Piano Diana Blog: Sitting at the Piano

Ready for your first piano lesson? Sitting at the piano should be a comfortable feeling right from the beginning.

Sit up straight facing the center of the piano. Place your feet flat on the floor. If your feet do not reach the floor, it is helpful to have a footstool or books under them when you practice but not absolutely necessary.

Sit high enough to reach the keys easily. Do you have a piano stool or chair at home that moves up and down? If not, pillows or books may be used to help you sit at the correct height when you practice.

Piano posture is important for all beginner and advanced players. Most importantly, you want to be comfortable at the piano. Sitting with your nose directly in the middle of the range of piano keys is the best place to sit. Where is Middle C you ask? You will find that the white key to the left of the 2 black keys is the “C” key. In fact, all of the “C’s” are to the left of the 2 black keys.

After sitting at the piano and practicing for a time, let’s say 30 minutes, I suggest you take a little break. I have found that sewing at the machine, being on your computer and playing the piano for a much longer period of time will cause your shoulders to droop (round shoulders) and gravity will just pull you forwards, plus the backache will begin with a tense neck. For youngsters, 10-15 minutes of practicing every day will show great improvement overall.

Hand Position

Hold your fingers in a nice curved shape. Imagine you are holding a ball in each hand. That is the way the fingers should be curved when playing the piano. Your wrist should be level with your arms. Keep them level as if you’ve placed a rectangular pencil eraser upon your wrists while moving your piano fingers.

Finger Numbers

Left Hand:

5=Pinky, 4, 3, 2, 1=Thumb

Right Hand:

1=Thumb, 2, 3, 4, 5=Pinky

Have someone trace your piano hands and then number your fingers accordingly. Date it when you first begin piano lessons. It will make a wonderful keepsake.

The Piano Keyboard

The keyboard has white and black keys. The black keys are in sets of 2’s and 3’s. When you play down to the left on the keyboard the sounds are lower, bass tones. When you play up to the right on the keyboard the sounds are higher, treble tones.

On the keyboard, the high keys are usually played with the Right Hand. The low keys are usually played with the Left Hand.

Make up some pieces using sets of black keys. Perhaps you could make up a song using the sets of 2 black keys. Then add the set of 3 black keys. If you play all 5 black keys in the high end of the piano, you will hear tones that sound like a lovely Asian piece or flowing, running water. I hope these first steps have been fun and easy for you.

Happy Practicing!

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