Beginner Piano Lessons

Beginner Piano Lessons - Basic Piano Fingering

One of the mainstays of beginner piano lessons is learning basic piano fingering. This means learning which fingers to use on which notes. Once you learn the basic fingering skills you will be able to practice until you no longer need to look at your fingers to play the notes.

Fingering exercises are designed to help you to practice the different notes that can be played on the piano. You will start with the basic notes and once you have mastered them move on to other notes until you can play a whole range of notes easily. Beginner piano lessons require patience as you might struggle at first. But like anything worthwhile, patience and persistence will help you to polish your skills.

Beginner piano lessons starts with learning the names of the notes on the keyboard. Don't worry about actually playing them until you can name them from memory. Once you know the names of the notes look down and locate the notes of the C major scale on the keyboard. The C major notes are C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C' (i.e. the white keys only).

Once you have located the C major notes you should play on a mid-range octave. These are the eight notes of the diatonic scale. When you play the piano, your fingers are denoted by thumb = 1, index finger = 2, middle finger = 3, ring finger = 4, little finger = 5. Beginner piano lessons will always start with getting used to the way in which the fingers are numbered.

To begin to play, put the right thumb on the key that corresponds to the C note. Next play the following: C(1)-D(2)-E(3)-F(4)-G-(5)-F(4)-E(3)-D(2)-C(1). Don't be afraid to look down at the keys until you are familiar with the numbers. Beginner piano lessons can be a little frustrating as it takes time to learn the notes and play them without looking. So, try not to get impatient.

Once you have some practice try to play the notes without looking at the notes and numbers. Then practice without looking at your hands. The time it takes to move from beginner piano lessons to intermediate varies from student to student. You may get lucky and pick it up quickly or you might need a bit more time and practice before you feel comfortable.

The next step in beginner piano lessons is playing the following: C(1)-E(3)-G(5); F(1)-A(2)-C'(5); B(5)-G(3)-E(1). If the notes are structured in alphabetical order your fingers must follow suit. When a white key is left out you must leave the finger out. Using your left hand play the following notes: E(3)-D(2)-C(1); C(1)-F(4)-G(5); G(5)-E(3)-C(1); G(4)-A(3)-B(2).

Practice the above techniques as slowly as possible. If you skip over your mistakes and try to rush things you won't learn to play properly and will only get frustrated when the music doesn't sound right. The key to making the most of beginner piano lessons is to learn at your own pace and to make sure you get the basics right before moving on to the next level. Good luck!