THE MUSICAL ALPHABET IS MADE UP OF SEVEN LETTERS.
These are letters that are used over and over on the keyboard to name the white keys. When you play the music alphabet forward, it goes up the keyboard to the right:
ABCDEF G. So when you play the music alphabet backwards, it lowers the keyboard to the left:
GFEDCB A.
Practice Instructions:
1. Play the musical alphabet both forwards and backwards at different places on the keyboard, using the second finger of either hand. Say the letters out loud as you play.
2. Memorize the musical alphabet forwards and backwards.
It’s easy to find the white keys and know their names when you search for the 2 and 3 black key sets.
A IS BETWEEN THE 2ND AND 3RD KEYS OF THE SET OF 3 BLACK KEYS.
B IS TO THE RIGHT OF THE SET OF 3 BLACK KEYS.
C IS TO THE LEFT OF THE SET OF 2 BLACK KEYS.
D IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SET OF 2 BLACK KEYS.
E IS TO THE RIGHT OF THE SET OF 2 BLACK KEYS.
F IS ON THE LEFT OF THE SET OF 3 BLACK KEYS.
G IS BETWEEN THE 1ST AND 2ND KEYS IN THE SET OF 3 BLACK KEYS.
Practice Instructions:
1. Close your eyes
2. Play sets of 2 and 3 black keys with one hand. With the other hand, find and name the nearby white keys.
3. Memorize a keyboard image.
POSITION C:
LH PLAYS:
CDEFG – fingering is 5-4-3-2-1
HR PLAYS:
CDEFG – fingering is 1-2-3-4-5
playing legato
Legato means to play softly, connecting the pitches. To play legato, one finger is lifted when another finger plays the next note. A tie is a curved line above or below two or more different notes that are to be played legato (soft, connected). The ligature is used to show a musical thought called a phrase. Gently raise your hand at the end of a sentence.
play staccato
Staccato means to play short, separating the tones. A dot above or below a note means staccato. To play staccato, release the key immediately after playing. Another name I like to call staccato is “hot potato.” Quickly drop the note!
tied notes
A tie is a curved line connecting notes of the same pitch (notes on the same line or space). Play only the first note and hold it down for the value of both notes.
For example:
Half note + whole note = 6 beats
2 beats + 4 beats = 6 beats
Whole note + Whole note
4 beats + 4 beats = 8 beats
the staff
The staff has lines and spaces. Notes are written on lines or in spaces. The staff has 5 lines and 4 spaces. So, the notes are placed on lines or spaces. Number the lines from bottom to top. And number the spaces from bottom to top.
key signs
A clef is used at the beginning of each staff. There is a treble clef or treble clef. The tail wraps around the second line. High tones are written on a treble staff.
Bass clef or bass clef on the fourth line with dots on either side of the fourth line. Bass tones are written in a bass clef.
the great cane
The bass and treble staves are joined by a brace to form the grand staff. I explain to my students that it is as if the left hand shakes hands with the right hand. A short line is added between the staves for middle C.
So when you’re in a music store looking for a book to buy, always look for the Grand Staff if you want to play the piano with both hands. Intermediate and advanced players look for fake books where they are given the right hand melody notes and left hand chords.
Whether you play soft or thick, learning the musical alphabet and applying it to the keyboard is fun. Once you learn to read notes, you’ll have that gift for life, and you’ll be able to play any style of music with a little practice. Have fun reading and playing the notes. Eventually you’ll be improvising, not reading all the musical notes and relying more on listening to the progression… and that’s another story.
