Piano Basics and Music Reading

Lesson 1: The Basics

• Posture: Good posture at the keyboard is essential. Sit upright with your arms relaxed, feet flat on the floor, and your seat at a height where your elbows are slightly higher than the keyboard. Maintain a straight back and relaxed shoulders.
• Right Hand and Left Hand: Finger numbering for keyboard playing is 1-5, with the thumb being 1. Keep fingers curved and knuckles rounded to improve finger movement.
• Keyboard: The keyboard is organized using black and white keys arranged in groups of two and three black keys. The white keys are labeled with the letters of the alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). 'Middle C' is located centrally on the keyboard.

Lesson 2: Reading Music

• Notes: Music is written with symbols called notes. Each note has a specific rhythmic value, often measured in beats. Quarter notes usually represent a single beat.
• Staff: Music is written on a staff with five horizontal lines and four spaces. The position of a note on the staff determines its pitch (high or low), with higher notes placed higher on the staff. Ledger lines are used to extend the staff when needed.
• Clef: A clef symbol (e.g., treble clef) indicates which lines and spaces on the staff correspond to specific notes. The treble clef is used for the right hand.

Lesson 3: The Right Hand

• C Position: Playing five consecutive notes in a row (e.g., C-D-E-F-G) is referred to as a position, acting as a 'home base' for the hand

Lesson 4: Adding the Left Hand

• Harmony/Chords: The left hand often plays chords - three or more notes played simultaneously.
• C Position (Left Hand): The left hand typically also plays in the C position, and this is used for playing chords. The notes that are played sequentially for chords are to be played simultaneously

Lesson 5: More Notes & A New Chord

• F Chord: The F chord uses the notes F, A, and C. The student should be able to play the F chord in the same way as C and G chords (i.e., using the hand in the C position).

Lesson 6: Eighth Notes

• Eighth Notes: Two eighth notes are equal to one quarter note, and they are often grouped together using beams to make them easier to read
• Counting Eighth Notes: Eighth notes are counted in a similar way to quarter notes, with a slight variance in use of "and" while counting.
• Frere Jacques (Are You Sleeping): Learn to apply the counting of eighth notes to the melody.