[Menvi-discuss] Piano Geography

Tue Sep 21 01:56:53 UTC 2021

I was going to say I would love to have all three parts because I too am learning the piano and I don’t have a teacher myself I mean I’m learning from Bill Brown but sometimes he goes a little too fast for me. Going from trumpet to piano is a little different :-)

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> On Sep 20, 2021, at 6:21 PM, David Pinto via Menvi-discuss <menvi-discuss at menvi.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Stephanie,
>  
> The 3 parts are finished but I wanted to spell and grammar check each one before sending them out of AMB.
> How do I make these 3 lessons a resource on the MENVI website?  That would be preferable, I agree.
> David
>  
> From: Menvi-discuss <menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org> On Behalf Of Stephanie Pieck via Menvi-discuss
> Sent: Monday, September 20, 2021 2:57 PM
> To: 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy' <menvi-discuss at menvi.org>
> Cc: Stephanie Pieck <themusicsuite at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [Menvi-discuss] Piano Geography
>  
> A suggestion:
>  
> This might be better placed as a resource on the MENVI website with all three parts in a single document. That way, those who want the information can find it without having to wade through lots of archived forum messages.
>  
> Also, if you already have all three parts written, why not share them in messages one after the other, or even in the same message?
>  
> Stephanie Pieck
>  
> From: Menvi-discuss [mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org] On Behalf Of David Pinto via Menvi-discuss
> Sent: Monday, September 20, 2021 3:48 PM
> To: 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy'
> Cc: info at ouramb.org
> Subject: Re: [Menvi-discuss] Piano Geography
>  
> Hi Samantha,
>  
> Below is Part 2 of my 3 lessons on finding and naming the piano keys.
>  
> IDENTIFYING THE KEYS OF THE PIANO KEYBOARD
> PART 2
>  
> In Part 1, the student learned to find the gaps of 2 white keys in between the groups of black keys.  And using those gaps, the student learned to reliably find and play the groups of 2 and 3 black keys with both the left and right hands.  Now, in this lesson, Part 2, the student will learn how to name the fingers of both of his hands, how to play the black keys with the correct fingers and say their correct letter names.
> After this lesson, Part 3 will teach the student how to identify all the white keys by their position in relation to either the 2 black keys, or the 3 black keys. With that mastered, the student will be able to play and name any key on the keyboard with ease.
>  
> 1. FINGER NAMING CONVENTIONS
> Different instruments have different naming conventions for the fingers.  For instance:
> When playing guitar, the thumb is called the thumb; the index finger is called finger number 1; the middle finger is number 2; the ring finger number 3; and the pinky is number 4. 
> On the piano, the thumb is considered finger number 1; the next finger, the index finger, is called number 2; the middle finger number 3; the ring finger number 4; and the pinky is number 5. 
>  
> 2. RIGHT HAND FINGERING OF THE GROUP OF 2 BLACK KEYS
> 1. With your right hand, find a group of 2 black keys near the middle of the piano. It doesn’t matter if you’re precisely in the middle.  Just find a group of 2 black keys near the middle. Now, the first one of the 2 black keys (the one at the left side of the group) should be played with the right hands 2nd finger. Go ahead and play that black key with your index finger.
> 2.  That first black key is named either C sharp, or D flat. For now, we will just call it C sharp.  So, go ahead and play all the C sharps on the piano with your right hand’s 2nd finger. Start at the first group of 2 black keys near the bottom of the keyboard. Say C sharp whenever you play it with your 2nd finger. Go ahead and do that now.
> 3. Now, just to reinforce the correct fingering of the C sharp, we’re going to do the wrong fingering.  Play a C sharp near the middle of the piano with your thumb.  That’s right, your thumb.  You’re not supposed to do that right?  But do it anyway. Do that now.
> 4.  Now, let’s play the C sharp with your thumb once again.  But then play the C sharp again with your 2nd finger.  So, you will be playing C sharp twice: first with your thumb, then with your 2nd finger. Do that now.
> 5. Now, let’s play the C sharp with all your fingers once after the other.  Start with your thumb, and then play that same note with the 2nd finger, then the 3rd, 4th and finally with your pinky. Do that now.
> 6.  Now, lets return to the correct fingering.  This time, you’re going to play the C sharp with your right hand’s 2nd finger, and then you are going to play the next note of the 2 black keys with your 3rd finger.  That second note of the 2 black key group is called either a D sharp or and E flat.  We will call it a D sharp.  So, go ahead and find all the groups of 2 black keys on the piano, and play C sharp with your 2nd finger, and say C sharp.  Then play the next black key with your 3rd  finger and say D sharp.  Start at the bottom of the keyboard. Go ahead and do that now.
>  
> 3. RIGHT HAND FINGERING OF THE GROUP OF 3 BLACK KEYS
> The fingering of the 3 black keys is the same as the fingering of the 2 black keys.  The only difference is that in the group of 3 black keys you have an extra key to play.  What finger do you think plays that third black key?
> 1. With your right hand, find a group of 3 black keys near the middle of the piano. Now, the first one of the 3 black keys should be played with the right hands 2nd finger. Go ahead and play that black key with your index finger.
> 2.  That first black key in the group of 3, is named either F sharp, or G flat. For now, we will just call it F sharp.  Now go ahead and play all the F sharps on the piano with your right hand’s 2nd finger. Start at the first group of 3 black keys at the bottom of the piano. Also, say F sharp whenever you play it. Go ahead and do that now.
> 3. Now, to reinforce the correct fingering of the F sharp, we’re going to do the wrong fingering.  Play an F sharp near the middle of the piano with your thumb, and then play that same note with the 2nd finger, then the 3rd, 4th and finally with your pinky. Do that now.
> 4.  Now, let’s return to the correct fingering.  This time, you’re going to play the F sharp with your right hand’s 2nd finger, and then you are going to play the next note of the 3 black keys with your 3rd finger.  That second note is called either a G sharp or an A flat.  We will call it a G sharp.  So, go ahead and find all the groups of 3 black keys on the piano, and play F sharp with your 2nd finger, and say F sharp, then play the second black key with your 3rd finger and say G sharp.  Go ahead and do that now, starting at the bottom of the keyboard.
> 5.  Now, there is the third black key of the group of 3 black keys. What finger do you think you play it with? With your 3rd finger, or your 4th finger?  Of course, you play it with your 4th finger, right? Also, that third black key is named either A sharp, or B flat.  We will call it A sharp.  Notice then, that the notes in the group of 3 black keys are named F sharp, G sharp, and A sharp.  That’s because after G, comes A. You see, the musical alphabet has 7 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.  So after G, comes A again.  So, once again, the 3 black keys are named F sharp, G sharp, and A sharp.  So, starting with the first group of 3 black keys at the bottom of the keyboard, go ahead and play all the notes in every group of 3 black keys on the piano.  Remember to say their names as you play them with your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers.  Do that now.
> 6. Finally, it’s time to play and say the name of each note in the group of 2 black keys, followed by each note in the next and adjacent group of 3 black keys.  So, you would play and say the following, starting with a group of 2 black keys at the very bottom of the piano: C sharp then D sharp. Then the adjacent group of 3 black keys. F sharp, G sharp, and A sharp.  Then do it again with the next group of 2 black keys: C sharp and D sharp. etc, etc, all the way to the top of the piano.  Go ahead and do that now.
>  
> 4. LEFT HAND FINGERING OF THE GROUP OF 2 BLACK KEYS
> Now that you’ve mastered playing and naming the black keys with the correct fingers of your right hand, let’s do the same thing with the left hand.  It should be easier now that you’ve identified the names of the notes. The only challenging thing is that the first black key in the groups of 2 black keys and 3 black keys will be played with your left hand’s 4th finger.  That takes a bit of concentration.  It’s not as easy as when your right hand plays the first note of a black key group with the 2nd finger. The latter is very natural. But, because the hands are mirror images of each other, finger placements get reversed. So, in the left hand, the 2 blacks keys are played with your 4th and then the 3rd finger.  And for the group of 3 black keys, you play them with the 4th, 3rd and then 2nd fingers of your left hand.
> 1. With your left hand, find a group of 2 black keys at the very bottom of the piano. Now, the first one of the 2 black keys, the C sharp, should be played with the left hand’s 4th finger. Go ahead and play every C sharp on the piano with your 4th finger from the bottom group of 2 black keys all the way to the top group of 2 black keys.  Say C sharp whenever you play it. Go ahead and do that now.
> 3. Now, just to reinforce the correct fingering of the C sharp, we’re going to do the wrong fingering.  Play a C sharp near the bottom of the piano with your left hand’s thumb, then with the 2nd finger, then the 3rd, 4th and finally with your pinky. Do that now.
> 4.  Now, returning to the correct fingering, play the C sharp with your left hand’s 4th finger, and then play the next note, the D sharp, with your 3rd finger.  Go ahead, start at the very bottom of the piano, and find all the groups of 2 black keys and play the C sharp and D sharp with your left hand’s 4th and 3rd fingers while you say their names.  Go ahead and do that now.
>  
> 5. LEFT HAND FINGERING OF THE GROUP OF 3 BLACK KEYS
> The fingering of the 3 black keys is the same as the fingering of the 2 black keys.  The only difference is that in the group of 3 black keys you have an extra key to play, the A sharp.  What finger do you think plays that A sharp?
> 1. With your left hand, find the first group of 3 black keys at the bottom of the piano. The first one of the 3 black keys, the F sharp, should be played with the left hand’s 4th finger. Go ahead and play the F sharp in every group of 3 black keys on the piano with your 4th finger. Say F sharp when you play it.
> 2.  Now, you are going to play the next note of the 3 black keys, the G sharp, with your 3rd finger.  Go ahead and find all the groups of 3 black keys on the piano, and play F sharp with your 4th finger, and say F sharp, then play the second black key with your 3rd finger and say G sharp.  Go ahead and do that now.
> 3.  Now, let’s include the 3rd key in the group of 3 black keys, the A sharp. As you know, you will play it with your 2nd finger, right? So, starting at the very bottom of the keyboard, go ahead and play all the notes in every group of 3 black keys.  Remember to say their names as you play them with your 4th, 3rd, and 2nd fingers.  Do that now.
> 4. Finally, it’s time to play and say the name of each note in the group of 2 black keys, followed by each note in the group of 3 black keys.  So, you would play and say the following, starting with a group of 2 black keys at the very bottom of the piano: C sharp then D sharp. Then the adjacent group of 3 black keys. F sharp, G sharp, and A sharp.  Then do it again with the next group of 2 black keys and 3 black keys, etc, etc. Go ahead and do that now.
>  
> END OF PART 2
>  
>  
>  
> From: Menvi-discuss <menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org> On Behalf Of Samantha Perez via Menvi-discuss
> Sent: Friday, September 17, 2021 9:00 AM
> To: menvi-discuss at menvi.org
> Cc: Samantha Perez <samani.perez at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Menvi-discuss] Piano Geography
>  
> Thank you David. Can I please have part 2 of the article? Thank you!
> 
>      Samantha Perez
> 
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