belowthefirstBLACKNOTEoutofthesetofTWO,andjusttotheleft.Byrememberingitthisway,youcanthen
alwayshavetheNOTECasyourreferralnote.
YoumayhaveheardpeopletalkaboutthefamousMIDDLECnote,thisnoteiscommonlyusedasareferralnote
forpianists especiallybeginners.ThisnoteismoreorlessintheCENTREofthePiano,andthereforeisaneasy
noteforpianiststocomebackto,asitsplitsthePianodownthemiddle.

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BelowIamgoingtogiveyouexamplesofthemainsizePianosandKeyboardsyoumayhave,andgiveyousome
usefultipsonhowtoworkoutwhereMIDDLECisonthem:
FirstlyIwillstartwithafullsizePIANOwhichhas88keys:



AsyoucanseefromthisPiano,MIDDLECistheFOURTHCfromtheLEFT.IfyouprefertocounttheKEYS,using
whitenotesonlyMIDDLECisthe24thKEYfromthefirstnoteonthePianoincludingthisNOTE.
BelowisanexampleofaKEYBOARDwith76KEYS:



OnthisKeyboard,MIDDLECistheTHIRDCfromtheLEFT.IfyouprefertocounttheKEYS,usingtheWHITENOTES
only,MIDDLECisthe20thnotefromthefirstnoteontheKeyboardincludingthisNOTE.
BelowisanexampleofaKEYBOARDwith61KEYS:




Onthiskeyboard,MIDDLECistheTHIRDCfromtheLEFT.IfyouprefertocounttheKEYS,usingtheWHITENOTES
only,MIDDLECisthe15thnotefromthefirstnoteonthekeyboardincludingthisNOTE.

ThelastexampleKEYBOARDisasmallone,anditmaybeusedmorebyachild,ithas49KEYS:







Onthiskeyboard,MIDDLECistheTHIRDCfromtheLEFT.IfyouprefertocounttheKEYS,usingtheWHITENOTES
only,MIDDLECisthe15thnotefromthefirstnoteontheKeyboardincludingthisNOTE.

OCTAVES:
This word is another common word you may hear when you start learning the PIANO. From my information
aboveyouhavereadthattheNOTESrepeat.SometimespeoplemaysaytoyoucanyoutakethismelodyupONE
OCTAVE,orthissongisstartingonConeOCTAVEaboveorbelowMIDDLEC.Forexamplewhattheyareaskingis
foryoutoTAKEittothenextCabovemiddleC,sothepatternisCDEFGABC,soyouwouldstartitontheC
whichisONEChigherthanmiddleC.It'sanotherwayoflearningwhereallthenotesare.Youcouldgiveyourself
a test to find all the C's as an example and then work through each note on the piano, going up and down in
OCTAVES,soanotherwaytohelpyouprogress.

FINGERING:

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Usingthecorrectfingeringisreallyimportantwhenplayingpiano,ifyouendupjustusingacoupleoffingers,you
willfindyourmusicdoesn'tsoundveryfluent,andcanendupbeabitmessysounding.Youwillalsofindthatyou
runoutoffingers,andyouwillbecomestuck.

AsageneralRULEONEwillbeyourTHUMB,thenTWOisyourINDEXfinger,THREEisyourTHIRDfinger,FOURis
yourFOURTHfinger,andFIVEisyourPINKY.Onmusicyouwilloftenseenumbersaboveyournotes,statingwhich
fingeryoushoulduse.Itisadvisabletofollowwhattheyaresayingonthis.

HOWTOPOSITIONYOURHANDSONTHEPIANO/KEYBOARD:
Whenyoustartlearningyoumayfindyourhandsarealittletense,soitisreallyimportanttokeepyourhands
arms and wrists relaxed. It is good to keep your fingers slightly curled, imagine you are holding a tennis ball.
Ladiesitisadvisabletokeepyournailsshort,asthiswillhelpyoumovemoreeasilyupanddownthepiano.



POSTURE:
Itisimportanttokeepyourbackstraight,andyourshouldersrelaxed,justimagineyouhaveapieceofstringfrom
your head keeping your back straight, but remember not to tense your muscles, as this will make you feel
uncomfortable.

Alsomakesureyouchairisasuitableheightforyou.Makesureitisnottolowortoohigh.Usecushionstoadjust
thisifyouneedtoo.

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