What Do I Learn First?

So you don't have a teacher yet, but you're so excited you want to start learning already! But there are sooo many things that we could start with, what do we actually start with? Well, glad you asked. Let's find out!

#1 - Know Your Numbers

"Know my numbers...?!? Who does this guy take me for?" Yes! Know your numbers. But you only need to know five, and then we're going to put them on your hand! In music, it's generally easiest to number our fingers so we can shorten "index finger" to "1." It takes much less space to write on sheet music...

So, what finger gets what number?

Your thumbs are finger one.

Your index fingers are finger two.

Your middle fingers are finger three.

Your ring fingers are finger four.

Your pinkies are finger five.

Just remember, count one, two, three, four, five, going from your thumb towards your pinky.

And there we have our finger numbers! Now, what's next?

#2 - Know Your Notes

Now you may already be familiar with some of the notes on your keyboard, but just in case you don't, we will cover it anyway.

First, we must conquer the obnoxiously difficult task of mastering our alphabet! Hopefully, this is not insanely hard for you, but if it is, musicians have decided to make this one thing easy for us. Instead of having to worry about the entire twenty-six letters, we only have to remember seven - A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. That's pretty easy, right?

Now how do these seven notes fill up an eighty-eight note keyboard? Well, the answer is simple. Only the white keys are named after the alphabet, and we repeat them every seven notes. It goes like this: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C, etc. and we repeat from the lowest note (the one all the way to the left) to the highest note (the one all the way to the right).

Ok, so how in the world are we supposed to know which one is which without starting all the way at the bottom and counting up?!? It's actually quite easy! It just takes a little memorization.

First let's observe the black keys on the keyboard. You'll notice that there are black keys in groups of two, and black keys in groups of three. If you keep this distinction in mind, finding the rest of the notes will be much easier.

The most common beginner note is C. To do this, we find any group of two black keys, and drop our finger directly to the white key LEFT of the group. (Look back at the picture of the keyboard to see exactly which one is C.) Any time you find a group of two black keys and go to the white key just to the left, you can guarantee that it will be the note C.

There is one special C on the keyboard though, and it is called "Middle C." To find this specially named note, find the group of two black keys closest to the center of the keyboard, drop to the left, and voila! Middle C!

Let's learn one more note for now, and then hopefully your knowledge of the alphabet will guide you to the rest of the ntoes.

Let's find a group of three black keys. Once we do, drop to the white key...to the LEFT of the group. This is the note F. (And if you count through your piano alphabet starting from C, you will also find out that the notes D and E are in between C and F...) F is always to the left of a three-black key group.

Now, let's finish our musical alphabet. G will be the white key to the right of F, and A will be the white key to the right of G! The only note we have left now is B, and I bet you can't possibly guess which note it comes before...that's right! C!

Now that you know all your notes, practice finding them. Have a friend (or an enemy, if you want a real challenge) yell out random letters that are part of the musical alphabet and you find them as quickly as you can. This will challenge your brain and develop the coordination you need to be able to play piano well.

Then, once you've familiarized yourself with the keyboard, we'll move on to the next step...

See you next time!