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Alfred's Adult Piano Lesson 5
Level 1 - Right Hand C Position
Alfred's Adult Piano Lesson 5 is a written tutorial to help guide your progress through Level 1 of the Alfred's Adult All-in-One Course. It's free for your personal use!
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Alfred's Adult Piano Lesson 5
Right Hand C Position
Page 12
Ready to play some music? Of course you are!
Let's start in the middle of the page, below the red headline, "Notes for this position are written on the Treble Staff." This is your first introduction to written music, so let's define some terms.
Staff - the grouping of 5 lines, with four spaces in between, on which music is written.
Clef - the symbol at the beginning (far left side) of any staff, which designates what pitches (notes) will be represented.
Treble Clef - designates higher notes on the keyboard, usually above middle C. Most often played with the right hand.
Leger Line - Extends the staff up or down, by adding a small line through a note, so that notes outside of the 5 lines and 4 spaces can be written down.
Think of the staff as a stairway. From anywhere on the staff, you can step up or down. One step moves you from a line to the next space, or from a space to the next line. A step is also one key away on the keyboard, so it's played with your next finger!
So, from E (a line note), you can step up to F (a space note) or down to D (a space note). It's very orderly!
So, using the helpful diagram at the top of the page, get your right hand in Middle C Position and let's practice your steps up and down.
Alfred's Adult Piano Lesson 5
Right Hand Warm-Up
Note: the notes you see in this warm up are called quarter notes. We'll talk about them in the next lesson. For now, just work on playing the steps at a nice steady pace, like walking!
As you play this warmup, you may find it more challenging than you thought -- some fingers are stronger, some are weaker. You may have a hard time playing evenly, or some notes might be much louder than others.
That's OK! When you think about it, our hands are made to grasp things. There's not much in life we do that calls for using individual fingers... like playing piano does. So this isn't something that's familiar for your hands to do. It's pretty strange.
So allow yourself to just keep playing. It will get easier, and your hand will quickly start to adjust to this new task. You'll start to develop the muscle memory you need to use those fingers one-at-a-time.
Don't forget to say your note names out loud. If you feel silly, do it anyway. It's amazing, but your brain will learn more quickly if you speak those note names -- it's like being your own teacher! You're literally telling your brain to make the association with that little printed note, the name C, and the sound from the piano.
Alfred's Adult Piano Lesson 5
Learning those notes...
Many students find note-reading one the hardest parts about learning to play piano. It's a bit like learning a new language! So I have some suggestions that will help you learn more quickly and make reading less daunting. Some of these need to wait until you've been introduced to the bass staff (left hand) as well:
- Flash cards! Sounds like something for kids, right? But they can be really helpful, and you can work on them anytime. Under $5 at any music store.
- Writing! Print off some blank sheet music (staff paper) and copy the songs from your book. Write the letter names underneath. Most students never learn to write music -- I think it's fun, and will help you learn. Your book has some exercises, but I think it helps to write your own.
- Just read! Turn to the back of the book and look at the music. Pick a song, and find all the right hand C, D, E, F, and G notes that you can. You can do this with other piano music too!
OK, that's it for page 12. I hope Alfred's Adult Piano Lesson 5 has been helpful for you.
Remember: learning piano isn't a race! Don't be in a hurry. Take the time to let yourself learn each lesson, and allow your hands and brain time to really absorb the information.
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