Category: Lessons, Reviews
Its been a long time since I’ve talked about rhythm and the time values of notes. So perhaps a mini-refresher lesson is in order. (I know it is for me.) So far we have learned about the following notes:
- whole notes
- half notes
- quarter notes
- eighth notes
- sixteenth notes
- dotted notes
I’ll go over these one by one during this lesson so that we can move on to more complex rhythms during the next lesson.
OK, lets start with WHOLE NOTES. The whole note looks like a white circle with no stem; the simplest note there is. The whole note is worth 4 counts.
Next, we discussed HALF NOTES. The half note is white with a stem. It is worth 2 counts. That means in the same time that you play one whole note, you could play two half notes.
QUARTER NOTES are worth one count. It is a black note with a stem. You can play 2 quarter notes in the time it takes to play a half note, or you could play 4 quarter notes in the time it takes to play a whole note.
The diagram below displays the whole note, half note, and quarter note, and how they would be counted in a piece of music.
Now it gets a little more difficult. An eighth note is worth half a count. This means two eighth notes can be played in the same time as it takes to play a quarter note. It makes things a little more difficult to count, but you can use the technique discussed in Lesson 14 (Figuring out rhythm). The eighth note is a black note with a stem and a flag. The flag can either be a fancy flag that is not attached to it’s neighbor, or they can be connected together with a bar (see the image below). These two notations are equivalent, however the notation on the right is used more often when there are multiple eighth note runs. It just looks cleaner, and it can be easier to read.
So the SIXTEENTH note is worth half of the value of an eighth note. This means that 2 sixteenth notes could fit into an eighth note, and 4 sixteenth notes could fit into a quarter note. Again, it is more difficult to count than the other types of notes, but to help count these notes you can use the technique discussed in Lesson 14. The sixteenth note is a black note with a stem and two flags (as shown above). Like the eighth note, the flags can be (and often are) connected together if more than one sixteenth note occurs in a row.
Now for the DOTTED NOTE. A dot can be slapped onto any note: whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, etc. Putting a dot behind a note changes the duration of the note by increasing it by half of its original value. For example: A whole note is worth 4 counts; A dotted whole note would increase the duration of the note by half of it’s original value (+2), so a dotted whole note would be worth 6 counts. A dotted half note would be worth 3 counts. A dotted quarter note would be worth 1 and a half counts. (This is where it gets fun.) A dotted eighth note would be worth 3 quarters of a count, and on and on it goes.
Lesson 14 does not cover how to count dotted notes. Keep you eyes peeled and your ears tuned for the next lesson where I will explain how to count out the most common dotted notes and commonly-used rhythm patterns that use dotted notes.
Category: Miscellaneous, Reviews, Technique
photo credit: florian.b
I grew up with a fluorescent green book full of a wonderful world of finger exercises by a man called Charles-Louis Hanon. This book had several redeeming qualities: It glowed in the dark, and it entertained me for hours and hours upon end. OK, so maybe it wasn’t so entertaining… and it didn’t actually glow in the dark. But little did I know, as I was hammering away at my Hanon exercises, a raging debate was taking place about whether these exercises were helpful, or … dun dun duuuuuun….. harmful! to your technique.
There are several arguments for Hanon:
Hanon-the-Good
- Hanon develops finger strength and dexterity. I can’t argue with this one. Hanon is equivalent to running on the treadmill: It takes you nowhere, but you can certainly feel the burn!
- Hanon develops finger independence. I think this could be true, except for that in my experience most Hanon exercises are the same in the right and left hand. But don’t take my word for it – I haven’t used Hanon in quite some time.
- You can let out your anger with Hanon. It certainly is satisfying to bang out a quick Hanon (pardon the ahem, innuendo). You can play it loud, you can play it ugly
- You can annoy your neighbors with Hanon. Yeah. I find these exercises very annoying. This might belong under the Hanon-the-Bad category. But sometimes it can be useful to annoy your neighbors.
- You can train your fingers to find intervals with Hanon. In my opinion, this is one of the major strengths of playing Hanon. It’s all about learning where the notes are and training your fingers where to find them.
Hanon-the-bad
- Hanon gives you wrist problems? Some say that the repetitive nature of Hanon exercises can give you wrist problems? I’m not saying it’s not true. I’m just skeptical.
- Hanon does not increase musicality. Hanon is repetitive. Hanon is boring. So by extension, Hanon cannot be musically engaging and increase your musical ability. Again, I tend to disagree (not about the repetitive and boring part), because I think that an increase in control can help your musical expression. Hanon does help with control if played correctly. Hanon exercises are not intended to stimulate your creativity.
- Hanon exercises were developed like a million years ago… how could it be applicable today? Argue this one yourself. Or don’t.
OK, that’s it. So it’s pretty obvious that I’m biased. Hanon is boring, Hanon is repetitive, but in my opinion it IS useful for strength and dexterity if practiced correctly. My verdict: Hanon is OK!
Check out the new book. Its not bright green, and it doesn’t glow in the dark, but its still Hanon.
Category: Lessons
This lesson is going to review what we have learned so far. If you find you need more information, you can go back to the lesson to read the entire post.
In lesson 1 we learned how to find the white keys on the piano. Remember, the black keys are in groups of 2 and 3. To find the note C, find the group of 2 black keys. The white key to the left of the group of 2 black keys is C. The white key to the left of the group of 3 black keys is F. Easy. Then you can just fill in the blanks. Remember the names of the notes are A-B-C-D-E-F-G. These notes repeat up and down the keyboard.
In lesson 2, we learned how to sit at the piano. Back straight, feet on floor, forearms parallel with the floor. Remember to play with the tips of your fingers – with your hands curled like they are holding a ball.
In lesson 3 you learned about the staff, the treble clef, the bass clef, the grand staff, and middle C. The staff consists of 5 lines and 4 spaces upon which notes are written. The treble clef (or G clef) is used on the staff to show the notes in the upper range of the piano (usually played with the right hand). Remember that the treble clef curls around the G-line. The bass clef (or F-clef) is used on the staff to show the notes in the lower range of the piano (usually played with the left hand). Remember that the two dots on the bass clef are located above and below the F-line. When you put the two clefs together with two staves, it is called the grand staff. Middle C is located between the treble clef staff and the bass clef staff. On your keyboard, it is the C located near the middle of your keyboard.
On to lesson 4! In lesson 4 we learned about how each of your fingers has a number. Most music will have a fingering guide which will help you play more fluently. So just remember, your thumbs are one, your pointer fingers are two, and so on.
In lesson 5, the QUARTER note, HALF note, and WHOLE note were introduced. The quarter note is worth one count, the half note is worth 2 count, and the whole note is worth four counts. The time signature was also introduced. The time signature consists of 2 numbers. The top number tell you how many beats are in a measure. The bottom number tells you which note gets the beat. A 4 on the bottom means that the quarter note gets the beat.
Finally, we learned the notes in the treble clef and the bass clef. We learned that middle C was located between the two staves.
Lastly, we learned about rests. Rests are used to signify an interval of silence in a piece of music. The type of rest tells you how long the silence must last. The QUARTER REST is worth one beat, the HALF REST is worth two beats, and the WHOLE REST is worth four beats.
The first 10 lessons should have given you a good start to being able to read and play piano music. For more practice check out the worksheet section.
Posted on August 25th, 2009 by sharlene
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