Lesson 11, Melodic Intervals, 4ths and 5ths.

This exercise introduces the 4th and 5th melodic intervals.  This means the notes are 4 and 5 notes apart respectively.  Notice that the counting begins with the note being played and ends with the note being played.  for example, a 4th up from C is the note F => C-D-E-F.  Starting at C = 1, counting to F you get 4.  I play it slow and try to hit the notes exactly when the metronome ticks.

Lesson 10 Harmonic Intervals, 2nds and 3rds

This lesson introduces Harmonic Intervals, which are just like melodic intervals, except that the notes of the intervals are played simultaneously.   It's fun!  Note:  I haven't yet brought most of these exercises up to speed because I think it's more important to play exactly what you're trying to play rather than speed it up and make mistakes.  I intend to speed these up and maybe make a new video for comparison.  Also, I'm looking forward to playing something a little more interesting.  Jingle Bells is coming up.  Can't wait.

Lesson 9 Melodic intervals 2nd and 3rds

This Tisket, a Tasket song is also an exercise in the 2nd and 3rd melodic intervals.  The instructions in the Alfred's book I'm using to learn suggests saying the intervals as you play them.  I said the notes in the video, but practiced it also saying the intervals.  The point being I suppose is that a melody is not so much a series of notes, but a series of relationships between notes, and it's good to ingrain these relationship sounds in your head.  Especially, I suppose, if you intend to improvise someday.

Lesson 8 Melodic Intervals, 2nd and 3rds

Melodic Intervals are the distance between notes played one after the other.  Harmonic intervals are the distance between notes played at the same time.  This exercise introduces the definition of two melodic intervals, the 2nd and the 3rd.  The 2nd melodic interval is a distance of 1 whole step between two successive notes, a 3rd is a distance of two whole steps between 2 successive notes.  For the heck of it, I played them once as harmonic intervals here, that is to say, at the same time.  In this vid, I play an exercise, and then the song following it in the book called "Au Claire De La Lune", which is a French folk long.

Lesson 7 Quarter Rests

This piece introduces the quarter rest.  It alternates between the treble and base clefs like the exercise in the previous post.  Still kind of boring, but I prefer not to skip steps.

Lesson 6 Repeat Sign/Whole Rest

The instructions say, there is nothing new here, but points out there is a repeat sign at the end, and that there are whole rests for the hand not playing.  So far, I have not played anything that requires both hands to play simultaneously.  So, this is really more practice finding notes and using the correct fingering, as prescribed in the book I'm using to learn.  ALSO, in this one, I clap out the rhythm first.

Lesson 5 The Grand Staff - Intro.

The Grand Staff puts the "left hand" and the "right hand" notes together on a page.  The left hand plays the notes on the bottom staff, the right hand plays the notes on the top.  Generally, at least for now. Up until now, the exercises I have played just showed one staff, either the Treble Clef for the right hand exercises, and the Bass Clef for the left hand exercises.   I'm sure music exists that require both hands to play the top staff, or the bottom staff, or both staffs.  But, for me, the beginner, it looks like the left hand will be playing the notes in the Bass Clef (bottom staff) and the right hand will play the notes in the Treble Clef (top staff).  This video shows my introduction to seeing both staffs on the same page and playing notes on each staff.  Also, I say the notes aloud as recommended by the book I'm using to learn: Alfred's Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course

Lesson 4 Whole Note

This post is a lesson that includes an actual song, Aura Lee. It may have a familiar ring to it. The whole note is introduced here. The book shows how 4 quarter notes of time equals two quarter notes plus 1 half note, and how those equal one whole note. It also suggests clapping out the rhythm, which I did, but I didn't video that. I did say the names of the notes as I played. You may also notice the metronome. It is loud. I bought this one because it was the least expensive, but if I had my life to live over, I'd get one which has an adjustable volume for the beats. The only way I can dampen the volume of this one is to put towels or rags over its speaker.



Lesson 3 LH Warmup

The Left Hand warm up uses the Base Clef to indicate where on the piano the left hand will play its notes, in this case, below middle C.  Of course the left hand may play notes anywhere on the piano, depending on the music.  But in general, at least for beginners, the left hand will be playing notes below middle C.  In the Alfred's Self-Teaching Piano Course, the names of the notes are introduced.  It suggests they be said aloud, which I failed to do.  I shall pay more attention to the instructions in the future.

Lesson 2 Quarter and Half Notes

The second lesson of the book Alfred's Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course  introduces the length of time a note is held.  In particular, it introduces the quarter note.  It suggests that the basic time unit is the measure, and a measure contains four beats.  A quarter note gets one of these beats, thus, a quarter of a measure.  I know that's not all there is to say on timing, but for now, I'll leave it at that.

 

Lesson 1 RH Warmup

The first lesson is called "Right Hand Warm Up".  It's purpose is to familiarize the student (me) with right hand fingering.   It introduces notes and which finger plays plays which note.   The lesson uses the treble clef to identify which portion of the keyboard the notes are to be played.  For this beginning lesson, the fingers of the right hand are used to play the notes written on the treble clef, which is generally used to indicate notes above middle C.