

The two staves are connected on the left side with a line and a brace. To make a grand staff, a staff with a treble clef is placed above a staff with a bass clef. Music for the piano is typically written in both the treble and bass clefs on a grand staff, as shown in Example 5. With a set of three black keys, the note to their immediate left is F. On the piano keyboard, when the black keys appear as a set of two, the note to their immediate left is C. The letter names of the white key pitches are labeled. Because of the principle of octave equivalence in the Western system, pitches separated by an octave have the same letter name. As discussed in the previous chapter, pitches in Western musical notation are designated by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, repeating in a loop. The same letter names appear on different keys of the keyboard. Octave Equivalence and White-Key Letter Names on the Piano KeyboardĮxample 4 shows a piano keyboard with the letter names of the white key pitches labeled. Benjamin Corbin (Christopher Newport University) demonstrates proper piano posture.
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Keep your knees and wrists flexible (not stiff), and keep your feet flat on the ground unless you are using the pedals.Įxample 3 explains how to achieve proper posture at the piano.Įxample 3.

Your elbows should be a comfortable distance from your body, and your fingers should remain arched (as if you were pulling a library book off of a shelf). When you sit at the piano, it is important to sit up straight, keeping your head over your shoulders, which should be kept down. In Example 2, notice that the sets of three and two black keys alternate throughout the entire length of a piano keyboard, repeating the pattern for each octave. The black keys are grouped into sets of either three or two. In Example 1, notice that the keyboard has both white keys and black keys.
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Another option is to download a free piano app that you can play on your phone, such as Tiny Piano. You may also purchase an inexpensive electronic keyboard if you like. You may find access to a piano keyboard (acoustic or electronic) at your school. Learning to play notes on the piano is one easy way to engage with music kinesthetically. This allows students to understand the relationship between different pitches more quickly. In other words, physically creating sounds by playing a musical instrument (such as the piano) helps you to better visualize and audiate the music you are writing down or studying. Many students find studying music theory easier when they engage with music kinesthetically.
