Piano for Beginners 6th ED - 2016 UK

03 Find Middle C with the left hand
Again find Middle C, but this time place your left thumb on it. To the left of this
key the notes are B, A, G and then F. If you keep going left, you’ll arrive at C an
octave lower – you won’t have enough fingers to go that far though, so you’ll
have to move your wrist.

04 Play a left-hand melody

Let’s try the last line of Mary Had A Little Lamb with the left hand. Put your left

little finger on Middle C (so you’re essentially in the same position as step 2 ) and

have a go at the following: E-D-C-D-E-E-E-E-D-D-E-D-C. Make sure only your

little, ring and middle fingers move as they’re the only ones that need to.

The white key names Let’s take a look at how the white keys work on a keyboard

Middle C

From Middle C the keys move up and down alphabetically.

So, to the right it’s D, E, F, G, A, B and then C again. To the

left it’s B, A, G, F, E, D and then C an octave lower

One octave up

If you go eight notes (including Middle C) to

the right you’ll be an octave higher. You’ve

actually just done your first scale; C to C is

known as C major, but more on that later

One octave down

Go eight notes (including Middle C)

to the left and you’ll be an octave

lower. The three white keys around

the two black keys are C, D and E,

while the four white keys around

three black keys are F, G, A and B

Top tip

Repeating

note names

Once you’ve learnt one set of eight

white keys, you’ve learnt them all!

The pattern repeats all way up and

down the keyboard. The white key

to the left of two black keys

will always be C, no matter

where you are on the

keyboard.

Between C and C

Play the white keys between these two C

notes (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C again) and you’ll

have played the C major scale. Play these notes

in any order and it should sound good

Middle C

C D D EEF G A A B B F G C