Lessons are for use with all pianos, organs and keyboards with full size keys. Note that the width of the keyboard for musical instruments may vary. For example, a piano has 88 keys, a portable keyboard like a 'Casio' has 61 or perhaps 49 keys, and the old spinet organs have 44 keys. You still follow these Lessons.
We are going to give names to the notes in your music and names to the keys on your keyboard and in this way we can match up the two and be able to play music. These names will simply be 7 letters of the alphabet:
A B C D E F G
The notes in your music are displayed on 5 lines called the Staff as shown above. For naming the lines, we use an easy to remember slogan:
Every Good Boy Deserves Fun
The first letter of each word forms the names of the lines from the bottom of the staff to the top. Its also easy to remember the names of the spaces between the lines with the phrase Face in the Space. You can see that the word FACE is spelled out in the spaces from the bottom of the staff to the top. Notice how all of the letters of the lines & spaces together form a pattern E F G A B C D E F. Again, from bottom to top.
The keys on your keyboard have alphabet names, too. Our home base is known as Middle C and can be found closest to the center of your piano or keyboard. In the figure above, it is the third 'C' from the left. Any C key can be found by the 2 black keys to its right. Notice as you go up the keyboard (towards the right) we progress from C D E F G A B and were back to C again. (after G you go to A) This is true for the entire keyboard. The melody is played with your RIGHT hand.
SHARP - If a # appears as shown above, notice what line or space it appears on. Here, its on the F line, so we call it an F# ("F sharp") So what does that mean? Whenever you come across any F note in your music, play the black key immediately to the RIGHT of the white key that you would normally play. See the mini keyboard above and try
it!
FLAT - If a b appears as shown above, notice what line or space it is on. Here, its on the B line, so we call it a Bb ("B flat") So what does that mean? Whenever you come across any B note in your music, play the black key immediately to the LEFT of the white key that you would normally play. See the mini keyboard above and try it!
The blue line shown in the above figure is a LEDGER LINE or helper line to support notes that lie below or above the staff. The note shown on this ledger line is a C ...actually, its middle C, your home base. How do we know? The bottom line of the staff is an E. You then work alphabetically backward & find that the space immediately below is a D. Consequently, the next note below that is a C. Easy stuff! Now, go to Practice Melody.
So far we have a melody - but what is missing? The pleasing harmony of many notes sounding together! We now add that full sound here with the Chords lesson. The chords are located above the staff and appear as capital letters as shown above. In your store-bought music, the chords are sometimes followed by lower case letters, various symbols & numbers. Ignore numbers.
Go to your piano or keyboard and locate middle C. Now find the C below middle C (first one to the left) This is the area where you will be playing the chords with your LEFT hand. For our 1st attempt, letfs try to play a C chord as shown in Ex 1 on the Chord List below. To play, we follow the formula on the List. It says C+4+3 Now see fig 1 shown below the Chord List. That means you play C, count up 4 keys (including black keys) and play E, then count up 3 more keys & play G. Play all three keys at once. This happy sound is a C major chord.
CHORD LISTReplace C with desired chord
EX ... CHORD ... FORMULA ... NAME
C or CM............C+4+3......Major
Cm or Cmi........C+3+4......Minor
Cdim or C-........C+3+3......Diminished
Caug or C+.......C+4+4......Augmented
TIP - Print or write out Chord List and keep near keyboard to find chords easily.
Now look at Ex 2 on the Chord List. We have a Cm or Cmi chord. The formula is C+3+4. Refer to fig 2 above. Play C and count up 3 keys, then 4 more. Notice that we are now playing a black key. Play all three keys at once. This is called a C minor chord and has a sad quality to it.
Now try playing the chords in Ex 3 and 4 on your Chord List. Hear those interesting & wonderful sounds! By the way, these examples are for the C chord - it works the same way for other chords like G or A or any chord. Just substitute the new chord letter for the C. For instance, play the F chord in the music shown below. On your Chord List, the formula is now F+4+3 We simply replace the C with the chord we need, in this case an F. So you play F-A-C. Next, play F#dim - we boot out the C in our formula replacing it with an F#. The 'dim' hints for us to use Ex 3 and so we have F#+3+3 See fig 3 above. Next, try Ebmi (Eb minor) in fig 4 above.
Take your time - Learn correctly!
Finally, try Bb. Bb is taken as a unit and is most like Ex 1 on your Chord List as a major chord. So we have Bb+4+3 see fig 5 - Red C indicates middle C and notice that this chord 'spills' over into the area where you play your melody! If that happens, continue playing your chords here but play your melody higher up to the right. For example, if the music in your melody says to play an F, play the next higher F to separate the melody & chords.
Play the F chord
Little hands? Play only the first 2 notes of the chord. For example, in a C chord, just play C and E (Formula: C+4+3 but leave out the +3)
If you see numbers or any strange symbols that you don't understand, simply ignore them! This will not interfere with your basic playing & enjoyment of your music. Remember, the key to success is to practice, practice, practice! So, let's now go Practice Chords.
The notes below have been simplified into a simple egg shape. Your store-bought music will contain notes with all kinds of shapes. Just ignore the shapes & think of them as the simple egg shape as shown here.
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony 'Ode to Joy'
Practice Melody
Play the song above by matching up the letter names of the notes in the music with the letter names of the keys on your keyboard. Play with your right hand. It doesn't really matter which fingers you use when playing your instrument. Whatever is comfortable for you is best! Play the 1st note. Its in a space. It is an A. (Remember Face in the Space?) Now lets go to your keyboard to play it. First, find your middle C and work up (to the right) alphabetically until you get to A. Play that A! Next note is another A. Play it. 3rd note is on a line & its a B. Careful! - dont play the usual white B key! Notice on the far left that the Flat symbol (b) appears on the B line. Since this is a Bb (B flat), play the black key to the left of the B. 4th note is a C - the C above middle C. Play that, and continue with the rest of the tune. Now, practice with your own music by checking out our Sheet Music Guide.
Practice Chords
Chords shown in the above music appear as capital letters above the 5 lines of the staff. Try them all! One chord is incorrect - Can you find it? If not, ask me for Help - It's free! When done, practice with your own music. Feeling confident? Try the next lesson which is playing with 2 Hands together!
Practice Melody & Chords
In the above music, first chord is an F - Play that with your left hand. While holding that chord, play the first melody note which is an A with your right hand. Continue to hold the F chord & play the other melody notes that follow until you come across the next chord - C. Play that with your left hand & play the melody notes that follow until the next chord. Use this method for the whole song. When done, try practicing with your own music.
Congratulations You have completed the Free Lessons Online course! Enjoy your new skill of entertaining yourself, your family and friends. Come back often to study, review and see new changes. And don't forget to ask for Help when you need it.
Music Guide Your store-bought sheet music and music books must have letters ('chords') appearing above the five lines ('staff') as illustrated in the Beethoven music above. Various symbols and numbers may also appear with these letters. Look for Fake & Easy to Play music. When playing store-bought music you may see notes stacked one on top of another. If so, play the top note. Music books & sheet music are available at stores & malls that sell CDs - check your local yellow pages. An excellent source of music for these Lessons is:
Return to Melody lesson l Continue with Chords lesson
ONLINE LESSONS
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CHORD LIST Replace C with desired chord
Take your time - Learn correctly!
Little hands? Play only the first 2 notes of the chord. For example, in a C chord, just play C and E (Formula: C+4+3 but leave out the +3)
