Piano Notes

The most important skill you will need to know are the notes on a piano and how to locate them while playing music. if you don't know where the notes are positioned, you wont be able to play anything on a piano. On a piano, there are 2 different types of notes you need to know about which are the white keys and the black keys. I will explain them both in detail and what makes them different.

The White Keys

The white keys on a piano are the most used keys on a piano. These keys are also referred to as natural keys because of how smooth they sound when played. Each key is assigned a letter from the alphabet in the order C - D - E - F - G - A - B and they cycle in that order across the piano. The easiest way to remember where the notes are is to remember the D note is always inbetween the 2 black keys on a piano. Remembering these notes is needed to play on a piano and once you remember where the notes are, you can move on to understanding the black keys.

The Black Keys

The black keys on a piano are the keys you use to give your song a bit more depth when played. These keys are also called accidentals which stand for the sharps and flats of a piano. There are 5 black keys every octave that can be either sharp or flat which can be easily distinguished from eachother. A sharp makes a note a half step higher in pitch and a flat makes a note a half step lower in pitch. The only way to remember where the sharps and flats are is that sharps are directly on the right of a white key whilst flats are directly on the left of a white key. Once you have remembered where the sharps and flats are, you are ready to start playing songs on a piano.

Test your memory

To make sure you really do know where all the notes are placed, i will give you two helpful tips keep you remembering:

• Identify the white keys individually. Practice naming them untill you can find each note without counting from C and remember that the D note is always between the two black notes. If you need help remembering this, just remember the phrase 'Dog in a kennel'.

• Its not important to remember each sharp or flat by name just yet, but remember how to locate the using the white natural keys.



Piano Posture

Playing piano is a lot of fun but you need to be sat in the correct position to be comftable. The first thing to do is to find the piano bench. The type of benches you should be looking for are the adjustable benches especially for growing children, people that share a piano and those getting comftable at the keyboard. Experiment with the bench by adjusting it untill you have achieved the right piano posture.

Remember To Adjust and Repeat!

If you have seen live piano music, you will have noticed how the pianists take a while adjusting their seat. Belive it or not, but this is acceptable so dont worry about being self-conscious if you find your self at a piano recital. When adjusting your bench, there are 4 things you will need to know in order to get the correct piano posture.

1. Feet should be able to touch the floor completely

If this cant be done or causes you to sit too low, place a sturdy object under your feet instead. Remember, your feet should provide more stability that the bench during play so make sure they don't wander off in a different direction.

2. Only sit on the front half of the piano bench

When your feet are on the floor, your hips are no longer the center of gravity so your back is free to flex and your torso can provide momentum for your upper body during strong dynamics and long octave spans.

3. Keep knees just under keyboard

Try to avoid sitting at the piano like your would at your office desk. The keyboard may cover your knees, but your thighs are not supposed to be under the instrument.

4. Find the right height at the keys

Sitting too high at the piano can cause pain in upper back and neck and sitting too low makes for poor playing postures and a reduced view of the keyboard so avoid these positions.

Keep in mind

If you feel that your posture isn't perfect yet, Im going to give you a few helpful tips to be the best results possible.

• Your height must allow to touch the keys with your forearms parallel to the floor.
• Your thighs are almost parallel; it's ok for your knees to be slightly lower than your hips.
• If you need a little extra height, sit on a firm pillow, stacked blankets or bath towels.
• Music sheets should be kept at eye level.