Piano from Scratch

Once again, we look at using our hands and fingerings in a "cookie cutter" fashion. Fortunately, the chords in both hands are shaped to make movement much easier. We end up by comparing the duple to triple rhythms from the previous measure, as well as exploring two different pedaling options.

After mapping out the notes, I try to show how fingerings can be used to simultaneously mold the hand into comfortable shapes for different chords and serve as memory aids to find them faster. We also talk about using the pedal to connect notes, enabling you to keep your hands relaxed. I also draw a brief example of using shapes to distinguish note groupings (triangles for groups of 3, a square for even numbered groups of 2, etc.)

You can download my handwritten notes in PDF format from the Piano from Scratch Library.

This is a relatively easy measure. We see how "reminder" flats are used even when technically not necessary. I show two different pedal options. We go back to measure 19 and go over the differing rhythms, moving between duples ("buzzing") and triplets ("bum-ble-bee"). The trickiest portion to practice will be the left hand jumping quickly to catch the triplet rhythm.

If you'd like to see some of the handwritten notes created from these lesson videos, you can download a PDF version at the Piano From Scratch Library

Before we get into the lesson, we look an interesting option for viewing music using a 23 inch LCD monitor for full sized two page views, or zoomed half page views - great for folks with vision difficulties! The program i'm using to view and annotate the music is called MusicReader. For more details, please visit http://airturn.com/musicreader/musicr...

In measure 19, we map out the right hand octaves, then break up the left hand fingering into three groups: the lower octave, and the two higher chord sets; we then conclude with a simple pedaling for the measure.