Alfred's Adult Piano Lesson 10

Level 1 - The Whole Note

Alfred's Adult Piano Lesson 10 is for you if you're learning piano using the Alfred's Adult All-in-One Course, Book 1. For personal use only!

The All-in-One course from Alfred's covers learning to read music, music theory, technique, and various styles of piano music including blues, jazz, classical, and pop.

I'm building free lessons on all three books. You can see the full list here.

Interested in the Alfred's books? I order all my sheet music here:

Alfred's Adult All-in-One Course - Level 1 (Book/CD) Written by Amanda Vick Lethco, Morton Manus, Willard A. Palmer. Instructional book (spiral bound) and accompaniment CD for piano. Series: Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course. 144 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (AP.5756) See more info...

You've learned about:

• Quarter Notes (1 beat)
• Half Notes (2 beats)

The whole note has 4 beats, and it's represented by a hollow oval. You hold down a note and count 1 - 2 - 3 - 4.

If reading finger numbers and counting beats is slightly confusing, you can use a phrase to help you remember. I like "whole - note - four - beats!" better.

The exercise at the top of the page is a simple clapping exercise, or you can tap on a tabletop or your lap. Count out loud!!

If you have the CD that came with the book, pop it in and have a listen to get a feel for the melody and the rhythm.

Next, do step 1 of the practice directions: clap (or tap) and count the rhythm out loud. Do this a couple of times, so the rhythm is good and solid in your head.

Now, move on to step 2 in the instructions. The first time you do this, don't worry so much about the rhythm. Concentrate on the feeling, and pattern, of your fingers and pushing the notes down. This song is a repetitive pattern, and you want to notice how your hand feels when you play it. Say the finger numbers out loud.

After doing that a couple of times, you can add the rhythm back to the mix, and move on to instruction 3 - play and count. Keep in mind that you are not trying to play anywhere near the tempo on the CD!! Just go as slow as YOU need to. Speed isn't important. Think about each note before you push the key down.

Finally, the most difficult is to play and say the note names. This is harder because you have to keep the rhythm going without counting.

If you find you're having trouble, go back to step 3, rinse, and repeat. :-)

That's about all there is to this page!

Now you've played songs with both hands! Great progress!

After a left-hand review and note naming exercise in our next lesson, we'll be moving on to playing piano hands together!

Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course - Christmas Hits (Level 1) Edited by E. L. Lancaster and Morton Manus. For piano and voice. Method/Instruction; Piano - Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course. Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course. Christmas. Difficulty: easy-medium. Songbook. Easy piano notation, fingerings, lyrics and introductory text. 31 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing (AP.17108) ...more info

Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course - All-Time Favorites (Level 1) (52 Titles to Play and Sing). Arranged by Willard A. Palmer, Morton Manus, and Dennis Alexander. For easy piano and voice. Method/Instruction; Piano - Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course. Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course. Classical and Folk. Difficulty: easy-medium. Collection. Easy piano notation, fingerings and lyrics (on some songs). 96 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing (AP.3079) ...more info

Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course - Pop Song Book (Level 1) For piano and voice. Method/Instruction; Piano - Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course. Alfred"s Basic Adult Piano Course. Pop and Instructional. Beginner. Songbook. Vocal melody, lyrics and introductory text. 32 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing (AP.2463) ...more info

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