As we begin to slowly wrap up another year of teaching, you'll find lots of testing going on in my piano studio with my students. I am often asked the question, "What books do you use?" I think many teachers have their own preferences on what works best with them. I start newbies in Bastien Primer Level. Later as a student progresses, I use Alfred's Piano Lesson Books. Here are a few things one will learn in Level 1 for the piano.
How Music Is Written
The Grand Staff
Treble and Bass Clef
Measure
Bar Line
Double Bar Line (Always
used at the end of a piece.
Notes
Quarter Note = 1 count
Half Note = 2 counts
Dotted Half = 3 counts
Whole Note = 4 counts
Time
The numbers at the beginning
of a piece are called the Time Signature. This tells us how to count the piece.
Upper number tells us to
give four counts to a measure.
Lower number tells us that
a quarter note gets one count.
Seize the C’s
When Middle C has its stem
up, right hand plays it.
When Middle C has its stem
down, left hand plays it.
The Phrase Mark
Music is a language and
has punctuation signs that divide it into phrases or sentences. These PHRASES
are marked with curved lines called slurs.
Introducing Eighth Notes
Two eighth notes equal one
count. One eighth note is half as long as a quarter note.
Rests
Rests are signs of
silence. They tell us how many counts our hands should remain silent.
Quarter Rest = 1 count
Half Rest = 2 counts
Whole Rest = 4 counts
The whole rest means that
a certain hand is silent for a whole measure.
The Repeat Sign
Two dots before or after a
double bar indicate REPEAT signs:
This means that you play
the measures enclosed by repeat signs TWICE.
The Tie
The tie is a curved line
placed over or under two notes of the same pitch. You play the first note only
and hold it down for the total time value of both notes.
Natural accents
In playing the piano,
certain counts are louder than other counts. These loud counts are called
natural accents.
In 4/4 time – always play
the first count louder.
In 3/4 time – always play
the first count louder.
In 2/4 time – likewise
play the first count louder.
A Brief History Of The
Piano
The direct predecessors of
the piano are the clavichord and the harpsichord. History records their use as
early as the Sixteenth century. still earlier, the effort to produce two or
more tones simultaneously yielded the dulcimer, but it had no keyboard. Notice
the limited manual range and the non-existent pedals of the early instruments.
Cristofari (1665) and Bach (1685) were responsible for the major developments
in the piano. Today the manufacturers have given us the gloriously complete
concert grand.
Importance Of Review
You gain smoothness and
ease by reviewing your old pieces and studies. Be sure always to devote at
least 10 mins. a day to review work.
Sight Reading Hint
In finding a note, move
the eye first, then the hand. Find the note visually then manually. Too many
students start moving their hands without knowing where they are going. Keep
the hands quiet until the note has been found visually.
The Sharp Sign
Here is the SHARP sign
(#). It appears before a note. It tells you to play the first black key to the
right of the note instead of the regular white key.
The Sharp Sign In The
Signature
Instead of writing out
every sharp in the song, most composers would put a sharp sign at the beginning
of the piece. This is called the Key Signature. IT tells you to sharp a specific note throughout the piece.
The Flat Sign
This is the FLAT sign (b).
It means to play the first black key to the left of the note.
Common Time
Very often in music you
will not find a numerical time signature at the beginning of a piece but will
find the large symbol C. This stands for COMMON TIME (4/4 Time).
ACCIDENTALS
The Sharp (#), Flat (b),
and Natural signs which appear in a piece (other than in the key signature) are
called Accidentals. Watch out for them. Natural sign means to restore back to
white key.
How To Become A Faster Note
Reader
Sight-reading is a skill
that can be compared to bowling or golfing. It doesn’t take a great deal of
mental effort or knowledge to play these games, but it takes a prodigious
amount of practice to be expert. The same analogy holds true for sight-reading.
You can’t think or wish yourself into becoming a good reader-you must practice
and drill constantly.
Quick note reading demands
daily drill. Remember, music isn’t hard to play; it’s hard to READ. You fumble
and stumble at the keyboard because you can’t find the notes quickly enough.
Keep your drills alive every day. You will soon grow to become a more rapid
reader. Plus, the physical element of good vision is a factor in sight-reading.
How To Play In Rhythm
Never count to your
playing, but always PLAY TO YOUR COUNTING. In every piece in 3/4 time always
play your first count louder: 1 2 3 1 2 3
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How To Use The Damper
Pedal
The main pedal in piano
playing is the DAMPER PEDAL. (the one at the right). It is sometimes (wrongly)
called the loud pedal. The pedal at the left is the soft pedal and the middle
pedal is the sustaining pedal. Keep the heel on the floor and sole of shoe in
pedal contact at all times. Pedaling should be noiseless-no clicking of the
shoe or letting the pedal up with a bang.
Musical Terms
Music writing began in
Italy. Therefore Italian words are used to tell us how music is played. If each
country used its own language it would be very confusing. Suppose Russia
described its music in Russian, and Norway defined its music in Norwegian,
etc., we would have to know far too many languages. Consequently all countries
have adopted Italian terms for their music. You see if we know the Italian
terms we will understand how to play music of any country.
Introducing The Staccato
Touch
When dots are written
above or below notes, you touch the keys as if you were touching a hot flat
iron. This is called STACCATO.
The Dotted Quarter Note
A dot after a note is
equal to a note next lower in value. Therefore, the dot after a quarter note
equals an eighth note. The dotted quarter in 4/4 time is counted as follows: 1
2 and 3 4
The Metronome
The letters M.M. at the
beginning of a piece stand for Maelzel’s Metronome. The numbers on the
metronome indicate ticks per minute. Thus if the metronome were set at 60, it
would be ticking seconds. The metronome is used only for a moment to see what
time the composer has in mind. We never depend on it entirely for our rhythm.
Watch out for new
expression marks. Crescendo means to grow louder and diminuendo means to grow
softer.
Watch out for the octave
higher sign. 8…… It means to play eight keys higher.
Intervals
An interval is the
difference between two sounds. Intervals have number-names which equal the
amount of letter-names they include.
There's so much more to add here but I'll stop for now.
Take a look at these FREE sites for theory stuff:
If you are an adult who plays by ear but would like a textbook/workbook for music fundamentals, then I recommend 300pg Piano By Ear Home Study Course
Best Regards,
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King
