5 Minute Piano Lessons: Basic Fingering

This picture demonstrates proper rounded fingering

As a teacher of twenty five students, I highly recommend private lessons.  For those on the go, wishing to learn what they can, this is the place for you.

It takes years of study to play the piano correctly.  I will only be touching on the finer points here.  Feel free to post any questions pertaining to this lesson at the bottom.

The difference between an okay piano player and a talented pianist is often found in how they use their digits. A full piano keyboard has 88 black and white keys.  Learning how to maneuver up and down these 12 repeating notes (seven white and five black)  is not for the faint of heart.

Those who go at it blindly must reinvent the wheel.  Such people think that, for instance, square or triangle shaped wheels are easier to build and thus better for travel.  Such unhappy fellows move stiffly up the keys, not really considering what their fingers play. What starts out as innocent plucking become bad habits that limit your movement along the keyboard.  Let’s learn how to avoid them.

The goal here is to make smooth rounded wheels.  It may take longer to make but we have a rather long journey ahead of us.  Preparing correctly for that journey will make it so much more enjoyable!  We are shooting for ease of travel here, that is ease of travel up and down the keyboard.  This means doing things that feel uncomfortable at first, but later become very comfortable indeed!

 

Numbering your fingers

Place your palms against each other like you are saying a prayer.

The thumbs are henceforth christened as 1.

The pointer finger shall be named 2.

The middle finger shall be named… take a wild guess you weren’t born yesterday! (hint: its the 3 finger)

This would make the ring finger 4 and the pinky dubbed as 5.

In this fashion we name our fingers from 1 to 5.  

Name them all aloud wiggling each finger named.

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Sounds simple enough.  Unfortunately the keyboard before you is not shaped as your hands are.

 

The Shape of things to come

Hold your hands out and you will find they are mirror images of each other.  The piano does not share in this. It was designed with low notes on the left and high notes on the right.  Music in turn is formed this way with such low and high notes playing off each other.  Your symmetrical digits must learn to adapt to the asymmetrical plane of piano keys!

It seems silly to mention this (I promise it isn’t) but there is a certain rule of thumb you must always remember… That being: the thumb is always the 1 finger!

A second important finger to recognize is the pinky which is always the 5 finger.

Practice

In previous lessons you learned the white notes.  Find the C in the middle of the piano.

 

Right hand

Make a loose fist with your right hand, putting the thumb on the side of the hand.  Place your right hand 1 finger (thumb) on the C. Now unravel the fist so that 2 is on D, 3 is on E, 4 is on F, and 5 is on G. Make sure that all your finger tips are lined up with each other.  This will naturally round your hands.  This is how you must always hold your hand when playing the piano (no long, open palm fingering here).

Slowly play the notes C, D, E, F, G.  Then play them backwards G, F, E, D, C.  Do this a few times.  Not too fast!  Playing slowly helps build up the finger muscles.

Don’t mind the four finger. It is always the hardest finger to play.  With daily, practice all of your fingers will get stronger and therefore easier to play.

Find the G key to the left of the middle C key.

 

Left hand

Make a fist with your left hand, putting the thumb on the side of the hand.  Place your left hand 1 finger (thumb) on the G. Now unravel the fist so that 2 is on the F, 3 is on E, 4 is on D, and 5 is on C. Make sure that all your finger tips are lined up with each other.  This will naturally round your hands (no long, open palm fingering here).

Slowly play the notes: C (this means start on the 5 finger), D, E, F, G.  Then play them backwards G, F, E, D, C.  Do this a few times.  Not too fast!  Playing slowly helps build up the finger muscles.

 

C position

This is how you find and place your hands in C position.  Practice finding this position three times.  Remember, the R.H. 1 finger is on the middle C.  The L.H. 5 finger is on the other C.

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Notice that each thumb is on a different note.  In fact only the 3 fingers (middle fingers) share the same note (E).  Every other note is on a different finger.  So now you understand how confusing things can get.

Slowly play both Cs on the piano (R.H. uses the 1 finger, L.H. uses the 5 finger)

Play both Ds

Play both Es

…both Fs.

Gs…

Once this is mastered do it all backwards.

 

Remember

Keep your fingertips lined up with each other.

Do not lift any fingers up off the keys while playing a note.

It may not be easy to do this at first but I promise it will be in time.

 

Other piano lessons to peruse at your leisure

Happy piano playing

5 Minute Piano lessons: Learning the White Keys part 2

As a teacher of twenty five students, I highly recommend private lessons.  For those on the go, wishing to learn what they can, this is the place for you.

It takes years of study to play the piano correctly.  I will only be touching on the finer points here.  Feel free to post any questions pertaining to this lesson at the bottom.

In our previous lesson we noticed that the black keys are divided in groups of twos and threes.  We also learned that C was the white key before the two black keys and F was the white key before the three black keys. It’s time to discover the other five white keys.

 

Take a trip down memory lane

The ABCs teach us that letter D is after C and letter B is before C.  The same logic applies here.  The D piano key is right after the C piano key and the B piano key is right before.  So you will find that the D key is the white key right in the middle of the two black notes, pretty easy to find really.  B is the white key at the end of the three black notes.

Four down and three to go!  Find E, G, and A on your own using the ABCs and process of elimination.

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Just to be sure you got it C, D, and E surround the two black notes.  F, G, A, and B surround the three black notes.

This is a good trick to first learn the placement of the notes.  It is not the way that you memorize them.  Use it as a tool until you know the notes by heart.

 

Learning them by heart

The way you learn them all for good is by using the ABCs and process of illumination to locate one of the seven keys.  Then you notice where it surrounds the black keys.  For example: the A key is one of the four white keys surrounding the three black keys. It is third from the left.  Now find all the A keys on the piano by using your visual understanding of how it relates to the black keys.

We have already done this exercise for C and F (Just finishing it with the A).  Do it all for the D, E, G, and B.  Remember, find the white note using the ABCs, see how it relates to the black note, and use that relationship to find all of them on the piano.

You will be very surprised at how intuitive it is to pick up which note is which.  In fact, it is harder for me to explain it than it is for you to actually do.

Check your work

Use the diagram below to check your work.

This diagram is only a tool, training wheels so-to-speak, that help move you towards learning it by heart.  Our minds are quite capable of knowing the notes.  With the visual sight of where they are and the textual  feel of them, you can eventually find the white keys without any help at all!

Do not ever write the letters on the keyboard itself.  This will only become a crutch to you. Memorize them by sight.  What I am teaching you is the technique professional piano players have used for hundreds of years.  It is the fastest way to visually discern and know the white keys.

 

For practice

Find the lowest C (on the left hand side of the piano).  Play and say the names of all seven notes beginning with C and ending with B. Repeat this until you play all the white notes on your piano.  Don’t forget to actually say the letter names of the notes as you play them.  Notice the placement of each key and how it relates to the black keys.

For those playing on a full piano keyboard please ignore the lowest single black note while doing this exercise.

Now start at the top of your piano (which just so happens to be a C).  Name and say all the white keys going backwards from right to left.

 

Other piano lessons to peruse at your leisure

 

Happy piano playing