Piano
From Wikiversity
Contents |
[edit] How to read piano music
Piano music contains two staves: the treble staff and the bass staff. Notes higher than middle C are usually placed on the treble staff while notes lower than middle C are usually placed on the bass staff. Another name for the Treble Clef is the G Clef. The line that passes through the centre of the swirling part of the Treble Clef is the G line. The G just above Middle C sits on this line. Another name for the Bass Clef is the F Clef. The line that passes through the two dots of the Bass Cleff is the F line. The F just below Middle C sits on this line. Music notes are either placed in spaces or on lines. Moving from a line note to the very next space note in piano music is the same as moving from one white key to the very next white key on the piano. Moving from one note to the next is called a step (or a 2nd). The best approach to figuring out note names is by counting steps after having learned the main landmarks: Middle C, G line, F line, Treble C, and Bass C. Treble C is found on line 3 of the treble staff. Bass C is found on line 2 of the bass staff.
[edit] How to play major scales
C Major
You can use the following fingering for the notes for the right hand
C D E F G A B C 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5
For the left hand, you can do
C D E F G A B C 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1
D Major Right hand fingering
D E F# G A B C# D 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1
Left hand fingering
D E F# G A B C# D 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 5
The numbers represent the fingers.
- 1 represents the thumb.
- 2 the index finger.
- 3 the middle finger.
- 4 the ring finger.
- 5 the little finger (pinky).
For the left hand, what you have to do is to pass the thumb under the other fingers.
[edit] Case studies
Here are suggestions for piano studies (listed by difficulty) To participate in these case studies, one should have the music readily available. Each one of these studies and pieces should be reviewed and practiced carefully with a perfect technique and the best possible position of the hands, before moving on to the next item in the list. Remember they are only suggestional.
- Getting familiar with scales, arpeggios, broken chords, etc.
- Hanon: The virtuoso Pianist in 60 exercises
- Short pieces from The Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach by Johann Sebastian Bach
- Nineteenth-Century Pedagogical Character Pieces such as those of Cornelius Gurlitt or Friedrich Burgmuller
- School of Speed and Other Studies by Carl Czerny.
- Mikrokosmos of Bela Bartok
- Tewntieth-Century Character pieces such as those of Dimitri Kabalevsky, Alexander Gretchaninoff or Samuel Maykapar
- Two- and Three-Part Inventions of Johann Sebastian Bach
- Multi-movement sonatinas such as those of Muzio Clementi
- More difficult Nineteenth-Century Character Pieces such as those of Robert Schumann, Edvard Grieg or Felix Mendelssohn
- More Complex Sonata forms such as those of Franz Josef Haydn or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Nocturnes of Frederic Chopin
- Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky
- Preludes and Fugues of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier
- Sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven
- Etudes by Frederic Chopin
- Etudes-Tableaux by Serguei Rachmaninoff
- Douze Études d'exécution transcendante by Franz Liszt
- Other works by Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Chopin
[edit] Technique
To achieve a perfect technique and total virtuoso piano playing, one must consider several critical factors, these must be reviewed and taken into account at all times. One of the most important is to have a position of the hands as relaxed as possible, without any unnecessary tension at the wrists and the rest of the hand. Another factor to be taken into account is that when we play there must be a connection between the fingers, just at the time one of the fingers rises, the other lowers. In other words: there should never be a silence (no matter how minimal) between the two notes, nor should the notes sound simultaneously (even in a lapse of microseconds). Another factor that is important is the position of the hands, which should always be light and playing with the pads of the fingers (not fingertips). Another point that should be taken into account is that the speed of your fingers has to be equal. Normally, there are many mediocre pianists whose fingers 2 and 3 have much more strength and speed than those 4 and 5. This must be avoided. At this particular point, Hanon helps a lot, enlisted in the works above.
[edit] See also
This page was requested at Wikiversity:Requests
You may want to get involved at Basic Blues & Rock or Jazz if you are interested in playing piano, organ or keyboards within those Music genres.
[edit] External links
- Mutopia, an online resource for free sheet music
- Fundamentals of Piano Practice, online textbook teaching the most efficient way to practice piano playing
- Useful links for "Wedding-day at Troldhaugen" by Edvard Grieg.
- Piano lessons in London, List of piano teachers in London and the UK
