Piano for Beginners 6th ED - 2016 UK

Playing the piano

M

usical notes are named after the first

seven letters of the alphabet: A, B, C,

D, E, F and G. On a piano, these notes

are represented by the white keys.

When you play your C major scale you start with

a C and then ascend up through the successive

letters to G after which the pattern returns back to

A and carries on from there. This is the same for the

entire length of the keyboard. The white keys simply

repeat A through to G over and over again.

Any set of eight notes together is referred to as

an octave and the scales you learn as a beginner

will tend to be of a single octave. In addition to

the white keys of the piano there are black keys,

although there are fewer of them. You will notice

that the black keys are grouped together in alternate

sets of two, then three. The C major scale is a great

one to start with because it does not contain any

black keys. All the other major scales, however, do

use one or more of the black keys. In musical terms,

these are referred to as either sharps or flats. The

musical symbol for a sharp is # and the symbol for

flat is b. Don’t worry if it all seems a little confusing;

things will become much clearer as you progress.

The F major is a good scale to try next as it only

contains one black key, a Bb (B flat). The Bb key is

located between the A and B white keys. So let’s get

going and start taming this scale.

The F major scale

Follow on from C major with this new scale,

which contains a black key

Tips for playing F major This scale contains a black key: B flat (Bb)

Tuck after finger 4

For logic and ease, the Bb is played

with finger 4 and the thumb is

tucked under this finger to play

the next note of the scale, C

Different fingerings

The location of the Bb key means a new fingering

pattern applies in the right hand of F major. Not

every scale has a unique pattern though. Many

share the same patterns

The right-hand pattern

Attempting to tuck your thumb

after finger 3 as you do in C major

would be very awkward. Because

Bb follows the A (3) this would not

be easy to play with your thumb

Playing Bb

Remember that you will

be replacing the white

key of B with the black

Bb key for this scale.

This replacement rule

applies to any scale that

calls for sharps or flats

Audio file

Listen to the audio files

and follow along on your

own keyboard

Give it a try

“Any set of eight notes together is referred to as

an octave and the scales you learn as a beginner

will tend to be of a single octave”

Top tip

Don’t forget

the flat!

You’ll need to play B flat in this

scale. There’s no flat accidental in

our notation for the scale because

the key signature dictates that all

B notes must be flattened.

If you do play B natural,

you’ll be able to hear

that something

is wrong!