Introduction
It seems important to discuss fingering as early as possible. Those who are untrained on the piano will play with any finger they wish, and usually prefer certain strong fingers over others. The piano has correct fingers with which it is played, just as all instruments do. However, the piano has many different fingerings as compared to other instruments, such as a clarinet or saxophone where the hand stays stationary over the same keys. On the piano keyboard of 88 keys, the fingers do not stay the same; and any key can be played with any finger.
Right from the start, it is important to learn that the keyboard is navigated by many and various fingering and arm movements that are learned at lessons. At this early stage in the Conservatory Course, students are already learning to change fingering when the hand moves. However, fingering can be misused. Many teachers and methods will write fingering in the music as a crutch to help students read the notes when the hand is over the same keys, and fingering is not needed to navigate. Never be tempted to misuse fingering in this way as a convenience for reading. The fingering is necessary for navigating. If written by notes that are stationary it becomes a substitute notation for reading notes. - The process for learning to read is not by fingering. To teach reading do these things: Start with a melodic line, not chords. Point slowly note-by-note to avoid mistakes. Look up at the notes to visually memorize them, never down at the keys. Next, play gradually faster for comprehension. This is the only way to teach reading.
In a piece there should be as little change to fingering as possible but, when it marked in the music for navigating, it should be carefully and deliberately followed. Fingering for navigation is marked in the music for these reasons:
- On the first note.
- To move the whole hand stepwise or in leaps.
- To show when to cross, extend, contract, substitute, or exchange fingering.
In the Conservatory Course, unnecessary fingering is not marked in the music, but fingering is marked in diagrams to help explain new patterns. In this course, students begin using unison fingering. Fingering patterns of five-fingers played hands together in unison are important for developing fast fingering and dexterity. They are played stationary on the keys and cannot be overemphasized for the purpose of exercising. Be very careful not to make and fix mistakes in fingering. Once a key is played it remains strong in the finger memory and difficult to erase.
"Every student is a good student. Every lesson is a good lesson."
Lesson 1 - My Melody
TWO AND THREE BLACK KEYS
Previous we introduced students to finding two and three black keys from all directions, lowest to highest, highest to lowest, middle to lowest, and middle to highest. We have learned how to name the white keys by using the black keys as a guide. For example, C is to the left of the two black keys, D is between the two black keys, and E is to the right of the two black keys. Now we are going to notice the black keys individually. In the diagram, count the two and three black keys and place the fingering over each one. While stretching, be sure to rest the fingers over the keys before playing. Keeping the fingers touching the keys will help establish the sense of touch which is so vital in piano playing.
What can go wrong teaching black keys...
The black keys are necessary for becoming aware of the layout of the keyboard and as a means of naming the white keys. Now stop! It is logical to teach black keys, but it is illogical to over emphasize them with several pages of playing only on black keys or an entire book of them as some do. Don't waste the precious lesson-time on these silly things. When it comes to black keys, look at them, then return right away to the white keys as a starting point for learning to read and for developing finger strength and dexterity. Honestly! Don't use black keys as a game or diversion delaying steady progress.
M5 - BLACK KEY STRETCH
Stretch fingering: Play on the black keys for the purpose of stretching the muscles and separating the fingers. Place the LH first, then the RH. Start at the bottom and play up and back, one finger at a time. Grip fingers 1 and 5 at the edge of the keys. Fingers 2, 3, and 4 may lay flat for small hands. Larger hands should grip the middle fingers and play legato. Keep open position and slide up one black key at a time to repeat the pattern. It is natural that students will experience muscles that hurt until they become more flexible and can stretch comfortably.
What can go wrong stretching on the black keys...
There is no reason to think that stretching the hand in this way will cause it any harm. Just as in learning the splits in gymnastics, at first using the muscles in a new and different way may be uncomfortable. Don't be afraid of damaging the hand, and don't stop if the hand hurts. This discomfort is the only means in which to stretch the muscles to reach further than they do naturally. To help keep the fingers over the keys and not sliding, pretend they are glued down.
Lesson 2 - Keep a Steady Beat
THE BEAT
The objective of introducing the time signature is just that, as an introduction giving students some idea of why it is there. Nothing you say at this time will help students understand it better, and will confuse them more than help. Keep it simple with attention only to the top number. - Look at the note values. Again, notice the values are shown from long to short, decreasing as they do later on in the note value pyramid. The repeat of D.C. al Fine is required to notice because it is used all the time in the student's songs that they play.
What can go wrong with explaining beat...
Everything! The temptation to explain more is great instead of pacing out explanations little-by-little. Don't explain too much and too soon. If you do, students will make wrong conclusions and later on be confused. For example, many teachers and methods would explain that the bottom number of the time signature receives the beat. This information is not wrong, but it useless until the bottom number changes; and when the bottom number does change, students will have to ask questions for clarification. Questions are a sign of confusion. The discovery of musical ideas is not confusing unless too much information is given at once or short cuts and tricks have been taught that cannot be carried through to higher thinking. Students learn by doing. Explain a little and play a lot.
M2 - KEEP A STEADY BEAT, "ALOUETTE"
Keeping a steady beat is the most important aspect of music. While some teachers think this is a difficult skill to learn, it really is not. Students can keep a steady beat right away by visually following slow pointing at the notes, one-by-one so they don't rush. In this passage, tap over the note three times for the dotted quarter note, once for the quarter note, and twice for the half note. Tap over the note so students can see the beat visually. This works every time as long as students are looking up at the music and not up and down at their hands. Looking up and down causes confusion and every kind of mistake in notes and values. Look down at the keys only if the music is intended to be memorized, such as the memory pattern, "My Melody".
What can go wrong with keeping a steady beat...
Long note values are especially easy to rush and play too short. This passage starts with a long note and you can be certain students will not give it its full value without visual control. Point over the dotted half note and wait to hold it for its full value. Say, "Wait." Warning, if students rush and not hold just once this habit will be almost impossible to correct. Read rhythm visually.
Do not allow counting aloud, tapping, clapping, or speaking in patterns to creep into the lesson time. Do not write in counting under the note. This will confuse students and not help them pay more attention to the note value.
Lesson 3 - Whole Arm Drop Jumping Octaves
MORE MARKS FOR OTTAVA AND ACCENTS
Students should recognize common signs used in music and respond to them by coaching; but they should not be expected to translate them on their own while playing. Signs such as ottava are coached by the teacher as students play. This is also true of accents and tenutos. These marks and terms help the teacher coach to shape the music but are not intended for students to read on their own. Students should concentrate on learning how to read the notes and values.
What can go wrong with teaching signs in music...
There are many signs used in music that will take time and experience to recall. However, no time at the lesson should be spent explaining them. Teachers should not consider a good lesson talking about music theory and creating tricks and shortcuts to help students understand them. A good lesson is learning to play without hesitating or stopping. Reading notes and values and playing in time is crucial. Paying attention to other signs can be learned anytime.
M3 - WHOLE ARM DROP JUMPING OCTAVES, "THE FIDDLER"
The whole arm jumping octaves adds another athletic skill that is tremendously fun to do. Previous we played the whole arm drop lifting on repeating notes. Now we are adding the whole arm jumping in octaves. Coach students ahead to be ready for the jump. At the lesson, physically help their arm jump in time right away. While jumping in three octaves, grip like holding a ball. To jump without stumbling, keep the thumb high and not flat. A flat thumb becomes a log in the road that causes the hand to fall. A high thumb holds the hand and arm up ready to jump and land.
What can go wrong jumping octaves...
Keep the arm as one unit moving from the shoulder. Keep the wrist and elbow still. Pull L1 and L4 to land strong on their tips, not flat or collapsing. Pull like a cat in the air to prevent moving the fingers to reach for the keys or flying up on the landing. This can also be explained as holding a ball while in the air. Accent L1 and jump in time. Swing the arm, don't lock it up.
Coach students to glance at the keys to find the octave without moving their head or memorizing to look down
Lesson 4 - Whole Arm Drop Two Melodies
TWO MELODIES
Melody is a horizontal line of notes that move up and down the staff in hills and valleys. Most instruments can play only one row of notes at a time. But the piano can play two rows of notes, one for each hand. Music that combines two or more melodies is used all the time in piano playing. The interaction of the melody lines create harmony. In this theory example, students are introduced to the two motions for the melody, parallel and contrary. This is how popular piano methods go wrong. Theoretically and technically there are no new or alternative ways to introduce music that can rival what has been done for centuries: reading the staff alphabetically in a melodic line, then two melodies together, and in the natural key of C until it is fluent. - In this theory the eighth notes are quickly reviewed with the added explanation of two eighth notes played faster to equal the same value as the quarter note.
What can go wrong...
The piano is not only a melodic instrument, but a harmonic one. For this reason, the practice of playing chords must be included in its lessons, but not right away. Beginners are not technically ready to play chords and they will make an unnatural effort it asked to play them too soon in their studies. In addition, the premature analysis of chordal harmony that is found in most beginning methods is a waste of time giving students more theory than they can use or understand.
M4 - WHOLE ARM DROP TWO MELODIES
In this passage two melodies are moving in contrary motion. Contrary motion means the hands are moving in opposite directions, which causes the fingering to be the same in both hands. It is played exclusively with fingers 5 3 and 1. This combination of fingering usually needs special attention to play in a row. The passage is actually an excerpt of a piece called, "The Little Hedgehog" (E7) by Dmitri Kabalevsky. Lift and drop your whole arm and tap the keys light to imitate the "prickly" touch of a hedgehog's sharp spins. Pull like a cat or like holding a ball to keep your hand closed, don't fly up in the air or on the landing.
What can go wrong...
This melody has many athletic movements that should be learned one at a time with physical help. The first movement is a vertical whole arm drop. Lift straight up and land high on the thumb, like hopping. The next movement is changing fingering on 1 3 5 3 in the air, all the while keeping the hand closed and the arm and wrist still as one unit, like skipping. When this is easy, move the hand horizontally down and up a key, stepping. Physically help students make each of these moves and repeat them until easy. In many methods, the terms steps and skips are used for reading notes. Never use these terms for reading. Use the terms skipping and stepping only when referring to a physical action.