Piano For Dummies
Learning to play the piano takes a lot of practice. For that practice to be productive, though, you need to make sure your hands are in the right place to get the notes you want and that you correctly translate musical terms and symbols.
Common Musical Symbols and Terms for Playing the Piano
When you're learning to play the piano, or any instrument for that matter, it can be hard to remember all those different musical terms and symbols — base or treble clef, whole notes or half notes, confusing time signatures, and more. The following can help you keep all these music symbols and terms straight — and if you get stuck often, click here to print this sheet to use as a quick reference when you need it.
Piano Keys and Their Corresponding Notes
The names of each piano key and each one's location on the keyboard can be difficult to remember when getting started playing piano. Print this page (the notes are large enough to see easily from a distance) and place it right above the keys on your piano or keyboard to help you instantly recall the note name for each key.
Using the Right and Left Hands to Play Piano
When playing the piano, each hand has a specific function. The right hand, stationed in the treble-clef notes, general plays melodies and the left hand, in the bass quarters, handles the low end. Both hands generally flesh things out by adding harmony. Of course, there are exceptions to these rules; one hand sometimes ventures into the other's territory.
Shown here are the numbers that correspond to the left- and right-hand fingerings — numbers you see in musical notation, especially in the context of tricky passages. Following these suggestions can help you play the music more smoothly and speed up the learning process.