Category: Lessons, Music Theory
Now lets put together what we’ve learned during the last 2 or 3 lessons. We are going to put together both the treble and the bass clef notes onto the grand staff, and associate it with the positions on the keyboard. First lets look at spaces.
In the image above there are several notes on the grand staff that we did not learn in our last lesson. Notice the notes that are sitting either above or below the staff. Low F in the bass clef sits right below the first line of the bass staff. B sits right above the top line of the bass staff. In the treble clef, D sits right below the first line, and high G sits right above the last line.
The notes on the lines are similar to what you have learned already: Good Boys Do Fine Always, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. But wait! there is a note in the middle. This note is middle C! Notice that it is above the staff in the bass clef, and below the staff in the treble clef. It has a line going through it called a ledger line. We will learn about this in more detail in a later lesson, but ledger lines are used to show the notes that are too high or two low to fit on the staff.
Below you can see all of the notes on the grand staff. None of the note names are filled out – If you want some practice naming notes, you can download the worksheets in the worksheet section.
Category: Methods, Miscellaneous, Practice and Performance
A lot of parents aren’t sure when they should start sending their child to piano lessons. Children who are too young may not have the attention span and may not benefit from piano lessons. Children who are too old – well, there is no such thing as too old. OK, so when is the BEST time to start? To be honest, this depends greatly on the child. If you are thinking of enrolling your child in piano lessons, run through the following questions first.
1. Are YOU committed to it?
Children naturally have a shorter attention span than adults. If your child is to get the most out of piano lessons, the parents must be committed to it 100%. You must set aside time for your child to practice, and be sure that your child adheres to the practice schedule. You must be committed to driving your child to practice every week, and footing all of the costs that result from that.
2. Does my child know their ABCs / Can my child read?
Although this is not a requirement, it makes reading music less of a stretch. They should be able to count and sound out words based on the letters of the alphabet. Again, this is not a requirement, but your child will get the most out of piano lessons if they have this basic foundation of knowledge.
3. Does my child demonstrate some manual dexterity?
Observe your child at play. Notice whether he or she has the capability of fine movement (placing pieces in a puzzle, doing up buttons, etc). If they are starting to write or draw, this would be a good indication that they have the dexterity necessary to play the piano keys.
4. Is my child interested in playing piano?
Talk to your child about piano lessons and gauge their interest. You can make your child to go to piano lessons, but it will not be very rewarding for either of you if no one is having fun. Not to mention, it is very difficult to force your child to learn something they are not interested in. Make sure that learning the piano is something that interests your child.
5. Will my child be able to sit through a half-hour lesson?
30 minutes is a standard duration for a beginner piano lesson. Does your child have the attention span to sit through an entire half hour? Many piano teachers who are used to working with young children will have techniques to keep the child engaged for the entire half hour. This can include fun activities such as marching and clapping, jumping up and down to a beat, or singing. Before you commit to a piano teacher, ask what techniques they use to keep young children interested.
Well, if you made it through all of these questions, you can gauge for yourself whether your child (and your family) is ready for piano lessons. The earliest I would ever recommend someone learning piano is at the age of 4, and that is still quite young. Generally, children around the age of 6-7 are in a good position to make the most of piano lessons. But again, it all depends – look for the signs, and you can’t go wrong.
Category: Lessons
Learning the notes on the bass clef is as easy as learning fun little phrases. Lets start with the notes in the spaces.
The spaces are A, C, E, and G. One of the phrases you can use to memorize this is: All Cows Eat Grass.
And now for the notes that live on the lines:
Good Boys Do Fine Always. It’s not my favourite phrase. If you have a better one, let me know! Next lesson we will see all of the notes on the grand staff together with the keys on the keyboard. Check the worksheet download section for downloadable note recognition practice sheets.
Category: Lessons
Finally the moment you have all been waiting for (all one of you 
) ….. In this lesson we will learn how to read music! Specifically, we will be taking a look at the treble clef notes. OK, so as you know, the staff consists of 5 lines and 4 spaces. Depending upon which line or space a note is located, it will have a specific letter value (A, B, C, D, E, F or G)
So lets start with the spaces. There are 4 spaces on the staff. If you start at the bottom space and work your way up, the note values are F (first space), A (second space), C (3rd space), E (top space). A good way to remember the value of the spaces is that they spell… you guessed it… FACE! Exciting eh? OK, maybe not – but its useful to remember.
And now for the notes on the lines. As you can see in the image above, the notes are E, G, B, D, and F. There are a number of phrases you can use to remember these notes, but the one I always use is “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”. Another thing to notice is how the curl of the treble clef circles around the G-line.
This is a short introduction to the notes that are located on the treble clef. Keep in mind that notes can be located above and below the staff. We will look at these notes in the next lessons. Look for practice sheets in the download section. Practicing your note recognition will be very important if you want to learn how to read music.
Category: Lessons, Music Theory
Piano music is divided by bar lines into small sections called measures. These concepts are demonstrated in the image above.
Piano music also has numbers near the beginning of the music. These numbers are is called the time signature. The time signature is related to the rhythm of the music. Each time signature contains 2 numbers: the top number tells you the number of beats or counts in each measure. The number at the bottom tells you which type of note gets the beat. A 4 at the bottom means that the QUARTER NOTE gets one beat. The 4/4 time signature is a very common time signature.
The QUARTER NOTE is a black note with a stem. It receives one count, or one beat. The HALF NOTE is a white note with a stem. It receives 2 counts (1-2). The WHOLE NOTE is a white note with no stem. It receives 4 counts, or 4 beats (1-2-3-4). In the image above, there are 4 counts in each measure.
This lesson introduces you to the basic rhythmic components of music. Look in the worksheet section for downloadable practice worksheets.
Category: Lessons, Technique
Each finger is associated with a number. Some sheet music displays numbers to inform the player which finger to use on the key. The thumb on each hand is assigned number 1. The diagram to the right illustrates the finger numbers on the right and left hand. Before you start to play the piano, you should be comfortable with responding to finger numbers. Practice moving your fingers as you say the finger number out loud.
Place your right hand on the keyboard with your thumb on middle C. (To find middle C see the previous lesson: Staff, Treble Clef, Bass Clef, Grand Staff, and Middle C.)
The remaining four fingers should fall onto the next four keys. Make sure you keep your fingers in a curved shape in the center of the keys. This is “Middle C Position” for your right hand.
Exercises:
1. Find Middle C position and place the fingers of your right hand on the corresponding notes.
2. Play the notes C-D-E-F-G, while saying the finger numbers out loud
3. Play the notes C-D-E-F-G, while saying the note names out loud
4. Play the notes G-F-E-D-C, while saying the finger numbers out loud
5. Play the notes G-F-E-D-C, while saying the note names out loud
6. Make up your own tune in middle C position, and write down the note names and finger numbers of the tune
Category: Lessons
The two clefs that are used when playing the piano are the treble clef and the bass clef. In music, a clef is used to define the location of notes on the staff. These symbols form the basic infrastructure of piano sheet music.
Staff
The staff is the most basic element of Western music notation. It consists of 5 horizontal lines with 4 spaces between them. These are the lines (and spaces) upon which notes are written to indicate their pitch.
The Treble Clef
The treble clef, also called the G clef, is the clef commonly used for the right-hand in piano sheet music. The word ‘treble’ means soprano, or having a high range or tone. Therefore the treble clef is usually used to express the notes about or above middle C.
When the treble clef is used, the G above middle C is located on the second line of the staff. An easy way to remember this is to notice that the treble clef symbol encircles the second line, indicating it is the G line. Any note that falls on that line will be a G.
The Bass Clef
The bass clef can be used to express notes about or below middle C. It is used for instruments that have a lower pitch, such as trombone, tuba, and bass guitar. In piano sheet music, it is used for the left hand. The bass clef is also called the F-clef. Can you guess where the F note would fall on the staff? If you guessed that the F falls on the 4th line, you would be right.
The Grand Staff
Finally, we will discuss the grand staff. When you put the two clefs and two staffs together, you have what is called the grand staff. Most piano music will use the grand staff. Notice in the illustration below that middle C is located between the two staves. On your keyboard, middle C is the C that is closest to the middle of the keyboard.
Exercise
1. Find middle C on your keyboard
2. Find the G above middle C on your keyboard
3. Find the F below middle C on your keyboard
4. Locate G on the treble clef on the illustration above
5. Locate F on the bass clef on the illustration above
Category: Lessons, Technique
I can hear you now – what a ridiculous lesson this is – I know how to sit, I don’t need someone to teach me! That may be true, but proper posture and position allows you to reach the entire keyboard and stay comfortable while practicing. Once you have learned to sit properly at the piano it will become second nature.
Body Position
1. Sit in the center of the piano bench, ensuring your feet are flat on the floor and your back is straight.
2. Position yourself towards the front of the bench to allow a full range of motion with your body. Your body needs to be able to move from the hip joint.
3. The bench should be moved forward so that your hands are positioned over the keys with your elbows bent naturally, so they fall just forward of your body.
4. The height of the bench should be adjusted so that your forearms are parallel with the floor.
Hand position
When you are sitting at the piano position your right hand over the keys with your thumb on C. The correct hand position will allow your fingers to be relaxed and curved. They should be positioned near the center of the keys. Your hand should be positioned as if you were holding a ball. Do not reach for the keys with your fingers – your fingers should be like little hammers, striking DOWN on the keys, not forward.
Sitting properly and positioning your hands correctly will give you a basis for good technique. Make a conscious effort to obtain good posture every time you sit at the piano or keyboard. Eventually, it will come naturally to you.
Category: Lessons, Music Theory, Practice and Performance
The first thing you will need to know when learning the piano is what the keys on the keyboard are called and how to find them.
Each white key on the keyboard is named after a letter of the alphabet. The notes A, B, C, D, E, F and G repeat up and down the keyboard. Easy, right? The only thing left to know is which key is which!
Take a close look at your keyboard and try to notice the pattern that the black keys form. It is easy to see that the black keys on the keyboard are clustered into groups of two and three. Find a group of two black keys on the keyboard – the white note directly to the left of that group is C. Now find a group of three black keys on the keyboard – the white note directly to the left of the three black keys is F. Now fill in the blanks! It’s that easy. The key to the right of G is A. Practice finding and naming the notes on the keyboard – become comfortable with the piano keyboard.
Feel free to comment if you have questions!
Posted on November 8th, 2008 by sharlene
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