Introduction to Learning Black and White Notes on the Piano

Introduction to Learning Black and White Notes on the Piano

When you look at the piano you see black keys and white keys. When you press any of these keys you produce a note sound. When you are learning notes on the piano you need to understand these black and white keys.

Here they are in more detail.

Black Keys

Black keys are placed in repeated groups of 2 keys and 3 keys all the way from the lowest notes on the left hand side of the piano to the highest notes on the right hand side of the piano.

Here is MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB to play

Here is the tune:

Right Hand Fingering:

4 3 2 3 4 4 4 off 3 3 3 off 4 4 4 off

4 3 2 3 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 3 2 oo-oo-oo

Left hand Fingering:

2 3 4 3 2 2 2 off 3 3 3 off 2 2 2 off

2 3 4 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 4 oo-oo-oo

Method

You will:

1. Play the tune with your right hand and then left hand.

2. Pick any set of 3 black notes grouped together.

3. Remind yourself of the finger numbers you learnt earlier by saying ’1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ‘ and moving the appropriate finger (” fingering” ) at the same time.

4. Each black note in the group of three keys has the given finger numbers as indicated below.

Right Hand: 4th finger on the right hand key

3rd finger on the middle key

2nd finger in the left hand key

Left hand: 2nd finger on the right hand key

3rd finger on the middle key

4th finger on the left hand key

5. You are to use these finger numbers to press the black keys, when playing the tune written out above. You can count the finger numbers as you play.

Please note that the word: 
- “off’ is 1 beat 
- “oo” is 1 beat which means “oo-oo-oo” = 3 beats

~ the right hand and left hand have different fingering for the same tune.

There are many pieces you can play using the black notes and finger numbers. This gives you practise at getting used to pressing keys down and using your finger numbers whilst playing simple tunes right away. Hence a wonderful introduction to learning notes on the piano.

White Keys

The white keys are represented by the musical alphabet which is A B C D E F G

When you are learning white notes on the piano you can start off by learning note names and their position on the piano before reading notes on sheet music.

How do you know which white key is a B or C or G etc?

Well, white note names are found in relation to the black keys, e.g. C’s are always found directly to the left of the set of 2 black keys. B’s are always found directly to the right of the group of 3 black keys.

Exercises
1. With right hand thumb play C’s on the upper half of the piano. 
2. With left hand thumb play C’s on the lower half of the piano. 
3. With right hand third finger play B’s on the upper half of piano. 
4. With left hand third finger play B’s down the lower half of the piano.

You may have heard of middle C. This is the C in the middle of the piano.

You can work out all the other note names and positions from using the position of C which you have just learnt. The next note to the right of C is D. The next note to the right of D is E and so on through the musical alphabet. The next note to the right of G is A then B etc. The whole piano is derived from repetitions of A to G. Please note that when you are learning piano notes in consecutive order up or down, you use your next door finger.

This introduction to learning the white and black notes on the piano will give you a great start at playing pieces right away.

Your next stage would be to learn to read piano sheet music including note lengths

 

Siheng Song play with Philharmonic de Radio France in Salle Pleyel in Paris.Pianist Siheng Song was born in Shanghai China in 1981 and is widely regarded as one of the top pianists of his generation. As the multiple winner of numerous competitions, he has performed in important venues and with prestigious orchestras around the globe. His early studies began at the age of three, and 1991, he was accepted in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studying under Professors Yiqi Shen, and Xu Zhong. He graduated from the school in 2001. During his time of study, he won many prizes including first prize at the Beijing National Piano Competition, and silver medals at the Porto Piano Competition in Portugal and the Shanghai International Piano Competition, along with additional special prizes. In 2002, Siheng was awarded a scholarship from the Zaleski Foundation, enabling him to study abroad in France in the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Prof. Marian Rybicki. After receiving his Diploma of Concert Pianist, he went on to study with Olivier Gardon in the Conservatory of Paris, and is currently studying privately with Dominique Merlet. He has also participated in masterclasses with masters such as Phillipe Entremont, Michel Dalberto and Dmitri Bashkirov. After moving to Paris, Siheng began collecting many definitive prizes, such as first prizes in the Pontoise Piano Campus Concours, Morocco International Piano Concours, Viseu International Competition in Portugal, Grand Prix …
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Related How To Hand Piano Articles