{"id":240,"date":"2019-12-24T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T14:45:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-16T14:59:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T22:59:01","slug":"4-things-a-beginner-should-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/4-things-a-beginner-should-do\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Things Beginner Piano Players Should Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This is for all you beginners out there! There are certain things beginner piano players should practice to see results fast and avoid frustration (and quitting).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you start learning the piano, it can be really hard to know WHAT you&#8217;re supposed to practice, especially if you don&#8217;t have a teacher to help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This lesson will help guide you through 4 exercises you can start practicing RIGHT NOW to help you get comfortable at the keys and help your fingers connect to your brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#1\">Keyboard Geography<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#2\">The Five-Finger Scale<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#3\">The Claw<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#4\">Keyboard Familiarity<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#5\">BONUS! Chords<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Say &#8220;hi&#8221; to Kaitlyn \u2014 our resident beginner!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope you know Kaitlyn by now. She <a href=\"\/blog\/november-vlog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">just started learning with Pianote<\/a> and works on our support team. So if you&#8217;ve ever had to get in touch for help, there&#8217;s a good chance you&#8217;ve spoken with her \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This lesson was filmed about a week after Kaitlyn&#8217;s first lesson, so she&#8217;s truly a beginner here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20beginner%20exercises%20%28reformat%29\/kaitlyn.jpg\" alt=\"Young woman with long brown hair sitting in front of piano and Lisa (woman with short platinum hair) sitting behind her next to the piano in blue plaid shirt.\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason I&#8217;ve asked her to help demonstrate is to show you EXACTLY what it&#8217;s like for a beginner. You&#8217;ll be able to see some of the common issues and things beginners tend to do when they start learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you&#8217;ll know that you can do all these exercises as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>4 Things Beginner Piano Players Should Practice<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1\" style=\"font-size:28px\">#1. Keyboard Geography<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the first thing beginner piano players should practice. And what I mean by this is getting comfortable with the layout of the keys on the piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can be daunting for beginners to see 88 keys in front of them, but it becomes less daunting when you realize that there&#8217;s a pattern that just repeats over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this exercise, play all the groups of 2 black keys (with your index and middle fingers). Use your left hand AND right hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20beginner%20exercises%20%28reformat%29\/full%20keyboard%20with%20black%20keys%20highlighted.jpg\" alt=\"Things beginner piano players should practice - keyboard geography. Full piano keyboard with black notes highlighted in red (2s) and pink (3s) and Fs and Cs labelled in red.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve played all the groups of 2 black keys, try playing the groups of 3. This time use your index, middle and ring fingers (on both hands).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This exercise is great because it helps you see the patterns and get comfortable with the size of the keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, to the left of EVERY group of 2 black keys is the note C. To the left of EVERY group of 3 black keys is F. This way you can find every C and every F on the piano!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2\" style=\"font-size:28px\">#2. The Five Finger Scale<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For this exercise, find C (remember how?). Then, place your thumb on C. Notice how nicely each finger rests above the notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now play those 5 notes and up and down SLOWLY. Beginners like to rush things, but it&#8217;s important to play slowly and in control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try it with your right hand, and then move on to your left.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20beginner%20exercises%20%28reformat%29\/keyboard%20five%20finger%20copy.png\" alt=\"Keyboard with five finger scale from C highlighted in red with fingering. Left hand CDEFG in fingers 54321 and right hand CDEFG in fingers 12345.\" width=\"530\" height=\"231\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>But remember!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you play with your left hand, you&#8217;ll start with your PINKY on the C and play up. If you watch the lesson ,you&#8217;ll see Kaitlyn needs some help with this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you can play both hands separately, try playing them together. <em>GO SLOOOOW.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3\" style=\"font-size:28px\">#3. The Claw<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This exercise involves starting on C and playing a chord. For your right hand, that just means playing the notes C, E, and G with your thumb, middle finger, and pinky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve played the C chord, you&#8217;re simply going to play that same shape up the keys until the next C!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you&#8217;ll play a C chord first, then bump up to the D, and E and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20beginner%20exercises%20%28reformat%29\/claw%20practice%201.png\" alt=\"CEG chord highlighted in red on keyboard diagram with fingering 135.\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20beginner%20exercises%20%28reformat%29\/claw%20practice%202.png\" alt=\"DFA chord highlighted in red on keyboard diagram with fingering 135.\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20beginner%20exercises%20%28reformat%29\/claw%20practice%203.png\" alt=\"EGB chord highlighted in red on keyboard diagram with fingering 135.\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing to remember here is not to press too hard. Let the weight of your arm push the keys down. You don&#8217;t want to be tense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the right hand, try it with your left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But as Kaitlyn warns, the left-hand is &#8220;way harder.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"4\" style=\"font-size:28px\">#4. Keyboard Familiarity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This exercise works better with two people, but you can do it alone as well. The idea is to have someone call out a random note, and then you have to play it on the piano as quickly as you can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if I called out &#8220;B!&#8221;, you&#8217;d have to find and play a B. It could be any B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can try to fool yourself, or you could make flashcards or write the notes on a piece of paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea is to get familiar and comfortable with WHERE the notes are on the piano. This will help immensely when it comes time to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/how-to-read-notes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">read music<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/reading-chord-charts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chord charts<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"5\" style=\"font-size:28px\">#5. BONUS! Chords<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I know I said I had 4 tips, but this one is so great I had to include it \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s exactly the same as Keyboard Familiarity, but instead of paying a single note, play a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chord<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will have you jumping around the keys a little bit, but it will set you up for success BIG TIME when it comes to learning and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/song-tutorials\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">playing songs<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-chord-progressions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chord progressions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So those are the things beginner piano players should practice. Include these in your regular practice routine, and try to do a little each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good luck, and have fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beginner piano players! Here are 4 things that all beginner piano players should practice so you can see real improvements in your playing &#8212; fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":1326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1108,1112],"tags":[1091],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musicianship","category-practice-musicianship","tag-7dsr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11088,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions\/11088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}