Piano Matters Archives

Piano Students Lord the Keyboard with One Music Ring to Bind Them All in Perfect 5ths

 

Piano students can become Lords of the Keyboard by learning to command the Circle of Perfect 5ths.

A perfect 5th is an interval of 7 half-steps. A half-step on the piano keyboard is from one key to the very next key, either black or white.  The Circle of 5ths begins on C. Ascending up the keyboard from Middle C around the Cirlce of 5ths we find Major Key Signatures having from 0 to 6 Sharps. Descending down the keyboard in 5ths from Middle C are Major Key Signatures having from 0 to 7 Flats.  It is represented as a circle because the consecutive order of perfect 5ths repeats itself.  (See diagram below.) Each of the 12 Major (and Minor Keys) are built on a note that is in the Circle of 5ths.  In any Major or Minor Key Signature there is one Tonic note, one Dominant note, one Subdominant note and their corresponding chords. We call these primary chords I, V, and IV.  The leading tone is the 7th degree (note) of each scale.

Ode to Joy, from Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, is a popular melody children enjoy playing by ear on the piano, usually in the key of C. When they know other hand positions, they can enjoy playing this melody in other keys such as F Major and G Major. This is called musical transposition.  Adding a musical bridge that creates a smooth transition when changing from one key to the next makes this even more fun for kids.  The simple process described below helps beginning students change keys easily without stopping the song and starting over. 

Following the Circle of 5ths, identify the Dominant note (5th note) in each key and the Dominant Chord. By walking the melody up to the Dominant note of the new key and then to its Leading Tone (7th note) and then the Tonic note (1st note), the melody moves smoothly into a new key.  Students can then play their song in a new voice. This variation of the melody adds interest to compositions and gives students a fun and motivating reason to learn to play in different key signatures. To reverse direction and return to the original key,  students create a transition or bridge home that walks the melody back down to the Tonic note in the original key. Or, they can keep moving up or down the piano to any key around the circle of fifths. 

With this fun learning activity piano students can scale the heights of Piano Land fighting evil and seeking goodness in every key around the Circle of 5ths, and always find their way back home again!

For information on the benefits of piano lessons for children, read my earlier post, How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children.

Don't Wait to Begin Piano Lessons!

Best wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

Google Earth to Piano - Find the Music!

To unearth keyboard knowledge and access musical potential, imagine a globe of the earth, or download the Google Earth program on your computer. Now find the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere, and the equator. Next, locate your city or town by typing your address in the find box and clicking on search. (My town is Tallahassee!) Watch as the view of the earth narrows as the locator flies across the globe and zooms in on your home town, one location on the earth.

Now use this concept to visualize the grand staff of the piano. There is a top staff for the high notes, a bottom staff for the low notes, and in between the two staves is some white space, where we find a note with a short line through it - Middle C. This is the equator of Piano Land. Can you find the North Pole of Piano Land? Sure you can. It's the highest note on the piano keyboard. The South Pole is the lowest note on the piano. There are 8 C's on a full size, 88-key piano, but only one of these is Middle C (show on diagram below for right or left hand on both the treble and bass staves.) Just as your home town is one location on the globe, Middle C, and each line or space on the Grand Staff, is one specific key on the piano. So you see, the Grand Staff is actually a map of the piano keyboard.

 

To unearth a great source of keyboard treasure, students should visualize the piano keyboard while reading the music notes. Without this connection many students who can read notes quite well (name them) may be unable to find them on the piano. That's why some note reading books called notespellers are ineffective.

To overcome this learning gap, visualize the keyboard by keeping eyes on the music, not looking down at the hands, once they are in position. This simple, down-to-earth habit of keeping eyes on the music makes learning scales, chords, memorizing music, music theory, and note reading much easier. A keyboard in the imagination is a great help to piano students. So, don't forget - Google earth to piano and find a world of musical treasure! 

To help beginning students get started, I recommend the John W. Schaum Keynote Spellers.  You can get these at Beethoven's or Music Masters in Tallahassee.

Don't Wait to Begin Piano Lessons!

Best Wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

Piano Students Rock with Knowledge at their Fingertips!

Beginning piano students can get stuck playing in one hand position where they feel comfortable, and get lost learning new music in another key.  Why?  Because they don't know what keys are under their fingers in the new hand position.  But learning a new hand position doesn't have to be difficult for students.  The simple strategy helps beginners learn new hand positions with ease.

Piano music using the grand staff is a map of the keyboard. Just as students learn to identify different regions of the globe in social studies, they can also learn to find the different "regions" of the piano keyboard.  Each line or space note on the Grand Staff is one location on the piano, similar to the way your hometown is one location on the globe.  Each new hand position that beginners learn in piano is another "region" of "Piano Land."

Here are thee steps to helping kids visualize new five-finger hand positions on the piano keyboard, so they always know what key is under each of their fingers. 

1. Draw a "piano picture" of the five-finger hand position of the new key.  For example, the key of F Major is F, G, A, B-flat, C. On a piece of paper draw three black keys, leave a space and draw 2 black keys, then fill in the white keys around the black keys for a total of 7 white keys and three black keys for each hand.  Label F, G, A, B-flat, C.  Or if you prefer, use a five-finger hand position diagram such as the one below.

 

2. With their eyes on the picture, not looking down at the hands, students play and say the keys under each finger.  Start with the lowest note and going up and then starting with the highest note and coming back down. Do this for each hand.

3. Now play and say each note in the new hand position again, but with eyes completely closed.

Follow the steps above for each new hand position, and your child will read and play new music with greater ease.  This is because as students read the music notes of their new music, they'll know which of their fingers is over each note in the new key.  Share this learning aid with your student at home, and see how piano kids rock with keyboard knowledge at their fingertips! 

For information on the benefits of piano lessons for children, read my earlier post, How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children.

Best Wishes,
Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

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